M5 / M6 Oil Pump Recall FAQ and Affected VIN List

[cmhsam]

Originally Posted by M54ccibo

Thanks @Bimmer6. This is good news.

+1.

Originally Posted by nv6425

I'm in the same boat, what happens to those of whom paid cash???

I think BMW's first priority is to get the cars fixed. They will see how long customers have been "down" and then provide next steps for compensation, if any. No point in talking compensation until BMW knows how long the outage lasts.

Originally Posted by JC919

Can someone please post that BMWNA contact email again? Searching back through this thread is very irritating.

CustomerRelations@bmwusa.com

[JC919]

Thank you very much.

[ucla95]

Originally Posted by Bimmer6

She said the ED cars will have priority, and the pumps will be replaced at the VPC and not the dealer.

Still doesn't say much about when the parts may arrive. It could be days or weeks or >1 month.

[ArtE36M3]

This is my opinion only. We have to just give BMW the benefit of the doubt FOR NOW. I believe they did the right thing by issuing a voluntary recall. Maybe not that voluntary, maybe more of a CYA protocol but still appreciated on my end for being proactive. I would definitely be more upset had they slipped it under the rug and waited for enough of us to be stranded on the side of the road needing new motors before they reacted. Their initial QC maybe didn't effectively prevent this issue but their proactive QC protocol found a problem as soon as it occurred. In this case I am happy with the way that BMW has handled this unfortunate situation.

As for my personal time line that I will be using to gauge any dissatisfaction with a potential delay in redelivery of my car will be mid to late October. My car is due to arrive at the port on Oct 1st. From then on I think it is reasonable to allow them 5-7 days to clear customs. Then normally will allow 2-4 days to arrive at my dealership and finally a couple of days to prep and finalize my delivery. Based on this timeline I was expecting to take possession of my car at/around Oct 12th. I will be patiently hopeful until then.

My opinion of BMWs repair protocol I think they are still in the process of managing their resources. I don't think we should be expecting any hard set rules on how they are going to get this done. I believe that repairing at the port is likely for most of us. This may not be possible for all of us depending on the concentration of M5/M6 arriving at the port at that given time and at that given location. If there aren't enough cars to justify BMW allocating resources(additional master techs, oil pumps, etc) to that port, those cars will most likely be repaired at the dealership. I am hoping that BMW will require that only master techs will be performing the repair. I would like to see in the next week or so an outline of the repair procedure. Are they going to drop the oil pan? if so does that mean we get a replacement gasket along with the repair? Does this require a full oil change to accomplish? Does this change the interval required for our 1200 mile optimization if we already have miles on the car? Will repair staff be well versed in the appropriate oil to use? There was early speculation that a different oil is used during breaking in. Is this true? Will they be torquing everything back to spec? These are some questions they should have answered. If not with us, I hope the techs will have these same questions.

As far as BMWs priority list goes, we all feel like we should be at the top of the list. But that is probably not realistic. First on the list should be customers that have already suffered loses like BarryB has. Second on that list would be customers that have imminent loses that may potentially occur such as those awaiting upcoming EDs and have vacations booked already. Next would be people who already had their cars and can no longer use them due to this situation. Then would be EDers that are awaiting the arrival of their cars. Once the cars arrive we would technically be the higher on the priority list since we would be like the previous group of people who have cars that they cannot drive. Lastly would be people waiting for their orders to be fulfilled.

I am trying to be reasonable and optimistic that this will all be resolved and that we will all soon be able to enjoy our cars. BMW I hope you hear our concerns and live up to our expectations. I am confident you will.

[Bimmer6]

All I can say they said they will call me back in two days, and heck if it takes a month so be it we can't make it happen. At the end of the day it's a car, and shit happens. I want the car as much as the next guy, but I can't speed it up like I can't make Christmas happen tomorrow. Good luck to all, and we will see what happens. First, we will not but BMW out of business nor kill there sales so stay patient it's been less than a week. Can we please stop saying the car is a 100k, and this shouldn't happen. My cousin had a Bentley he would have paid you to take ......yes it had problems and they were jerks!

[Bimmer6]

Originally Posted by ArtE36M3

This is my opinion only. We have to just give BMW the benefit of the doubt FOR NOW. I believe they did the right thing by issuing a voluntary recall. Maybe not that voluntary, maybe more of a CYA protocol but still appreciated on my end for being proactive. I would definitely be more upset had they slipped it under the rug and waited for enough of us to be stranded on the side of the road needing new motors before they reacted. Their initial QC maybe didn't effectively prevent this issue but their proactive QC protocol found a problem as soon as it occurred. In this case I am happy with the way that BMW has handled this unfortunate situation.

As for my personal time line that I will be using to gauge any dissatisfaction with a potential delay in redelivery of my car will be mid to late October. My car is due to arrive at the port on Oct 1st. From then on I think it is reasonable to allow them 5-7 days to clear customs. Then normally will allow 2-4 days to arrive at my dealership and finally a couple of days to prep and finalize my delivery. Based on this timeline I was expecting to take possession of my car at/around Oct 12th. I will be patiently hopeful until then.

My opinion of BMWs repair protocol I think they are still in the process of managing their resources. I don't think we should be expecting any hard set rules on how they are going to get this done. I believe that repairing at the port is likely for most of us. This may not be possible for all of us depending on the concentration of M5/M6 arriving at the port at that given time and at that given location. If there aren't enough cars to justify BMW allocating resources(additional master techs, oil pumps, etc) to that port, those cars will most likely be repaired at the dealership. I am hoping that BMW will require that only master techs will be performing the repair. I would like to see in the next week or so an outline of the repair procedure. Are they going to drop the oil pan? if so does that mean we get a replacement gasket along with the repair? Does this require a full oil change to accomplish? Does this change the interval required for our 1200 mile optimization if we already have miles on the car? Will repair staff be well versed in the appropriate oil to use? There was early speculation that a different oil is used during breaking in. Is this true? Will they be torquing everything back to spec? These are some questions they should have answered. If not with us, I hope the techs will have these same questions.

As far as BMWs priority list goes, we all feel like we should be at the top of the list. But that is probably not realistic. First on the list should be customers that have already suffered loses like BarryB has. Second on that list would be customers that have imminent loses that may potentially occur such as those awaiting upcoming EDs and have vacations booked already. Next would be people who already had their cars and can no longer use them due to this situation. Then would be EDers that are awaiting the arrival of their cars. Once the cars arrive we would technically be the higher on the priority list since we would be like the previous group of people who have cars that they cannot drive. Lastly would be people waiting for their orders to be fulfilled.

I am trying to be reasonable and optimistic that this will all be resolved and that we will all soon be able to enjoy our cars. BMW I hope you hear our concerns and live up to our expectations. I am confident you will.

Spot on! Thank you a voice of reason ........

[racer10]

[QUOTE=Bimmer6;12739460]Spot on! Thank you a voice of reason ........

Right now it is certainly OK to be reasonable , but that POV will wear thin in a week or so if there is no clear understanding from BMW as to correction timeframe and prioritzation , as well as, if the correction time frame goes past what most customers will find tolerable (my view 3 weeks tops). Regardless , of the timeframe I think BMW will have to make some sort of customer service goodwill gesture , the longer it goes the bigger and more expensive the gesture (hopefully they do this voluntarily as opposed to each owner cutting their own deal with them). Beyond 30 days I believe some owners will try to lemon their cars if for no other reason than to gain some negotiating leverage in terms of the necessary goodwill response I indicated above. Some other thoughts: There are only 400+ cars in customers hands which on the one hand helps BMW more quickly address this problem , but on the other hand makes it easier for them to fly under the radar screen of the news media . Which they are grateful for. I am very confident BMW is montoring this website ,either directly or through a service, to gain insight into how owners are accepting this problem and for me I am comforted to see that other owners are going to be reasonable......but to a point. Time will tell.

[Bimmer6]

[QUOTE=racer10;12739748]

Originally Posted by Bimmer6

Spot on! Thank you a voice of reason ........

Right now it is certainly OK to be reasonable , but that POV will wear thin in a week or so if there is no clear understanding from BMW as to correction timeframe and prioritzation , as well as, if the correction time frame goes past what most customers will find tolerable (my view 3 weeks tops). Regardless , of the timeframe I think BMW will have to make some sort of customer service goodwill gesture , the longer it goes the bigger and more expensive the gesture (hopefully they do this voluntarily as opposed to each owner cutting their own deal with them). Beyond 30 days I believe some owners will try to lemon their cars if for no other reason than to gain some negotiating leverage in terms of the necessary goodwill response I indicated above. Some other thoughts: There are only 400+ cars in customers hands which on the one hand helps BMW more quickly address this problem , but on the other hand makes it easier for them to fly under the radar screen of the news media . Which they are grateful for. I am very confident BMW is montoring this website ,either directly or through a service, to gain insight into how owners are accepting this problem and for me I am comforted to see that other owners are going to be reasonable......but to a point. Time will tell.

I agree 100% with your perspective. My point was it's not been a week, and then we circle the wagons. Th firs communication was the recall which we have, and trust me I will be watching!

[dutycalls]

Update I've received today re my M6 Coupe (UK), parts due in end of next week, 6 hour repair job.

I know these things happen, but I sure do feel hesitant about accepting a brand new car at this level that has already been subject to a 6 hour engine repair job before 1st delivery. Out or proportion perhaps, but just won't feel like a brand new car.

[bimmerJP]

Originally Posted by Beemw335

Thats ridiculous, you need to wait for your recall letter to have it performed and you cant drive your car in the mean time!
Do they plan on giving out loaners?( and hopefully something better than a 323 with dealership stickers all over it)

No, you will get a Mini

[mcvaughan]

Originally Posted by nv6425

I'm in the same boat, what happens to those of whom paid cash???

Exactly. I'm in that boat.

[cnicholson]

I bought my E60 for cash and, after my third time on flatbed (I had the VANOS issue and the steering angle sensor issue (X2)), I asked for the equivalent value of what they were doing to leasees in the same boat. BMWNA cut me check for around $1200. Not sure if that was a pro-rated payment or whatever, but I thought it a nice gesture.

Anyway, my point is, you are not "screwed" just because you paid cash.

[racer10]

Originally Posted by mcvaughan

Exactly. I'm in that boat.

. My view is that regardless of whether you have a relationship with BMW financial ,or not You have a goodwill claim and anyway BMW is going to cut a check and not actually make your payment(s) . And it's BMW that will be paying this not the dealer even if the check comes from the the dealer( in that case it will be approved first) .

[Rob///M5]

Just posting this to keep the information flowing...

Got a call from BMW customer service on another issue (seats) and asked about the oil pump recall. FWIW the customer service rep said the following:

- 2 to 3 weeks from last Friday to get the pumps out
- Dealers will be doing the repairs
- 2.5 hours of work for repair

[uhn2000]

Ok just got confirmation that my car is to be produced in October as scheduled with a non-affected pump. Sorry to hear about everyone's challenges with this but it is confirmed that production of cars has not stopped - I now have a VIN.

[x6luke]

Thanks for sharing your info regarding this recall issue. I sincerely hope this issue is resolved promptly for all owners!!
I was close to pulling the trigger on a finished M6 when I read about the oil pump recall / delivery hold that was announced. My dealer has been helpful but with no clear information available regarding timing of new parts or duration of the recall, I decided to hold off and look at other options while seeing how this plays out.
I read that cars produced between July - September were on the recall impacted VIN list. Does anyone know if cars produced later in the year (october or later) will have this issue corrected during production. Has BMW secured parts for newly produced cars? Is it safe to order a new one that has not been built yet or if you were deciding whether to make a purchase would you wait to see how this gets worked out? Thanks for any insights.

[3toM]

Originally Posted by x6luke

Thanks for sharing your info regarding this recall issue. I sincerely hope this issue is resolved promptly for all owners!!
I was close to pulling the trigger on a finished M6 when I read about the oil pump recall / delivery hold that was announced. My dealer has been helpful but with no clear information available regarding timing of new parts or duration of the recall, I decided to hold off and look at other options while seeing how this plays out.
I read that cars produced between July - September were on the recall impacted VIN list. Does anyone know if cars produced later in the year (october or later) will have this issue corrected during production. Has BMW secured parts for newly produced cars? Is it safe to order a new one that has not been built yet or if you were deciding whether to make a purchase would you wait to see how this gets worked out? Thanks for any insights.

I don't believe dealers are taking orders for now since production has been halted until the new oil pumps come in. I suspect they won't be producing new cars until all affected cars sold or in dealerships have their pumps replaced. You might check with your dealer.

[AGS]

Originally Posted by 3toM

I don't believe dealers are taking orders for now since production has been halted until the new oil pumps come in. I suspect they won't be producing new cars until all affected cars sold or in dealerships have their pumps replaced. You might check with your dealer.

This is incorrrect. A few members have confirmed production is continuing. There is not a dedicated line for M5s or M6s. BMW cannot shut down all 5 series and 6 series production.

Originally Posted by x6luke

Thanks for sharing your info regarding this recall issue. I sincerely hope this issue is resolved promptly for all owners!!
I was close to pulling the trigger on a finished M6 when I read about the oil pump recall / delivery hold that was announced. My dealer has been helpful but with no clear information available regarding timing of new parts or duration of the recall, I decided to hold off and look at other options while seeing how this plays out.
I read that cars produced between July - September were on the recall impacted VIN list. Does anyone know if cars produced later in the year (october or later) will have this issue corrected during production. Has BMW secured parts for newly produced cars? Is it safe to order a new one that has not been built yet or if you were deciding whether to make a purchase would you wait to see how this gets worked out? Thanks for any insights.

You should be fine. A member posted he picked his car up at the Welt this morning and BMW confirmed it had a good oil pump. The bad batch has been identified and isolated to certain production between late July and early September as best as I can tell.

[jgarvish]

I am hopeful that BMW will stand behind my M5 purchase as everyone on this board seems to suggest but in the event they do not I would like to have a plan in place about how to proceed and I would welcome others thoughts on the following idea.

While several individuals have posted about the use of individual state lemon laws to deal with the M5 oil pump failures I am wondering if anyone has looked at making a claim under the deceptive trade practices act (either state or federal). I understand that there have been 9 oil pump failures worldwide and only one of them that I am aware of happened after the delivery of my car on September 1, 2012. BMW would be hard pressed to claim no knowledge of this defect give the prior incidents at least some of which wold have occurred prior to the time I picked up my car in Munich on 9/1 and definitely not before I take delivery of my car here in the states. Further, I was on the fence about this purchase to begin with so if BMW had come clean about this problem that could lead to catastrophic engine failure I (and presumably many others) would not have made this purchase. Anyone have thoughts on this? Thanks.

[3toM]

[QUOTE=AGS;12743922]This is incorrrect. A few members have confirmed production is continuing. There is not a dedicated line for M5s or M6s. BMW cannot shut down all 5 series and 6 series production.


I didn't mean to suggest they are shutting down production of all 5 and 6 series cars. However, it has been mentioned by several people in this thread that production of M5 and M6 models was being held until the issue was resolved. Maybe that's changed already.

[mvigod]

Originally Posted by AGS

This is incorrrect. A few members have confirmed production is continuing. There is not a dedicated line for M5s or M6s. BMW cannot shut down all 5 series and 6 series production.


You should be fine. A member posted he picked his car up at the Welt this morning and BMW confirmed it had a good oil pump. The bad batch has been identified and isolated to certain production between late July and early September as best as I can tell.

I just got an email from my dealer and he said they are still in production. Here is the quote from his email reply to me:

"I asked BMW about if it affected production and they said no at this time. I will let you know any news I hear."

Hopefully this will not change and production will indeed continue on schedule. My build is due to start in the next 2 weeks for late November delivery. I don't want to take the car in December/January as there will be nothing but snow and salt on the roads here in NJ. If it is going to be delayed that long I would rather cancel and reorder for April/May delivery.

[x6luke]

Originally Posted by mvigod

I just got an email from my dealer and he said they are still in production. Here is the quote from his email reply to me:

"I asked BMW about if it affected production and they said no at this time. I will let you know any news I hear."

Hopefully this will not change and production will indeed continue on schedule. My build is due to start in the next 2 weeks for late November delivery. I don't want to take the car in December/January as there will be nothing but snow and salt on the roads here in NJ. If it is going to be delayed that long I would rather cancel and reorder for April/May delivery.

Thanks very much for this information. Hope things are indeed rolling with production as I very much agree on spring vs winter delivery and having to just store a car like this.. It is proving somewhat difficult to get clear info from within the company, so it's great to have this community to rely on.