So she's gone in to BW Chiptune .............

blofeld · Post by **blofeld** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 2:49 pm

This week I developed an unnerving knock from the Nearside front wheel at low velocity over speed bumps/potholes. Pulling to the right and feels a bit twitchy on the road. Thought it might be a balljoint or sway bar but noticed this morning that corner is sitting very low so now worried about a shock. Never had any dash warnings about the suspension though.

Also going to get my brake hoses done as the rears are corroded (dealer quote of £1400 for this alone!) and need to pass MOT

Also need a front inner PDC doing (got the part via a Sanj eBay link-thanks)

Will see how it goes but I'm bracing myself for a biggie, although I have a "not worth the paper it's written on" Warranty direct warranty so I am looking forward to testing that out!

Fingers crossed

Alex

X5 ALN · Post by **X5 ALN** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 6:07 pm

Warranty direct are ok - I tried it after a service picked up a split cv boot.

I would point out though - brake pipes are not listed under covered items, nor are the PDC sensors. (Your policy may be different). You should be covered for the suspension though.

They paid half the CV boot (genuine part) and all the labour (at a main dealer) as per the agreement for my vehicle and mileage.

I paid up the FULL bill upfront and they refunded me the difference. The other option was go to Halfords, an approved warranty direct agent, and I only had to pay what I was due under the agreement - told him there was no chance a Halfords mechanic was ever touching my car.

Top tip when claiming - follow the claims procedure. The garage MUST contact them and inform them of the faults and receive an authorisation number before carrying out any repairs.

I asked what was the definition of a worn item - the answer = something that would result in an MOT failure.

I could have fixed my CV boot for £20 using a mate and a factor part, but I chose to test the warranty. It cost me £50 excess plus £25 for half the parts.

The actual bill from BMW dealer was £180 ish.

Car was serviced by an independent BMW specialist. As he doesn't deal with warranty companies, I asked the main dealer if they would do the repair with the warranty company. They initially said no, but I pleaded with them.

I told them they had nothing to lose, as I have to pay the bill, then claim it back. Their other concern was the time it would take (depending on the efficiency of warranty direct) to actually get authorisation. We agreed they would do it, on the condition that warranty direct did not mess around, costing them time.

It turned out that they got authorisation quite quickly and there were no issues. I also got my refund within a couple of weeks.

I mainly bought the warranty to cover the engine and drive train.

This comment is a bit lengthy lol - but I have to say Its worth it.

blofeld · Post by **blofeld** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 6:31 pm

Very interesting.

I know the brake hoses won't be covered, like you I mainly got it to cover the transmission and drivetrain but they did upgrade me to the full "luxury car" level which even covers sat nav so I may try them on the pdc.

Will update.

Always good to know examples of when these companies pay out or not as reviews and experiences are always so mixed.

Alex

Sanj · Post by **Sanj** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 6:54 pm

Good luck on this - never easy one to sit and wait for...

blofeld · Post by **blofeld** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 7:19 pm

I know a nailbiting wait! and driving my brother in laws 1.6 golf has already lost its appeal....

At least I know the X is in good hands and I can trust them. That's half the worry with these things.

Sanj · Post by **Sanj** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 8:00 pm

Make sure he knows you're a forum member. Just helps with price and service.

Think he's sh!t with everyone else!

blofeld · Post by **blofeld** » Tue Jan 15, 2013 6:06 pm

I spoke to Alan today, he hasn't got to the bottom of the knocking and sagging front corner yet, but there is a bit that needs doing.

So far I am looking at 4 discs, 4 pads, and £550 worth of brake hose work....
Plus a gearbox software update, and the front PDC repair

oh and one of the technicians managed to rear end someone in my baby

- Alan was apologetic and apparently the only damage is a cracked front number plate...

running total so far £1400 ish with a forum discount.

looks like I wont be getting the X back that soon

stevox5 · Post by **stevox5** » Tue Jan 15, 2013 8:33 pm

Hi Mate

Regarding the knocking and the sagging suspension , do you have front and rear air suspension?

It might be of help , I had the same symptom exactly on my mates 3.0d with front and rear air suspension recently . He had the suspension going down slightly on the n/s/f corner over night and a clunk - knock over certain pot holes that sounded like a ball joint or an antiroll bar link rod knocking.
I checked the suspension cearfully and all the joints etc were fine but the airbag on the shock was leaking causing the lean.
I replaced that as it was needed anyway and this also cured the knock.
Unconvinced that this was the cause of the knocking and due to the fact its very easy to swap over I refitted the old strut to prove if the knock was due to that part and this confirmed that the strut was causing both issues.
New strut back on and it has been all good since.

Hope this is of help as I was not convinced that the strut could cause the knock but it did.

Cheers

blofeld · Post by **blofeld** » Tue Jan 15, 2013 9:58 pm

Sounds exactly like the problem I have been having!

And yes I have front and rear Air. I will get them to look at the bag - I thought that would probably need replacing but it sounds like I should get them to replace the strut aswell or do they come as one?

presumably you mean the shock strut like this?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Shock-Absorbe ... 5895a2349b

forgive my ignorance I am a bit of a novice with mechanicals but would like to be informed in advance when they quote me for repair!

thanks for the input-really helpful

stevox5 · Post by **stevox5** » Tue Jan 15, 2013 11:03 pm

That's a picture of a standard shock absorber mate.
You will need an air equivalent , it does look similar but comes complete with the air bag as one unit at the top .

blofeld · Post by **blofeld** » Tue Jan 15, 2013 11:15 pm

Nice.

Pricey at £600 by the looks of things

Ta

Raj · Post by **Raj** » Tue Jan 15, 2013 11:40 pm

I have a near side front shock/airbag assembly that I removed from my 4.8

Currently on eBay at £90 plus delivery. It's used but works. I had the offside airbag go hence removing this one.

130833595197

blofeld · Post by **blofeld** » Sat Feb 02, 2013 6:57 pm

So an update:

Got the X back today after:

Full brake hose re do
4 pads
4 discs
2 new front airbags and shocks
Gear box software update

So happy to have it back -cant stop grinning in the driving seat! Really underestimated how much I missed it.

Thumbs up to Warranty Direct-authorised 2 separate claims (one for each shock) within 30 mins at just under £1K each. No quibble.

Also massive thumbs up to Jason, Dom, and Alan at BW Chiptune. Looked after me and the car really well, lovely forum discount and did more than I asked on the brakes without extra charge plus refitted the PDC I had sourced free of charge.

Really good setup they have, they really know their onions and it really makes a change as a consumer to get top level service. I can't really fault them.

Overall what could have been the worst month of the year has ended really positively.

Happy man!

Sanj · Post by **Sanj** » Sat Feb 02, 2013 8:51 pm

That was yours I saw there then. Glad all sorted and WD came through!

Boys at the shop are great - except the one with the dodgy hairdo and that bluetooth headset surgically attached to his ear. He pretends he's on the phone sometimes, you know - no friends.......

X5Sport · Post by **X5Sport** » Sat Feb 02, 2013 9:18 pm

[quote="Sanj"]
Boys at the shop are great - except the one with the dodgy hairdo and that bluetooth headset surgically attached to his ear. He pretends he's on the phone sometimes, you know - no friends.......
[/quote]

That's all right coz he has you.......

R

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