By: Brenton Blawat

Part 1 – Lemon Law Over / Issue Logs

Part 2 – Contacting the Dealer / Manufacturer – UPDATED!

I apologize for taking so long to get this article posted to the internet. It has taken since January 23, 2009 till to June 2009 to come to a final resolution with BMW of North America. I am writing this article as a guide on how you can approach your dealership to assist you PRIOR to claiming a lemon on a vehicle to get a peaceful resolution.

Two IMPORTANT things to know:

1. Your dealership is NOT liable for any portion of vehicle failing when you purchase or lease a BRAND NEW vehicle. – This means that barging into your dealership demanding for a new vehicle won’t work. In fact, according to lemon law, your dispute is between the car manufacturer and yourself. – Be kind to your local dealer; they DON’T have to help you.

2. BMW is only obligated to follow the State and Federal lemon laws. Additional damages are typically not granted to anyone pursuing the lemon law. Claiming you will sue the dealership for thousands of dollars for lost time will get you no where but out the door. Stay calm and collected and the dealership will assist you.

Success! A FAIR resolution.

First, a special THANK YOU, goes out to Dan Jansen of International Autos for being patient with my relentless calls on the delivery of my new vehicle. Without Dan’s assistance and understanding, I would not have been able to receive my substitution of collateral. Thank you again!

1. Keeping Records

As shown in my earlier post, I had to keep all of the paperwork for the repairs on my vehicle. While having an issue occur 5 times, is annoying, you have to remember BMW is great at providing a replacement vehicle while you vehicle is in the shop. Keep the records so that you can prove your case to the BMW of North America. It’s about the BMW doing the right thing; not that you’ve been inconvenienced.

2. Contacting the Sales Manager at Local Dealership.

The first step is contacting the Sales Manager at the local dealership. Tell them you have been having problems with your vehicle and are interested in performing a substitution of collateral. A substitution of collateral is basically a vehicle exchange. In a substitution of collateral, BMW of North America will buy back your current vehicle and trade it out for a different vehicle on the lot. This also works for leased vehicles (such as in my case). The difference in cost of the vehicles will be charged charged to you. However, I was charged the DEALERSHIP COST difference versus the MSRP cost difference. This saved me over $3,500.00 by having the dealership extend their costs to me.

The Sales Manager will be required to contact the service manager; but keeping the sales manager as your point person will help tremendously.

3. Service Manager Sign-off

The service manger is required to review your service records to see if the reoccurring issue has to do with the same problem. The KEY component is to remain focused on the actual LEMON Law verbiage with the service manager. While the service manager may say I replaced different components each time the law states: “The dealer failed four times to fix the same defect;”. The “defects” by law are generic; not physical components. (EG Car will not maintain idle on start)
The service manager will sign off on the substitution of collateral and it will be passed back to the Sales Manager.

4. Regional BMW Representative Sign-off

In order for BMW of North America to accept the substitution of collateral, the regional BMW Representative is required to sign off on the contract. In most cases if the Sales Manager and the Service Manager sign-off on the collateral, the sign-off from the Regional BMW Representative just becomes a formality.

Once the Regional BMW Representative Signs-off the substitution of collateral paperwork is complete and the physical delivery of the vehicle can be performed.

5. (Optional) Upgrades

In 2009, BMW released a 335 with a “M Sport Package” that I opted to purchase. I purchased this upgrade at dealership cost with Paddle Shifters and a few other extras to completely trick out the vehicle.

If you are NOT interested in upgrading the vehicle, the dealership can provide you either:

a) a new vehicle off of their lot.

b) a new vehicle to be manufactured in Germany.

Since I upgraded the vehicle with a package that was not available yet, I chose “Option B” and it took an extra 60 days to deliver the substitution of collateral.

6. End Result

BMW of North America agreed continue my existing lease with a New 2009 BMW 335i X-Drive. This means that I got a 0 mile vehicle 1 year into my lease and my residual payout for the 2009 BMW 335i X-Drive is at the cost of a 2008 BMW 335XI. A GREAT DEAL, and completely FAIR to me. I still have my 45,000 miles to use in the remaining two years.

If anyone needs more details I’ll be more than happy to assist you.

FEB.1.2010 Update >:(

Thank you for the continued reading and comments on this blog posting. I have made a new 2010 resolution to update this blog article as well blogging more articles.

First Item To Address: Wheel and Tire / Dent and Ding Warranty Transfer

To my GREAT disappointment, the warranty that BMW promoted as part of the 2008 BMW 3 Series didn’t carry over to the 2009. This is a result of BMW now offering their own extended service warranty. I so happened to get a bulge the right rear passenger tire and after it was replaced on my dime, I got a nail in the side wall of the same side tire. Both tires costing me in excess of $600.00. Lesson learned – BUY THE NEW BMW WARRANTY!!!!!

Second Item To Address: The 2009 BMW 335 High Pressure Fuel Pump Issue – Strikes AGAIN

After about 11,000 miles and being out 400 miles of town, the High Pressure Fuel Pump issue strikes again. This time around, however, I was was traveling at a sustained 80 MPH on the interstate when it felt as if my transmission went on the vehicle. After pulling over, stopping the car, and starting it again, the car would function for 50 miles where I would then have to ‘rinse and repeat’ until I made it to the BMW Dealership. Not a pleasant experience.

Third Item To Address: Awesome Readers and Leaving Comments.

I appreciate everyone that has kept this blog #1 for BMW HPFP Issues. Here are my direct responses to my readers:

Kurt:

“The dealers offer nothing regardless. Like most owners, the legal pursuits was the only option. I was cool until I hit 50 DAYS in the shop. Nobody listened.”

Kurt – Sorry to hear of your issues. As frustrating as this can be, try a different dealership. Remember that the dealership is not responsible for a faulty vehicle. It is only responsible to fix the vehicle under the manufacturer warranty. Even then a dealership as a right to turn you away with – we can’t figure it out. Issues like the HPFP are difficult to troubleshoot. There are stories of injectors and injector rings being replaced to fix this issue when the issue is just a HPFP. I hope everything turns out for the best.

Nicole:

“.. i just bought a 2008 bmw 328xi”

Nicole – It is my understanding that the HPFP is only available on the Twin Turbo Engines in the 135, 335, 535, and X6. It sounds like you might be having a different issue.

Dan T:

“ 1. What does bmw do for used purchase under warranty? Usually lemon law is for new.
  2. With no fault codes, shoudl I be concerned? Why would such a costly car just go dead at a stop?
  3. I heard software for turbos needs updated, I have v27.2 and heard v30 improved performance, heard anything? ”

Dan T –

1. The Lemon Law in Wisconsin also allows for vehicle to be used as long as its under the first year of the warranty. There are other protections like Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act that provide protections for used vehicles.

2. Imagine the car cutting out in the middle of an intersection with a semi-truck (or train) coming full-speed in cross traffic. With no fault codes – absolutely should still be concerned for your safety.  The High Pressure Fuel Pump delivers fuel to the engine in the 3000 PSI range. If a turbo spins up and not enough fuel is being delivered, the car will die.

3. Performance may be better, however, BMW will never admit that. BMW rates the 3 series at 300HP which is borderline for high performance in insurance ratings. To keep the insurance ratings low, the vehicle is rated at 300 HP, while the engine is capable of producing well over 380HP with a tuner (Burger Motorsports JuiceBox+ or Dinan Chip). I hear the PnP JuiceBox+ is well worth the money; but very much voids the warranty.

Dave:

“ Purchased a new 2009 335 CI in August which had been running flawlessly until yesterday (6300 mi). The car started up normally, but stalled out when I put it in reverse and fuel pump sensor light came on as well as check engine light. Towed to the dealer and I was given a 335 loaner. Final diagnosis is pending, but I expect the same problem with the HPFP. Disappointing. Maybe the Cayman S next time for me. Appreciate the info… “

Bimmer to a Cayman S – you should be ashamed of yourself   On a serious note, a 335xi with the Burger Motorsports Juicebox+ at the stock setting will SMOKE a Cayman S. You have to remember the 335i is a 3.0 liter Twin Turbo and gets full horsepower and torque at 3000 RPM. The Cayman S is a 3.4I displacing 320HP at 7200RPM. Yes, the problems with the 335 are disappointing, but when my car is working, I wouldn’t trade it for any vehicle on the road (well maybe the new Audi S4).

If you get the 2010 Cayman S, please feel free to provide your feedback on the vehicle – I’d love to hear it.

Thanks again to everyone and safe driving!