OT: BMW hardtop Conv. w/ MAJOR failure - Updated
06-22-2008, 07:04 PM
#17
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I have a friend who bought one of those cars and from day one it leaked water in rainstorms and car washes. BMW tried to convince her that it was "normal," kept the car for alomst 2 of the four months she had it and then finally took it back and gave her a 5 Series car at cost. They indicated that there were major problems with this particular model and that BMW was going to have to "eat" a bunch of them.
Of course after this it will probably leak like a sieve....
06-22-2008, 08:29 PM
#19
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The E46 has a nice top with a glass window which was a huge improvement over the plastic stuff they used to produced - like Porsche's. Not sure if the 993 has glass or plastic, but I'd never own one with the latter.
Several of the other new BMW's still have the soft top so I don't know what they were thinking.
Regarding my suspension, fully adjustible (KWv2, f/r Eibach sways, ARCAs, GC-RSM) and on PS2 and the car rides as if on rails and it can hang with the best of them.
The car used to be a show/go car and I removed nearly $40k in mods but left the suspension and hopefully this year I'll be back in a 911.
Current height - HAHA
06-22-2008, 09:20 PM
#20
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How is she going to feel about dropping the top in the future? I'd be apprehensive especially if on a trip and far from home. I hope they find the issue and correct it to the extent they can provide some piece of mind. On the warranty side BMW is pretty decent to work with.
Good luck!
Good luck!
Too funny, thanks CP!
To make matters worse, yesterday was the start of that "special" time of the month so I've been walking on pins and needles around the house...I haven't been able to say or do anything right, as usual.
Oh, and today is our anniversary....
I hope BMW of Nashville will step up with a loaner by next Fri., I seriously doubt they'll have this fixed by then.
To make matters worse, yesterday was the start of that "special" time of the month so I've been walking on pins and needles around the house...I haven't been able to say or do anything right, as usual.
Oh, and today is our anniversary....
I hope BMW of Nashville will step up with a loaner by next Fri., I seriously doubt they'll have this fixed by then.
06-23-2008, 02:46 PM
#21
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My wife dropped the top on our old 964 and it hiccuped and self-destructed and she won't put the top down on our 996. One bite of that apple was enough for her. I tell her not to worry it can't happen again but any top with solenoids and motors and such can get out of sync and turn into the self-destruct mode.
06-23-2008, 06:02 PM
#22
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Thread Starter
Stopped by the dealer (BMW of Nashville, only one w/in 50+ miles), talked to my salesman and the Service Adviser. They have the Shop Foreman and 2 other tech working on the car (I saw them working). At the present time they're just trying to figure out what caused the failure (makes perfect sense to me). From there they (and BMW) will determine what course of action to take with the car.
The dealership did not believe my wife did anything to cause this failure and doesn't believe anything in the trunk caused the failure. Of course I knew that but it was nice to hear them say it.
I was very pleased with the attitude and attention I received from BMW of Nashville. I have no concerns with them so far and if the entire process goes as it has to this point I will be very satisfied.
On another track, my wife has a co-worker who's husband has access to BMW's repair records nation wide. She sent him the link to my photos and the info on the car, he searched and found no record of any other failure like this. He told her it's not unusual for BMW, with a major failure on a new model, to buy the car back and return it to Germany for a detail failure analysis. I wouldn't mind that!
The dealership did not believe my wife did anything to cause this failure and doesn't believe anything in the trunk caused the failure. Of course I knew that but it was nice to hear them say it.
I was very pleased with the attitude and attention I received from BMW of Nashville. I have no concerns with them so far and if the entire process goes as it has to this point I will be very satisfied.
On another track, my wife has a co-worker who's husband has access to BMW's repair records nation wide. She sent him the link to my photos and the info on the car, he searched and found no record of any other failure like this. He told her it's not unusual for BMW, with a major failure on a new model, to buy the car back and return it to Germany for a detail failure analysis. I wouldn't mind that!
06-23-2008, 07:38 PM
#25
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Since Volvo came out with the original design (middle of the roof lifts out and flips back onto another flat part) I've simply assume common failures, but this takes the cake. I know the hardtop convertible has been a sexy idea for some time, but the nightmare of something like this happening out of warranty keeps me from every considering one until we've mastered cold fusion.
06-23-2008, 08:41 PM
#27
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The Mercedes SL has had a hardtop for, what, 6 years now, and I've never heard of that happening.
Those tops are like little expensive German ballets, but man, when something gets out of whack ... that's truly impressive!
If it's engineered anything like the stupid iDrive in my girlfriend's 5 Series, I wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole.
But seriously, Bill, looking at that photo, I think it was pretty lucky it stopped where it did, because you can definitely see someone being seriously injured with that thing so close to the front seats and all that metal twisting itself around. I think BMW will be pretty thankful it wasn't a lot worse, and I would expect them to act accordingly on your behalf.
Those tops are like little expensive German ballets, but man, when something gets out of whack ... that's truly impressive!
If it's engineered anything like the stupid iDrive in my girlfriend's 5 Series, I wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole.
But seriously, Bill, looking at that photo, I think it was pretty lucky it stopped where it did, because you can definitely see someone being seriously injured with that thing so close to the front seats and all that metal twisting itself around. I think BMW will be pretty thankful it wasn't a lot worse, and I would expect them to act accordingly on your behalf.
06-23-2008, 09:01 PM
#28
Race Director
Actually, the Mitsubishi GT3000 VR4 Spyder (now that's a mouth full) was the first car I was aware of that came with an electric hrad top, then the Lexus SC430, then MB SLK, then SL, then BMW, then GM Pontiac, then Maxda Miata, then Volvo, etc. etc.
I won't buy a soft-top convertible, but I certainly can live with a electric hard top. Thus I tried to read extensively on how these tops work. I read plenty of posts about leaks and squeaks. but never one like this where the structure is actually contorted under operation. Seems like one of the moving parts got jammed in place, and the motor was powerful enough (through continuous operation) to twist the whole top assembly into the final shape. This is pretty scary stuff. I thought logically, the motor would stop when it hits a certain resistance level (ala power windows)
Electric hard top aside, after owning an E39 M5, I cannot imagine owning any new(er) BMWs past warranty. There are tons of goofy stuff to break in them newer BMWs these days.
CP
I won't buy a soft-top convertible, but I certainly can live with a electric hard top. Thus I tried to read extensively on how these tops work. I read plenty of posts about leaks and squeaks. but never one like this where the structure is actually contorted under operation. Seems like one of the moving parts got jammed in place, and the motor was powerful enough (through continuous operation) to twist the whole top assembly into the final shape. This is pretty scary stuff. I thought logically, the motor would stop when it hits a certain resistance level (ala power windows)
Electric hard top aside, after owning an E39 M5, I cannot imagine owning any new(er) BMWs past warranty. There are tons of goofy stuff to break in them newer BMWs these days.
CP
