BMW / Bayerische Motoren Werke
Reviews and Complaints

Dear Complaints Board, I would like to express my extreme disappointment in the way I have been treated by BMW dealerships and representatives. In 2003 I purchased a BMW Z4 2.5. This car was brand new and had the BMW name. I assumed that this automobile that had a reputation for quality and workmanship would be a reliable piece of transportation. Unfortunately, I have found that this car is a complete piece of junk. Nearly nine months after its purchased I had to replace the engine. While this was supposed to be covered under the warranty, the VOB BMW dealership in Rockville accused me of downshifting prematurely. They stated that this is what caused the engine to die. For two months I was paying for a car that was in a BMW dealership in addition to rental cars. The accusations made by VOB were ridiculous, given the fact that I was driving on the freeway and already in fifth gear when the car stopped running. If anything my life could have been endangered as the car stopped moving on the freeway. I was insulted and deeply hurt by the way I was treated in this situation. I immediately contacted consumer affairs to have their investigator check this automobile. I also had to wait several weeks for BMWs district mechanic to check my car as well. The consumer affairs mechanic suspected a problem with the fuel pump, which by the way, was recalled two months latter to add a resistor of some sort. The issue was finally resolved by VOB who replaced the engine months later after I first had it towed in. Again I expected good service and BMW to back their workmanship. This was only done so after lawyers and consumer affairs investigators. Recently, I was driving my vehicle in July and my car stopped and would not run. The lights and all other functions were on but the engine was not running. I had this vehicle towed to VOB BMW and was called by Mike Lang. I was told the car needed a new battery terminal and that the only cause of this was a possible accident since the ABS light was on. My car was hit by another vehicle but the minor damages were repaired over a year before this incident. The damage was very little and no ABS light was on until Mr. Lang at VOB BMW looked at the car. For Mr. Lang to state that the car was running on the alternator alone for over a year is ridiculous. I had this car taken to an independent mechanic who agreed with me in a statement and suggested I take my car back to a BMW dealership for warranty repair. It was at this time I was told by the independent mechanic that the fog light was busted. I thought that this might have happened when it was being towed since a flat bed truck did not tow it. I called roadside assistance to inform them of this issue. After weeks of messages, the roadside assitance investigator told me, that the tow could not have caused this damaged. Once this car was taken to the independent mechanic it was then running again but with the ABS light on. The car was then towed to tischer to get the ABS light turned off but tischer BMW stated that I needed a new battery terminal along with some other items. Their cost of repairs totaled to $1500.00 while VOB's costs were at $900.00. This led me to be even more suspicious and I requested my auto insurance to have their claims examiner to investigate this issue. The investigator found no significant signs of impact that could have caused this ABS sensor to turn on and suggested I take further action against the dealership. The tischer BMW representative told me that only an accident turns this sensor on and that it's designed to cut power to the vehicle in accidents. A few questions that I constantly ask myself are: If the terminal needs to be replaced because the sensor was set off then why is the car still running? Why is it that the ABS light never came on, until VOB BMW examined the car? Why is my fog light broken when it wasn't broken before the tow? How is it a car can run on the alternator for over a year like Mr. Lang stated? If it was the minor accident from over a year ago then why is it nothing happened for an entire year!? These are legitimate questions one asks but since BMW provides such horrible service I cant get any answers! My consumer affairs investigator has been looking into this issue and has informed me of VOB BMW's reluctance to do the ethical thing and repair my car. My questions remain unanswered and BMW remains allusive to my demands for ethical treatment. My next step is to have this issue addressed in court, which I am currently preparing. I have every intent of sending this issue to a judge to decide. It seems that I spend more time getting BMW to fix issues with my car than I do driving it. I would appreciate answers and a formal investigation into this issue immediately.

Som Bahrami

BMW wants to buy me out of my car and agree to not disclose that all '6' series, meaning 645i and 650 models have a problem with the computer related to entertainment, bluetooth, and that cd's will run after motor is shut off etc. Before I agree to sign to receive the buy out and a non disclosure on Monday July 24th, 2006, I wanted to let every BMW owner of the six series to know.

Here is a text of the problem:

All BMW 6 series have onboard computer problems and after 18 months they now disclose that the problem is in all the series so i cannot get replacement vehlicle.

After 18 months of problems with the entertainment system[cd's silently continue to play after engine is shut off] and telephone and bluetooth don't work properly. Also entertainment will randomly change from one to another, like cd to fm radio. Dealer at time of sale said BMW usually fixes problems with the computer in 60-90 days. Emails from me to dealer and BMW North America were not responded to without my insistance. In may 1006, auto with 8500 miles still not fixed so I wrote a 'lemon law' letter. BMW North America said their engineers would again look at the car,... they did in June 2006, and then manager of dealership advised I could not get a replacement vehicle as a remedy because all the six series have problems. They offered to buy me out of the car per lemon law or give me $9500 compensation. I agreed to a buy out and now in exchange for buying me out they informed me that BMW North America is insisting I sign a release and a clause that I will not disclose to any one the nature of the problem. I think every buyer of the six series, a $75,000 car should know. BMW northamerica wants to keep this a secret apparently.