Drivetrain error - no warranty

[manoskap]

So yesterday while driving normally, the car had a hiccup and stopped in P with a red drivetrain issue. I couldn’t move it and I created a traffic jam. Thank god, by repeatedly trying, it went in the ready state and I drove off.

I was happy it might had been a software error and I drove about 10 km without problems.

And then it happened again. I could again turn it on if I tried repeatedly but this time it turned on, I accelerated and in 2-3 seconds it stopped again.

Now it is parked at a road waiting for the tow truck to come and take it to a service point for further inspection.

What is your guess? Will the cost be big? I am really afraid of what I may hear...

 

[PBNB]

This hasn't happened to my i3 (fingers crossed) but it seems that others who have had this have pointed to moisture in the Rex electronics or moisture in the High Voltage cables to the batteries. Others have pointed to use of DC fast chargers overheating the batteries.

No one seems to know what is causing the error messages and most of the time they go away.

Is you car a Rex or BEV? Are you in a wet climate area?

I was able to go into BMW and get an extended warranty to add on to the 4 year BMW warranty that comes with the cars in North America. I think this was a good move for anyone that can jump on it before their original warranty expires.

 

[manoskap]

I own a BeV and yes I live in a wet climate (Greece). But if it was just moisture it would be reproduced so much?

It was really scary that your car leaves you in the middle of a national road without any warning or any previous problems and from what I’ve read until jow my guess it it is the engine mount.

 

[PBNB]

I own a BeV and yes I live in a wet climate (Greece). But if it was just moisture it would be reproduced so much?

It was really scary that your car leaves you in the middle of a national road without any warning or any previous problems and from what I’ve read until jow my guess it it is the engine mount.

I can see how this would be very scary.

The challenge to this is getting a price to fix the problem since nobody really knows what the cause is. If you go through the internet and look for similar complaints, you will see costs all the way up to $36k when a complete battery pack was changed out. I think that was done under warranty so the owner didn't have to pay that.

Try not to get into a situation were the dealership/service centre starts changing parts without being sure.

Keep us posted on what happens!

 

[manoskap]

Thanks, however I ask again if somebody has the knowledge of how much is the cost for the engine bolt I would be happy to know!

 

[Anonymous]

In the US the motor mount is $97. You might check with BMW in your area - I think there was a factory recall to replace the motor mounts on the early i3's - and if your car was in the recall, this should be done at no charge, even if not under warrantee any longer.
https://www.bmwpartsnow.com/oem-parts/bmw-motor-mount-22116887268?origin=pla&gclid=Cj0KCQiAjszhBRDgARIsAH8KgvcPv3ibqfadRUajQnY6yQ59uyPvHQJgzdqLEOW60sCA3hOLZetu1MYaAnnYEALw_wcB

 

[manoskap]

Thanks a lot!! The car is at the dealer and I still have no image for the damage

 

[alohart]

I think there was a factory recall to replace the motor mounts on the early i3's - and if your car was in the recall, this should be done at no charge, even if not under warrantee any longer.

manoskap lives in Greece, so the BMW service campaign that we experienced in the U.S. might not apply in Greece. It would certainly be worth checking, of course.

Unfortunately, this U.S. service campaign did not involve replacing the plastic motor mounts used in early i3's; only a motor mount bolt was replaced with a stronger version that has unfortunately broken in several instances. Apparently when the improved bolt breaks, BMW authorizes replacing the plastic motor mount with the aluminum version that accommodates a larger diameter bolt.

 

[manoskap]

Finally they informed me that it is a computer unit that sends and receives power from the battery to the generator and vice versa.

Cost about 5500€ the part and about 1000€ the labor...

No way am I paying that cost. They proposed me to ask the BMW headquarters if they can lower the vost and they will inform me tomorrow...

Has anybody any experience with such a failure?

 

[TheMK]

Really dumb question of mine, how easy is it to know if the motor mount bolt has broken or not? There's occasionally a squeaking noise as I make a hard left or right turn at speed.

 

[jadnashuanh]

There is a technical bulletin on the steering wheel squeaking that should resolve that.

There will be some serious clunks, especially when switching from forward to reverse if you've broken a bolt or mount.

 

[manoskap]

I ve entered the BMW goodwill program and thank god they've given me for free the spare part (costing about 5500 euros) and I will only pay 760 euros for the labor.

I hope this resolves the issue for ever... :|

 

[MINIvagg]

I suppose that all i3 have 100.000km or 10 year warranty.
Why BMW does not repair it for free?

 

[jadnashuanh]

I suppose that all i3 have 100.000km or 10 year warranty.
Why BMW does not repair it for free?

You suppose wrong. The warranty does vary by market, but I've not heard of any BMW one that made it to 10-years except for rust.

 

[Anonymous]

I suppose that all i3 have 100.000km or 10 year warranty.

In the US, BMW's are covered by these warranties:
New Vehicle Warranty: 4 years/50,000 miles
Rust Perforation Warranty: 12 years/unlimited mileage
High-voltage Battery Warranty: 8 years/100,000 miles
Federal Emission Warranty (All Emission Related Parts): 2 years/24,000 miles
Federal Emission Warranty (Specific Emission Control Devices): 8 years/80.000 miles
California Emission Control Warranty (Specific Emission Control Devices): 15 years/150,000 miles
(A few other States have Specific Emission Control Device warranties as well)

 

[manoskap]

Ok I kept the car for about a week, and then BOOM again on past Friday morning I got to the car that was charging in my garage and again Drivetrain error and NO CHARGE message showing up and the battery had got only 4% during the night (from 18% to 22%)

Called the service and while they were coming the error dissapeared. The car powered on normally and was fine charging.

However I couldn't keep it without getting it to the service for inspection.

They kept it and checked it and the problem reappeared at them.

They sent the report at the central BMW office to advice them and told them now to change the charging module....Costing now 1700 euros without labor...

Now can you tell me, is this really a new issue and malfunction of the car or is it the same as before?
If I fix it and pay again, how can I be sure that I will not have a new problem next week?
What is your advice?

 

[PBNB]

It sounds like a software problem similar to the weird steering issues others have run into. The idea is that the modules don't boot completely and result in unexpected behaviour.

Good luck and keep us up to date with your results.

 

[manoskap]

No reply yet. I want to ask you, are there any other components that they may ask me to replace (and pay) if the car fails again in. a week or so? Is it legal from their side, since I got the car just one week before checked and repaired, to ask me again money for a "new" and "other than the previous" failure?

 

[jlangham]

No reply yet. I want to ask you, are there any other components that they may ask me to replace (and pay) if the car fails again in. a week or so? Is it legal from their side, since I got the car just one week before checked and repaired, to ask me again money for a "new" and "other than the previous" failure?

I kept getting these errors until one time the car wouldn't do anything. Towed to dealer and it turned out to be the 12v battery was dead. $600 US to replace it (10 days out of warranty).

Been working good ever since.

 

[nigel.pa.smith]

Hi, Just had a service and mot 5 days ago on 14th November, and over night when they had it at the BMW GARAGE they tried to charge it with a fast charger but it would only charge to 70 percent from 68 we never use a fast charger, I saw on the BMW app it said multiple issues found. I just charge at home and use the range extender for a long journey. Today the drive train warning came on but is still driving and said it can only use the battery range, I tested the range extender and it was working fine 2 days ago. Any advice, thanks Nigel