I mention this in the "other car" section but this is more pertinent to Canada and our climate. Last Sunday temperatures in Edmonton hovered around the minus 40 mark. My sons 335Xi would not start. Several attempts - no start. He waits a while and tries again and no start. The battery is now dying down so he calls a tow truck. They boost the car and try again - no start so it gets towed.

The dealer calls and the engine flooded which resulted in fowled plugs. The battery was run down and needed to be replaced- according to them. Gas in the oil meant an interim oil change. The tab - $ 1,100.00 with warrantee denied. The reason they gave was too many short trips preventing a 100% battery charge. They put the keyfob in a reader and it showed every door opening, trunk opening and trip for the past 35 days. There were about 100 or so trips under 5 kms which are his trips to work, he lives close to where he works. There were about 40 trips over 15 kms which are his daily trips to the gym about 15 kms one way on the highway - but not good enough according to BMW. The service advisor actually suggested that my son should either put a battery charger on his car weekly or take a 30 km trip every second day to charge up his battery. Now the real issue was the car flooded in the cold temperatures because it would not fire. The battery was fine for multiple start attempts. The car would simply just not start. BMW's assertion that this is a battery issue is a fabrication in order to deny warrantee. The claim that BMW's will start to minus 50 is clearly bull$hit. The kicker - you cannot get a block heater in a BMW!! I bet if the car was plugged in it would have started, not the issue according to the service advisor.

With push button start, the driver has no control over the length on the cranking over of the engine or the amount of gas injected into the motor. BMW engine management looks after this. In cold weather, apparently not too well. The car cranked over just fine for the first three or four tries but engine management flooded the car. BMW blame the battery. What absolute BS!!! My wifes FX35 started, my Nissan Altima started, my daughters boyfriends 1996 Infiniti I-30 with 300000 kms on it started, my sons girlfriends Ford Taurus started but not his 65K BMW 335 Xi.

Stick with the Infiniti folks, at least they start. This situation has really turned me off BMW. I really like my M5, it handles, its fast and its fun. But BMW as a company are not in my good books and I now have a real bad taste in my mouth. What an arrogant deceitful company. The dealer is also a victim here because they are only relaying BMW official position with regard to this deficiency. I was told that a good number of customers are pi$$ed off right now. Clearly not an isolated incident.

 

Pretty sad state of engineering in a car from a country at our latitude. Even worse is the denial and obfuscation, not to mention the hefty bill!!. Can't blame you for being pissed.

 

you can't get a block heater on a BMW? why the hell not? clearly something fowled up with the engine management system. i would keep after them, and take it up with BMW Canada if you are not reimbursed.

on another note, 100 trips of less than 5kms is not really a great idea in the winter. i lived in edmonton for 3 years while going to the U of A. i walked to school year-round (~5kms) and only drove when i needed to get somewhere a further distance. even if i had to drive less than 10kms, i would take a longer route to make sure my car got well heated. short trips are brutal on cars, especially in -40 temps.

regardless, BMW is trying to screw with your son. tell him to stay after it and get some, or all, of that $1100 bill returned.

 

You make an interesting point...

Last winter over Christmas I was back home near timmins, and consistantly over my stay morning temperatures were -32 to -38. At the time I didnt realize I had a block heater on the vehicle so I never plugged it in. Every time I pushed the remote start on my 6MT, she fired up right away with no hessitation... even the CRV with a block heater was having slight issues cranking.

The G never left me stranded in the cold I make many short drive trips. Also I only ran synthetic oil so Im sure that helps.

 

Short trips may or may not be the best for cars but that is an aside in this case. I understand your point, you are right but I think we agree that that does not justify BMW's denial of warrantee. My son leases his cars for 36 months and returns them. For those 36 months he expects his car to start. His G coupe aways did.

 

Sad to say but I have heard similar 'battery' stories, many times on the BMW boards.
It's a very common excuse for denial of warrantee by BMW.
I love their cars, but I don't think I will own another one.

 

^ absolutely. BMW are being ******. the "dead battery" rationale is bogus. your son has a legit case to continue his push for compensation. if BMW sells vehicles in cold climates they should be R&D'ing their engine management systems for those conditions.

if an owner wants to take repeated short trips in cold weather, that's their prerogative. this should have little to no effect on a new vehicle. in the long run the life of the vehicle will be significantly reduced, but that's a moot point to the original owner if the vehicle is returned at lease-end after 36mos. (yet another reason why i will never buy an ex-lease vehicle).

 

you would think when buying or leasing a 65k car, the car would start up fine regardless of the climate it was sold in. but no.

 

Sounds like typical stealership bullshizzle. "it's your fault" seems like the usual answer now days....

 

Would going to the dealer when the temps are seriously low and asking them to start one of their cars help?

 

At the very least it might be amusing!

 

Wow, that's a sad story on BMW. I think I can understand why you would be frustrated.

 

Truly exceptional service*. I agree when the pushbutton start takes all the driver involvement out of the starting process the ECU is fully to blame. Stating it's the battery is a load of steaming crap-ola. Frankly though, my G35x ('07) has given me a few 'is it gonna start' moments on really cold days.

If it's true there's no provision for a block heater, check this out; http://www.wolverineheater.com/ If the oil pan has a nice flat area on the bottom these just stick on and work a treat.



* this is their jargon IIRC. It means "did we leave any $ in your pocket?"

 

To think i wanted to get an M3 before. I guess i will steer clear of BMW for a while.

 

If other cars can be engineered to operate under the same conditions, then BMW should as well.......................

I call baloney on their explanation.