Boy, am I pissed ...

[(H)]

Well, it was payback day.

Ed with his beautiful new F10 LCI CP, Roxy with her awesome straightpiped E90 and the other cool people who came out for our inaugural Thursday evening meet'n'drive were all pumped for some fun.

We saw the thunderstorm building up and thought we could sneak through. After some hang out started driving down I95 all nice and dry when a wall of rain and hail hit us. It was so bad, we ultimately succumbed to doing what everybody else did: Four-Waying on the shoulder. It was just too much hydroplaning and too dangerous.

Well, long story short, we lost each other and it was a sad end to what could have been a great evening.

I drove home through Pennington with more and more rain. Crossing Rt.31, there a rain puddle built up. Went through at no more than 10mph. Car stuttered and engine shut off. Barely made it up the ramp of a local grocery store.

Ignition dead, nothing worked, after trying to start two or three times, smoke from the engine compartment, bad burning wire smell. Ultra frustration. Then the first time and absolute nightmare experience with BMW assistance (that button in the headliner that nobody ever should need to use). Took three attempts over two hour before assistance was actually on the way. Didn't arrive until 9.45pm, 2 1/2 hours after car had stopped. Towed to the car to dealership and with the holiday weekend closed, my dream of spending some time with the baby was crushed.

Complete waste of time, no clue how long it will take to fix this, quite worried that the care will never really be the same again. Uber pissed at BMW for this experience.

But I guess it was a full blown make up call for my last incident with @968TurboS.

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[Danconia]

Wow, just wow. I saw your awesome earlier post and came back to see how everything went. Sorry this happened and hope everything gets sorted out quickly.

Do you know if this a new occurrence with BMW Assist customer service? I had to use BMW assist just yesterday for an emergency that could have escalated quickly and I was on hold for so long, I rectified the situation myself. There is a new M4 thread with a guy who was on hold with BMW assist for an hour and a half. I was on hold for at least a cumulative 30 minutes after pushing the "SOS" button and learned you cannot disconnect the call yourself.

[soooma]

Sorry to hear
And sad to learn that SOS button is close to useless! !
I had very nice experience with Acura before!!

[shahano]

Woaw that is pretty scary, Please let us know how the repairs end up. Hope the engine is not damaged.

[Time]

That sucks. Hope your motor is okay, I know some e9x M3s that died that way bc apparently the air that goes into the motor goes in from the bottom.

[RPiM5]

Man sucks bro. Hope the engine is ok. Were you planning on coming up to MPact next weekend?

[NullCheck]

If the water made its way into the engine, it's sayanora my friend. If it went into hydrolock, your only option is to get a new engine or rebuild this. If the ECU or any other core electrical component short circuited, it will cost a ton of money, but the repairs wont be as bad as replacing in an engine.

I drove over 2 ft of snow with my E90 M3 many MANY times, I never had any issues. M5 sits a bit higher than a competition package M3, I'm surprised this happened to you over half a ft of water or it was deeper than that.

Regardless, I'd be careful with what I say on these forums if you want to deal with BMWNA/Warranty/Insurance claims, if you admit guilt and negligence, you are looking at a very hefty repair bill.

[(H)]

OK, update: Engine is fried and so is ignition system and starter engine. Clearly not my fault and honestly I am shocked that this happened and the way BMW is dealing with it so far. They said it is an insurance case, I am saying BMW is responsible. I was one out of dozens of cars driving at the same speed on the same road. In front of me was MB E350 and around mostly regular sedans. If the M5 is not fit to handle this kind of weather than the owners need to be instructed.

Now I am really upset!

I will keep you posted.

[avlnch]

Where did this happen to you?
near the stop n shop or near wegmans?

[RPiM5]

Originally Posted by (H)

OK, update: Engine is fried and so is ignition system and starter engine. Clearly not my fault and honestly I am shocked that this happened and the way BMW is dealing with it so far. They said it is an insurance case, I am saying BMW is responsible. I was one out of dozens of cars driving at the same speed on the same road. In front of me was MB E350 and around mostly regular sedans. If the M5 is not fit to handle this kind of weather than the owners need to be instructed.

Now I am really upset!

I will keep you posted.

Man this sucks. PM'ing you bro.

[Spinny02]

So I have also flooded a BMW in a similar event. It is upsetting, but I don't know how this is BMWs fault? The cars are not meant to go swimming.

Also once a car shuts down for water you do not want to restart it. That's what kills the engine. If it was not restarted the car would just need some minor electrical work and to clear the water.

It is upsetting but It was my fault because I did as you did and kept trying to restart the car to pull off the road.

No excuse for the SOS button to take so long.

[Time]

Sorry to hear it. Idk why bmw sets up cars so they take air in from the bottom. On Porsches it takes it in from the rear vents on top, there's been posts of ppl driving through water way above the exhausts with no issues.

Here's a thread where it happened to a e9x M3
http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthr...ighlight=hydro

[NullCheck]

Originally Posted by (H)

OK, update: Engine is fried and so is ignition system and starter engine. Clearly not my fault and honestly I am shocked that this happened and the way BMW is dealing with it so far. They said it is an insurance case, I am saying BMW is responsible. I was one out of dozens of cars driving at the same speed on the same road. In front of me was MB E350 and around mostly regular sedans. If the M5 is not fit to handle this kind of weather than the owners need to be instructed.

Now I am really upset!

I will keep you posted.

Listen, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but this is your fault. It's entirely operator related, unless you can prove that there was a fault in the engine casing or anywhere else which caused something like a water leak, but we all know that's not true.

If you dealership is not playing the idiot card and not helping you out, then you can either try another dealership or you will need to file a claim with your insurance. These types of claims are much worse than accident claims and stay in your record for 10 years and will hurt your monthly bill significantly.

If you want my honest advice, it might be better to just try to "fix the car up" so that you can sell it and get it out of your hands and move on. This car will never be like new and it will have a pretty bad history and will not be easy to sell (not to mention the insurance related issues I mentioned above).

Probably doesn't help, but you should have known better and not drive in that weather. I'm from NJ as well and I know how the weather was like yesterday and I wouldn't have driven my car if someone put a gun to my head. Just use some common sense.

[Schnell_1]

What an unbelievable and uncanny few days for you....

[Qdawg911]

Originally Posted by NullCheck

Listen, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but this is your fault. It's entirely operator related, unless you can prove that there was a fault in the engine casing or anywhere else which caused something like a water leak, but we all know that's not true.

If you dealership is not playing the idiot card and not helping you out, then you can either try another dealership or you will need to file a claim with your insurance. These types of claims are much worse than accident claims and stay in your record for 10 years and will hurt your monthly bill significantly.

If you want my honest advice, it might be better to just try to "fix the car up" so that you can sell it and get it out of your hands and move on. This car will never be like new and it will have a pretty bad history and will not be easy to sell (not to mention the insurance related issues I mentioned above).

Probably doesn't help, but you should have known better and not drive in that weather. I'm from NJ as well and I know how the weather was like yesterday and I wouldn't have driven my car if someone put a gun to my head. Just use some common sense.

I got caught in a flash flood (and road construction). Car was 3 months old and water locked. No water entered the cabin. Insurance replaced the engine ($34k). Car runs great and never had any issues. Bmw warranty remains in place.I feel it's not worth selling since I'll get killed on its history. So gonna keep and enjoy it

[(H)]

Originally Posted by NullCheck

Listen, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but this is your fault. It's entirely operator related, unless you can prove that there was a fault in the engine casing or anywhere else which caused something like a water leak, but we all know that's not true.

...

OK, I agree it was incorrect to state that it is "BMWs fault". The fact that this incident occurred is obviously not BMW's fault. But I do think when it is so obvious that the car deviates from a "normal" car in it's ability to be used under heavy rain. Again, it was the only car that was affected. While I was waiting hundreds of other cars passed and they were all fine.

So my first argument is that if this is an exception and generally speaking an M5 should be able to handle this situation then it is BMW's responsibility as it is an exception to the norm of the performance of an M5. This case I deem unlikely.
My second argument is that every M5 is not fit to perform under these conditions, then it is BMW duty to inform the owners at purchase that this is the case. This type of rain is not uncommon in New Jersey. Again, all other cars performed fine. In the absence of such cautionary note, the repair is BMW responsibility. This latter scenario I believe is the case.

But right now all that I am upset is the fact that it is likely that I lost my car that I really really grew fond of and that pretty much ruined my holiday weekend.

#H

[Qdawg911]

It was traumatic. I feel your pain!

[PhilT3]

How deep was the water? How far up the car did it get?

Sorry to hear about this bud. I understand where you are coming from in that the car should be able to handle such a situation. How would a 528/35/50 handle it? But also how there is some blame to take on yourself as well. It's a shitty situation no matter who's fault it is.

Best if luck. Just remember...it's just a car and can be repaired and replaced.

[stealth.pilot]

Originally Posted by (H)

Then the first time and absolute nightmare experience with BMW assistance (that button in the headliner that nobody ever should need to use). Took three attempts over two hour before assistance was actually on the way. Didn't arrive until 9.45pm, 2 1/2 hours after car had stopped. Towed to the car to dealership and with the holiday weekend closed, my dream of spending some time with the baby was crushed.

Complete waste of time, no clue how long it will take to fix this, quite worried that the care will never really be the same again. Uber pissed at BMW for this experience.

This won't be much consolation but I don't think you should be pissed at BMW. You know with this kind of weather call volumes spike.

Instead you should do what I did years ago after my first experience with BMW Assist - Get a AAA membership. AAA is the nations largest roadside assistance network and they will tow your car before anyone else. Your 2.5 hour wait would have been much less if you were a AAA member.

As a 10 year AAA member I have never experienced a wait time of more than 40 minutes during peak time, and normally about 15 minutes or less.

I haven't used AAA for about 3 years, but still the peace of mind knowing I have the best backup is worth the $45 annual fee.

[Mbdurham17]

Sorry to hear this but it is definitely an insurance claim BMW has no culpability and not even sure why you think they would? :

[wrsbmw]

Originally Posted by stealth.pilot

This won't be much consolation but I don't think you should be pissed at BMW. You know with this kind of weather call volumes spike.

Yep

Originally Posted by stealth.pilot

Instead you should do what I did years ago after my first experience with BMW Assist - Get a AAA membership. AAA is the nations largest roadside assistance network and they will tow your car before anyone else. Your 2.5 hour wait would have been much less if you were a AAA member.

As a 10 year AAA member I have never experienced a wait time of more than 40 minutes during peak time, and normally about 15 minutes or less.

I haven't used AAA for about 3 years, but still the peace of mind knowing I have the best backup is worth the $45 annual fee.

My wife got AAA ten years ago and the towing service is outstanding. My youngest daughter has needed three tows in the last two years all due to tire issues. One time she was at a party and some kids came around and slashed tires, two of hers were hit. AAA bailed us out in 45 minutes.

Just about a month ago she had a blowout on 290 going about 70 and was pulled off on the off ramp median because the tire shredded. The tow truck showed up about 30 minutes later and was able to maneuver the car around and get it on the truck because her spare was flat.

AAA is the nuts, they are well worth the $50/yr.

[stealth.pilot]

Originally Posted by Mbdurham17

Sorry to hear this but it is definitely an insurance claim BMW has no culpability and not even sure why you think they would? :

Agree. Being from Miami, I have driven my M5s in this kind of weather pretty frequently and never had an issue with water. Of course my intake is factory with both filters.

To be honest I find this to be the best sedans I have driven in the rain. The fat PSS tires provide a ton of grip and the DSC is very good.