Drivetrain malfunction error

[thhddd]

I've had my car for about 3 months and around 3300 miles, and this error showed up for the first time last saturday.

The car completely lost power in my garage so i had to call bmw roadside and had the car towed to dealer.

After 2 days, my SA called me and told me the issues i had with my M5 are due to low battery voltage, which all occured under 9V.
Then she told me its because of insuddicient use of the vehicle and told me to buy a BMW trickle charger?....

usually its true i only drive less than a mile to work everyday, however, 2 days before the error happened, i drove 200+ miles roundtrip from DC to richmond on the same day and i think that should be sufficient to charge up the battery to last for a while right?

Do you guys think its normal for the car to breakdown due to insuffient usage? and should it be my responsibility to buy a BMW trickle charger?

thanks!

[Tom C]

That is complete BS for you to have to go out and purchase a BMW trickle charger. I would send BMW NA a letter telling them that if they want to provide one free of charge you would gladly use it. You should not have to come out of pocket for a design flaw. Does it make economic sense for BMW to give you a trickle charger ...or for you to keep bringing the car in and have BMW NA keep footing the bill for service and loaner car on a design defect....

[Rob///M5]

I have the exact same problem with the same reply from service. They disapprovingly told me that I have "unfavorable driving habits"


I drive the car 15 miles to work 2-3 times a week.

[chmura]

I call BS too.

In my 2011 M3, I would go literally 1 month without starting due to my car being trapped by construction equipment on my driveway. Started up just fine after a month. Usually I only drive my M3 on the weekends and M-F it sits without starting and never had a problem.

[RPiM5]

Yeah I don't know what your dealer is talking about. I've left my M5 sitting for a few weeks once. It started up just fine when I got back into town. Once when I was cleaning my M5 for a few hours, I had the music playing from the B&O with the engine off, and I did get a "Battery Low" warning. I just started up the M5 and the battery charged up again no problem.

[Wrotwro7]

+1 Total bs.
Because of my job schedule, I only drive my M5 on the weekends and rarely during the week. I drive maybe 60 miles max, but do travel on the interstate with the cruise on. Otherwise its a lot of spirited driving. I don't use a charger and so far no issues at 7K miles. If the battery can't hold a charge or isn't recharging properly it should be replaced. Your trip to DC should have been more than enough. My m3 did the same thing and the service advisor tried that BS story in 2009. It didn't work on me and I walked out with a new battery, apology from the manager and didn't have the problem again.

[M54ccibo]

I too have had the car throw "Battery Low" warnings, both times I took the car for a couple mile drive around town. Case closed.

Car certainly needs to brake and coast to charge. I am wondering if the brake energy regeneration system is buggy?

[Sharpie12]

ive had the car off for weeks at a time, and most of the time it sits for 4-5 days before its turned on and i've never had this issue. But BMW's in general are known to have this issue.

[Protious]

I work from home and leave town for often two months at a time, and I've never had this issue. My F10 535i did have this issue from time to time though.

[rich1231]

Hi have had issues with mine since delivery a year ago.

I have detailed the tale here.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/t...no+one+can+fix

I have had an F10 M5 since May 2012 and shortly after delivery I have had constant issues with the car suffering drive train issues. The car will appear to switch off half the engine at random intervals. The worst being approximately 30 times on a trip back from Lincoln to Essex. It has been to the dealers many times with different fixes tried on instruction from BMW but nothing has fixed the issue.

How many chances do I give them fix the issue?

Then:

I don't want to give much away but earlier in the history of the issue I was told that BMW were considering replacing the car. Yesterday I called BMW customer service (following the dealer specifically asking me to). BMW returned the call this morning and refused to discuss the issue with me. The car is leased via a business.

Then:

No matter what happens I am not going to break the contract to prove a point. Thanks for the input guys.

I sent a sternly worded email last night and have yet to have a response from any party. But a call from the lead tech at dealer to arrange a test drive with me, I booked it but stated it wasn't going ahead unless I have a clear plan in writing should the fault not be rectified by the latest of many different fixes proposed. (for which I have no eta as a factory in Germany is having a computer system changed).

I have asked the following question to all parties multiple times in person and in writing and no one has answered in fact they ignore it or refuse to answer.

"Can you please specifically explain to me how many times I should accept the fault occurring and how many times I should accept the car being returned to the dealer with no resolution before taking it further?"

Then

As an update.

BMW have still not responded to me directly in anyway, that is following both the leasing company and dealer specifically asking me to contact BMW, and despite my emails being cc'd in to multiple senior BMW persons.

All parties still refuse to answer the question regarding what steps will be taken should the latest attempt to fix fail.
The parts will not be available until at least June 26th.

I have asked my solicitors to take over.

I will never purchase a BMW again after this.


Then:

Usually when driving a sudden loss of power and Drive Train error occurs. The symptom has been explained to me as half the engines cylinders switching off to "protect the engine", the error appears to occur in both sets of cylinders. The sudden loss of power usually results in sudden deceleration without warning and passengers being thrown around. Issue has also been occurring (assuming its the same cause), of misfires which don't leave to drive train warning but excessive movement of passengers and me.

A few weeks ago it was happening every few miles on a trip down from up north back south.


Then:

Well its a few weeks later and a nice lady at the dealer called to see if I was satisfied with the service I have received concerning the works on the car.

Oh I said, you mean on the car you still have and still cant give me an eta on when it will be repaired.

Then

Odd that I have been told my car is the only one with the issue.

Just to add, BMW Corporate customer service should be ashamed of themselves they are still not talking to me. I have had a patronizing email from the Corporate Customer services Manager in the UK after yet another unmet deadline for repair of the car.

Then:

To take a formal complaint forwards with the BVRLA I need to get a formal "Final Word" from the leasing company who are refusing to do so as the car is still at the Dealer waiting for parts. It has been there for nearly 6 weeks I have only had updates when I have chased. No one has updated me on the delivery of the parts at all despite the dates indicated passing. I have already told the leasing company that the payments will still be made but are in dispute, funny enough no one replied to that.

I held back with Solicitors taking it further but I have a meeting with them later on another matter so will get the ball rolling then.

I am updating this thread to shame those involved as I have sent them links. I am telling everyone about how poor the car has been, and how useless BMW and specific members of staff have been and will never purchase another BMW no matter what.

[mwlmd]

I had a battery ruined in my E90 M3 from lack of "appropriate use." They wanted to charge me $400 for new one. After a fight they replaced it under warranty and did tell me that due to the extensive electronics on the car if you drive less than 10 miles or under 60mph per trip your battery will not maintain charge over time.... and to use a trickle charger at night.

This issue is not specific to BMW. Any car with brief or infrequent use will suffer the same fate. This recently happened to my friend's 2013 Subaru Outback.

Trickle chargers are cheap and effective if you don't daily drive your car.

[thhddd]

Originally Posted by mwlmd

I had a battery ruined in my E90 M3 from lack of "appropriate use." They wanted to charge me $400 for new one. After a fight they replaced it under warranty and did tell me that due to the extensive electronics on the car if you drive less than 10 miles or under 60mph per trip your battery will not maintain charge over time.... and to use a trickle charger at night.

This issue is not specific to BMW. Any car with brief or infrequent use will suffer the same fate. This recently happened to my friend's 2013 Subaru Outback.

Trickle chargers are cheap and effective if you don't daily drive your car.

yeah this is exactly what the dealer told me, but i've had many cars before, including Range rover, honda accord, and a porsche cayenne turbo, none of them had this kind battery issue and my daily commute had been always less than 5 miles because i tend to live close to work

[Rob///M5]

Originally Posted by mwlmd

I had a battery ruined in my E90 M3 from lack of "appropriate use." They wanted to charge me $400 for new one. After a fight they replaced it under warranty and did tell me that due to the extensive electronics on the car if you drive less than 10 miles or under 60mph per trip your battery will not maintain charge over time.... and to use a trickle charger at night.

This issue is not specific to BMW. Any car with brief or infrequent use will suffer the same fate. This recently happened to my friend's 2013 Subaru Outback.

Trickle chargers are cheap and effective if you don't daily drive your car.

Yeah, but this is what bugs me. I drive farther than that, and a hell of a lot faster than that. I feel like BMW service hides behind these blanket statements, shrugs and moves on to the next 128i customer.