[Scoff123]

Hi all, after introducing myself in the newb thread and browsing the forum intently over the past couple of weeks I thought I would post up about a my recent dealership experience. After taking delivery of a 2011 E90 LCI 320D M Sport Auto (my first Auto) with 35k on the clock nearly 2 weeks ago from my local BMW dealership, taking the car out for the first time properly that evening, I accelerated moderately to join the motorway and the engine management light came on and the screen showing engine fault appeared in the idrive. The car still drove fine, just at reduced power but I headed home feeling absolutely gutted.

BMW assistance came out and diagnosed several error codes EGR, actuator/boost etc and advised it would have to go back to the dealership to investigate/fix. They called me later that day to advise that a new turbo, exhaust manifold and a couple other parts had been ordered and would be fitted the next day. I questioned if they had a lot of turbos being replaced on 2.5 year old cars and they replied 'no sir'. It left me a bit concerned over the condition of the rest of the engine/car as a whole, and after getting the logbook through and seeing the one previous owner was 'Europecar LTD', I started thinking I'd bought a lemon that had been abused as a hire car . I had to fart around trying to get Enterprise car hire to get a car out to me while my car was being fixed (via the BMW assistance service) which they failed to do that evening and the whole thing turned into a complete nightmare. This combined with the fact the brake fluid service light was on and had been missed, led me back into the dealership on Monday morning and needless to say I conveyed my disgust that they could hand over a car in that sort of condition. They blamed the other branch where the car had come across from for not doing the AUC prep properly, so I questioned why they had the car for 2 weeks after getting it over from that branch for me to test drive and hadn't checked the car over, put any screenwash in etc and somehow put it through an MOT ready for my collection. It looks like all they did was valet the car and 'assumed' the car was all up together....

Anyway, all the work was carried out and they assured me that everything was now correct with the car and there were no other issues and everything was spot on. As you can imagine, this totally took the shine off getting the car (the most I've spent on a car). My experience at the same branch last year when I got my 1 series was faultless and was a great experience, hence going back again this year (got bored with the 118D very limited spec!).

I've had the car and driven on my daily commute (90 miles round trip each day) for a week now and to be fair I absolutely love it, and have grown to feel confident in it again now and can start to actually enjoy driving it now. The cruise control and arm rest are still a novelty and make the commute a lot less tedious!! I love gadgets and tech stuff so been having a good old play around with the idrive too.

Before i took delivery of the car I asked the dealer to replace all the wheel bolts as they were all badly rusted, which they done. However I've noticed the spring clips all round are very rusty, and the even the calipers have rust on them (didn't think they would rust, my 118 calipers looked mind compared and that was 2 years older). Here's an example





I've read that the hubs normally go rusty, but just surprised at the calipers themselves? Maybe the car has either been kept by the coast or has had aggressive acid wheel cleaner regularly used perhaps?

Noticed this in the engine bay which is very rusty as well (which I have found out is the fuel pump)



Is this anything to be concerned about? Has anyone had anything similar in terms of rust and managed to get it sorted through the AUC warranty?
Sorry for the rant, but I'm much calmer now than I was last week, that's for sure!

Scott

[Phil325i]

Gad you're feeling a bit better about your purchase. I'd say your significant rusting has been caused by aggressive cleaning/pressure washing in preparation for sale. Some rusting of hubs/calipers is normal, but I'd say yours was bad for a car that age. And I would definitely raise the rusting on the fuel pump as a concern with the dealer.

[bmwspeed01]

I've never seen rust like that on a three year old car it looks like it may have been sitting in water up to the brake callipers for a while. Nothing a good rub down and paint wouldn't cure!

[Scoff123]

Yeah thankfully it drives perfectly now and I am really enjoying it, just a bit disappointed things have rusted already and the fact it must have been stood outside for some time or lived near the sea + a combination of wheel cleaner too perhaps. I'm certainly not shy when it comes to getting the wire brush and paint out, just wish I didn't have to bother as I was hoping to avoid this sort of thing by getting a nice up to date car! I've worked on all my own cars over the years up until the 1 series last year due to it having the AUC warranty, so will just have to invest in a trolley jack, get some hammerite or caliper paint in silver probably, to keep it looking oem and get to work one weekend

Have just spoken to the dealership who have confirmed that the rust in no way compromises the functionality of the brakes whatsoever, and is to be expected over time from the elements, therefore they will not be able to do anything about it under warranty, likewise for the fuel pump. By way of an apology they have just today had the car in and updated the nav maps from the original 2011 maps to the latest 2014 maps and apologized again for the trouble. I guess that's something, and looking this service up online, normally costs a fair bit!

So providing nothing else happens or goes wrong now, actually no, I'm not going to finish that sentence!

[Digitalize]

Paint the brakes silver or black or whatever, forget about the fuel pump.

Surely you noticed the brakes when collecting?

[evoix]

it had to be sitting in water to get like that. THats some really bad rust. I thought mine were bad but nothing close to that. Paint them but make sure you get all the rust off as much as you can before painting.

[acerboo]

now wanting to put a damper on it (no pun intended) but might be worth having a look under the carpets to see if theres any signs of damp as if its been up to the brake calipers in water could be water had got inside the car especially with all the recent floods.

[Tipper]

You mention that it was owned by Europecar therefore it was a hire car.

Hire cars are typically pressure washed after every outing. This could mean it has been pressure washed almost daily. I suspect in cleaning they also use a strong detergent additive so it's not surprising that many parts are rusty.

I'd want a print out of its BMW service schedule too!

[wallsmk2]

as above, I think you'd notice if it had been sitting in water. Likely to have been pressure washed within and inch of its life and then sat on a forecourt with no heat to dry it out. Nothing a quick rub down with a wire brush won't cure and really nothing to be concerned about. I should imagine most calipers are in that state but disguised by layers of brake dust.

[djgandy]

The rust is bad, but nothing out of the ordinary for a car that will have just been sat outside in the rain and snow for extended periods.

[Digitalize]

Sat in flood water?!?!? You people are ridiculous.

Brake calipers rust, they're bare metal.

Bit of aggressive cleaning schedule and bam, rust.

[N8N]

The rust on the anti-rattle clips and the rotor hats is normal, sadly.

Bentley says to replace them when doing the brakes anyway... I didn't (shh!) but I did wire wheel them and then paint them with caliper paint when I changed my brakes. Used Centric rotors rather than BMW so now my stuff looks good. Those calipers look paintable, not that bad.

One other spot that I found rust on my car was under the hood behind the passenger (driver, to you) side headlight, there is a zinc(?) plated bracket that holds some vacuum reservoirs, that bracket I had to remove and repaint. Now it is all proper! (and this is a vast improvement over most of the cars that I've had in the past where every part removed as part of a repair is rusty and gets electrolytically derusted and painted...)

[bmwspeed01]

Originally Posted by Digitalize

Sat in flood water?!?!? You people are ridiculous.

Brake calipers rust, they're bare metal.

Bit of aggressive cleaning schedule and bam, rust.

Calm down!

[Scoff123]

Yeah people are only sharing thought and ideas as to why the parts are in this condition, nothing ridiculous about it.
Thanks for the various opinions, just good to see what others think about it.
I've checked the car over and am confident it hasn't been in a flood, based on all the normal tell tale signs and all carpets are bone dry with no odour at all, and no air fresheners in the car etc. The suspension/chassis parts I can see from underneath the car all look in good condition with no signs of rust at all so that's reassuring. Just going to clean up and paint the parts to get them up to scratch - new anti rattle clips are only around a fiver each form bmminiparts so might just replace them and possibly coat the new ones silver to preserve them when I paint the calipers and hubs. Then the car will look spot on
Just glad I have the 194 wheels and not the 313s!