Bought an old BMW M3, filled with regret...

Well that was easy... And I found the problem.

You're right, the clips were broken! Looks like the autoglass guy managed to break 2 clips and went and applied windscreen sealant glue to both, one had excessive glue applied hence why it wasn't sitting flush. The foam seal;ing that runs along the bottom of the cowling was also broken by the centre points so water running down into the drainage area was also going down via the broken seals and depositing in the cabin air filter area. Pictures below to show both instances:

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You can see that water has reached the cabin filter in 2 areas directly below the broken seal points on the cowling.

I will be needing a new cowling. I've messaged Autoglass about this as the guy should have at the very least mentioned it rather than bodging it together. I want the promised good will gesture and I want a new cowling supplied by them, which I will then fit myself.
 
I'm not getting a full respray done any more :p

But yeah the guy did actually say "you've just polished it then!" and tbh just a glance at the cabin would be confirmation enough!
 
So finally got a call, funny how the call came through minutes after I fired off an email of disappointment having had no word from them in 2 days and having to sit on hold music on the 0800 number for 20 minutes+ before giving up.

Anyway, they've booked a "technician" for Tuesday (earlier if they get a cancellation) who will turn up with the cowling trim + clips + anything else to go with it.

They've advised me to let them know if anything else gets damaged until then (if it rains).

The day following the trim replacement customer services will call me to discuss and make sure everything is satisfactory now and then offer a compensation figure as part of the promised goodwill gesture.

Such faff.
 
It’s going to be an interesting chat when Autoglass phone post cowling replacement tomorrow.
I was specifically told goodwill/compensation would be discussed when they call, but logging in to my bank earlier I notice that £25 has been deposited by Autoglass.

Does that cover the time and hassle I’ve had to endure? I don’t think so! Unless that is just the good will and comp has yet to be discussed. At the very least I want the entire £75 excess refunded.
 
So who wants a giggle?

1: Autoglass technician just phoned, said he will be here in about 20 minutes… specifically remember telling the call centre/admin service agent both times when re-booking and yesterday that I won’t be available until 6PM. He sounds confused because he’s only going off the schedule they have given him, fair enough.

2: He said he was given a windscreen to replace with by the warehouse and that this was what the job schedule stated too. I mentioned that this was incorrect and a brief of everything that has happened so far. He sounds annoyed at Autoglass and states that this isn’t the first issue he’s had after being given incorrect details by the people at their office.

3: He said he will call his manager and dispatch team and see what is going on and then call me back, or his manager will call me back. He sounded somewhat miffed at Autoglass for all these mess-ups that have happened recently and he sounded like a sound enough bloke going by the phone manner. I will wait now and see what happens.

But I must say, I’m sick to the ballsack of this situation. How can such a simple task go so sideways?
 
I can't believe he offered to drive it without a windscreen.

Thankfully this windscreen is Pilkington and actually slightly different to the first one they fitted which was also the same brand. That one you could feel a curve on the top of the windscreen where the sensor area is when wiping it, whereas this one is nice and flat. Perhaps that's why the rain sensor on it bubbled so soon, I don't know.

Anyway, the dispatch centre called me just now, what they will do is send someone out tomorrow to look and make note of exactly the trim and clips required and inspect the bodged job the last guy did. So I won't have a new trim tomorrow but if they get it wrong now it will be beyond comedy.

The technician that phoned me today left me a voicemail too saying he'd left a complaint with his manager and dispatch team as it makes people like him look bad, which is fair enough as I can understand not all of the guys doing the work do it poorly..

Edit*
I'm sure the clips weren't broken to start with because the glue was still wet and rubbed all over my fingers. I couldn't even wash it out for days... And the fact that I'd have noticed it not fitting properly before anyway.
 
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I "eventually" got through once, the other times I flame-tweeted (of sorts) and emailed then someone called me back.

The technician arrived today to inspect the trim piece required. It was the very same guy that did the bodge job!!

hawkward.jpg


Apparently these trims do break often when removing them and they simply glue them back together :eek: - Those looking at buying E46s should check the trim for similar bodges. It's £58 + whatever the clips cost from BMW if you need them or £45~ + clips if bought via members club discount.

Anyway, the trim is going to be ordered along with the clips and the dispatch people will once again phone to arrange the fitting. I was told by them yesterday that they aim to get this all resolved by the end of the week.

I can be forgiven for thinking this sounds a bit optimistic, right? :p
 
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I suppose you're right. As someone else also mentioned here, it's a damn shame that the majority of people in the motor industry don't take pride in their work, just in it to take home some £ to pay the bills and nothing more.

On a lighter note, dash is saying I've got 175 miles left until oil service. I've driven the car some 5000 miles since the new year with various long journeys thrown in accounting for about 75% of that through all manner of road conditions. The rest have been just drives with no destination and passenger rides.

Given the power at the rear wheels, I've been most impressed by how little DSC has illuminated when pulling away. Just loads of grip all round until properly provoked.

Oil and filter sitting at the doorstep ready for when the service is booked in next week at some point :cool:
 
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loltim said:
M3 update mrk m8?
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Hi loltim pal. Had the top down on the way to do the Tesco run, drove off with shopping on the back seat, the wind forces must be very strong without the deflector fitted and as a result of this 1 item of shopping flew out into the sunset ;-(

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#worthitiguess

Windscreen update: No call from Autoglass yet regarding fitting of trim. Fail.
 
Today I received a letter from Autoglass stating that they are "pleased to have resolved" my issue and are including the "agreed" £25 goodwill gesture. The very amount I noticed sitting in my bank account the other day.

Luckily the letter came direct from the cuatomer care manager with contact details and it states that I should contact her directly if there's an issue.

I have not agreed to the £25 and the issue is certainly not resolved!

Guess what I'm doing Tuesday morning...

I have just spoken to the dispatch team as I have not heard anything about the scuttle trim order yet and have been told it can take up to 7-10 days for warranty jobs such as this. Tomorrow the warranty team will check the order and if the trim is in stock they will arrange booking, otherwise it will be ordered.

I also find it comical that the letter included a leaflet from the financial ombudsman.
 
[TW]Fox;28073970 said:
Why do you find this comical? It is a legal requirement in dispute resolution with insurance work.
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I am fully aware that they are part of the financial conduct group and the leaflet is procedure. I imagine you're confused at me saying it's comical as you've missed the context I refer to it in.

Edit*

So my aunt and her two lads were down these parts and had yet to have a blast up to the hills.

aunt_and_kids.jpg


Seems all had fun :D
 
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So the Autoglass saga continues.

Having still not heard back from them by 4pm today, I decided to fire off a Twitter message and guess what? Within 30 mins I had a reply and within the hour someone called me assuring me that it was still in hand and the trim order was in place, they're just waiting for stock.

How confident am I that they actually get in the right piece for my car and not one off a coupe? So far, not very. He also assured me that the £25 refund previously sent out along with that letter is merely an automated thing, and from the notes he could see that £25 was laughable and that he'd sent his managers some notes on this regarding getting my full excess refunded instead.

Edit*
I mentioned that I'd waited again on the freephone number for almost 10 minutes, he said he apologises for this and that they are understaffed which is unacceptable (his words) and that this week they are 3 people down as well due to sickness and leave.


Could a satisfactory resolution be days away?

Could it actually happen?

Find out, in the next episode.
 
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^JP^ said:
From LG monitors to Autoglass, what's next in the mrk customer satisfaction adventures?
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I dread to think :p

Gangster said:
Not sure if I have asked this, but do you have warranty on this mrk? If so how much do you pay? If not, what are your plans should anything go wrong??
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I have not taken any warranty out on it, I did consider it but figured as I'd budgeted for an inevitable problem, I'd use that buffer to get it sorted.

At the very least, choosing this car with its service history, recent Inspection 2 and overall components condition, I was somewhat confident it wouldn't produce many surprise bill down the line.

The only thing in the engine bay I've had to sort was to replace both DSC pressure sensors as they flagged up recently. The ECU logged pressure sensor 1 first but after clearing it, both flagged up. These are £90 each and a BMW only part. I did a brake fluid flush at the same time too.

Being a manual, not having to be paranoid about the SMG pump is quite nice. Maybe over the years I will fall into the "CBA with manually changing gears any more" phase but I couldn't be any happier with this gearbox, especially after changing the knob to the weighted Sport one. No idea why BMW didn't fit that as standard.
 
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