[Soul_Glo]

Random ramblings: I have always had a thing for the 325i... many of my uncles had and still have E30, 325i models... and there is one E30 M3 in the extended family. Having messed around over the years tuning... modifying... and gone through more than 20 cars... you would think that one of them was going to be a BMW but it never was until I took a punt on the E92. I loved the E92, 325i so much that I brought one... and then another one on hire purchase. Sadly, the first one had faulty pistions and BMW refused to warrant these... having replaced them via an independent garage friend the car was then totalled and written off because of some moron... so that left me with our E92 325i that was on a hire purchase plan... there was a pricing error when it was advertised... and it made sense to take the plunge as it meant that we would be paying way less... it was worth £14,000 and the pricing error meant it was up for £12,000 which they honored... I threw in my faulty high mileage Audi S3... and financed the amount of £4000. Hey I had plans for the £4000 I already had... I felt that the 325i was enough for my needs so did not go up the range... I had promised my wife a holiday and wanted to get her an eternity ring...

A bit of background: The vehicle seems to be consuming oil at a rate of 1 litre per 700-800 miles. There are no external leaks. It has been maintained above and beyond the requirements within the BMW network. Gaskets, valve cover, seals, vanos, filters, if it is oil related then you name it... the oil condition sensor was even replaced when it became faulty... more than £8,000 in warranty work since I took ownership, including a faulty DME from water ingress! At first the dealerhsip agreed that this was "abnormal" but then it is funny how the story changed to saying that "there is nothing that can be done." From telling me how anything and everything would be covered under warranty to telling me that this fault would no longer be investigated having conducted a final investigation. They outright declined to carry out any "expensive and lengthy investigations." - all of this in lengthy e-mail exchanges.

So where are we now? The add 1 litre warning still pops up but it is not stored in the information cluster. Having used DIS the dealer pulled codes from the cluster and there were no oil warnings. So they are now accusing me of over-filling the engine... and I told them blank... let's drain it right now and you will see that it is at the correct level... they declined this offer. The dealer has suggested that I use 10w40 instead of the specified 0w30... I asked for this in writing and they declined... other dealerships said that they would never use that oil in my car.. but the dealer who suggested it is happy to do this and order the oil for me if I give them the go ahead. There are 10 months remaining on my agreement.

What do I want? I want them to either refund me the full amount of my part-exchange or replace the vehicle with a non faulty like for like vehicle.

However, this is a late 2006 vehicle... and I think they are harder to source... so I doubt they would be able to provide one. More than that... they have declined to do this anyway in their final response letter.

I have now drafted a letter to the Financial Services Ombudsman...

Questions:
Has anyone ever rejected a vehicle on fiance mid way their contract? Did you have any joy? If not then why not? Is there anything I can do to strengthen my case other than the independent engineers report that I have sent?

Apologies for the essays and making you go cross eyed.

Thanks

[wallsmk2]

I have no advice on how to end your contract. But have have you tried a thicker oil? Mine uses a bit of oil, nothing that alarms me but I remember one oil change where I didn't need to top up quite so regularly. Then the garage used 5w40 castrol edge. There was less lifter tick too.

Once I reverted to 5w30 the consumption reverted back to normal. Opie Oils list 5w40 so perhaps it's worth a try. One oil I have found fantastic is shell helix ultra and I use this in the Dino but not sure if it meets the right bmw specs.

That is if there is nothing dramatically wrong with the engine, which BMW suggest not. I would also take it to a good independent to get a thorough investigation and if there's nothing alarming to report, just run a thicker oil. After-all, you love the car and everything else has been swapped or repaired.

[Soul_Glo]

Although that may be an option to experiment with. I don't see why I should at this stage. I would rather try it if the case falls apart for whatever reason. AS we're not addressing the root cause.

Yesterday I sent the Financial Ombudsman Service my report. More than 30 pages... of dealer BS and lies, how they said they would investigate the problem fully but then later declined and made no effort... evidence that I have maintained the vehicle as said with the correct grade and viscosity of oil... copies of invoices and receipts of maintenance within the BMW network... all the information under the sun basically to strengthen my case. Including some independent engineer reports. What is the worse that can happen? They say no... in which case this BMW may just be my last.

[HighlandPete]

Sounds as if you are 'fighting a corner' here.

As suggested, it may be worth simply trying another oil. Won't be the first or last BMW engine that may change its consumption rate simply on oil spec'.

BTW, what mileage on the engine and what sort of use do you put the engine to?

I'm assuming the engine 'breathing' has been checked out, crank case pressures are correct.

HighlandPete

[Aragorn30d]

How long have you had it? Its not clear from your original post.

Given the amount of work done, it sounds like you've had it a while, at which point any rights you have to hand the car back and walk away with a full refund have likely well and truly passed by at this point.

If the cars under warranty, then your best course of action is surely to pursue a warranty claim for the faulty engine. If the dealer arent being helpful, either goto a different dealer or get onto BMW UK instead. Usually manufacturers specifiy an oil consumption rate of 1L per 1000miles as the acceptable limit.

Your best course of action outwith that might well be simply to continue pouring oil into it until the 10 months of the agreement is up, then trade it in for something else.

[Soul_Glo]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Sounds as if you are 'fighting a corner' here.

As suggested, it may be worth simply trying another oil. Won't be the first or last BMW engine that may change its consumption rate simply on oil spec'.

BTW, what mileage on the engine and what sort of use do you put the engine to?

I'm assuming the engine 'breathing' has been checked out, crank case pressures are correct.

HighlandPete

The issues started at around 40,000 miles when I brought the car. The current mileage is 70,000 and I have been going back and forth to the dealership every other month over the last two years.

It sees mixed use - urban/extra urban... a/b roads daily and motorways on weekends... Don't drive it like I stole it... very rarely see stop start traffic due to my route and working hours... miss the rush hour both ways... not a traffic light racer... daily speeds are between 30-60mph. In the mornings it takes me 40 minutes and on the way back I take a different route so that is about 1 hour... even the dealership tried to tell me that I was not "driving it enough" or that I should "drive harder." Yeh... I should rag the car and destroy the car should I? When was up to 2 hours of driving a day not good for a car?!

Pressures checked out fine. As we have stayed on top of oil services the cyclonic separator is in good working order.

[Soul_Glo]

Originally Posted by Aragorn30d

How long have you had it? Its not clear from your original post.

Given the amount of work done, it sounds like you've had it a while, at which point any rights you have to hand the car back and walk away with a full refund have likely well and truly passed by at this point.

If the cars under warranty, then your best course of action is surely to pursue a warranty claim for the faulty engine. If the dealer arent being helpful, either goto a different dealer or get onto BMW UK instead. Usually manufacturers specifiy an oil consumption rate of 1L per 1000miles as the acceptable limit.

Your best course of action outwith that might well be simply to continue pouring oil into it until the 10 months of the agreement is up, then trade it in for something else.

The car can be handed back at any point during the hire purchase. Although dealers like to state that you need to be mid way through your agreement this is not true. The law says different. However, things get tricky in terms of refunds/proving faults. In the first 6 months of ownership the dealer must prove the vehicle is at fault/not at fault and after that it falls on the owner.

The dealership were all... whether it is a new engine or gearbox it will be covered under warranty... but the story changed and the service manager told me straight... that warranty will never be authorized on my car because of its age and mileage... they estimate a new engine to be in excess of £9,000 and the car is not worth that much now. I have exhausted every London dealership - most of them terrible. So I headed back up toward home... Warwick... and had more joy there but not the outcome that I had hoped for.

Yes manufacturers do specify about 1000 Miles to the Liter but the BMW tolerance is higher... it is 700 miles to 1 liter... so you can imagine if I am achieving 750 miles to a liter that this is on the "cusp" and as it is not 700 or less then it will not be considered as warranty work.

The way some dealerships administer the warranty absolutely stinks. Each has their own rules and ideas. One dealership charged me for oil as it was a "consumable." Another told me that I could get the cost of the oil back if my claim was successful - which it was but no money in my bank for that one... and another dealership did not charge me a penny for an oil change. With such variation it has been pot luck finding a dealership that actually helps. One was really helpful up to a point and that point being when they started denying that I had been receiving oil warnings etc. What do you do when the dealership lies? I guess I am up against a corner here.