[samchuang33]

We had been getting quite alot of rain in Brissy last month and as a result, there a pot hole everywhere. I hit a large pot hole last Friday on my X5 and ever since I had a strange vibration on the front left wheel. I though at first that balance and alignment was off so got it to be align with the new set of conti tyre i had imported earlier this year. The mechanic shop notice the CV boot has also splited therefore change that as well. But problem still there and got worse and worse till last nite.

I was at Oxford stree in Bulimba heading home through the back street climbing a slope till loud bam come out of the front left wheel and then follow by very loud clicking sound continiously. I could'nt even clear the slope and stop on the side of the road. I thought smelt burnt oil for a second there but could not really see any leak or find anything odd. The loud clicking noise sounded like it it was something to do with drive tran/transfer box, kinda like gear slipping or something has cracked. The engine was fine. It just when ever I put it in gear, it will start making loud clicking sound.

Got car towed to Brisbane BMW and left it there overnight. Have to wait till early next week before they can diagnoise the problem. Car is 2004 with 105,000ks.

Any clue what it might be?

[suff]

might be time for an upgrade...

[samchuang33]

Hum.....
Could be transfer case.

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...er-case-6.html

[Jeef Beef]

Originally Posted by samchuang33

Hum.....
Could be transfer case.

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...er-case-6.html

That... would be expensive. My mum's X3 needed to have the transfer case replaced at 40,000km. Luckily it was under warranty.

[E92325i]

Sorry to hear mate but maybe an authorised bmw dealer wouldn't be you best bet at the moment. Try finding a good bmw independent and having it taken there.

Obviously the main concern with the dealer is the very high cost of firstly diagnosing the problem then fixing it. Dealers are also known for just suggesting to replace a part that is repairable (at a much lower cost).

Let us know how it all goes and good luck with it all

[samchuang33]

Originally Posted by Jeef Beef

That... would be expensive. My mum's X3 needed to have the transfer case replaced at 40,000km. Luckily it was under warranty.

Originally Posted by Jeef Beef

That... would be expensive. My mum's X3 needed to have the transfer case replaced at 40,000km. Luckily it was under warranty.

Really!?
Was it a diesel as well? You are very lucky. It seems to be a common deign fault. I haven't come accross a car which required a work done to a transfer case or drive shaft.

My X5 has so much problem from new to now.

6 out of 7 of the BMW our family has brought in the last 6 years seem to all have some sort of problems, 3 the car having being major failures.

That in my opinion is seriously not acceptable. even for the older cars.

[Jeef Beef]

Originally Posted by samchuang33

Really!?
Was it a diesel as well? You are very lucky. It seems to be a common deign fault. I haven't come accross a car which required a work done to a transfer case or drive shaft.

My X5 has so much problem from new to now.

6 out of 7 of the BMW our family has brought in the last 6 years seem to all have some sort of problems, 3 the car having being major failures.

That in my opinion is seriously not acceptable. even for the older cars.

Her car is an 07 X3 2.5si petrol. The rear differential also needed replacing, as well as the gearbox which needed a rebuild. Quite a shocking history of faults. It's out of warranty now, and it seems like everything has been fixed (touch wood).

My dad's previous car (an 05 X5 3.0d) had no problems whatsoever. Zero faults. Not even the slightest hiccup before he gave it back to BMW.

[samchuang33]

Originally Posted by E92325i

Sorry to hear mate but maybe an authorised bmw dealer wouldn't be you best bet at the moment. Try finding a good bmw independent and having it taken there.

Obviously the main concern with the dealer is the very high cost of firstly diagnosing the problem then fixing it. Dealers are also known for just suggesting to replace a part that is repairable (at a much lower cost).

Let us know how it all goes and good luck with it all

Thx M8

I thought too that finding an external mechanic to do the repair would have save a bit on the cost too. But after this experience I think I will never trust a external mechanic outside BMW to work on my car. I just keep wonder if originally I took the car to BMW in the first place after hitting the pot hole, I might have save myself more money coz the dealership would have known the possibility that it might not be just a simple balance alignment problem or a CV boot crack and instead be able to also properly diagnose the car to find the real problem. BMW are consider a premium car manufacturer in Australia and i think most average mechanics out there do not have a great knowlegde and the experience to properly repair the car correctly. So maybe instead of replacing the whole dame shaft or what ever it could be, I might have been able to repair the problem before it broke off completely, who know. At least I wouldn't have needed to get a tow truck and wasted my Friday nite getting this Sh!t sorted.

The CV boot costed me around $500 and 3 days to get fixed by the mechanic near work on Moss St. I recon I might have been able to do it cheaper or at least more efficiently through BMW coz $500 seem quite a bit for a CV boot especially when I can find CV boot DYI repair procedure online that teaches ppl to change CV in 30-60min. The parts has to come from dealership directly and I think the mechanic must have paid the full retail price. Brisbane BMW on the other hand, give discount to my repairs for parts and labour due to good relationship (I think it because the service department sees me so frequently coz the car stuffs up so much).

I'm hoping that they are going to offer me some sort of good will gesture for this repair. It is not normal for a car to need repairs to drive tran after only 100,000ks. The information that I have found suggest that it is more of a design fault rather than an wear and tear problem. It is said that the Drive tran on the E53 does not fully insert into the transfer case. The common result is stripping of the splines and the need to replace both shaft and transfer case. There are actually companies in the states that make kits to extend the drive shaft to make it fully engaged to the transfer case becasue it is a known problem. Personally, I think BMW should have recalled this one in the first place instead of customer finding out the hard way.

Sorry, this is starting to turn into another bitching thread. but the more I look into it, the more pissed off I get.

[samchuang33]

Originally Posted by Jeef Beef

Her car is an 07 X3 2.5si petrol. The rear differential also needed replacing, as well as the gearbox which needed a rebuild. Quite a shocking history of faults. It's out of warranty now, and it seems like everything has been fixed (touch wood).

My dad's previous car (an 05 X5 3.0d) had no problems whatsoever. Zero faults. Not even the slightest hiccup before he gave it back to BMW.

OMG, the X3 does have a long history.

Gee, the X5 had no issue?! I have a whole list of more than 6-7 problems.

[samchuang33]

OH Crap....

BMW quoted me $4800 for rear differentials just then. The rear diff has had it.

Does anyone know if insurance will cover this cost?

[Jeef Beef]

Originally Posted by samchuang33

OMG, the X3 does have a long history.

Gee, the X5 had no issue?! I have a whole list of more than 6-7 problems.

Yes it's quite strange. No electronic gremlins, no mechanical faults, completely reliable for 80,000kms. Was like a Toyota.

Originally Posted by samchuang33

OH Crap....

BMW quoted me $4800 for rear differentials just then. The rear diff has had it.

Does anyone know if insurance will cover this cost?

OUCH. Yes, just like my mum's X3 but the diffs in that were replaced before the car completely died. I'm not sure if insurance covers this unless you can prove that it was caused by an accident - and not just merely excessive wear and tear.

[E92325i]

How much does it cost to source the parts yourself?

Ask for the part numbers and then try price them up yourself to see how much cheaper it is.

Does the $4800 include all parts and labour to get the car repaired again? Ask them how much the labour cost is and how much the part cost is then weigh up your options.

I doubt insurance will cover this since it will be difficult to prove that hitting the pothole caused this and it's not simply a mechanical failure due to wear and tear. The assessor may speak to bmw about it who may say that it is not due to hitting a pothole and that leaves you with a rejected claim on your insurance

[suff]

I'm not sure on the specifics, but I know of a number of people that have contacted either Main Roads, or their state government after having sustained damage to their cars due to road maintenance. (ie one of my mates had a 19" wheel and coil over destroyed by an oversized pothole, took a photo of the pot hole, then had a report drawn up by RAC stating the damage had been caused byt the pothole etc).. took a while but main roads coughed up for the repairs..

again, not sure of the legaltities / requirements but may be worth a look?

[samchuang33]

Originally Posted by Jeef Beef

Yes it's quite strange. No electronic gremlins, no mechanical faults, completely reliable for 80,000kms. Was like a Toyota.



OUCH. Yes, just like my mum's X3 but the diffs in that were replaced before the car completely died. I'm not sure if insurance covers this unless you can prove that it was caused by an accident - and not just merely excessive wear and tear.

Im seriously consider a Lexus for my next car....

Originally Posted by E92325i

How much does it cost to source the parts yourself?

Ask for the part numbers and then try price them up yourself to see how much cheaper it is.

Does the $4800 include all parts and labour to get the car repaired again? Ask them how much the labour cost is and how much the part cost is then weigh up your options.

I doubt insurance will cover this since it will be difficult to prove that hitting the pothole caused this and it's not simply a mechanical failure due to wear and tear. The assessor may speak to bmw about it who may say that it is not due to hitting a pothole and that leaves you with a rejected claim on your insurance

I think $4800 is parts and labour included. I ask for good will gesture and told them about all the car we brought and all the crap we got in return etc etc. Brisbane BMW is taking it up with BMW AUS at this stage.

Originally Posted by suff

I'm not sure on the specifics, but I know of a number of people that have contacted either Main Roads, or their state government after having sustained damage to their cars due to road maintenance. (ie one of my mates had a 19" wheel and coil over destroyed by an oversized pothole, took a photo of the pot hole, then had a report drawn up by RAC stating the damage had been caused byt the pothole etc).. took a while but main roads coughed up for the repairs..

again, not sure of the legaltities / requirements but may be worth a look?

I spoke to my insurance broker. They said that if BMW are able to justify that the "Accidental" damage is caused by the pot hole, we "should" be able to claim it through insurance. Lets face it, it is not normal for a car to need new differenctial after 6 year. Differential usually last for the term of the vehicle life. Another thing was that the problem only start occuring after hitting the pot hole which is a fact.

It is a very big IF at this stage thou, so we will see how it goes.

[samchuang33]

No good will offered by BMW AUS coz car over 6 years old.

Looks like i better import the parts as suggested by e92325. The part itself is $3820 and probably half a day to get it fitted.

[E92325i]

One thing to factor in is Import duty/customs charges if the part you are importing is over $1000AUD excluding shipping cost.

I have no idea how heavy/big the part is so you maybe better off just buying it locally rather than importing it

[Ninjaoz]

not sure they'll cover the warranty if you source the parts o/seas...

$5,000 is quite a major repair, have you considered trading-in your X5? given you've been dealing with them regularly, they might offer you a good price.

[E92325i]

I have bought major parts for my alfa (genuine parts) and dropped the off at the authorised dealership, they had no problem with offering warranty on the new parts as they could obviously see that they were new and genuine. I have never tried this with BMW though.

+1 on trading it in idea. Have a chat to them and see what they offer you...

[samchuang33]

Originally Posted by Ninja333

not sure they'll cover the warranty if you source the parts o/seas...

$5,000 is quite a major repair, have you considered trading-in your X5? given you've been dealing with them regularly, they might offer you a good price.

BMW australia offer 2 years warrenty on parts so not too bad. They said they can discount the part by another $500 so it will be around $3300 for the diff with 2 year warrenty. I found a few other overseas diff for $2000 in states and UK. Havent include shipping and warrenty is an issue.

I 'm conisdering trading in the car too. Better change before front diff goes to...

[samchuang33]

Originally Posted by E92325i

I have bought major parts for my alfa (genuine parts) and dropped the off at the authorised dealership, they had no problem with offering warranty on the new parts as they could obviously see that they were new and genuine. I have never tried this with BMW though.

+1 on trading it in idea. Have a chat to them and see what they offer you...

So alfa still gave u AUS warrenty even though u brought part from oversea?

[E92325i]

Yes the dealer provides 24 month warranty on all genuine parts and the labour.

They will also fit non genuine parts as well but no warranty on either part or labour.

I don't know how it works with bmw though so best to ask the dealer directly. I asked my alfa dealer and they were fine with it.

They even accept routine service items, such as brakes, timing belts, etc.

[samchuang33]

Originally Posted by E92325i

Yes the dealer provides 24 month warranty on all genuine parts and the labour.

They will also fit non genuine parts as well but no warranty on either part or labour.

I don't know how it works with bmw though so best to ask the dealer directly. I asked my alfa dealer and they were fine with it.

They even accept routine service items, such as brakes, timing belts, etc.

Really?!

I get SA to check if they do honour the 2 year warranty on geniune parts regardless of where the part is sourced from.