Faulty Roof & Warranty Mess

[supafly]

Hi all,

So I've got the BMW warranty which I pay monthly for and had the issue with oil leaking from the roof in the middle of summer. It was sorted under warranty (spent 3 weeks being repaired).

About 6 weeks later, I was out quite far from home with the roof down. I attempted to put the roof back up but it when the rear section came back down it wasn't straight. After a few attempts, it came down but it didn't seem to latch fully and the windows would not go up. I didn't want to keep messing about with it at this point in case it got stuck completely.

I drove the car home and once home tried again and it latched. I haven't touched the roof again since then. I took the car to BMW for a service and got them to take a look at the roof. I got the all-clear that a new hydraulic ram would be covered under warranty. A few days later, it hadn't fixed the problem and would require more work. Seems like BMW warranty wanted more detail as they wanted to know the date I purchased the car and price I paid etc.

It's been in for nearly 2 weeks I just got a phone call from them now saying that none of the work is now under warranty. They have found a fault code that the car was driven with the roof part way down.

So I owe them £600 and the further work will cost £2500 which may not fix the issue.

Obviously, I'm not going to get them to investigate further. But does anybody have any ideas where to start with this? Or are there any known indys that I can take it to for a second opinion?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Smartbear]

I think I’d be on the phone to bmw customer services about the issue, did you say as far as you were aware the roof had completed it’s movement before driving home?
In what way do they think you have made the fault worse? :?
Rob

 

[Silverstar]

As Smartbear has pointed out I would try and fight and get BMW to honour the warranty. As far as Indys go, a little while ago whilst browsing the internet I came across this company: https://www.caymanautos.co.uk No experience with them personally but they have good reviews on Google.

 

[supafly]

I think I’d be on the phone to bmw customer services about the issue, did you say as far as you were aware the roof had completed it’s movement before driving home?
In what way do they think you have made the fault worse? :?
Rob

They were suggesting that something might be bent (can't remember what exactly). I did say that it was closed before driving home but I got the feeling they were looking for an excuse to not payout and they found one. They seemed to forget that it was faulty before I drove home and only 6 weeks after they were supposed to have repaired it.

They actually said that the fault was recorded something like 27 times which I questioned. Each fault means the car was driven over 28km/h apparently.

 

[supafly]

As Smartbear has pointed out I would try and fight and get BMW to honour the warranty. As far as Indys go, a little while ago whilst browsing the internet I came across this company: https://www.caymanautos.co.uk No experience with them personally but they have good reviews on Google.

Yeah, I did take a look at those. They're quite a trek for me as I'm in the midlands.

 

[Z4M-2006]

Tell them to print out the proof of this so you can look at what they are accusing you of,as you will need evidence for your solicitor :wink:

This is just a ploy as the cost of the roof is going to be significant and they dont want to pay it.

Just another example of BMW dealers being total w@nkers.

 

[RobbiZ4]

 

[supafly]

We have done some dozens of E89 roof repairs and roof refurbishs in the past, onsite at the owners as well as in our garage.

_ReplacementLoomLeft.jpg

Have a look at the translated homepage of my partner:
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=de&sl=de&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.staiger-neuffen.de%2Fbmw-z4-e89-dach-notdienst%2F

Hi all,
[..] So I owe them £600 and the further work will cost £2500 which may not fix the issue. [..]

Did you really have to pay that for nothing? Weird!

Creating a "roof EKG diagram" with my tool takes about one hour and delivers an exact result what's faulty.

A complete replacement of the hydraulic loom in the roof, replacing several microswitches as well as cleaning the hydraulic system with fresh oil takes in total 10-12 hours. Less takes of course less time. That is the base for benchmarking any proposal.

What the hell did they do in 3 weeks? Do you have any documentation about it? You may send me a mail via the homepage.

Be sure, hardly any of the BMW dealers has experience with malfunctions of the E89 roof.

Hey there,

The 3 weeks of work was the first repair for the hydraulic oil leaking from the roof. Unfortunately, they supplied me no documentation whatsoever. They didn't supply me with an invoice because they didn't charge me anything as it took them so long.

£600 is what they want me to pay for the work they have done that has not fixed the issue.

You're certainly right about dealers. It looks like they just swap parts and hope for the best.

 

[RobbiZ4]

 

[supafly]

Well, replacing the hydraulic ram takes at least 4 hours, not more. :?
Or did they replace the complete loom (hydraulic lines and wires)?

For the first repair, I believe they replaced the complete loom. Plus, they had to start it all again once because the manager was not happy with the quality of the work they had done, so it took 3 weeks.

This time they have just replaced the hydraulic ram and it's taken 2 weeks with a service.

 

[RobbiZ4]

 

[supafly]

Shall I book a ticket?

I've sent you an email via your website

As I expect more Z4 roofs getting into trouble due to the arising ages, I should plan a roof repair party on a weekend next spring in UK. Should take place in the middle of the island, so Birmingham is a good starting point.

That's a great idea!

 

[RobbiZ4]

 

[Busterboo]

supafly, my experience was that it's best to phone BMW extended warranty insurance direct. The number's in the handbook that came with your warranty.

Talking to your BMW AD is a waste of time, insofar as it's not they who make the actual decision about whether an item is covered or not.

I found the insurers easy to deal with and, once they'd agreed cover, my AD were little lambs.

 

[step_change]

Shocking the OP has had to endure this treatment. Hope you get it sorted mate.
I must say, there is always this little worry when I activate the roof especially when I am about and about in case it doesn't work. If it gets stuck half way down when away from home....... I had less worry with roofs that you could manually operate if needs be. But the E89 you can't.

 

[supafly]

Shocking the OP has had to endure this treatment. Hope you get it sorted mate.
I must say, there is always this little worry when I activate the roof especially when I am about and about in case it doesn't work. If it gets stuck half way down when away from home....... I had less worry with roofs that you could manually operate if needs be. But the E89 you can't.

Hi. Unfortunately it's still not sorted. I got them to drop the labour but by they still took £500 from me and sent me on my way. It was recommended by the BMW warranty complaints department to pay and get the car back.

I raised a complaint with BMW warranty. But so far all I've received is a letter acknowledging the complaint.

The dealer told me that the part has improved the roof but it judders going up. I haven't even tested it myself as it's not worth the hassle if it got stuck.

So I'm not quite sure what do with it at the moment...

 

[step_change]

There are some BMW E89 roof specialists on this forum like Dietcokeman. Get one of them to have a look. Just because you have a warranty (I have too) doesn't mean you shouldn't get some jobs done elsewhere.

 

[RobbiZ4]