What was the issue with the car?
A hesitation, stumbling, missing in power delivery in the 2000rpm to 3000rmp range during moderate acceleration. Plus a cold low-rpm stumble that went away as soon as the car warm up.
BMW extended warranty covered:
New fuel injectors
New coil packs
New HPFP
All Troubleshooting diagnostics
BMW goodwilled:
New spark plugs: Note plugs were beat; BMW re-evaluating the 100K mile maintenance replacement for 335i.
Dealership goodwilled:
De-carbon of intake valves and fuel injection system cleaning
At this point, 2000 - 3000rpm acceleration stumble was corrected. And BMW FSE (Field Service Engineer) signed off on this issue.
But still had cold start stumble when moving at low rpm - which should have been fixed by the new injectors. BMW has a SIB on this problem. The Shop Foreman continued diagnostic testing until the engine side was totally ruled out. Further consultation with BMW led to replacing the Steptronic transmission. None were available in USA, so new unit was fast-tracked from Germany.
After installation and check out with BMW FSE test drive - problem solved. The FSE then authorized DME replacement as final step as the latest DME has communication firmware that is designed to work with the new transmission. A match set, so to speak.
Again, there were plenty of opportunities where either the Dealer or BMW could have stopped to say, this fix is good enough for a car with this kind of mileage. For example: The cold start stumble only happened once in the morning - once warm the transmission worked fine under all other conditions. While 6 sparkplugs is a relatively minor cost, BMW good willed them and the labor. The Dealer didn't have to go the extra step of de-carbonizing the intake valves on their nickel.
There is a difference between playing lip service to customer satisfaction and the real deal.
|