Drivetrain issue - "Do not switch off engine"

[Ditzy]

Hi, after the software update my car seems to be going great . Only gremlin is periodically when I open doors the window opens halfway down which it didn't before the update . Has anyone else noticed this ? I know that the window drops slightly on opening the door but it now goes halfway down and only intermittently??

 

[AndyW]

Could be you've pressed "open" on the remote twice over - it does that so you can get into the car in tight spaces.

 

[SanSerif]

it does that so you can get into the car in tight spaces.

How does that help?!

 

[AndyW]

The window winding halfway down when you open the door, means you can thread yourself in "over the top" of the window, even if the door is only just ajar because of an obstruction. It definitely does help, I've used it many times in my i3 & other BMWs!

 

[noakey]

The window winding halfway down when you open the door, means you can thread yourself in "over the top" of the window, even if the door is only just ajar because of an obstruction. It definitely does help, I've used it many times in my i3 & other BMWs!

Lol.. I love your explanation... 'Thread...'.. its a neat idea.. will play when my i3 arrives...

Neil

 

[calibanjon]

Hi,

I got in my car tonight, turned it on and the attached message appeared, sounds quite dramatic but having read the earlier articles I wasn't too concerned. I will advise the dealer and I suspect I need a software upgrade but we will see. I drove the car slowly home and when I stopped the fault appears to have cleared and the car did restart without any warning messages or apparent problems. I don't need it tomorrow so will pop into the dealers on Monday and see what they want to do.

Regards

Jon

 

[Ditzy]

Hi, yes that's the same message I got , it took my dealer about a week to sort it out , but I was the first one they had had returned with any issues in Glasgow . I would hope it would be a lot slicker for yourself . Let us know how you get on , and remind them to have it charged for collection ! I did and they still forgot !

 

[Bunter]

Are these a mix of BEVs and REXs or all REX?

Bill

 

[calibanjon]

Hi Bill, my one is a Rex, late Feb build date registered 10/03

Regards

Jon

 

[AndyW]

And mine's a BEV...

 

[calibanjon]

Update,

Arrived at the dealer 8.00 this morning and was advised not to drive and the car would have to stay with them for diagnosis. No real surprises here but then it got worse. I was advised I would need to wait 20 minutes for the i-sales person to come in to see if they had any spare cars. Waited 20 minutes and was told by service that all the cars were booked out and first one back would be about 11am but would need charging so 2pm earliest before any chance of a car. That was of no use to me so the chap offered to drive me to work but said I would have to find my own way back........ 1 month old and £35k down and that's the extent of the service.

Two things here, I personally don't think this is good enough, others may have different opinions but I am disappointed. The other more notable thing is the way they seem to treat i3 as a separate issue. Normally service would sort out a loan car but they pushed it over to I sales! I didn't care, any car would have done, I just needed to get to work (and back). In the end I made my own way to a hire company and hired a little Yaris that got me to work by 9:30.

Had a call this afternoon saying they think it is a software issue and the car should be ready tomorrow. I haven't lost faith in my car as I expected the odd problem with such a new concept but I am very disappointed with the seeming indifference of my BMW dealer.

 

[Ditzy]

I had similar experience with dealer in Glasgow . My car was with them for a week . They did get me a taxi home after a heated discussion as my i3 was 2 days old ! Eventually they delivered a courtesy car to my home address the following day after phoning the manager and complaining ... However when my car was sorted I had asked that it be charged for me collecting that evening. They assured me it would be . When I returned the courtesy car and jumped into my i3 it had 13 miles range left!! So I about turned and uplifted the courtesy car again . It's a shame that they can't get the customer service better . I also understand that there may be teething problems with such a new car , but some of the cheeky service persons really left a bad taste in my mouth ! Anyway my car is going great now ... Long May it continue ...

 

[Jeremy]

caliban/ditzy

That's strange. I soon as I was immobile the dealer rep gave me a BMW iService no. to call. They discussed the symptoms, arranged recovery and called me back immediately to say that Enterprise Rentals would call within the hour - which they did. They wanted to deliver a 5 Series but I pleaded for something smaller & got a 3 (not small enough). I had the car within two hours of the problem.

Enterprise said they had a contract with BMW iService to provide a car for 4 days - after which the dealer picks up the tab, which they did.

Maybe the difference is that you visited the dealer with a fault display whereas my fault display asked me to stop the car and inform iService.

Either way it's disgusting that a dealer won't support a brand new car. I'd chuck the keys at them and say I was returning it as not fit for purpose under sale of goods act.

 

[Ditzy]

Hi Jeremy , it was that very conversation with the manager re sale of goods act that prompted the courtesy car to be delivered . I also asked for a full report of the work that had been carried out in the week they had it and they have failed to provide this . I will need to remind them . It's sloppy service like this that takes the shine off my car .

 

[calibanjon]

To me if you purchase a new car and it fails within the first few months, or indeed warranty period, any decent dealer should sort you out a courtesy car. It's just good business sense because you will go back and buy more cars from dealers who look after you. I don't think my dealer had any idea about I-service centrally sourcing a car. Ironically I actually phoned enterprise myself, who were excellent
by the way, and got me up and running within 20 minutes. My dealer knew I was going to have to hire a car but made no offer to assist.

I think the learning here is if you have a problem call BMW breakdown and they will look after you but dealers are a lottery. This backs up my feeling that the dealer really didn't want to help. i don't think they earn much on these cars and it tapers their motivation to support. Very short sited in my opinion as we were in the market for an X1! Audi Q3 here I come.

Regards

Jon

 

[Jeremy]

I would love to know what the business set up of "BMWi" within the dealership network is.

The sales guys seem very independent from the rest of the operation. I wonder if they're a separate profit unit from the rest of the business - and whether the dealerships really wanted the product in some cases.

It's very odd that BMWi have separate numbers for support, recovery & assistance and car provision - and no UK spares stock.

Does anyone know what the arrangement is?

 

[RJSATLBA]

Reading between the lines from talking to the iGenius I dealt with when placing my order, the dealers are merely acting as agents (on a very modest commission), not as principals, which sounds as if it is how BMW are controlling the price, in the UK at least. If so, whilst I am not a lawyer, my guess would be that any comeback is against BMW UK not against the supplying dealer.

 

[Jeremy]

But my contract was clearly written with the dealership - so the legal sale of goods liability sticks with them.

I think if dealers try to limit service because of low commission - there are soon going to be some lawsuits.

 

[MikeS]

Jeremy, I think that for the UK RJSATLBA is correct and it is what I was told by my dealer. If you look at the small print I think you will find that your contract is with BMW (UK) LTD and not the dealer. The dealer is just acting as an agent.

So given the above it is clear that the dealerships may be less incentivised than we may expect.

Jeremy - What was the BMW iService number you used?

 

[calibanjon]

Had a call from the dealer this afternoon saying that the car had other issues and they had done all they can and it was now in the hands of BMW. Not sure which BMW that is but it was not at the dealer level so I guess they are able to see the data in Bracknell/Germany - not sure. Dealer said it was out of their hands and it didn't look like the car was coming back today. One hour later I had another call saying BMW had OK'd it and it was in the wash bay shortly ready for collection.

So I have my car back and everything appears OK.... I think.

I did have a look around the control unit to see if I could find anything that identified the software/firmware version but all I could find was the Software update screen with the Media and Telephone versions which may have nothing to do with the firmware that runs the clever bits. Maybe someone with more knowledge than me could advise? Anyway, for what its worth, my versions are as follows;
Media: MN-002.038.015
Telephone: TN-002.038.015

To the credit of the dealer the car was cleaned and more importantly fully charged.

Regards

Jon