Anyone with decent BMW knowledge?

GordyR · 2 Jan 2008 at 15:22

Hi guys,

Just got my 330ci Sport convertible back from its service at my local BMW dealership. A little work needed to be done but nothing too major. However since this service the air conditioning unit completely refuses to blow hot air, it just blows cold.

It worked perfectly fine before the service so I figured they had dislodged something while doing some work on it. So I rang them up and took her back in only to be told I would need to spend another £500 to get it working!

Needless to say I was furious since they seemed to have caused the fault in the first place.

Does anyone with a bit of mechanical knowledge have any idea of how I could go about diagnosing the problem myself? And indeed anything I could do to fix it? Please bare in mind I am an utter novice with anything automotive. Or am I best to just cough up the cash and get them to do it properly?

Cheers!

GeX · 2 Jan 2008 at 15:27

did they change the coolant at the service? if so, they've air locked it and they should be sorting it - not you.

Third Opinion · 2 Jan 2008 at 15:29

Edit: didn't read your post properly ignore

OllyM · 2 Jan 2008 at 15:30

I assume you have checked the dial in the middle of the centre vents hasn't been turned round to cold?

Sorry, I doubt you'd have missed that, but you never know!

"andy" · 2 Jan 2008 at 15:31

Third Opinion said:
Bloody good garage that can diagnose the fault over the phone without even looking at it.

I would have alarm bells ringing in my head sounds like a scam.

So I rang them up and took her back in

Scania · 2 Jan 2008 at 15:31

Put your complaint in writing, to the dealer principal with a copy sent to BMW customer services & "Honest John" in the Daily Telegraph, this helped my Dad sort out a similar dispute with his BMW dealers no end!

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/

OllyM said:
I assume you have checked the dial in the middle of the centre vents hasn't been turned round to cold?

Sorry, I doubt you'd have missed that, but you never know!

I missed this very thing with my old 728i, picked it up & assumed the A/C was broken!

Housey · 2 Jan 2008 at 15:31

Sounds like it might be a thermostat issue discussed recently, how is the temp gauge in the car working, it should be sitting smack in the middle when the car is warm, if not you might have an issue with this.

[Darkend]Viper · 2 Jan 2008 at 15:32

Did they say what the £500 was for?

If it was me i'd be going down and having a word with a manager as it was working before you took it in, they have done something which has broken it so they should fix it IMO.

If you turn the heaters to number 2 or 3, make sure it's set to the demist setting so it blows on the windows, and let it warm up it should clear the airlock out of the system. You might need to keep an eye of the coolant level just to be safe.

My 325i doesn't blow hot air out of the dash vents, but does out of the footwell and windscreen holes. I was told it was done on purpose to stop you wanting to fall asleep, during a journey on a cold dark morning!!! Don't know how true it is though.

GordyR · 2 Jan 2008 at 15:34

GeX said:
did they change the coolant at the service? if so, they've air locked it and they should be sorting it - not you.

Yes actually they did.

OllyM said:
I assume you have checked the dial in the middle of the centre vents hasn't been turned round to cold?

Lol yep it's sitting in the correct position.

housemaster said:
Sounds like it might be a thermostat issue discussed recently, how is the temp gauge in the car working, it should be sitting smack in the middle when the car is warm, if not you might have an issue with this.

The temp gauge sits perfectly in the center of the dial once she is warmed up so no issue there.

GordyR · 2 Jan 2008 at 15:45

[Darkend]Viper;10796095 said:
Did they say what the £500 was for?

Well the worrying thing was that they were extremely vague about what the fault was. It seemed as though they really weren't too sure. They said that they would need to order a part in and that it would be around £500.

[Darkend]Viper;10796095 said:
If it was me i'd be going down and having a word with a manager as it was working before you took it in, they have done something which has broken it so they should fix it IMO.

Thats exactly how I feel mate. I suppose it could just be bad luck but it feels a little too coincidental to me that they did some coolant work and now I have no heat. I would bleed and replace it again myself to be sure but I actually have no idea where to begin.

[Darkend]Viper;10796095 said:
If you turn the heaters to number 2 or 3, make sure it's set to the demist setting so it blows on the windows, and let it warm up it should clear the airlock out of the system. You might need to keep an eye of the coolant level just to be safe.

It doesn't have a number 2 or 3, unless I am misunderstanding you. It's an E46 model if that helps?

Fr0dders · 2 Jan 2008 at 16:29

GordyR said:
Well the worrying thing was that they were extremely vague about what the fault was. It seemed as though they really weren't too sure. They said that they would need to order a part in and that it would be around £500.
?

dont stand for it mate, do as R124 said and complain. They're vague because of 2 possible reasons 1) they've done it darent tell you or 2) they dont know and are just randomly guessing

either reason shouldnt result in a £500 charge.

233 · 2 Jan 2008 at 16:35

dont worry resident bmw guru fox will be along soon

what that man doesnt know about the Bayerische beasties aint worh knowing

Scania · 2 Jan 2008 at 17:02

sormicoft said:
what that man doesnt know about the Bayerische beasties aint worh knowing

I'd imagine 90% of his "Bayerische beastie" knowledge is not worth knowing to most of us!

Sometimes, one can know way too much [TW].

zain · 2 Jan 2008 at 17:03

Hey GordyR hope you are well

I had a problem like this with Audi except it was major wheel damage. The service team and leader of that team all denied it yet offered to fix it for £50 or something like that, thankfully I have a little legal knowledge. I basically made the leader admit so many liabilities he didn't even know, he actually thought he would get away with it.

So anyway, I wrote a letter in to the manager at the centre and sent a copy to audi uk. The basically contained how I felt I was delt with after paying a top price for a poor service, the legal liabilities admitted, etc.

Few days later he calls and is very apologetic, etc and I get a brand new wheel for free.

The manager instantly knew it wasn't worth the potential hassle and rep loss which is my guess why they made him do what he did.

What I am trying to get at is if you are 100% sure this air unit was not faulty and they did something to it during service then you are right to fight it.

You won't get any response from service sales or the manager/leader of the service team.

Either go to bmw website or go in and ask for the manager or managers name and write a well thought out letter. If you can get the service person who served you to admit there may have been nothing wrong before, it could have happened, etc then you should be fine.

Worse comes to worse you go to the small claims court which costs you next to nothing. Though it is about time and quality if you are willing to do that.

Good luck mate!

GeX · 2 Jan 2008 at 17:09

you all like going OTT don't you?

if the coolant was changed, and now the heater blows cold then it is probably because it hasn't been bled properly. maybe they forgot to set the dial to HOT when they bled it.

take it back, and say to them - can you please bleed the coolant system for me, and no i will not pay you any money for doing so.

if it doesn't work after that has def been done correctly, then start worrying about other things.

zain · 2 Jan 2008 at 17:19

GeX said:
you all like going OTT don't you?

Well if you meant me included in that then you are wrong. This is just a method I suggested that worked for me if all else fails. You'll find dealers don't like to do anything free, they may even try to charge him for the bleeding.

GeX · 2 Jan 2008 at 17:23

not directly, no - your case seems different, actual damage vs a simple oversight
i wasn't having a dig or anything, it's just i'm looking up and seeing suggestions of writing into newspaper columns, small claims court, kicking up a stink etc - the problem and solution seem to me so obvious, for them to claim it's going to cost £500 or whatever is a bit daft - but if you go in and point you have a pretty good idea what is wrong with it, then they should sort it for nothing. If they don't, then complain about it.

jamoor · 2 Jan 2008 at 17:42

OllyM said:
I assume you have checked the dial in the middle of the centre vents hasn't been turned round to cold?

Sorry, I doubt you'd have missed that, but you never know!

what would be worse is that the garage missed that!

MrFunex · 2 Jan 2008 at 17:59

Viper.. do you have an E36? I've noticed this "fault" on my 323i...

[TW]Fox · 2 Jan 2008 at 21:48

[Darkend]Viper;10796095 said:
My 325i doesn't blow hot air out of the dash vents, but does out of the footwell and windscreen holes. I was told it was done on purpose to stop you wanting to fall asleep, during a journey on a cold dark morning!!! Don't know how true it is though.

It's totally untrue. There is a fault somewhere if yours does this.