[mu979]

Originally Posted by Prowess Symphony

Maybe this is the baltimore in me, but my first thought was not lawyers or security tapes....it was dealing with the valet directly. I guess thats not the best course of action however.

+1

Give the hotel/valet a little bit of credit. People (employees) make mistakes and there ARE businesses that are willing to own up to their (or their employees') mistakes. It sounds like everyone is way too quick to hire a lawyer and throw the hotel/valet under the bus. If you get a lawyer involved from Day 1, the hotel/valet WILL fight it because you didn't give them the chance to solve it on their own. If they are going to end up potentially paying for a new engine anyway, they'll want to do it as cheaply as possible and with a low profile, meaning out of court. Give them the chance to resolve the solution by professionally and calmly presenting your case with the GM of the hotel. If the case does escalate, this action will only help the OP's case, as it's a sign of goodwill on the behalf of the OP and it will also give a leg up on any evidence or proof the hotel may or may not have.

[habu1976]

Originally Posted by mu979

+1

Give the hotel/valet a little bit of credit. People (employees) make mistakes and there ARE businesses that are willing to own up to their (or their employees') mistakes. It sounds like everyone is way too quick to hire a lawyer and throw the hotel/valet under the bus. If you get a lawyer involved from Day 1, the hotel/valet WILL fight it because you didn't give them the chance to solve it on their own. If they are going to end up potentially paying for a new engine anyway, they'll want to do it as cheaply as possible and with a low profile, meaning out of court. Give them the chance to resolve the solution by professionally and calmly presenting your case with the GM of the hotel. If the case does escalate, this action will only help the OP's case, as it's a sign of goodwill on the behalf of the OP and it will also give a leg up on any evidence or proof the hotel may or may not have.

I've been lurking here since I got my E92 a month ago and your post motivated me to actually register. Not only does it make good sense from a business perspective but it also is just plain old The Right Thing To Do.

Jeez people, can we cut the other humanoids just a little slack and have some empathy once in awhile? Yes, if the hotel management/valet company act like douchebags and blow this off, then by all means, take the gloves off.

But never underestimate the power of diplomacy and tact. Most people will do the right thing most of the time if you don't put them on the defensive and piss 'em off.

Granted, I know this is a forum and people spout off the first thing that comes to mind. I doubt even some of the tough talkers on here would actually behave the way they advise, at least initially. I get the emotionality too, I friggin' love cars and have treated every one I've ever owned like a princess. I'd be mighty upset at this fiasco too.

On the constructive side of things, I think you should try to negotiate for some compensation for rental cars and your wasted time. If you do bring a suit (contingency cases are risky and the attorney gets at least 35 to 40 percent), you absolutely should factor those costs in. If you're dealing with the hotel or valet company they will be insured, and there is not much of a chance that you'll ever make it to a courtroom. It's a game of attrition. And just remember that your lawyer has his own axe to grind and it isn't always in line with what your interests are.

I'll get off the soapbox now. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to y'all! I've learned a ton of stuff in my short time here.

ps. I once was a valet at a high end resort/restaurant in Palm Springs. While I don't speak for some of the other yahoo's I worked with, I never took any liberties with fine sporting machinery that I wouldn't have taken with my own hardware....

[tmon25]

I ran into a similar situation awhile back ... I went to valet the car because I was running late for work... I ususally park and lock ... when I came back all I smelled was clutch ... I talked to the regular valet guy that knows my car and he told me that the new valet guy decided to learn how to drive stick in my tuned jetta ... i spoke to the manager and did not drive it away from the lot ... he got it checked and since the other valet had signed the statement on what he witnessed ... they paid for towing and clutch replacement ... and that's how i ended up with my stage 3 clutch ... moral of the story ... valet guys do what valet guys do .... have fun with your car at your expense ... he got fired ... not sure if he they hit them with the bill, but who cares ...

Good luck, hopefully they take responsibility for the damages. All you need is another vallet to fess up and you've got proof.

[bulldog_yyc]

Originally Posted by Pete The Greek

This just confirms that all of valets are douchebags.

+1

[Curt2000]

Wow, you need to find one of those TV commercial lawyers that says 'If you don't get paid--we don't get paid!'

J/K...seems like you are keeping your cool pretty well, if this was me I would have flown off the handle on a number of people by now.

Is there any way to get the police involved?

[Htown09]

Originally Posted by eurodriver

I got the details from the dealer. According to the DME report the incident happened at 26078.9 miles and the car with them right now is at 26084. I retraced my steps last night. From the hotel to where my car broke down it was exactly 3.4 miles. That means the car was over revved 2.6 miles(approximatly) before i got the car.
Conculsion has to be that the valet took it for a joy ride and screwed me. I searched for an attorney and they are saying if they do not win there going to charge approximatly 10k for all the work that goes into it.

Have you tried solving this with the GM of hotel/valet? What is the update?

[BrianMN]

Yes update please!

[Blind32]

Any update?

[eurodriver]

Originally Posted by BrianMN

Yes update please!

Hey guys, sorry for the delay in letting you know the update.

So I tried a couple of differnt routes.

1st- I tried to go through insurance. They denied the claim

2nd- tried to get an attorney; they stated it was going to be a long shot and the fees were REDICULIOUS!

3rd- tried to get the motor rebuilt on my own- it was going to be nearly 8-9k and thats rebuilding the engine, with no car to drive while thats being fixed and it could take 2+ weeks.

Final resolution- Spoke with my service manager rep. This guy is awsome. Hes been helping me out since day 1. I told him the situation and that insruance denied it. At this point I thought I was screwed. He told me hes going to try to work something out for me. He called in a few favors and got the cost of a BRAND New Engine installed and everything down to $8000.

Even if I tried to rebuild the engine and go through a mechanic that would work on it on the side(and its a hook up) it would cost me that much with no guarantee that BMW would take this lease back.

$8,000 is a lot of money but now its a brand new engine and atleast i can return the lease when its done and over with.

Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it.

[McMuffin]

Originally Posted by eurodriver

Hey guys, sorry for the delay in letting you know the update.

So I tried a couple of differnt routes.

1st- I tried to go through insurance. They denied the claim

2nd- tried to get an attorney; they stated it was going to be a long shot and the fees were REDICULIOUS!

3rd- tried to get the motor rebuilt on my own- it was going to be nearly 8-9k and thats rebuilding the engine, with no car to drive while thats being fixed and it could take 2+ weeks.

Final resolution- Spoke with my service manager rep. This guy is awsome. Hes been helping me out since day 1. I told him the situation and that insruance denied it. At this point I thought I was screwed. He told me hes going to try to work something out for me. He called in a few favors and got the cost of a BRAND New Engine installed and everything down to $8000.

Even if I tried to rebuild the engine and go through a mechanic that would work on it on the side(and its a hook up) it would cost me that much with no guarantee that BMW would take this lease back.

$8,000 is a lot of money but now its a brand new engine and atleast i can return the lease when its done and over with.

Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it.

Bummer!

[chumley]

Originally Posted by Htown09

Have you tried solving this with the GM of hotel/valet? What is the update?

I am curious about this too. It's unlikely they would be immediately receptive but even if they blow you off, any responsible management team would take this type of claim seriously and investigate, even if they tell you otherwise. They would at the very least address it with their valet staff or the firm handling it.

I would think there would be other options as well as far as legally. Is small claims court an option? Letters documenting your case to the hotel gm or owner. Calls to TV or newspapers? I would try a quite a few things before I paid for a new engine in a leased car.

If nothing else I would do whatever I could to get the attendant and or his company fired. Doing nothing just reinforces this behavior.

[CubanJJ09]

jesus, suck u had to pay out of pocket but at least u have a car

[rallycobra]

I would take the hotel to small claims court for the motor if the dealer can provide you with a time the engine was overreved. Your friends should be able to swear in court that you were with them at the time.

Hope it all works out!

[BavarianBullet]

The problem with small claims court in most places is:
1) Claims are usually limited to a "small" amount ($2500 in my town)
2) The defendant usually has the right to ask to move the case to a full superior court trial. This is a trick most places with a legal staff would do because it forces you to take that leap of faith and invest in a lawyer which is an expensive crapshoot. Goliath > David.

$8k installed isn't bad for this car I'm guessing. From the stealership, you're practically robbing them!

[bavarian19]

So you are just letting the hotel off the hook?

[Kelvin1000]

I think that what you should do is start selling the parts of the old engine piece by piece on eBay motors. Injectors, fuel pump and whatever other parts might be redundant.

You might be able to recover some of the cost...

[Rob@RBTurbo]

They probably purchased a new shortblock and removed all of the other parts from the old engine and installed in the new one. If there was head damage (ie. bent valves), they may have done a long block. Surely there is a significant price difference between a complete engine (injectors to oil pan), a long block (rotating assembly/cylinder head), and a short block (rotating assembly)... would be interesting to see what route they took and what the parts costs are with each option. Also would like to know what the actual damage that the over rev caused as well, if that was released.

Rob

[FarSeide]

I hope things work out for you OP. Damn this sucks...

[techlogik]

Originally Posted by FarSeide

I hope things work out for you OP. Damn this sucks...

This thread is a year old...why do people bump this stuff..he got the engine replaced as ate the cost...for some reason.

I thought there was this thing called a rev limiter...how did it rev to 8800rpm?

Glad I got an auto..no way to over rev it...unless you have the limiter removed...then you are asking for trouble.

[MisterSkiMask]

Originally Posted by techlogik

This thread is a year old...why do people bump this stuff..he got the engine replaced as ate the cost...for some reason.

I thought there was this thing called a rev limiter...how did it rev to 8800rpm?

Glad I got an auto..no way to over rev it...unless you have the limiter removed...then you are asking for trouble.

The money shift is the only way.

[techlogik]

Originally Posted by MisterSkiMask

The money shift is the only way.

I assume it was a manual, didn't read the details...money shift it was. He said it was some hotel valet that did it....yeah...ok.