[WOPALX]

I'm peddling about in my step mothers 325 E90 while mine is having a bumper repair done.

Anyway it's getting the steering wheel locked error light (even when running) and will occasionally refuse to start.

Car is about 4 months out of warranty so what are peoples thoughts on $tealerships and doing work 'gratis' on failed components where there is a known issue (steering column) that fails shortly after warranty has expired?

[manyways]

if its a recognised fault with the e90 325's then u'll have a better chance, and ur relationship with the dealship will also come into play. They'll prob do a "goodwill" repair whereby you pay for any parts required and they do it labour free...could be the other way around, cant remember. Service history canalso play a part as they're more likely to do it if the car has had service done with them throughout

if you run into problems trying to get that, best bet is to contact bmw aust directly

[MFKN3]

Originally Posted by manyways

ur relationship with the dealship will also come into play.

Is it just me or does this amount to SFA?

I mean it's either covered under warranty and back charged to BMWA or not.

Maybe try calling a couple dealers and asking them where they stand on the repair? To be fair though, hyundai's have a better warranty than BMW's which is pretty ordinary...

[mark325]

To be fair though, hyundai's have a better warranty than BMW's which is pretty ordinary...

Ahhh no... lol, They might offer a longer period of warranty but not much compares to BMW's service while your car is under the warranty period. Well this is what I have found anyway hehe.

[mmmmQuattro]

everytime i have had an issue outside of warranty (up to one year), they have either provided the part or the labour free.
i still had to pay something, but not the full amount.

[e93]

Picked up my car today after getting a "steering lock faulty" message on the weekend. They replaced the steering column!!!!. Happily still under warranty but makes you wonder what kind of expense would have been incurred if it wasn't?

[WOPALX]

I spoke with my old man yesterday, they have had the error occasionally crop up for the past 6mths.... silly that they did not tend to it earlier however my step mother has been getting treated for cancer so I guess they have other things on their mind.

Car has only done 17K so it's pretty much new.

So I called the selling dealer and their service people were not overly helpful, not surprising as they are a franchise. Could not give me an idea of if good will is normal or not in this instance.

So I spoke with my normal SA at the dealership I go to. He indicated they would most likely get the parts done gratis and we would need to cover labor, however he recognizes I'm a good customer and will try to get the labor covered as well.

Cost wise labor if it needs reprogramming is $600 approx. A new steering column is about $1800 for the parts.

[richie_csl]

according to my local SA... all bmw warranty jobs are covered by BMW AG, not BMW Australia if the car is still under warranty and if the dealership carries a warranty job that's over an allowable time frame (allowance pre-set by BMW AG), the dealership will have to suck up the extra cost themselves.

cheers

richie

[JamieA]

My experience has been that if it is a known issue, BMW always end up doing the right thing by the customer. I know others have had different outcomes, so perhaps this isn't a hard and fast rule, but it should be.

I know things are different in your parent's case, I always make sure that I get any seemingly issues logged during a service, even if they can't/won't fix them right away, because if it turns out that the issue was really a warranty item and the car is out of warranty I have something to come back at them with. This saved me once with an issue with one of my previous cars (of another brand).

[dtlv8]

Originally Posted by WOPALX

I spoke with my old man yesterday, they have had the error occasionally crop up for the past 6mths.... silly that they did not tend to it earlier however my step mother has been getting treated for cancer so I guess they have other things on their mind.

Car has only done 17K so it's pretty much new.

So I called the selling dealer and their service people were not overly helpful, not surprising as they are a franchise. Could not give me an idea of if good will is normal or not in this instance.

So I spoke with my normal SA at the dealership I go to. He indicated they would most likely get the parts done gratis and we would need to cover labor, however he recognizes I'm a good customer and will try to get the labor covered as well.

Cost wise labor if it needs reprogramming is $600 approx. A new steering column is about $1800 for the parts.

I had this problem last year last well. I can't remember the exact details but something like $250 for the software and $750 for some steering locking mechanism, about $1000 all up. I've heard so many owners complaining of the same problem. So push the dealer to fix this while it's under warranty.