[samson]

I took my 2006 E90 325I with 49,000 miles to my independent guy (Thomas at Buckhead Imports, Atlanta) for an oil change and to check what I thought was a gasket leak. Turns out my valve cover bolts are broken. He reached right in and was able to pull one out. He said that it was because of the bolt composition - aluminum and magnesium. He also said that BMW is not acknowledging that there is a problem even though he has seen several cases of it happening.

I drove straight over to Nalley BMW in Decatur, GA to discuss this with them. My service advisor was in "the middle of paperwork" and could not come out to talk with me. I had to speak to him on the phone while standing 25 feet from him. He stated that he did not know of a problem and that since I was out of warranty there was nothing they would do.

I will be calling BMW NA to discuss this problem with them. Has anyone had success with non-warranty repairs and getting BMW to take any responsibility? I will also be sending a letter to Mr. Nalley letting him know how much I appreciated the personal service and that there was no way I would be using Nalley for repairs or purchases after my experience there this morning.

BTW My mechanic says that you need to replace all the bolts so that you do not run the danger of cracking any others when you torque the new ones, and to minimize the risk of having more cracks down the line.

Any advice on dealing with BMW NA is appreciated.

Thanks!