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      02-01-2013, 09:03 AM   #1
CrazyLatte
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The elephant in the room - F30 quality

From all the different posts that I've been reading, it seems like there is a serious issue with the F30 build quality. I noticed a few of you have even run into each other while dropping the car off for repeated warranty work.

So the question is, are you satisfied with the quality of F30 delivered to you? Do you as a customer believe the car you are driving satisfies the BMW quality standard?

The answer is unfortunately a NO for me. I've had a number of issues since delivery, some were resolved. Unfortunately there are a few that is still outstanding (3 months after delivery). I'd like to share some of my issues with you all - steering rack (waiting for it from Germany), rust seat rail, door clicking sound and panel squeaking sound.

I've been in discussion with BMW Australia who have outright refused to provide me with a written statement to say that the car delivered to me, with all the above issues, satisfies the BMW quality standard. They were also unwilling to provide me a written letter to say they decline to provide such a statement.

Whilst I can live with the above issues not being resolved, I'm very unimpressed with the way BMW Australia has handled the situation. I could walk away a happy customer but they decided be rude and unapologetic about it. Mind you, all the items listed above are apparently working as intended and is not a defect. They are merely manufacture issues...

I'm now considering legal actions including referencing the situation to ACCC and Office of Fair Trading
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      02-01-2013, 10:07 AM   #2
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Shame, mines be a stellar performer so far, not a single issue.
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      02-01-2013, 03:53 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CrazyLatte View Post
are you satisfied with the quality of F30 delivered to you? Do you as a customer believe the car you are driving satisfies the BMW quality standard?
Yes, I'm totally satisfied with the F30 car I own. Yes, I've had some minor issues, which were handled very professionally by my dealer (Bib Stillwell, Melbourne).

I'm sorry to read about your long standing issues not just with your car, but with BMW Australia. That to me, is a big (and disappointing) surprise.

Quote:
Originally Posted by CrazyLatte View Post
I'm now considering legal actions including referencing the situation to ACCC and Office of Fair Trading
If you have exhausted all avenues to have your car's legitimate problems fixed, I agree. You should research what legal options are available to you in order to have your car fixed to a reasonably expected standard.

If you are reasonable in your request, which I'm sure you are, then help should be on your side.

Have you documented everything that has happened? Phone calls, dates, times, names of people to whom you spoke with, etc? Keep as accurate a log as possible.

Best wishes
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      02-01-2013, 09:43 PM   #4
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Sorry to hear that your issues have not been addressed well enough. I'm rather surprised to see one person having so many problems.

Once you get legal parties involved they'll definitely need to come to the table with some sort of solution. I'd be bold enough to ask for a new replacement or they buy back the car from you.

Good luck
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      02-02-2013, 02:55 AM   #5
CrazyLatte
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Quote:
Originally Posted by J1n View Post
Sorry to hear that your issues have not been addressed well enough. I'm rather surprised to see one person having so many problems.

Once you get legal parties involved they'll definitely need to come to the table with some sort of solution. I'd be bold enough to ask for a new replacement or they buy back the car from you.

Good luck
You'd be surprised how many people is in the same situation I'm in. I've got PMs from people who wish to remain anonymous. BMW's client service division have really failed the whole BMW ownership lifecycle.

I'm perfectly satisfied with my dealer - its the response from BMW Australia that is poor and very disappointing.
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      02-02-2013, 07:30 AM   #6
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Funny because I was talking to my colleague just the other day and he was complaining that he had like 3 issues with his X3 so far not even a year old. His problems were of course rectified FOC but he seems quite reluctant to get another BMW, looking at Lexus for more reliability.

Maybe we need an Aus poll to see how many ppl actually have issues.
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      02-02-2013, 03:47 PM   #7
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Great... I have left the VAG stable for this very reason. Only NOW u guys r raising this? :-p

J/k

So after 2 x VW i decided no more DSG based vehicles and switch to a maker that is doing better in the JD power survey. It is in the media that VW are taking this seriously and having customer servie report to the MD.

But this feels too late to me. That assh0le tech guy will still be at a certain VW stealership denying the existence of blatantly obvious issues.

I still think that the powertrain of the F30 is solid unlike VWs. Admittedly that view is starting to change based on feedback from 335i owners on the N55.

I also figured that i should not buy a vehicle so early in the product cycle. I think that this is really the main issue. The majority of complaints seem to come from vehicles made up to around mid 2012. One or two go up to Oct 2012 (incl Latte).

I deliberately pushed out my order and i am counting on this.

A poll would be interesting and also find out date of manufacture. I would think the faults per vehicle would drop.

@Latte - have u tried going to another dealer to get the issues rectified?
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      02-02-2013, 04:01 PM   #8
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BMW UK, nay BMW Worldwide, also suck. I had to get my baggy leather seats fixed at my own expense. I am sure my seat bases are rusting away. But quite honestly, I cannot be bothered to check them. It'll just stress me and these peeople are not worth my peace of mind.

Just check my baggy leather thread:
http://www.f30post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=784559

In particular this page to see the fix:
http://www.f30post.com/forums/showth...=784559&page=7

It became the longest thread on the UK forum!
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      02-02-2013, 06:53 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CKau View Post

I still think that the powertrain of the F30 is solid unlike VWs. Admittedly that view is starting to change based on feedback from 335i owners on the N55.
I've not seen any issues with the N55 in F30 discussed, but have heard of some with the N54 in older 3 series models.

Gotta say mine is well built, not a single rattle even on the coarsest of roads here in NZ. My GTI had plenty of rattles from new.

The N55 with the 8 speed auto is heaven...and the fuel economy is amazing. My GTI averaged 12.9 l/100km, the 335i so far is averaging 9.8 l/100km with mostly city driving with a little bit of spirited country driving on the twisties!
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Last edited by JonoNZ; 02-02-2013 at 08:02 PM..
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      02-02-2013, 07:01 PM   #10
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Actually it's an 8 speed auto. If you only have 7 it could be a quality issue
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      02-02-2013, 07:12 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CrazyLatte View Post
From all the different posts that I've been reading, it seems like there is a serious issue with the F30 build quality. I noticed a few of you have even run into each other while dropping the car off for repeated warranty work.

So the question is, are you satisfied with the quality of F30 delivered to you? Do you as a customer believe the car you are driving satisfies the BMW quality standard?

The answer is unfortunately a NO for me. I've had a number of issues since delivery, some were resolved. Unfortunately there are a few that is still outstanding (3 months after delivery). I'd like to share some of my issues with you all - steering rack (waiting for it from Germany), rust seat rail, door clicking sound and panel squeaking sound.

I've been in discussion with BMW Australia who have outright refused to provide me with a written statement to say that the car delivered to me, with all the above issues, satisfies the BMW quality standard. They were also unwilling to provide me a written letter to say they decline to provide such a statement.

Whilst I can live with the above issues not being resolved, I'm very unimpressed with the way BMW Australia has handled the situation. I could walk away a happy customer but they decided be rude and unapologetic about it. Mind you, all the items listed above are apparently working as intended and is not a defect. They are merely manufacture issues...

I'm now considering legal actions including referencing the situation to ACCC and Office of Fair Trading

The best way to get their attention is to Post a pic or bag them out on Facebook. I know people got instant attention that way. Search it, some post had like a bunch of likes and supportive comments
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      02-02-2013, 07:15 PM   #12
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I think the ACCC will take the rusted seat response really seriously. So i would use that angle.
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      02-02-2013, 08:02 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dcg71 View Post
Actually it's an 8 speed auto. If you only have 7 it could be a quality issue
Lol, that was a typo! Now corrected.
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      02-02-2013, 11:36 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by F30AM View Post
Just check my baggy leather thread:
http://www.f30post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=784559

In particular this page to see the fix:
http://www.f30post.com/forums/showth...=784559&page=7

It became the longest thread on the UK forum!
Actually it's because of your thread that when the dealer contacted me about the car's arrival, I added the fit of the leather seats as one of the predelivery items to check. I told them I will be inspecting this myself.
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      02-02-2013, 11:48 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CrazyLatte View Post
From all the different posts that I've been reading, it seems like there is a serious issue with the F30 build quality. I noticed a few of you have even run into each other while dropping the car off for repeated warranty work.

So the question is, are you satisfied with the quality of F30 delivered to you? Do you as a customer believe the car you are driving satisfies the BMW quality standard?

The answer is unfortunately a NO for me. I've had a number of issues since delivery, some were resolved. Unfortunately there are a few that is still outstanding (3 months after delivery). I'd like to share some of my issues with you all - steering rack (waiting for it from Germany), rust seat rail, door clicking sound and panel squeaking sound.

I've been in discussion with BMW Australia who have outright refused to provide me with a written statement to say that the car delivered to me, with all the above issues, satisfies the BMW quality standard. They were also unwilling to provide me a written letter to say they decline to provide such a statement.

Whilst I can live with the above issues not being resolved, I'm very unimpressed with the way BMW Australia has handled the situation. I could walk away a happy customer but they decided be rude and unapologetic about it. Mind you, all the items listed above are apparently working as intended and is not a defect. They are merely manufacture issues...

I'm now considering legal actions including referencing the situation to ACCC and Office of Fair Trading
Its interesting how you have stated that BMW said your items listed are working as intended and not a defect... The steering rack issue for one, is a design flaw of the vehicle and they have admitted this (BMW AG) have to my dealer..
Interesting the difference between each case.
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      02-02-2013, 11:55 PM   #16
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@Latte... didn't read what you wrote closely enough. Looks like your dealer is on side.

Maybe say to BMW Aust you will go to Today Tonight if you don't have these resolved to your satisfaction.

Companies that pride themselves on reputation hate bad publicity.

I had my issues resolved, but it's a painful process to get them resolved - otherwise I would have been inclined to go on air as well. Hence the loss of brand loyalty.
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      02-03-2013, 12:54 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CKau View Post
Maybe say to BMW Aust you will go to Today Tonight if you don't have these resolved to your satisfaction.
Now that they aren't cancelled, it would be a last resort. Need to totally exhaust all other avenues first. That's when TT would probably jump on board.
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      02-03-2013, 01:10 AM   #18
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today tonight will never do that.. coz BMW will not pay for ad time on their channel.
Try all the channels i am sure one of them will report the story.

Start with the rusty seats!!!! that a headline grabber then work towards the rest.. no one would care about baggy seats.
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      02-03-2013, 04:25 AM   #19
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To take it to a tv station is the last resort. I was talking about using it if Latte felt all other options were exhausted.

I work in a subsidiary of one of the banks and they are totally committed to doing anything to stop bad publicity. Their brand is so big, the General Managers get involved (1 below CEO) and are really careful to manage perceptions in the media and will crisis manage for a fair outcome for everyone that is commercial.

I have had my meetings cancelled so they can fire fight these media crises.

My point is bad publicity is a good motivator if you are not getting anywhere.

I prefer to work things out and not lose my temper i the first instance. Winning them over is preferable to being adversarial.
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      02-03-2013, 06:30 AM   #20
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When I took delivery of my car, (in fact my ex-wife and I bought two identical BMWs), it was brought to me by transporter as I could not get to the dealer during Christmas time and I also had some health issues. The delivery driver was a very nice chap and did his best to explain the tech but I knew a bit more than him. You must admit there is a hell-of-alot of tech to get your head around especially when you change makes. Anyway, the next day (Sunday) I noticed the baggy seats especially the driver's, one key fob did not work and the rear bumper's colour mismatch was observed (this is standard on most cars in EBII it seems!).

The Supplying Dealer was/is wonderful and afforded me much help. However, I took the car to a local BMW Dealership who sorted the key issue in 10 minutes after I insisted that this was my God given right for them to help but they refused to support me regarding the baggy leather seats. They and BMW UK used every bit of wriggle room and felt the seats were 'adequate' and met BMW's quality standard. The Service Manager at the Local Dealership is a Kiwi who refused to accept or see there was a problem. I wrote to BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer and BMW UK MD Tim Abbott. Anyway, my request for help fell on deaf ears, and after much farting around with them I went ahead and fixed the baggy seats for £204 at my expense, as by this time I was totally fedup with BMW which is how they wished this to end. Throughout all this the Supplying Dealership did its best to help and was put in a very diffuclt position due to BMW's intransigence. The Sales Manager and MD of that company are really good people. The Sales Manager contacted me a few days ago to get the description of the Handbrake Handle with the Coral Red Accent I would like for both our cars. This would be a great match for my Coral Red seats.

So my brotherly advice to all you prospective BMW owners is: Don't take delivery or pay a penny until the car is perfect and you are happy with it. Check it out carefully because once you pay and take it away, you'll be shafted by BMW if you want things fixed without much ado. Geman Car Brands are extraordinarily arrogant and refuse to accept they make mistakes in the manufacturing process of their cars. What goes around comes around and I really hope the Koreans and Japenese will give them a good hiding one day, though I can't see this happening in my lifetime.

It is a brilliant car, though.
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      02-03-2013, 08:20 AM   #21
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If the dont end up fixing the steering issue, which I think is major and you got enough of us together, it would be more appeal to a TV station to run a report i.e Today Tonight etc
Hopefully it wont come to that..
Apart from the steering, my car is A1 inside and out.. love it to bits.
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      02-03-2013, 01:46 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by F30AM View Post
and the rear bumper's colour mismatch was observed (this is standard on most cars in EBII it seems!).
My car's rear & front bumpers match the colour of the body. I've recently seen 2 other F30 EB cars with matching bumper/body colours as well.
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