[Costello]

I would like to have your opinion.

As I already wrote this week, my car (E92 N55) is in a BMW dealer to make the repair of the Valvetronic, I was told that the budget was 1000€ but after connecting the BMW diagnosis, the budget was increased to 2000€ because they had to change the Valvetronic motor and the eccentric camshaft. OK.

The day they disassembled the injectors they told me that they broke 5 of 6, and that this would have a price of 1020€ extra for the injectors, to which I accepted.

The straw that is breaking the camel's back, is that today they have called me from the workshop, indicating that after repairing the Valvetronic, cylinder 4 always presents misfires (excess air) and they wanted to ask me if I accept to change the valve cover to test if this solves the problem, to which I said NO, because the current cover was already changed TWO MONTHS (940kms) ago! After checking it themselves they have told me that I am right, but that they have no idea how to solve the problem.

BMW has told me that the total bill for the repair has amounted to almost 4800€ due to the labor for the replacement of the injectors plus the labor for the repair of the Valvetronic, but I do not understand where the extra 1300€ have come from, so when I asked about this, they did not want to answer me, saying that I will see the bill when they find the solution.

My question is, can BMW charge me some kind of labor for replacing the injectors?

1º They are to blame for breaking them (and even so, I agreed to pay for the new injectors myself), and secondly, according to BMW Database itself, the disassembly/assembly of the injectors is already included in the repair of the Valvetronic.

2º What can be causing the problem of misfires? This problem was not there before I took the car to the workshop, and of course it did not appear in the BMW diagnosis either. Spark plugs, coils, injectors are new and cylinder compression is also right... They have also tried to change the injectors, spark plugs, coils from one cylinder to another and they say that the problem continues.

[PhaceN52]

I can't understand why you should pay for something they broke while performing another repair considering they should be also insured for occurrences like that...

Did they code the new injectors index number?

[Costello]

Originally Posted by PhaceN52

I can't understand why you should pay for something they broke while performing another repair considering they should be also insured for occurrences like that...

Did they code the new injectors index number?

According to what they explained to me, after 100000Kms mounted on the car, over time they stick to the engine block and it is normal that this can happen. As I say, I can understand that part. What I do not understand is that everything points to the fact that they want to charge me extra labor.
Regarding the index, I believe the N55 injectors do not have any index number.

[PhaceN52]

well "you'll see the bill after we finish" isn't exactly appropriate in my opinion, if they don't want to collaborate and make wall instead maybe give a call at Bmw germany explaining the situation... with stealership level prices it has no sense imho. Maybe the wiring harness is causing the misfire? Like some kind of corrosion on the pins in the connector that goes on the coil or the injector? N52s are a bit sensible to that, like you start the car and it misfires shaking on 5 cylinders, you wiggle the connector on the coil and it purrs perfectly lol

[Costello]

Originally Posted by PhaceN52

well "you'll see the bill after we finish" isn't exactly appropriate in my opinion, if they don't want to collaborate and make wall instead maybe give a call at Bmw germany explaining the situation... with stealership level prices it has no sense imho. Maybe the wiring harness is causing the misfire? Like some kind of corrosion on the pins in the connector that goes on the coil or the injector? N52s are a bit sensible to that, like you start the car and it misfires shaking on 5 cylinders, you wiggle the connector on the coil and it purrs perfectly lol

the problem is that the mixture is lean, in other words, it has too much oxygen. Therefore, I don't know to what level a spark plug or coil problem could be the cause.
However, some kind of electrical failure that only affects that cylinder makes sense, since there are a lot of wires to move in order to remove the rocker cover.

[PhaceN52]

Yeah, the thing I can't understand is why there should be more air only in one cylinder since it doesn't have ITBs but a shared intake manifold, given for sure the spark plug is torqued correctly and the injector orings aren't leaking, being the compression good I hope too is something electrical that's somehow triggering a lean fault there... Keep us updated

[mainbearing]

The valve cover two months ago should be covered under warranty? If there is such a thing in Germany. In the U. S. it would be. And if they broke two injectors, they should replace them on their cost, not yours. Then again, maybe things work differently in Germany.

And it sounds like that dealer hired some really incompetent mechanics.

[M-technik-3]

Too lean? Is your fuel pump making adequate psi?

[Costello]

Originally Posted by mainbearing

The valve cover two months ago should be covered under warranty? If there is such a thing in Germany. In the U. S. it would be. And if they broke two injectors, they should replace them on their cost, not yours. Then again, maybe things work differently in Germany.

And it sounds like that dealer hired some really incompetent mechanics.

The thing is that the valvecover is not broken, it was just a matter of trying his luck. Also, if it was a rocker cover problem, the misfire problem would be present on several cylinders, not always on the cilinder 4.
As I say, they are currently completely lost and the worst thing is that I have the suspicion that they are going to try to charge me for their lack of experience.

Originally Posted by M-technik-3

Too lean? Is your fuel pump making adequate psi?

I don't know, I don't know if they have checked the fuel pump pressure. I suppose that at least they have checked the amount of fuel coming out of each injector.

[tcphoto]

It sounds to me like the dealership is milking you for everything they can get, I wouldn’t have authorized any of the up charges since it was their doing and broke parts, the extra labor is on them for their incompetence.

[marvinstockman]

OP, in the US the dealers have BMW Zone reps who service a certain territory and deal with technical issues, and I'm sure you have the same in Germany.

Ask to meet with the Zone rep at the dealership to go over your issues.

As has been said, you're being screwed royally. Also, the injectors should be installed for free, and you should only pay dealer cost for them.

[Costello]

Originally Posted by tcphoto

It sounds to me like the dealership is milking you for everything they can get, I wouldn’t have authorized any of the up charges since it was their doing and broke parts, the extra labor is on them for their incompetence.

That is the same suspicion I have and that is why I opened this post

Originally Posted by marvinstockman

OP, in the US the dealers have BMW Zone reps who service a certain territory and deal with technical issues, and I'm sure you have the same in Germany.

Ask to meet with the Zone rep at the dealership to go over your issues.

As has been said, you're being screwed royally. Also, the injectors should be installed for free, and you should only pay dealer cost for them.

Yes I know, I have already noted down the customer service contact in Germany for the day I officially receive the final invoice... Since I am sure that there will be more surprises, what I don't know is if I should contact the customer service now or wait for the invoice.

Since currently, the only thing I have on emails is that they broke the FRM module and this supposedly BMW takes full responsibility, BUT they removed my SZL module (cruise control/speed control) because it was retrofitted by me. Although I know this is BMW policy, since it was an unofficial retrofit. So here, I can't file any complaints,

And also that instead of the 5 BMW injectors they put me 5 BOSCH injectors to reduce costs of the total bill. But of course, they indicate that I must pay for this.

[marvinstockman]

I'd ask for a meeting now while the vehicle is still in the shop, and document all your issues for the meeting. Be nice and try not to lose your temper. Maybe have a beer before the meeting.

[Costello]

Originally Posted by marvinstockman

I'd ask for a meeting now while the vehicle is still in the shop, and document all your issues for the meeting. Be nice and try not to lose your temper. Maybe have a beer before the meeting.

After consulting in different forums, there are several people who have indicated to me that everything points to the DME having been damaged, and this should have been included as with the injectors as a warning in the initial estimate.
And since I was not informed at any time, I would not have to pay the full amount or at most, a portion of what is now necessary for the repair.
In researching the car's history, I also discovered that on a Valvetronic repair in 2015, the DME also had to be repaired/reprogrammed. Calculating the work units and parts, the total bill amounted to 4000€, this is even less than the current budget assumption of almost 5000€, without any type of DME Problems.

Therefore, from now on I will only communicate with the workshop via email to have proof of everything and tomorrow I will contact a lawyer to have REAL advice of what responsibilities I have as a customer. Since the initial diagnosis and budget is being exceeded by almost 2500€ and they dont even have a solution.

It may sound a bit drastic, but I prefer to be prepared for the day I receive the final invoice for the repair so that I have all the necessary German legal information.

[sowbmw]

This is the reason why I am a bit hesitant to bring my car in to the dealer for recalls or service work. It's your vehicle and 5000 is a lot of money to spend on something that wasn't part of the original budget. I get that things may break, but care should be taken when fixing another person's car (at least that's what i think). Make sure to document and take pics if possible. Please update us on the outcome.

[Costello]

Originally Posted by sowbmw

This is the reason why I am a bit hesitant to bring my car in to the dealer for recalls or service work. It's your vehicle and 5000 is a lot of money to spend on something that wasn't part of the original budget. I get that things may break, but care should be taken when fixing another person's car (at least that's what i think). Make sure to document and take pics if possible. Please update us on the outcome.

UPDATE:
At the end of February, I received a temporary invoice even though the car was not repaired, 4400€, of which there were parts that had been changed without notifying me, such as a new battery. The funny thing is, my old battery was only 1 year old! So I escalated the situation to bmw customer service in germany on monday, I received a reply on wednesday. They apologized, and from the dealer they reduced the bill to 3800€ and disassembled the battery after confirming that my battery was working properly. They also indicated that the misfire problems that arose after the Valvetronic repair were solved.

I made the payment, picked up the car and everything seemed to work fine. 10 days later and after just over 100kms/60miles driven, the cylinder 4 problem reoccurred!

I reported this to the workshop and was told that they would discuss it internally before asking me to take the car back to the workshop.

[M-technik-3]

I would be speaking with your lawyer, sorry to hear of your continuing nightmare. What Dealer is it so others may avoid them,

[Captain Buumer]

600€ for a battery change.

Wow!

They are sacmming you.

Did they even replace the parts you payed for?
At this point nobody knows.

[Cloverdale]

At the risk of seeming unhelpful, you own a vehicle (beyond it's warranty) that's too complex to be practical to own without being capable of performing your own repairs and maintenance. The maintenance and repairs of which are going to continue. Suggest you stay away from anything not naturally aspirated on your next purchase (stay away from anything turbo or supercharged).