[986s]

Hi Folks,

After a bit of advice really.
Had the dreaded red steering lock icon for a few days on the dash. Parked the car at work one night and went to it in the morning and found that it would not start, therefore necessitating it (2007 335i) to be towed to nearest BMW dealer. Day later received call to say steering column needed replacing and total cost was 1,100 euro's. I replied that I was not happy with this as it was a known common issue and my car was main dealer supplied, FSH etc and to apply to BMW for goodwill for the parts cost (happy to pay labour). I gave the ok to order the part but not fit until BMW came back with a decision on the goodwill claim.
Two days later received a text saying car was ready, cost was 1,100 euro's, car would not be released until this was settled and BMW had not came back to them yet re the goodwill claim.
Couple of questions?
What are my chances of getting a goodwill claim (car out of warranty) for this known issue?
What are my rights as I did not authorise any work to be done on the car until a response was received from BMW?

Any help much appreciated.

[Dr Dave]

Hmmmmm was this OK to proceed pending favourable warranty goodwill contribution given verbally or written (text?) or email?

If your car has BMWSH and has a sensible mileage then I see no problems with goodwill forthcoming.

Can't see it taking so long, I think the stealer is being lazy.

[davyk31]

No reason why they can't sort this quickly. You could ask the dealer for the reference and ring BMW yourself to check progress. This has helped me in the past whenever dealer said BMW would only pay half, after a few calls to BMW cust services they paid the whole thing.

[986s]

Thanks for the replies!

My dealings with the dealer were all done over the phone which I made quite clear that the part was to be ordered and pending the outcome of the goodwill claim a decision would be made then.
Good point on getting the reference number for the goodwill claim and contacting BMW directly myself- will try that tomorrow in order to speed things up!

Thanks again

[scottishpete]

Just tell them you never said to fit it so go and take the thing back off,see how fast they call BMW then

[MTRHEAD]

>Just tell them you never said to fit it so go and take the thing back off,see how fast they call BMW then

+1 absolutely!

It's a cost management exercise between the dealer trying to get paid and BMW trying to manage their warranty costs on what sounds like a known product quality issue.

[dape90]

Having had a similar problem with my sister in-laws mini a few years ago I would say that although the theory the law is on your side you are stuck in that you still need to pay for the work completed.

Best approach to get a goodwill claim through is get as much info as you can about the problem your BMW has and send it all with all the proof of similar claims from other BMW owners. I did this with the mini and they made a decision in 3 days. And it was good news as well with a full costs of parts covered, all in a £800 claim!

On the issue with the dealership, well whatever you do you will still have to pay. However I went to the dealership and made a massive complaint and made it quite clear in a very loud manor that all the other customers could hear about how unhappy I was.
The upshot of this was a 20% discount on the labour costs. Don't take no for an answer, you asked them not to do the work until they heard form you. They should of understood this, just typical of a dealer!!!

Good luck with all of this.

Regards

D

[986s]

Just getting back with an update- to say Im peeved with the dealer is an understatement!

Car is now nearly 2 weeks with the dealer without a resolution. The dealer spent all last week telling me the car was ready for collection- great I said but did you hear back from BMW on the goodwill claim? Not yet sir, was the reply (even have it by text message). Took advice from here and contacted BMW customer services directly today who said the goodwill claim was just lodged yesterday! To make matters worse BMW have refused a goodwill payment because the dealer said it did not have a service history with them- even though it has a full BMW service history spread between two other BMW main dealers!
Could not believe what I was hearing over the phone and asked if customer services had acess to my service records which clearly show that I have maintained a full service history over two other main dealers- the reply I received was that they could not. So I had to photocopy all my service receipts and get the garage who has my car to fax these onto BMW (after a blazzing row)in order for them to change there mind on the goodwill claim.
So in summary the dealer spent (1) 3 days diagnosing the steering column lock issue (I told them the likely cause within 5 mins of them receiving my car) (2) Fitted a new steering column withou my authorisation at a charge of 1,100 euro
(3) Lied for nearly a week saying that they had not heard back from BMW on my goodwill claim- even though they did not have it even submitted! (4) Told BMW customer services that I had no service history (I have a full BMW service history with a book, receipts to prove it) which meant that the claim was turned down outright by BMW.

You guys think that some dealers are bad in the UK, try this particular Irish dealer!

[zltm089]

which dealer is this?

[spandeli]

Sometimes, it makes me wonder, what does a full servise BMW history has to do with a faulty steering wheel column..
idiots

[ALF_E90]

A BMW history vs proper servicing elsewhere with the right parts has no bearing on anything except main dealers maintaining their high charges!

Indeed many of the common failures that are clearly design or manufacturing faults (like the steering column) would not be affected by the car never being serviced at all in any way...