posted 09-05-2001 09:33 PM            

If this is a glimpse of thing sto come, then the dealership can have this POS back....

We'll see what they say in the morning. I feel bad for the service writer.

posted 09-06-2001 08:50 AM            

But I think I got your record beat...the starter on my first coupe was bad from 7 miles. I know it doesn't help much but maybe it'll make you feel ALITTLE better.

Hopefully it's just the top mechanism so it wont affect the running of the car.

How is the rest of the car running, btw?

Let us know what they say! If you're not satisfied with their responses, I've got some numbers to some folks at BMW NA that I dealt with for my issues. I dont know how helpful they really are but can't hurt if you're not satisified.

Good luck...and congrats on your new cab?

posted 09-06-2001 09:19 AM            

Optimistically got up this morning and went down to the garage to make sure that I wasn't hallucinating last night. Started the car and backed it out (noted that it ran awfully smooth...no stalling...odd...this cheered me up). Tried to put the top up...no joy...after dorking with it for 15 minutes (with the car running) I finally got it to secure in the up position. Shut the car off, went in the house, got my daughter and put her in her carseat in the back. Kissed the "boss" goodbye, jumped in, turned the key......click......huh? Turned the key again....click (followed by electrical snapping)....WTF???!!!! Could the battery be dead? No indicator on the dash. I try again.....click..buzz...I can't believe this!
now I'm going to have to jumpstart my brand new car (to the chagrin of my neighbors, I'm sure). I get my wife off to work (the M was blocking the driveway) and go and get my trusty '93 Range Rover (which has never failed me despite the horrendous reliability of Range Rover) and try to jump the car.....still no joy. I tried jumping it under the hood, so perhaps the problem is at the battery. Now I'm really late. I close up the car (all of the electrical stuff...windows, alarm, etc, still work fine)and jump in the Rover to go ream the guys at the dealer.

I was so mad I could hardly see staight. Dropped my daughter off at school and headed to the dealer. The service writer was a little scared of me so he passed me to the GM of the dealership who really tried to calm me down. So, my brand new M3 is being flat bedded to the dealer where they will "try" to see what's wrong and if they can't fix it by 5, they will be delivering a loaner car of equal or greater value to my house.....but I'm still pissed. I have owned alot of cars over the years. Some were total POSs, but I got a little more than 130 miles (I picked up the car with 32) out of them before they had any problems.

Frank- I can't believe that you had a starter problem @ 7 miles....that's almost laughable....did it leave you stranded anywhere?

One more thing to note (and I can't belive I'm doing this)...the dealer has a new coupe in gray w/ black that isn't sold.....so if anyone is interested, shoot me an e-mail and you can call them. (mpgk3@yahoo.com)

I'll keep you posted to the progress.

posted 09-06-2001 05:20 PM            

Sorry to hear about your car. I just placed an order for a 2002 cabriolet and now am slightly worried after reading your comments.

Did BMW manage to fix your car? Was it a 2001 model?

posted 09-06-2001 05:41 PM            

Got a call from the dealer. After testing everything, they concluded that the battery was bad and had some shorted cells. They replaced the battery and flat-bedded the car back to my house.

I really don't know what to think...if this was a freak occurrence or what. I understand batteries going bad but this is a bit extreme.

Anyway, whatever they did to the car, it is now working and I am less angry (notice I didn't say happy).

Although the dealership acted admirably (especially since I was livid), i will pass this info to BMW NA for the record.

So, with a pessimistic approach, the car is fixed....for now.

Oh yeah, this is an '01 M3 cab. Hopefully this was an isolated incident. The dealer claimed they had never seem this before on such a new car (taken with grain of salt).