[Wanderers]

Before I start, here are the details to set the context.

Car Model: BMW X1 M Sports
Color: E. Blue Metallic with Dakota Leather/blue highlight.
Date of Booking: 5-Sep-17
Date of Invoicing: 8-Sep-17 (Pre GST Cess hike)
Date of Delivery: 22-Sep-17 (Waiting for car & auspicious day)







The Ranchi dealership of BMW is less than a month old and my in laws were all set to buy Q3 before they came across this new showroom and stopped to look at X1.

Even after extensive test drive, Q3 remained the first choice (primarily due to ride comfort and front seats size), but the non-availability of Q3 before GST cess hike resulted in eventually booking of X1 M sports.
The entire buying experience was ordinary (below par) and not as one would expect from BMW but we were after a product and price, hence never cared till now.

On the day of delivery the dealership took almost full day to generate the papers, insurance etc. Once insurance was done and things were delayed, we took the car for Puja and much delayed lunch. Returned back by evening but only around 8:00 PM, they could give us invoice, delivery note and other papers for registration (different city/same state registration) This delayed the 100 km long journey back home.

Needless to say that dealership was not only hopeless in explaining the features and settings, they could not even guide on AC, Music system and heads up display. Also there was no PDI done by dealer. Except washing and taking out the wrappings, they were not aware of any checks and inspection.
But the car looked very new with no physical damage, only 6 KM on board and fully wrapped bonnet, roof and pillars. No one from the family bothered to raise the car for under body inspection as there was no suspicion of anything.
Before making final payment, I had done the VIN check. The car was manufactured on 29-Mar-2017. Well this did cause some suspicion but accepted it after seeing the car physically.


Well, by the time the journey back home started, the car had clocked 65 KM.
5 KM on the road and this unfortunate incident happened.





There is a speed-breaker and our people knew about it as they use the same way every-time. More important this car had crossed this speed breaker earlier in the day and was no different except it was now 8:30 PM in the night.
The car was driven carefully, being very new and speed was not more than 60 Kmh before the speed breaker and brought to 20-30 kmh at speed breaker. The car crossed the breaker without any sound. The breakdown happened while maneuvering the car immediately after speed breaker. There was a sound and steering jerked. Brakes were applied after hearing the sound and car did drag on before halting.

Took some time to access the situation as it was dark with no street lights around. The car was now immovable as front axle/drive shaft has broken. Please see photographs to guess the damage, we are still to receive the finding from BMW. As you can see there was no damage to Alloy or Tyre and for that matter anything else including people inside car.










On calling the sales guy, he did activate the BMW roadside assistance. However he could have sent someone, at least to ascertain the situation and arrange for immediate transportation. My old Mom in law and an 5 year old kid were in the car and the dealer is located just 5 km from incident site. Also the sales guy was insensitive enough to make a statement that he is a sales person and once car is sold (out of dealer showroom) he is not responsible.

The Road side assistance arrived 2 hours later. Actually, he was more of a caretaker of the broken car till some back up arrives.

Well, the car was officially handed over to him as per BMW instruction, obtained job sheet and left for the home. Yes BMW did provide a Innova for drop.





We kept track of our car through the same guy. The flat bed could not pull the car up. To cut long story short, the car could only be shifted to service center next day 3:00 PM after they positioned a trolley under front left wheel.

Well the car is still at service center. Even before they had seen the car, the service guy assumed it to be accident case and asked to provide insurance and other detail for claim process. We asked him to wait for the car and then carry over inspection before concluding. No further news from them. (Service center is closed on Sunday)

Today morning we wrote to BMW and response is awaited.

[Akshay1234]

The dealership behaviour is definitely atrocious, and they need to be taken to task for it. The salesguy who said that to you also doesn't deserve to be working at any dealership. My BMW salesguy still helps me out years after buying a car from him.

Also surprising that they didn't help even if they were only 5km away.

Was the navigation active? If so then a PDI was definitely done. Lets wait and see what BMW India says. Because for a such damage to occur, a large impact would cause it. The only other explanation is a manufacturing defect.

[Wanderers]

Originally Posted by Akshay1234

Was the navigation active?

No, they could not initiate the navigation, said they need a code to activate the same.
They were already too late and decided to come back again.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Technical Section. Thanks for sharing!

[Turbanator]

Also there was no PDI done by dealer.

Most of the features are disabled in Transportation mode, I doubt Dealer can give without PDI. In past NAV needs to be activated separately, perhaps it holds good now also, maybe due to their tie-up with Map provider.

As you can see there was no damage to Alloy or Tyre and for that matter anything else including people inside car.

From my own experience with multiple BMW's, I doubt something as basic as a driveshaft can fail. Perhaps you should wait before making any conclusions at least till they let you know the reasons. I am sure if there is an external damage it will be visible on the failed/ broken parts. Maybe speed breaker is very high and driver tried to pass over with one tyre off the road ( avoiding speed breaker) resulting into contact of driveshaft with berm/ edge of speed breaker.

However he could have sent someone, at least to ascertain the situation and arrange for immediate transportation.

That's not the way to treat you or any other customer. The least they could have done was to send someone - SA or company driver and should have dropped you guys back home besides taking care of the failed vehicle.

Anyway's since you have dropped the E-Mail to BMW, they will surely check with the concerned dealership. Normally they act and reply fast.

non-availability of Q3 before GST cess hike resulted in eventually booking of X1 M sports.

You have made a correct choice, I will say even after this experience, in the long run, you will find X1 much better over a glorified VW.

[Santoshbhat]

That is shocking. I will not talk about the dealership's attitude. These guys don't deserve to be in business. But why did such a crucial part fail like this? The car is brand new. No brand new car will be driven so carelessly that drive shaft gives way! Surely its a manufacturing defect from the factory given that the failure occurred in the first 100 kms of driving. Things like the driveshaft won't be included in the PDI list for the dealer, except for a preliminary underbody check I suppose.

No matter how tight the norms are, at times shit happens in manufacturing. I hope BMW accepts it and makes it up to you. Eagerly looking forward to the investigation findings and BMW's response.

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by Wanderers

There is a speed-breaker and our people knew about it as they use the same way every-time. More important this car had crossed this speed breaker earlier in the day and was no different except it was now 8:30 PM in the night.
The car was driven carefully, being very new and speed was not more than 60 Kmh before the speed breaker and brought to 20-30 kmh at speed breaker. The car crossed the breaker without any sound. The breakdown happened while maneuvering the car immediately after speed breaker. There was a sound and steering jerked. Brakes were applied after hearing the sound and car did drag on before halting.

Really sorry to hear about the pain you have to go through!

On a side note, are you certain, there was no impact to the car from the speed breaker?
A speed of 30Kmph could be a bit too much, for a nasty speed breaker.

if the speed is kept high during ascending a speed breaker, then the shocks will move up(expand), and then while front wheels are descending the breaker, it will compress with much higher force, causing the under body to kiss the asphalt, with substantial force.

[Wanderers]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Most of the features are disabled in Transportation mode, I doubt Dealer can give without PDI. In past NAV needs to be activated separately, perhaps it holds good now also, maybe due to their tie-up with Map provider.

Yes the car was in transportation mode, when our people reached for delivery. This was mentioned by sales guy, when asked about VIN and manufactured date. Not sure how they changed it to normal but map is not activated till now.

Originally Posted by abhishek46

On a side note, are you certain, there was no impact to the car from the speed breaker?

I re-checked once again with our people. The noise was heard after rear wheel crossed over the bumper and steering was cut slightly left.

Originally Posted by abhishek46

A speed of 30 Kmph could be a bit too much, for a nasty speed breaker.

if the speed is kept high during ascending a speed breaker, then the shocks will move up(expand), and then while front wheels are descending the breaker, it will compress with much higher force, causing the under body to kiss the asphalt, with substantial force.

Yes the speed was in 20-30 kmh range, but the car never kissed the breaker.
Question is whether the front drive shaft the lower most part of car or was there any impact on drive shaft. Initial investigation indicates drive shaft does not have any visible mark or brushes.

Meanwhile BMW customer care acknowledged our email and will revert after report from dealer.

[smsrini]

Looking at the tyre treads in the photographs, they do not look to be brand new tyres on a car thats done 65kms.

Or the angle of the photo may be misleading.

[motorguy]

@Wanderers - my deepest sympathy. I know how frustrating it is to buy a super premium car like a BMW and then experience the kind of service that is no better than that of a roadside mechanic.

This seems like a clear defect with the car and its quite possible that the car had already experienced some kind of hit on the drive shaft earlier since it had already run around 60km. I was shocked to see the kind of person that BMW roadside assistance had sent (while not being personal, he does not look like someone who can even understand the issue that has been experienced). At the end of the day even a brand like BMW does not care for the Indian customer once the sale is made and they are no better than a brand like Maruti or Hyundai. They would never have handled the incident they way they did in India if this happened in Europe or the US. While there is no proof at the moment, I sincerely hope they have not palmed off a damaged car to you.

I sincerely hope that BMW gets to the bottom of this and awards you a new car and also penalizes the dealership for the frustration you have gone through.

[carrazy]

@Wanderers - Very sorry to hear about this hearth breaking ordeal you are going through. Its a shame really. Such a fantastic buy and such bitter experience.
The dealer, as rightly said by fellow Tbhpians, should be ripped off its license and rights to be a BMW dealer for treating a customer in this way. Pathetic.
As far as the car is concerned, being driven just 6 kms at the time of the delivery, I think there could have been a 'mishandling' incident during transit. Maybe while loading-unloading the car on a trailer/truck, it might have hit something solid. The probability of this happening is very slim but still possible. I am sure if proper PDI as per BMW protocols was done, this incident would not have happened.
Just my 2 cents. But lets wait and see what the final report says. Till then, be strong and be thankful that all this happened at controlled speeds. God knows what would the consequences be if your were driving at triple digit speeds.
Cheers..!!

[Divya Sharan]

So, BMW Ranchi dealership invoices/registers the car with Bokaro (JH 09) RTO? Can it be done?

To describe their attitude to a customer (or general public) is pathetic to say the least. If whatever I read above is cent per cent true and not an outburst post the mishap, I do pray that this dealership get scrapped.

I guess the car took a hit before dealership level PDI. Them not knowing anything about the car is just proof that they wanted to make the sale, wash off their hands and hope that the car runs a few hundred kilometers so that they can completely blame the owner for mishap later.

Sadly, they didn't succeed. Kindly keep us posted!

[Wanderers]

Originally Posted by smsrini

Looking at the tyre treads in the photographs, they do not look to be brand new tyres on a car thats done 65kms.

Thanks for pointing out. I feel the same and have asked my brother in law to check. He confirmed that tyres did not have any spikes like new ones. He was convinced by sales that they were new as received. But now he is also having a doubt and will check during next visit to dealership.

Originally Posted by carrazy

I think there could have been a 'mishandling' incident during transit. Maybe while loading-unloading the car on a trailer/truck, it might have hit something solid. The probability of this happening is very slim but still possible.

Yes considering the dealership to be new, this is quite possible.
Also now that the doubt on tyres have been raised, this car might have been subjected to use/abuse at factory before sending it to dealer after master RESET. This is supported by following argument.

1. BMW X1 is still hot selling and 6 month old inventory looks remote.
2. I was considering X1 in March-17 (finally bought New Ford Endeavour) Delhi dealers had not received any 2017 stock till first week of Mar-2017. They had 2017 made X1 for test drive but it was made to 2016 specification- No rear camera.
3. The discount received on this X1 M Sports was considerably high and further adds to our doubt.

However the car was billed to dealer only after we booked it and it traveled all the way from factory along with many other cars.

[Turbanator]

this car might have been subjected to use/abuse at factory before sending it to dealer after master RESET.

the car was billed to dealer only after we booked it and it traveled all the way from factory along with many other cars.

If you are sure that this was billed from the factory after your order and Ranchi Dealer did not buy it from some other dealer, then no need to worry. BMW is a very ethical company and they are not going to sell a defective car. Perhaps for your satisfaction, ask them to share copy of BMW Invoice minus the prices or when someone is visiting dealership they should see,

If the tyres are of Goodyear than its possible, they lose the small rubber (spikes as you mentioned) fast so 60 Km that you drove would be enough. I have a first-hand experience on mine X5 recently so I am sure.

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by Wanderers

...Yes the speed was in 20-30 kmh range, but the car never kissed the breaker...

Shocked to hear this happening from a delivery drive home !! I doubt if something could happen in the transit from factory to dealer, waiting to hear the report soon. They may not give you a detailed report unless you press for it.

The speed you mentioned over the speed breaker is more than double from normal for a vehicle with 160-165 mm ground clearance. I personally know owners who broke their alloys or tyres over potholes in that speed and stranded on the highway for hours. One such case is a 5 series where the entire left tyre was shredded into pieces in few seconds.

I own the new X1 since 1 year and maintain a 5 kmph or lower on most speed breakers unless they are rubber strip type that are found near airports or hotels. Please update the progress as it will be helpful for many. Wish you get this beautiful machine back soon, its sheer driving pleasure by all means