BMW’s costly troubleshooting: replace everything until it works

Brian Martin writes: I read your article enquiring whether it could take three months to fix a car with great interest, and would like to share my experience of the BMW 7 Series.

I own a 2009 750i which has covered 75 000km. On October 13 last year, my wife took the car in for a routine service. The car was running perfectly and I was very happy with it.

While the car was with the agent, I received a call to say a fault was detected on the system and it defaulted to limp mode: all the fuel injectors needed to be replaced – at a cost of R35 000.

I took the matter up with BMW SA, who were completely uninterested as the warranty had expired a few months earlier. While I had difficulty understanding why or how the fuel injectors could have failed, why they all required replacement and could not be repaired, I decided to authorise the dealer to replace the fuel injectors.

After several weeks, I was advised that despite the replacement of the fuel injectors the car was not running correctly and that the ECU now needed replacing.

This confirmed my original suspicion that there was nothing wrong with the fuel injectors.

After another two months went by, I was contacted again and informed that a replacement ECU had been fitted but that the car was still not running properly.

Now it was the alternator that needed replacing – at a cost of R13 000.

I asked whether the alternator had been tested to see if it was, in fact, working and was informed that it had not been tested. I then enquired how it could be said that this is where the problem lay.

I pointed out to them that cars do not suddenly suffer “multiple organ failure”, and it was highly unlikely so many different components would have failed.

I wanted a proper diagnosis to be made to pinpoint the origin of the problem and insisted that components could not simply be replaced willy-nilly in the hope that the problem would be eliminated. I suggested the alternator be removed and tested, or at the very least that another unit be fitted to the car to see if this made any difference. Complete silence on this one. Five months after it went in to them for a service, I finally had my car back. I had a major fight with them over the account but eventually a compromise was reached on the basis that I would only pay for the fuel injectors and not the alternator or the turbo coolant pump. Still, it was a R44 000 bill and I am not convinced that the fuel injectors needed replacing.

However, the saga continues. Yesterday, while driving to work, the oil level sensor activated, indicating that the car needed oil – having covered 200km in testing since it first went in to BMW. So the car has gone back this morning for this latest issue to be investigated.

This has been a nightmare and it seems we are not yet at the end of it. BMW cannot diagnose problems and seem unable to fix their own cars. And this is their flagship model that cost R1.3 million! Sheridan Curle writes: On Friday, February 26, I had intermittent service on my line phone, ADSL and internet service. By the end of the day there was no service. On Saturday morning I phoned faults four times and did not get to speak to anyone. I waited, listening to their song for 15 minutes at a time, only to put the phone down.

On Monday, the 29th, I phoned at 8am and spoke to someone. I logged the fault and was given a reference number. I phoned again on Wednesday and after four attempts managed to speak to a person again.

The answer was that a technician had been despatched.

On Thursday I phoned four times but couldn’t get through to anyone.

The next day, I spoke to a lady who “escalated” the fault and said the technician would contact me. I waited at home all day.

On Saturday I phoned again and was unsuccessful.

On Monday morning, I spoke to a lady who was very helpful, and after holding on for 15 minutes, she came back and said “Jessie” would call me and be there that day. I stayed home the whole day, eventually phoned again at 3pm and was told that the technicians go home at 4.30 and if they are not here by now, it will be tomorrow.

On March 8, I was told the same story, the technician will call. He still has not arrived.

What do I do and what recourse do I have? I have to call from my mobile and I have to use a 3G for all my work. This all costs – and never mind the loss of earnings due to this situation.

As a matter of interest, has the Telkom marketing department listened to the diatribe that customers have to listen to while waiting for their call to be answered? It would also be useful to know if you are 287th or 8th in the queue (as it is with Sars).

There is also no follow-up service. Surely someone is reviewing the call-in logs for each number that is on their list of faults?

The Telkom fault service is a huge failure. Nelson Thurle writes: In May last year, I took my car to a repair centre in Pretoria North because it was leaking diesel.

They told me that the injectors were causing the leak. The engine was functioning and in good condition as I was driving it every day and to work. Then the mechanics told me they were struggling to get the injectors out of the car, that they must remove the engine.

To date I have not got the car back. I call them, but they never call me to give me a progress report. Instead, they are busy working on other cars that come and go while mine is abandoned and has since been stripped to pieces. They gave me the quote and list of parts they needed to fix the car.

I complied and paid all the monies. They still cannot tell me when I will get my car, which I told them I need to transport kids. Please assist me in ensuring that I get the minibus back, and in perfect condition.

Georgie: The company, Mechanical Auto Centre in Theresapark, Pretoria North, has changed ownership – I spoke to the new owner, who started this week.

Gerhard Smit asked to meet with Mr Thole to discuss the matter.

He assured me he’ll do all he can to maintain good relations and to assist the reader get his car fixed.