BMW Emergency Service experience

[warsi]

Hi all,

Not a moan just an observation at this stage.

Went out earlier & had to wait in the X for about 1/2 an hr or so. During this time I had radio on and moved the car few times so engine start, move & off.

When time came to go back home, it won't start - lights come on, engine not turning & head lights flashing.

Called BMW ES (took me as much time to book the call-out as to listen to prerecorded message ). A min later received txt with ETA in 19 mins - well done BMW for such a quick response . Mech arrived on time & diagnosed flat batt & jump stared.

Something I cudn't figure out is 4.8 must take a heavy duty batt but such a batt going flat with radio & few start ups? Another thing I noted was very cold behaviour, short of being rude from the mech even tho it was 9 degrees outside Funnily enough he came in "customer service" van Had similar moody mech when called BMW ES first time round about a year ago.

Can't fault this service except the mech, anyone else care to share their experiences with BMW ES...?

[pvr]

The only experience was when I picked the X5 up new, and when getting home having a flat tyre with a workshop screw in it.

ES came with a 5 series estate and changed the wheel for me, I had not called them - the garage had.

*edit* - to add - the bloked was very friendly and was there in half an hour or so. He took the old wheel with him, went to the dealer, got a new one and put it back in the car as the spare.

[ITBarbie]

Hi

I called them out when hubbie locked keys in car and they came in 20 mins and got me in with no fuss and after just 5-10 mins. They were very helpful and the mech was very friendly. I believe Condor on here has a good experience with them as well. Maybe you just had two rogue ones


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[X5Sport]

Used them when my X5 was about 3 weeks old and kept reporting loss of oil pressure. Arrived within 30 mins. Faulty sensor. SWMBO used them when she had a loud 'clanging' noise from the back of her E46 and the guy arrived within the hour and found a broken rear spring - common on the E46 apparently. I have nothing but praise for them.

With regard to your battery suspicion must fall on how old it is - if it's the OEM one from new then it is probably at end of life (6 years average), but if it has ever gone completely dead then its life will be shortened. Modern car batteries are 'starter' batteries and are not designed for, nor very tolerant of, 'deep discharge'. This recent spell of cold weather has found the weakness in many peoples batteries - our E53's included - so it may well be it is on the verge of turning up its toes anyway.

[pvr]

Which is why mine is always on a CTEK battery maintainer to avoid the premature failing. I killed a battery on my little used previous Z4 within 2 years, so have invested in CTEKs for every car since.

[warsi]

Thanks guys and Penny,

I've been v. happy with their reponse time, it's just the grumpiness of the chaps at both times - it may well be a co-incident.

[quote=""X5Sport""]With regard to your battery suspicion must fall on how old it is - if it's the OEM one from new then it is probably at end of life (6 years average), but if it has ever gone completely dead then its life will be shortened. Modern car batteries are 'starter' batteries and are not designed for, nor very tolerant of, 'deep discharge'. This recent spell of cold weather has found the weakness in many peoples batteries - our E53's included - so it may well be it is on the verge of turning up its toes anyway.[/quote]If it really is the weak battery then fair enough, will have to change it - although I don't know how old it is (bought the car used), never had battery issues otherwise tho. did ask the ES chap to see if he could test the battery for strength but he didn't even bother answering to that!

[quote=""pvr""]Which is why mine is always on a CTEK battery maintainer to avoid the premature failing.[/quote]I have holidays coming up later in the year and can I leave the trickle charger on for couple of weeks - ie, without any fire hazard/risk, etc?

[StumpyPete]

I've called them twice (e-brake failure) and flat battery, and they have been exemplary on both occasions, accurate time estimates and always really friendly.

[pvr]

CTEK charges can be left on for months on end. My Golf is on it 12 months of the year.

[X5Sport]

[quote=""warsi""]If it really is the weak battery then fair enough, will have to change it - although I don't know how old it is (bought the car used)[/quote]

The battery should have a production date on it (usually a week/Year type code), but that does mean you'll have to get all the bits out of the way in the boot to get at it to check...

Richard

[AW8]

Jump leads are also a worthy & cost effective investment..........Assuming a willing donor vehicle can be found & negotiated when in need.

[Dan1502]

I had this problem today. I hadn't used the car for a couple of days and had been in the boot for a bit checking out where the cd changer leads were. I went to start it and it wouldn't start. Loads of beeps and the transmission and 4 wheel drive warnings came on. Anyway I tried jump starting it with the wife's focus but nothing so in case it wasn't just the battery (I had discovered another problem - water in the passenger rear quarter) I called the emergency call out. It took a couple of hours or so for them to come out but the guy was friendly and helpful. He said it would be the battery and it fired up with a jump start from his van. He ran it for five mins then checked it would start again and it would. He also explained a few things, my recollection of which is as follows:

There was 11V in the battery. This is low enough for the engine management system not to work despite the car turning over but not firing up. The lower the voltage goes, the more system errors can occur, things like airbag warnings coming up if less than 10V which then needs to be reset by them or the dealer.

To reset the 4x4 warning light he turned the wheel full lock left then full lock right and the light went out.

Although my attempts at starting had meant the engine wasn't turning over when he arrived, as it started again after jump starting, he believe the battery to be ok. He suggested I go for a run in it which I did.

He also said that leaving the interior lights on for just a few minutes can lead to enough voltage drop to cause this.

This now leads me onto another question. Say I go mountain biking, get back and am packing away, getting changed etc, the boot lights (and possibly others) will be on for a bit and needed in the winter months. If I then can't start the car I could be out in the sticks and have a problem on my hands, especially as jump leads didn't seem to help.

So, would fitting the boot with LED lights (and possibly the interior as a whole) reduce the draw sufficiently to solve this issue? I would consider this but do worry a little in case BMW and/or insurers use it as a get out if there is a problem or (worst case) fire.

[CondorX5]

I've had to use BMW Emergency twice now and on each occasion they were brilliant - phone operators pleasant and know their stuff, given proper info about arrival times etc, the technician who has arrived on each occasion has been very helpful and the recovery to dealer when the oil cooler popped was very well handled indeed. Hope I don't need them again, but I must say they were about a million times better than the Rubbishy RAC.........

As to whether the technicians were friendly or not - those attending my callouts were pleasant and helpful, I guess its a personal thing, perhaps the guy had had a long shift or other problems or just hates his job......who knows? At least they arrived very quickly and sorted it out for you - I don't need to make friends with the recovery guy, all I want is for him to do his job!!!!