Thanks for sharing this. Not that I'm shocked, but this sort of stuff needs to be heard because I can assure you there will be at least someone who will have 2nd thoughts about getting a BMW.

My friend's dad drives a 5 series (not sure which one specifically) on a lease (so pretty new). It has left him stranded multiple times... car just won't start... obviously each time the car went back to the dealer under warranty but the issue repeated itself.

As for the push button start... it's kind of funny. Yesterday was basically my first ride in a "newer" BMW... the one before was in a 90s M3 quite a long time ago. My co-worker got a 2005 330XI and I told her I was interested in seeing how it was. Well as I was getting the ride I thought to myself "you know what, I like my turn key ignition" as well as many other things lol.... so what you described here just gives more reason for not being a fan of the push button start. Probably I won't have an option in the future with this, but for now I'm not at all in a hurry to get rid of my "less advanced" vehicle.

When I was car shopping for my first car, I initially was interested in one of the 3-series BMWs. I lost my interest as I heard over and over of the issues people have and the repair bills. It became too big of a risk to take and I just decided it’s not worth it. On top of that, the couple of BMW dealers that I went to seemed to have no interest in me... but that's a whole different story that I won’t go into.

 

The problem with the push button start is that if the car does not fire, it cranks over way too long. It does not take much time to kill a battery in minus 40 temperatures when the thing cranks for 10 to 15 seconds. There is no way to shorten this. While cranking over like this you wonder who the genius was that thought it was wise to crank over an engine that won't start for that long. I guess it never dawned on their engineers that a BMW might not start.

 

An update for everyone. When roadside assistance picked up the car, they took it to the closest BMW dealership which was not where Josh got the car. I spoke with the GM at Edmonton BMW where the car was leased and he said to send Josh over with the invoice. He told Josh yesterday he will pay it and if Josh leases another BMW he will not face another bill like this, the dealership will step up.

Clearly this is an issue with BMW Canada and not the dealers. They need to do some soul searching. Josh loves his car and it handles like an SUV in the snow with the all wheel drive. Josh has said that he could handle a car not starting in minus 40 if he was not stuck with the bill. It's up to Josh to decide what to do from here on. I guess if he used a device like Interalian suggests, he could avoid a similar occurrence. He could likely get the dealer to do the install of a pan heater prior to delivery. I thought it warrants mention that the dealer did the right thing!

 

^^ Surprising, but in a good way! Good for the dealership and for Josh.

 

^^That's BS he's only going to cover it IF he leases another BMW (It's almost like admitting ok we messed up but buy from me again and i'll take care of this issue) I hate dealers that's why I decided to hold on to the G its out of warranty and I can fix all the problems myself.

In my "crew" I am the only Japenese owner the rest of my friends ALL drive BMWs so I love when someone mentions this kind of experince as I sent them a copy of your experience, boy do German drivers love to hate on all other drivers but this one put them in their place!

My friend told me its better to get the "cold winter package"

 

Looks like that particular dealer just wants to gain Josh's business by holding that repair invoice over his head. (that dealer will probably just submit it as a warranty anyway)

I thought when people stepped up to the premium brands like Infiniti, BMW, Mercedes, Lexus etc... that type of shadiness stopped.

 

guys, i don't think the dealer's offer is conditional on Josh leasing another BMW from them. the way i read it is that if Josh decides to go with another BMW after his lease is up, this dealer will make sure he doesn't go through the same BS again.

at least that's my take, i'm having a "glass half full" kind of day i suppose. it's great to hear the dealer is stepping up, and good for Josh to keep on them.

 

Read it again. Yes you are correct. My misunderstanding.

 

sounds like a terrible experience. no company is immune to this kind of stuff. my g35 had a 'fuel management problem' as they claimed and was towed and under service for 3 weeks. i posted the experience on here a couple years ago or so. it's funny... instead of getting help from dealers they'd rather alienate the customer and create turmoil. i just recently went through hell with dell and a monitor i purchased. the majority of company's seem to suck these days.

 

You are right, no strings attached. They would like Josh to come back when his lease is up and the promise was to insure he was comfortable that this would not bite him in the a$$ in the future, should he lease another BMW.

Pretty sad still that the dealership needs to take the initiative when the manufacturer will not do what is right. I do give the dealer kudo's for stepping up, albeit my family have three of their cars.

 

If it's cranking too long, does another button push cancel the attempt? I need to check the FM (as in: RTFM) for the G.

 

No, no way to cancel. You would think.........

 

The manual for the G ('07 with pushbutton start) says if the car is hard to start in the cold, push the throttle down 1/3 and crank for up to 15 seconds, releasing the throttle when the engine starts.

If very hard to start of if flooded, press the throttle to the floor and hold there, crank for 5-6 seconds then release the throttle. Then crank with foot off the throttle until engine starts.

There's a statement in bold: Do not operate the starter for more than 15 seconds at a time. If the engine does not start, push the ignition switch to OFF and wait 10 seconds before cranking again, otherwise the starter could be damaged.

The bold text seems to imply the Infinitois can abort a cranking attempt. Never tried it, YMMV.

 

The German's couldn't invade Russia because of the cold, what makes you think their cars can hold their own in Edmonton?

*That was a joke*

In all honesty, every car has their ups and downs. I've owned two Infiniti's in the past 6 years. Each one has had their ups and downs, my i30 had more downs than ups, but it was a good car. My brother just recently bought a 323xi (Calgary) He's had no problems thus far. Although I feel the computer in the car has too much control.

 

Neither could the French At least they aren't trying to sell their Peugeots or Citroens here.