I thought BMW was supposed to be a safe option?

[Paul77]

Bought my 2010 BMW 320D manual last year. Everything going great until last week, when I couldn't select reverse gear. Managed to get it to the garage I usually use, and this morning I'm being told that it needs to be sent away to a specialist who can rebuild the gearbox, if they can get parts for it. They thought it would just be a simple job of a selector or linkage.

I've had all sorts of cars. Fords, Vauxhalls, and my last VW Passat so I thought I'd treat myself with the beemer but this will be the first time I've ever had gearbox problems. Utterly crazy and apparently a common thing to go wrong. Even newer ones have this issue. BMW just replace the box to the tune of £4k too according to reports on the net.

I'm in total shock with it really. £500 at least for the rebuild without VAT, and because mine is a stop/start car and gear indicator to tell you what gear to be in for the Eco warriors then it may be more. Surely a huge company like BMW would make parts readily available for this sort of thing? It's crazy.

Oh well, we'll see how it goes.

 

[Rooter]

keep kicking off, escalate and escalate your unhappiness. I had at the time a 9 year old BMW, after some research i found the problem i had was more common than they let on. (i had a 330D 2000 model at the time, and the rear diff ripped out of the floor!!!) They ended up fixing it free of charge, a whole new floor was fitted. This was on a car i had bought second hand for 6 grand and was 9 years old with 100,000 miles on the clock. Oh and i had a brand new X5 for 3 weeks while they fixed it too...

Get googling bmw forums for others with the same issues, what you are really looking for is the job code for the work they are doing, if you can find that and it is more common, or even a recall in another country, thats the jackpot!

 

[Paul77]

Defo worth keeping my ear to the ground on it. Cheers fella.

 

[Alex1975]

Not really the safe option... BMW are the 28th most reliable car manufacture.

http://www.reliabilityindex.com/manufacturer

 

[USER1999]

I have always found bmw to make unreliable junk, expensively.

 

[Smiffy]

If you bought it less than a year ago, hopefully you'll be under warranty?
If not..... good luck.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Find the main BMW forum. I am on a Volvo one and they are a mine of information. A BMW one will be able to guide you with advice and other options.

 

[Paul77]

Yeah I used to be a member of the VW forums and V.Astra forums too a while ago. Ended up with car hypochondria by the end of it. Shame. I really like the car so I want to get it sorted. How it gets paid for is the challenge if I can get BMW to do it, fair enough.

 

[Tommo21]

Dont be fooled guys....all cars have their faults. My mate got a new Audi a3 and the geearbox is knackered, within the first few weeks. My passat from a few years ago let go a connection rod, loose bolt, straigh through the sump.

So, they all can have horror stories but my A6 has done near 120k and you would not know it. Touch wood.

 

[Paul77]

So, they all can have horror stories but my A6 has done near 120k and you would not know it. Touch wood.

That's it now. You've jinxed it lol

My old Passat Vaccum pump failed one night out of no where. No brakes driving along the road. I did have brakes, I just had to stomp on the pedal. £650 repair bill exactly two years ago lol.

 

[Smiffy]

Japanese cars have less faults than other cars....even German ones!

 

[Paul77]

My mate is now laughing because he has a Honda Accord and is doing the "I told you so" thing. If he doesn't shoosh, I'll be loosing a 7 iron.

 

[Rooter]

Japanese cars have less faults than other cars....even German ones!

Should have bought a Lexi. It's the Japanese Mercedes.

 

[delc]

German cars are over-rated, over-priced junk with an unjustified reputation for reliability. Buy Japanese/British cars if you want something reliable!

 

[la_lucha]

Find the main BMW forum. I am on a Volvo one and they are a mine of information. A BMW one will be able to guide you with advice and other options.

Which Volvo forum do you use generally?

 

[Rooter]

German cars are over-rated, over-priced junk with an unjustified reputation for reliability. Buy Japanese/British cars if you want something reliable!

Sorry Delc, but that is utter tosh.

 

[Smiffy]

Sorry Delc, but that is utter tosh.

Their petrol filler caps are bigger

 

[delc]

Sorry Delc, but that is utter tosh.

That's the opinion of a mechanic friend of mine who works on them!

 

[MegaSteve]

Our last two French cars have been ultra reliable despite what others have to say...
Mind you, so were the German made one's before that...

Cars these days are more reliable than those from when I started driving...
De-cokes @ 30K... Clutches @ 20K were the norm...

 

[Alex1975]

I dont think German cars do have a reputation for reliability, they have a reputation for build quality. They do not tend to squeak or rattle, the materials are solid. They are not Lexus though...