[chrisbin]

FM - can't argue with your summary/feelings.... while mine was last in I asked them to look at the creaking driver seat (again) - was told when I picked it up that they couldn't find a creak - first roundabout outside the dealers.......creeeeeak.....!!!

Inspires confidence.......

[xenon]

This is all a bit disappointing - not the problem per se, but the brushing under the carpet attitude of BMW and the dealers. So far mine is perfect in other respects - I guess the paint swirl marks, pitted alloys and creaking seats are in the post.....

[FieldingMellish]

Originally Posted by xenon

This is all a bit disappointing - not the problem per se, but the brushing under the carpet attitude of BMW and the dealers. So far mine is perfect in other respects - I guess the paint swirl marks, pitted alloys and creaking seats are in the post.....

I think BMW are brushing it under the carpet because the alternaive is unthinkable, ie. recalling hundreds if not thousands of cars.

One very significant factor is that they don't just have one isolated problem, it's a range of problems, or symptoms, and each car may exhibit a different mixture. But they surely all can be traced back to a single source, whether with the engine or with the software or both. We will probably all read about this retrospectively when they eventually solve the problem, or the engines are superseeded, and wish they had fixed it in time for us.

[FieldingMellish]

I picked my car up today. To be fair, the engineer who'd been working on it did come out and speak to me personally and he was helpful and undersstanding. Since I had told him that if the problem happens again I will seek to reject the car, he told me that if it does happen again, they will get BMW Customer Services to source me a car identical to mine which I can drive until they can definitively fix mine.

So if Customer Services can be relied upon (big question mark?) to live up to what the engineer says, then if I do get a limp mode, or worse a cut-out, again then I should have a reasonably acceptable solution. We shall see.

[xenon]

They wouldn't have to recall thousands of cars as it would not be a VOSA safety recall. It would be much like the software upgrades that went on for ever on the e60 - if the customer complains about the CD running on, the BT not pairing, etc. upgrade the software - if the customer doesn't make a fuss then leave it.

It would probably only be readers of this thread that would do anything much; as I said I didn't think I had a problem until I read this and I'm still not sure that I have. Certainly mine's not as bad as some of you guys have suffered anyway.

[nizar83]

i used to think very very good about bmw quality...

after having read your problems...i suddenly have traumatic memories coming up from my old v10 touareg..what a nightmare some cars can be

im planning on buying a e93 320 i these days...i found a black 320i vert steptronic with navigation...black leather with 60.000km on the clock

i know for a fact the earlier 2.0 engines in both the e46 and e36 were very very high quality engines...reliable 110%

my last bmw cabrio was a 330I e46 back in 2004, i loved that car..it was fast...good looking very reliable never had a problem with it..the sound was great etc etc

now what would yall advice me on the 320i e93 cabrio..should i buy 1? is it any good? reliable? does it have enough power..or is it annoyingly slow?

please advice me lads...i really dont want to buy a problem or a boring car

im from the netherlands, im already looking for black 20 inch rims with a chrome lip lol even before i bought my black convert..

please help
cheers

[xenon]

I don't think the performance is a problem, my last BMW was a 325i (192bhp) so it had 22bhp more than the current e9x 320, but my 325 had the dreadful steptronic gearbox. I would say my 320i M-Sport feels as quick even though it only has 500 miles on it so far.

As for reliability, draw your own conclusions from this thread.

[CrimsonRedE93]

Remember the E93 320i is 16% heavier than the coupe weighing in at a massive 1700kg !!!!

Couple with the issues that people are having with the 320i, I would but a different engine if you can afford to.

The 320i E93 is not slow when the revs are up, but it can be very frustrating that one of the reasons I changed mine to a 330d E93.

[FieldingMellish]

Right, I have officially had enough now. Driving home tonight, 2 incidents occurred. Firstly, the car cut out, just for a split second, I felt teh sudden loss of power, then a second later, it came back on again, frightened teh life out of me, particularly as I was squeezing through a narrow bridge in a dip in the road. Then, a few minutes later, suddenly lost power again, and I had to pull to teh side of the narrow b road, with a huge SUV behind me that very, very nearly hit me, and the car sat at teh side of the road, shaking from side to side with teh rev needle jumping up and down. I was almost killed.

I have told my dealer, I want nothing more to do with this death trap of a car.

Where do I stand legally? What will BMW likely offer? Any advice welcome. I anticipate that neither BMW Customer Services nor the dealership where I bought this piece of cr@p will offer a full refund, so what can I expect? Will they offer to contribute to the cost of me upgrading to a 325i or (God forbid!) switching to a 320d?

I cannot tell you how angry I am, f**King BMW, f**king bag of sh1te engines, WTF? Is this what we get from high-priced state of the art 'Efficient Dynamics' engines?

GGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

[FieldingMellish]

Originally Posted by nizar83

i used to think very very good about bmw quality...

after having read your problems...i suddenly have traumatic memories coming up from my old v10 touareg..what a nightmare some cars can be

im planning on buying a e93 320 i these days...i found a black 320i vert steptronic with navigation...black leather with 60.000km on the clock

i know for a fact the earlier 2.0 engines in both the e46 and e36 were very very high quality engines...reliable 110%

my last bmw cabrio was a 330I e46 back in 2004, i loved that car..it was fast...good looking very reliable never had a problem with it..the sound was great etc etc

now what would yall advice me on the 320i e93 cabrio..should i buy 1? is it any good? reliable? does it have enough power..or is it annoyingly slow?

please advice me lads...i really dont want to buy a problem or a boring car

im from the netherlands, im already looking for black 20 inch rims with a chrome lip lol even before i bought my black convert..

please help
cheers

God, no, don't do it! Even when the car is running well, my 318i (which is equiv power-wise to a pre-Sept 2007 320i), is no ball of fire. And you could boil an egg in the time it takes to get from 50 to 70 mph.

Jeez Louise! When I think of that Audi A4 T_FSI 2 litre Quattro I was offered for 4 grand less than the sh1t I bought from BMW.....

Reliability? You are joking I assume? Avoid E90 4 cylinder petrol engines like the plague. I wish I had.

[atariboy]

Originally Posted by FieldingMellish

Right, I have officially had enough now. Driving home tonight, 2 incidents occurred. Firstly, the car cut out, just for a split second, I felt teh sudden loss of power, then a second later, it came back on again, frightened teh life out of me, particularly as I was squeezing through a narrow bridge in a dip in the road. Then, a few minutes later, suddenly lost power again, and I had to pull to teh side of the narrow b road, with a huge SUV behind me that very, very nearly hit me, and the car sat at teh side of the road, shaking from side to side with teh rev needle jumping up and down. I was almost killed.

I have told my dealer, I want nothing more to do with this death trap of a car.

Where do I stand legally? What will BMW likely offer? Any advice welcome. I anticipate that neither BMW Customer Services nor the dealership where I bought this piece of cr@p will offer a full refund, so what can I expect? Will they offer to contribute to the cost of me upgrading to a 325i or (God forbid!) switching to a 320d?

I cannot tell you how angry I am, f**King BMW, f**king bag of sh1te engines, WTF? Is this what we get from high-priced state of the art 'Efficient Dynamics' engines?

GGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

What I cant understand is that there must be 10's of thousands of 320i bmws in this world and I am sure that not all of them are having the same issues. If they were than something would have been done about it. Is is just a case of the occasional rogue engine that rolls off the production line

[FieldingMellish]

Originally Posted by atariboy

Is is just a case of the occasional rogue engine that rolls off the production line

Is it f**K! There are nearly 300 replies to this thread! The problem is endemic to these engines.

[de lukke]

Originally Posted by FieldingMellish

Is it f**K! There are nearly 300 replies to this thread! The problem is endemic to these engines.

BMW Inefficient Dynamics

[chrisbin]

FM - sounds exactly like my experience when, fortunately, I was on a quiet dual carriageway....

As for how widespread the problem is, if you take the view that x% of owners probably dont notice a little rough running, x% notice it but accept it, x% notice it, don't like it and complain to dealer but dont know about this place, and finally x% turn up here......

I reckon it must affect quite a lot of cars......

I think one of the significant points is that everyone who has posted on this thread has identified the same symptoms/problems.......

And everyone is finding that BMW are pretty crap at sorting it out.....

Finally - would we recommend a E93 320i Convertible?
Ummmmmmmmmmmmmm................................... NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!!

[xenon]

I've never had any of these severe problems (thus far) and I went out yesterday and tried to deliberately reproduce the hesitancy by using a light throttle in various gears and by sudden throttle reapplication and I couldn't reproduce it. I guess it's possible that the severe problems (i.e. cutting out) have been fixed on later builds and the hesitancy much improved. Time will tell, I suppose.

I guess like most of you, I love the car in all other respects.

[chrisbin]

Just remembered a point that people might want to try.......I reckon that the hesitancy and rough running are worse when not running the air con......it certainly changes things on mine.....and this has led me to suspect that was why I didnt notice the symptoms earlier (having taken delivery last June)......

As for the rest of the car, it is indeed great - just the $%&*@ engine!

[xenon]

^^ Odd - you would have thought it more likely the other way around, with the A/C compressor loading the engine. I always leave the compressor on anyway; the few pence it costs in extra consumption is far outweighed by the fact that running it all the time prevents that musty, moldy smell from forming and reduces the need for regassing by keeping the seals lubed.

[chrisbin]

Originally Posted by xenon

^^ Odd - you would have thought it more likely the other way around, with the A/C compressor loading the engine. I always leave the compressor on anyway; the few pence it costs in extra consumption is far outweighed by the fact that running it all the time prevents that musty, moldy smell from forming and reduces the need for regassing by keeping the seals lubed.

...but when you switch the a/c on the tickover rises by about 200rpm, and vice versa....

Re smells, I'm pleased to say I dont have those issues!!! Seriously, I dont like running ac all year round as it makes the air too dry and chilly, even at higher temps, in the winter....never had to get a system regassed yet and I usually have my cars for at least 3 years.....

[FieldingMellish]

Just been to my local dealers, where I am becoming a familiar face!

They said that BMW will not issue a replacement car - evn as a loan while my car is looked at - until their engineers can tell BMW what the problem is. Unbelievable! I pointed out that this was a Catch 22 - the promlem is that they cannot diagnose what the problem is, so if they won't issue a replacment car until they can say what teh problem is then.....etc.

I am pushing for a full refund now. Nearly got killed yesterday. To h5ll with this, I can never have confindence in that car again.

[chrisbin]

FM - you have made the mistake of going to your dealer.......as soon as the car cut out yesterday you should have called "Assistance".....then, even if you limped home, they would have come to get your car (they wouldnt have been able to fix it) and provided you with another to keep you mobile - have to take pot luck with what Enterprise could provide you with though....

I would be calling Assistance now, telling them what happened yesterday, you now have no confidence in the car as expect it to happen again any minute and what are they going to do......you could even "white lie" and say its happened again if you choose to......its not like there isnt a problem there....

Bottom line - if you have a problem and want to remain mobile, contact BMW assistance. They have the budget to provide the loan vehicle, dealers do not.....

[FieldingMellish]

Originally Posted by chrisbin

FM - you have made the mistake of going to your dealer.......as soon as the car cut out yesterday you should have called "Assistance".....then, even if you limped home, they would have come to get your car (they wouldnt have been able to fix it) and provided you with another to keep you mobile - have to take pot luck with what Enterprise could provide you with though....

I would be calling Assistance now, telling them what happened yesterday, you now have no confidence in the car as expect it to happen again any minute and what are they going to do......you could even "white lie" and say its happened again if you choose to......its not like there isnt a problem there....

Bottom line - if you have a problem and want to remain mobile, contact BMW assistance. They have the budget to provide the loan vehicle, dealers do not.....

Thanks Chris. I was a bit shaken yesterday. I called my dealer straight away, I did consider calling BMW Assist but there was no engine warning light - depite teh fact that the car was shaking from side to side and teh rev counter doing little jumps.

I did manage to get a courtesy car this morning, the 320d SE again, so I am mobile.


My big worry is that BMW will say there is no proof of a problem, because it is intermittent. But if necessary I will go to my MP, contact What Car, Watchdog, Batman, whoever I need to contact, and kick up as big of a stinkk as I can until I get a refund or a satisfactory replacement.

You know as well as I do of course, that there's little point in getting a replacement 318i or 320i becuase we know these engines are problematic. So I would need either a 325i or, at a pinch, a 320d. either that or my money back.

[atariboy]

Forgive me if I am being stupid here but I thought that the engine management systems in cars recorded all 'blip's and inconsistencies and that all data about an engines perfomance could be down loaded in to a diagnostics computer.
I can getting really concerned about ordering a car with a 320i under the hood. I do have a 2 day test drive booked in for July in an E93 320i so I am going to try everything to recreate these problems you guys are having