[accordRE]

It was all going so well but this morning I got an error message telling me I had a drive train fault The car still feels OK to drive but I'm quite worried now. Had a chat to BMW assist (brilliant service if you should have the misfortune of having to use it) and they said that transport mode was still active and that the car had restricted power (would explain why I felt the car was slower than the dealers demo).

Hopefully an "engineer" should be around tonight or tomorrow morning and can fix my car for me

[Piers]

Sorry to hear, hope it is easily sortable

[xenon]

Can't see why you would be "worried". It's a brand-new car under warranty, so what's there to worry about? If the stupid dealer has left it in transport mode the engineer only has to access the dealer menu and take it out of transport mode. Job done.

A mate of mine had this on his X5 and was able to find the procedure to take it out of transport mode himself from some instructions on the X5 forum.

Whatever, it's nothing to fret over.

[Piers]

What is transport mode?

[xenon]

It's a mode they put it in for shipping from the factory. TBH I'm not sure that is accordRE's problem because, among other things, it limits the engine speed to 3000 rpm which I'm sure he would have noticed. I think it also stops the odometer increasing too.

[accordRE]

Xenon, I'm mostly worried that it could be a reoccuring fault and I've read a few horror stories about dealer service which have made me a little worried too. As you say, probably nothing to fret over but I'm not the most optimistic of people

BMW Assist says that transport mode was engaged and that engine power was restricted. The car itself showed up the error drivetrain malfunction and the engineer found that there was a miscommunication between the ECUs for the gearbox and the car, he reset the system and after a test drive everything seemed normal again.

Hopefully the 520d is fixed now. As I said earlier, the BMW Assist service is great as is the breakdown service, the technician was at my house less than an hour after I made the call to BMW and the fault was diagnosed in a matter of minutes.

[xenon]

BMW Assist gets full marks from me too. But I'm certain you have nothing to worry about.

[SpeedTrip]

Years ago I had a Dictionary that defined 'Sophisticated' as:-

To spoil something simple .....

[accordRE]

Pretty decent definition I think

[CmdllbF11]

Originally Posted by accordRE

Xenon, I'm mostly worried that it could be a reoccuring fault and I've read a few horror stories about dealer service which have made me a little worried too. As you say, probably nothing to fret over but I'm not the most optimistic of people

BMW Assist says that transport mode was engaged and that engine power was restricted. The car itself showed up the error drivetrain malfunction and the engineer found that there was a miscommunication between the ECUs for the gearbox and the car, he reset the system and after a test drive everything seemed normal again.

Hopefully the 520d is fixed now. As I said earlier, the BMW Assist service is great as is the breakdown service, the technician was at my house less than an hour after I made the call to BMW and the fault was diagnosed in a matter of minutes.

Here in the UK, dealer service (at least as I've experienced on an Approved Used) has been phenomenal. Faultless.

Had MY2010 F11520d SE delivered 5 weeks ago. It was agreed it would go for buffering via workshop. It hadn't. Surface scratches were still apparent. Dealer recovered it (left me M320d with paddle shifters ( ) to play with. Returned car looking like new 24 hours later.

Had engine fan failure. Took it to dealer. Part ordered overnight and fixed by 09.30hrs next day. Under warranty. Perfect service.

Have faith, mon ami.

[xenon]

I'd be hesitant to describe dealer service as "phenomenal" and "faultless" if they delivered your car without prepping it properly or doing what they had agreed - there's a fault right there.

I've had 7 new BMWs over the years and the dealer service has always been a bit meh - I've always been very impressed with BMW Assist however.

[CmdllbF11]

Originally Posted by xenon

I'd be hesitant to describe dealer service as "phenomenal" and "faultless" if they delivered your car without prepping it properly or doing what they had agreed - there's a fault right there.

I've had 7 new BMWs over the years and the dealer service has always been a bit meh - I've always been very impressed with BMW Assist however.

Fair comment. I put it down to an oversight and easily forgave based on no argument response in offering to deal with the issue.

[accordRE]

Happened again as I was coming home from work. Car wouldn't go into gear and ad to turn it on and off again to get it working.

[hajmuntz]

Not good.
I hope it is easily resolved. Warranty cover or not recurring issues are a pita in busy modern lives. I fly a lot for work and need to know my car will get me to the airport so sympathise massively.

[2tek]

I had the same "drivetrain error" fault on my new MY2014 520d SE at 900km. Then again at 1300km.
Took the car back to the dealership. Got a loaner 520d. 1 week later they said they cant find a solution to the error.
They offered me a buy back.
I was given a new Sophisto Grey Xirallic 520d as thats what they had in stock.

[accordRE]

Originally Posted by 2tek

I had the same "drivetrain error" fault on my new MY2014 520d SE at 900km. Then again at 1300km.
Took the car back to the dealership. Got a loaner 520d. 1 week later they said they cant find a solution to the error.
They offered me a buy back.
I was given a new Sophisto Grey Xirallic 520d as thats what they had in stock.

Thank you so much for the comment, that's really helped me knowing someone else has had the same problem.

Did you have to go through BMW Customer services at all? My dealer has refused to do anything apart from offer to fix the car in 3 months time, so I'm in a loaner 520d. My cars been at the dealers for about 2 weeks now, the dealer doesn't want to do anything apart from sell me another car and buy mine for "trade price" leaving me worse off.

[SpeedTrip]

Your Dealers attitude is not in the ethos of Service that BMW UK expect of their dealerships !

Email ManagingDirectorOffice@bmw.co.uk (Tim Abbott) - one of his team of CS advisers will get involved.

They have helped me 3 times in the last couple of years - with a Dealer & with their subsidiary Finance company (a more arrogant outfit I've yet to have dealings with ...) - the last chap I communicated with went out of his way to help.

You should be expecting the same result as -2tek- at least !

[accordRE]

Speedtrip, thanks very much for the heads up!
I've initiated a rejection case with BMW Financial Services and I'll make sure to give Tim Abbot an email as well. Appreciate the help very much!

[CmdllbF11]

Originally Posted by SpeedTrip

Your Dealers attitude is not in the ethos of Service that BMW UK expect of their dealerships !

Email ManagingDirectorOffice@bmw.co.uk (Tim Abbott) - one of his team of CS advisers will get involved.

They have helped me 3 times in the last couple of years - with a Dealer & with their subsidiary Finance company (a more arrogant outfit I've yet to have dealings with ...) - the last chap I communicated with went out of his way to help.

You should be expecting the same result as -2tek- at least !

Subscribed and am replying to bookmark this in case I ever need it!

[accordRE]

Had a call from BMW fs yesterday, they basically told me that because I was given a 520d courtesy car, they won't do anything about rejecting my car until after they've tried the software fix in three months.

I told them that wasn't good enough seeing as it failed within the first month and they didn't even know what the problem is with the car, plus its sitting in the dealers yard covered in dust and bird shit instead of being put in "secure underground storage" as promised.

Waiting for them to get in touch with me now

[Piers]

Originally Posted by accordRE

Had a call from BMW fs yesterday, they basically told me that because I was given a 520d courtesy car, they won't do anything about rejecting my car until after they've tried the software fix in three months.

I told them that wasn't good enough seeing as it failed within the first month and they didn't even know what the problem is with the car, plus its sitting in the dealers yard covered in dust and bird shit instead of being put in "secure underground storage" as promised.

Waiting for them to get in touch with me now

That is totally unacceptable. Leaving it outside is just compounding the case against them, they may need to be informed of that. Why should you wait three months, they must be pretty sure of a fix to even risk quoting 3 months and not allowing you to reject now....

[dippo]

Originally Posted by Piers

That is totally unacceptable. Leaving it outside is just compounding the case against them, they may need to be informed of that. Why should you wait three months, they must be pretty sure of a fix to even risk quoting 3 months and not allowing you to reject now....

This response seems to be from BMW Finance, not BMW. I suppose they are happy if the customer is being given a similar car, in that the customer is still getting what they are paying for, and their asset is not being used and therefore adding mileage.

BMW's attitude may be different.