Quote:
Originally Posted by ages944
No camshaft replacement on mine, and it's been over a year since my service. I however took the car in right away when I heard the noise. It might well be that if you can get the car in and repaired early, that you might not need a new cam. I don't think that all dealerships try to rip everyone off, but rather that they aren't as all-knowing about the cars as people seem to think they should be (which is sad, but I suspect it to be true). This becomes a bigger problem when the customer doesn't know much about cars either.
Basically, just sit down and talk logically with the service dept about the problem. Remember that many places would rather fix the issue once and have it over with rather than have to deal with an irate customer whose car has to keep getting brought in for service for the same repair.
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Ages, glad to hear your car being tick free for a year (with the exception of one or two times during this year). I hope it stays tick free. I do agree that the key to your successful repair is because you brought your car in as soon as you could. I think you also got lucky that your dealer did the repair without what many ppl hear from their dealers: "nothing wrong", "drive it and see if it will go away", "we need it to tick consistently to troubleshoot" and etc. What can we do in these cases? You take your car and drive it with ticking noise and as a result ruin your cam, rocker and etc.
On another hand you have second option – DON’T LET IT TICK. Use engine braking, spirited driving, don't idle, avoid short trips and if you have to go for a short trip remember to push oil in by engine braking or whatever works for you. Now, is this a good and smart option? I don't know. Sure, you will be saving your lifters, cam and etc from further damage for longer time - question is for how long. How can one be sure this is not a time bomb that will go off once warranty is over? If you are not planning to keep your car than it might work for you. Also, another advantage you will have time to wait until BMW finish their research and find a permanent solution. So, after all this might not be such a bad option. (What surprise me the most is that this issue is on-going for a year and there is no consistent and permanent fix. Not even an official respond from BMW)
There is of course another way to look at this. BMW guaranteed quality and if there is a problem they will fix it. I am sure for many ppl here option above is not really an option at all. If it is broken BMW have to fix it, if they can’t fix it in a reasonable time they will have to replace the car – end of story (well in reality it is not all that simple but this is an option).
Well, you make your own decision. GL
PS Ages, I am not implying here that your car might still have a problem. I really hope it does not and you enjoy your car for a long time trouble free. I am speaking to the rest of ppl who’ve got ticking problem and hope this rant can help some of them.