E70 quality enhancement front driveshaft ‘recall’ 2012-2014

[Aby1]

There's a Facebook page dedicated to this issue

https://m.facebook.com/bmwpropshaft/

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[bubbabear]

This post has raised many valid points of concern. are there any members who have had the part fail on this forum? There was a chap with a 2010 40d and it failed and he posted on many forums including honest john but again we don’t what caused the failure - a/c dripping water onto shaft, manufacturing fault  or driving conditions (continued hard accleration under load with corrosion etc)


If your vehicle is outside of bmw warranty but less than 6 years you are covered by uk law where the manufacturer has liability to provide a product of statisfactory quality so I would expect bmw would cover the repair cost (£12,000?) if mileage is reasonable (60,000miles?) But at 10 yrs and say 100k miles I wouldn’t expect much goodwill.

[X5Sport]

The problem is as always, proving the hardware wasn’t of satisfactory quality and that BMW are therefore liable.  The plaintiff has to prove that bit.  Given there has been a QE I would expect that there is a good case though 

[neo61uk]

Looking at the Facebook page comments, it seems that bmw is helping out and covering the costs in most cases.
There is like 16 cases where it failed counting the comments, nearly 200 people registered on a page. 
And some of them are in Australia and Africa

Those that failed in UK are those that never had a recall check done by the looks and read of those comments.
I guess those cars that run out of warranty in 2013 are left over.
People often decide to stay away from main dealer as soon as warranty runs out.
As the recall was done as Quality Enhancement while other services are carried out, those cars serviced outside dealership would never been informed and checked.
Most likely those are failing.

I've spoken to bmw uk again yesterday and managed to get the info that my car was indeed checked in 2014
Drive shaft was ok and it was left in a car.
They could not answer what will happen if it brakes now casuing damage to other components.

I have than contacted two of my local dealers.
Both said that if anything happen to contact them
They will than take all apart and assess whats wrong and what failed.
And than open a case with bmw
They said that if its a drive shaft braking and it was recalled and documented as fine it will be manufacturer fault and bmw should cover the costs of repair.

So I got a bit of reassurance from them not to worry and just enjoy my ride.

They also said there is thousands of those cars driving around, 95% of owners is not even aware there was a recall done back in 2014 on those as it was mostly done while servicing.

Minority have problems, but as usuall on a forums we hear those fatal stories only, happy customers (unaware) most likely just drive it and don't share their stories.

I'm not sure what else we could do here in UK.
I guess my other option apart from just driving and enjoying it would be to buy the drive shaft and replace myself?

Dealer price for 866 drive shaft is whooping £790!!!

[Steve p]

Hi , do you just phone your local dealer service
Department too check for recall I have a late 2013
E70.
Thanks ste

[neo61uk]

Yes mate

Just gave them my last 7 Vin digits and they could check all the recalls and status on them.

[Chrispy]

Just noticed this post and on the off chance called my local dealer (Stratstone Doncaster).  The car does indeed need this "QE" carrying out (a Jan 2012 3.0d).  If I wouldn't have seen this I'd have never known most likely as I've only just got the car and all works will be carried out by an indy when required. 

Booked in for next Monday the 4th of Jan for the full morning.

[Steve p]

Great will give them a call
Cheers ste

[Glen]

You can check if your car needs a recall or missed any recalls by your vin


https://www.themotorombudsman.org/vehicle-recalls

[neo61uk]

So I was sitting at work and thinking about it

And still thinking...

Trying to find a pace to drive it and forget like bmw said, but i cant.
I cant stop thinking that it was not replaced when they had a chance
Its like driving on a bomb and waiting to explode

I just ordered an aftermarket drive shaft from reputable UK company.
It is using a heavy duty u joints that are Circlip fitted and can be serviced or replaced if needed, rather than welded/glued non serviceable bmw design.
24mths unlimited mileage warranty.

I will be replacing it over the weekend and will hopefully, finally forget about it!!

As they say.

Inner peace is priceless...

[bubbabear]

The ironic thing is that Coopers bmw called me to book in the car for the recall but I haven’t used them for over 18mths since a muppet in their workshop over tightened all the bolts on my new alloys so another dealer had to drill out the bolts. Parklane bmw had the car 3 times this year for a service and 2 warranty claims but didn’t contact me so from now on I will contact local dealer or bmw uk for QE/recall updates.

[DavetheBlade]

As Neo61 kindly suggested, I phoned BMW Customer Care regarding my unanswered email. Turns out they had no record of any email, despite using their own contacts form but anyway, spoke to a pleasant chap who easily pulled all my records.

He said that all recalls and QE's were complete including prop shaft in 2014 but also said the QE's would have been done at service without the owners knowledge because and I quote "it gives BMW the chance to continually update their cars without the customer being involved". I think the more pessimistic among us will be able to translate that into something more accurately resembling the truth.

So as others have found yes prop shaft QE completed but no record of what was done other than a tick in a box somewhere, meaning I'm a bit happier but not enough to feel the issue is solved.

BTW NEO, please keep us updated with how you get on with fitting the prop shaft, I for one will be keen to hear.

[X5Sport]

Interesting about nothing being said.  My then Dealer (Elms in Bedford) rang me to tell me that it needed to come in.  Inconsistency, or lame excuse caused by manufacturer ‘sensitivity’?

[dgm]

I took my friends 2012 30d for the QE check yesterday and the “prop shaft for the transfer box” was replaced.  My 2011 40d is in for the same QE check today, I’ll report back later but I’m hoping for the same result for mine.

[neo61uk]

[quote="DavetheBlade"]
As Neo61 kindly suggested, I phoned BMW Customer Care regarding my unanswered email. Turns out they had no record of any email, despite using their own contacts form but anyway, spoke to a pleasant chap who easily pulled all my records.

He said that all recalls and QE's were complete including prop shaft in 2014 but also said the QE's would have been done at service without the owners knowledge because and I quote "it gives BMW the chance to continually update their cars without the customer being involved". I think the more pessimistic among us will be able to translate that into something more accurately resembling the truth.

So as others have found yes prop shaft QE completed but no record of what was done other than a tick in a box somewhere, meaning I'm a bit happier but not enough to feel the issue is solved.

BTW NEO, please keep us updated with how you get on with fitting the prop shaft, I for one will be keen to hear.
[/quote]

Hi there

New shaft arrived last night
Will be on it this evening or tomorrow morning.
Fingers crossed it wont be a B.tch to fit.

It is 600g heavier than updated ...866 shaft from BMW.