Am I being fobbed off?

Clav

Clav

Clav

Associate
Joined
10 Jun 2011
Posts
2,361
Location
N.Ireland
I've recently bought an E92 325i from a dealer. The morning after I got it (and every cold start since) it hasn't idled properly. It idles right down to stall point, judders then shoots up to 1000-1500rpm then repeats. If you drive off in this state it will stall 90% of the time at least once. Once it's driven for a while it's absolutely fine until the next cold start. I don't get any warning lights or anything when it happens.

I brought it back to the dealers who have had it 3 days now and all they have come up with is that I've put the wrong fuel in it (Tesco) and try BP stuff instead. Is this a fob off or is it reasonable to suggest? I don't know enough about engines :(
 
Complete rubbish, tell them to have an actual go at sorting it or you'll be leaving it with them and taking a refund.
 
Idle control valve or something is blocked. Could try taking the battery terminal off overnight to reset the ECU but doubtful it'll help.

They are fobbing you off, I'd be livid if they said that to me
 
I ran my 335i on Tesco fuel and had zero problems, I run my GTI on it now and zero problems. It has a fault causing the problem, so yes they are fobbing you off.
 
Thanks all, I was pretty annoyed when they said it because I was dubious but just wasn't sure. I'll go back and tell them to sort it out. Cheers
 
If the issue was Tesco fuel surely every car on the road would have the problem not just yours.

Is the dealer a BMW approved dealer because if so I'd be very surprised if they said that.
 
Really winds me up when dealerships blame supermarket fuel. My missus had a new focus that would judder and throw itself about, wouldn't go above 40 mph and was undriveable.

Did a bit of research that suggested the fuel filter was blocked (diesel) they said oh no, it's just sensitive to cheap fuel, in the end we crawled the car down to the garage, my missus raised hell told them to fix it or return her money, they took the car, had a look, yup you guessed it... Changed the fuel filter as it was blocked as it looked as though it had never been done and all was well.
 
Absolute load of rubbish. Could be one of a number of things but a vacuum leak is the normal suspect. Check all your air hoses are in place correctly, have no tears and are tight. Better still, get the garage to pull their finger out and do it.
 
I've got a 325i (07) and I don't think I have ever seen anything like this, even with the naff fuel I put in it. The only problem I have had is the good old coil pack issue.
 
Clav said:
I've recently bought an E92 325i from a dealer.
Click to expand...

The inclusion of the highlighted word in car related issues means that 99.99999% of the time you are being fobbed off.

Dealer is talking out of his backside (no surprise there). Suggest you play him at his own game, and say you've got a tank full of golden unicorn fuel and it's still doing it. Possibly it's a fuel injector or coil pack problem, they seem to be pretty common on these.
 
Jamesyboyjim said:
Really winds me up when dealerships blame supermarket fuel.
Click to expand...
A number of them, branches of Morrisons in particular, have been done by Trading Standards because their staff had fiddled with the fuel. They had been syphoning it off to sell out the back alley and bulking the main tanks with a variety of other stuff.

The TSOs regularly show up, mainly to test the pump measures, but they also draw samples of fuel for testing.
 
Different fuel *could* be causing it, if the octane rating isn't high enough. Maybe they've just given you confused or advice, you misheard / misunderstood what they said.

What fuel does the manual say it should run on?

I would have expected the car to relearn by now though, so it does sound like something else is up to.

ttaskmaster said:
A number of them, branches of Morrisons in particular, have been done by Trading Standards because their staff had fiddled with the fuel. They had been syphoning it off to sell out the back alley and bulking the main tanks with a variety of other stuff.

The TSOs regularly show up, mainly to test the pump measures, but they also draw samples of fuel for testing.
Click to expand...

Source?
 
GeX said:
Source?
Click to expand...
TS had been running similar crackdowns in several authorities but a friend of mine was the prosecuting TSO in the nearby incidents, followed by local Brent & Harrow newspapers running a couple of articles on the prosecutions, plus a "dramatic exposé" on which places had been doing it... Not so dramatic when it turns out the offense only carries something like a £5,000 fine, but hey.
 
GeX said:
Different fuel *could* be causing it, if the octane rating isn't high enough. Maybe they've just given you confused or advice, you misheard / misunderstood what they said.

What fuel does the manual say it should run on?

I would have expected the car to relearn by now though, so it does sound like something else is up to.
Click to expand...

I'll check the manual later on but I checked online and all I could find is that it should be 95-98 octane, which surely all UK petrol is? I didn't confuse what he said or mishear him in fact he set me up by first asking where I got my fuel and then was like "Yes we thought so, they don't like that fuel try BP." I'm mostly annoyed that they just don't seem to have tried anything other than connect it to a laptop.

As much as I'd like to tell them to do one at this point I really need the car this weekend for going away. I'm going to take it back, entertain them a bit by putting in what they say and then kick up an almighty stink next week if (when?) it makes no difference.
 
Last edited:
ttaskmaster said:
A number of them, branches of Morrisons in particular, have been done by Trading Standards because their staff had fiddled with the fuel. They had been syphoning it off to sell out the back alley and bulking the main tanks with a variety of other stuff.

The TSOs regularly show up, mainly to test the pump measures, but they also draw samples of fuel for testing.
Click to expand...

Citation needed.
 
Customer rights, get it repaired.

Balls to the fuel lol as above the only place that would come into play is if the fuel was below the octane rating advised/needed.
 
Nothing to do with fuel.

Sounds like it could be quite a few things. NOx module, injectors, ICV, O2 sensors, MAF/MAP sensor, fuel pump.

I'd suggest they need to look at it properly or get someone who knows what they're doing to look.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom