Roof Motor...yes another thread

A

AJZ4London

Member
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Some advice please. I have been advised that it will cost £1200 inc VAT(!!!) to fix my roof motor which has become water damaged. Having read all of the threads on here I see that this is a common and known problem. The car is within its one year guarantee (54 plate) but apparently this problem is not covered by the warantee. The service chap has said that he has applied to BMW for this to be fixed under "good will" and I will find out tomorrow.

Has anyone had theirs replaced for free under good will??

If this is a known problem why have BMW not come up with a fix (apart from on facelifts) and why are the drainage tubes not cleared as part of a regular check by the garage??

If they will not fix this then will be the final straw...the car has been to the garage once every two months since buying it in February...
 
Sorry to hear you've had so many issues with the car!

Mine wasn't done under warranty... but £1,200 sounds steep - sure mine was about £900 at Copper Reading. I'll see if I have the invoice to see what the cost breakdown is. Otherwise you might try and find a decent indie? I have had bit done under goodwill where they have part part of the costs.
 
I can't see how they can claim this isn't under waranty?

As long as you've followed the guidelines in the owners manual, and have had it serviced properly, then how can they claim it not to be covered? It's not a normal "wear and tear" item.....

or am I missing something?
 
AJZ4London said:
so yours was under warantee and they did not fix it? or you had it done out of warranty and it cost £900?

Thanks!!
Click to expand...

Out of warranty and it cost me £900, or there abouts. At the time I wasn't a member here and didn't realise it was a common issue or I'd have kicked up a fuss. If you haven't already try and get a breakdown of costs and I'll see what paperwork I have for mine.

Also, give these guys a call... www.didcotautocentre.co.uk - if you don't reach and agreement with BMW and the price difference is in the hundreds then it may be worth a trip. It will give you a comparison cost for the parts as well.

Where are you in London? There may be somone else here who knows someone more locally. Also, on the dealer front Vines in Guildford are meant to be very good - franchised and closer to you.
 
Thanks Pawn (do not like calling you that!), will see what they come back with tomorrow and follow your advice. Unfortunately I do not have any spare cash at the moment...good thing it is the winter.

I am friendly with the service chap, but emailed the following:

"My argument would be that if this is a known problem then it should be checked whenever the car is brought in - i.e. when they do the checks that you mentioned this morning etc. Especially when this is such an expensive fault with a simple preventative process. Also that customers should be informed and advised to clean regularly. Are the drainage tubes cleaned when the car is prepped for re-sale? Even if the answer is yes, would argue that the car was not prepped properly, given that the tyres were wrong, the tracking was off and roof needed fixing..all on delivery."

Bet you anything they come back and say 50/50. Unacceptable! Really hope someone has had it done under warantee so I can cite precedent!
 
If you're lucky you might get a motor for free and pay for the labour, if it's not the original warranty or the bmw extended I can't see them doing the lot.

You have a good argument though about checking them as part of maintenance so you never know. Let us know what happens.

If they point blank refuse to help I'd be looking at getting an Indi to do it all in for £750 and shop around.
 
Hopefully that mail might do the trick.

May be worth looking and seeing if there is anything posted on PH as well... for precident that is. Or... and... why not start a "Broken Roof Poll" on here... not posted a poll but suspect it's easy (don't know if you can add it retrospectively editing the first thread?)
Motor broken and fixed under warranty
Motor broken and not covered by warranty
Motor broken out of warranty fixed under goodwill
Motor broken out of warranty payed myself
That would give you an idea of numbers too.

Just make sure there isn't one already or you'll get a load of :poke:
 
Good idea...will see if I can work it out tomorrow!

Andy it is the original warranty, well the one year one bought second hand from a dealer.
 
Good luck with this. It may be worth noting that if they repace a part foc under goodwill they don't warranty it. Odd, I know, but. Even if you pay a little of the part's cost, it's covered.

Sorry to hear you've not had much fun with it.
 
Okay... mine done Feb 08 and it was cheaper than I thought I've included the work codes although not sure if they're unique to Cooper Reading:
0000005 Investigate roof inop - £0.00
5434001 Check function of EH convertible top - £0.00
5499000 Removed roof assembly cleaned and unblocked drains - £80.00
5434005 Remove and install or replace hydraulic unit for convertible top - £390.00
B54.34.7.193.448 Hydro Unit - £203.27
Total £673.27 + vat

Something else that might help, I'm sure I read on here somewhere that the unit in our cars was replaced by a sealed unit that could withstand water. You may not need this, you might want to ask your man how you know this won't happen again and with a little luck he'll write and confirm the replacement unit is redesigned to avoid that issue! Then you have something to use in your letter to BMW UK that implies the unit in your car was not fit for purpose, should this not work out. A very long shot, but be good to have it in the back pocket if you need it!

Something else just occurred to me... if they have a code on the system for cleaning and unblocking drains why was this not carried out prior to your taking delivery? This is something I now ask the indie to do when they have the car.

I assume this is an AUC? You can take it to any dealer... boss had a similar issue with his Range Rover - bushes went - Lancaster told him to bugger off, the dealer in Thatcham did the job - under warranty!

Sorry for sticking my oar in but I'm annoyed that crap like this is hampering your experience of what is an excellent car! :x

I guess at least you can wait them out a while as the weather's cold!
 
mate, why are you apologising for being very helpful?!

I love my car and do not mind taking it to the garage loads to have it all fixed this year but this is the first time I have been stung and do not like it! My 1 series did not have one problem in three years but then it was brand new...and a 1 series, not quite the same.

I have been very very impressed with the service so far, will just have to see what BMW headquarters say. I am confident the garage will fight my corner but all will be revealed tomorrow.

Thanks a lot for that invoice, if all else fails will go to them in a few months (will have to save up first!)...
 
Hope it works out ok. Might depend on your mileage, though in principle this should last the life of the car. I got most of a £250 bill on my 04 paid recently (Coopers) but then it's only done 15k.

That it's a known problem and they could have taken remedial/preventative action is a fair point imo.

I had a 1 Series from new, but ironically that was back monthly until I gave up and got rid. :roll:

Good luck
 
Hi

I am new to this forum and have only had my Z4 for a few weeks!

Are the facelift versions immune to this problem? The first post hinted that there was a fix on the facelifted models...is this fix out of the factory or something I have to find out about?!

Thanks
 
DrNick said:
Hi

I am new to this forum and have only had my Z4 for a few weeks!

Are the facelift versions immune to this problem? The first post hinted that there was a fix on the facelifted models...is this fix out of the factory or something I have to find out about?!

Thanks
Click to expand...

The motor in post face lift models has a sealed enclosure, but I would suggest keeping the drains unblocked still, not sure tey are 100% immune though.
 
Will BMW Insured Warranty cover replacement of roof motor? Although my car is facelift model, I better take out Insured Warranty when AUC warranty expires in February next year.
 
How on earth is this not covered by the warranty?

Can someone please explain this?

The possibility of the roof going is the ONLY reason i maintain a full dealer service history and buy an extended warranty. Would BMW refuse to fix mine if it went? what's the point in the sodding warranty then? :headbang: :headbang:
 
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