2012 BMW 528XI

WHEN TURNING MY CAR ON AND WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY, MY CAR DISPLAYED A DRIVETRAIN MALFUNCTION ERROR. I TOOK THE CAR TO MY LOCAL BMW DEALER ON AUGUST 3, 2020 FOR SERVICE AND THEY DIAGNOSED THE CAR WITH A COMPUTER ERROR. THEY MADE A REPAIR TO THE COMPUTER AND TOLD ME IT WAS FIXED. THIS COST $350. ON AUGUST 7, I DROVE FROM MARYLAND TO SOUTH CAROLINA AND RECEIVED THE SAME DRIVETRAIN ERROR MESSAGE AND THE OIL SERVICE LIGHT WARNING CAME ON. WE HAD TO ADD A QUART OF OIL AND DRIVE SLOWLY PER THE DRIVETRAIN ERROR MESSAGE. AS SOON AS I RETURNED TO MARYLAND, I TOOK THE CAR BACK TO BMW OF ANNAPOLIS. THEY TOLD ME THAT THE FRONT END OF THE ENGINE WAS GONE AND THAT THEY WOULD NEED TO REBUILD THE MOTOR INCLUDING NEW TIMING CHAINS, CHAIN TENSIONER, CHAIN GUIDES, AND EXHAUST VANOS UNIT (A $6000 REPAIR). THE CAR ONLY HAD 72,000 MILES AND I HAD NEVER MISSED A SERVICE APPOINTMENT. BMW NORTH AMERICA OFFERED TO PAY HALF OF $6000 AFTER BEING CONTACTED BY BMW OF ANNAPOLIS. HOWEVER, I THOUGHT THAT BMW NORTH AMERICA SHOULD HAVE PAID THE ENTIRE AMOUNT BECAUSE THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM WITH THE 2012 BMW 528I AND I COULD HAVE HAD A MAJOR ACCIDENT. IN ADDITION, THIS CAR HAS HAD 2 PRIOR MAJOR RECALLS. I SENT BMW NORTH AMERICA A FORMAL COMPLAINT, BUT THEY STILL ONLY PAID $3000.

MY 2012 528XI HAS 117K MILES ON IT. WHILE I WAS ON A LONG ROAD TRIP, DRIVING ON I-95 AT 1AM ON A FRIDAY NIGHT, WITHOUT ANY WEIRD ENGINE NOISES OR ANYTHING OUT OF THE NORM, THE CAR DISPLAYED A WARNING MESSAGE THAT SAID "DRIVETRAIN MALFUNCTION" IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED BY WARNING "ENGINE OIL PRESSURE LOW" WARNING. WITHIN A FEW SECONDS, THE ENGINE SHUT OFF AND THE CAR TOLD ME TO PULL OVER SAFELY. LUCKILY, THERE WAS A NICE BIG SHOULDER AND THERE WAS NO TRAFFIC AROUND, SO I WAS ABLE TO SAFELY COAST TO A STOP. HAD THE CAR TOWED 100 MILES TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC, AND HE SAID THERE WAS NO OIL PRESSURE, SO THERE WAS TOO MUCH FRICTION DUE TO LACK OF LUBRICATION, WHICH SEIZED THE CAMSHAFT AND CAUSED JUMPED TIMING. I'VE HAD A LOT OF "VERY UNUSUAL" (MECHANIC'S WORDS) ISSUES WITH THIS CAR, OF COURSE ALL OUT OF WARRANTY. AND NOW THE ENGINE IS COMPLETELY FRIED. I CAN SPEND ANOTHER $11K TO PUT A BRAND NEW ENGINE IN THERE, BUT THE CAR ITSELF ISN'T WORTH $11K ANYMORE. LOTS OF OTHER PEOPLE HAVE THE SAME ISSUE. HASN'T BEEN REPORTED TO NHTSA BUT CAN FIND IT ON BMW ENTHUSIAST FORUMS (LIKE BIMMERFEST DOT COM).

VEHICLE MESSAGED ME WHILE DRIVING THAT OIL PRESSURE WAS LOW. STOPPED, AND RESTARTED WITH NO ISSUES. INVESTIGATED ONLINE AND DISCOVERED THAT THE ENGINE HAD A WELL KNOWN PROBLEM WITH THE TIMING GUIDES BECOMING BRITTLE AND DISINTEGRATING SENDING PARTS INTO THE SPROCKETS AND THE OIL SENSORS. ALSO CHAIN MAKES A WHINING NOISE IF AFFECTED. HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED TO DEALERSHIP WHERE THE TIMING CHAIN GUIDES WERE DIAGNOSED AS BEING THE PROBLEM. OUT OF EXTENDED WARRANTY (7YR/70K) BY ONE YEAR AND 5K MILES. BMW KNOWS OF THE PROBLEM AND REFUSES TO VOLUNTARILY RECALL AFFECTED VEHICLES. COULD RESULT IN CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS AND RESULT IN A SERIOUS ACCIDENT.

I BOUGHT A CERTIFIED BMW AND HAD CONTINUOUS ISSUES WITH MY ENGINE, CONSTANTLY REFILLING THE OIL, EVEN AFTER SERVICE. AFTER TAKING THIS TO THE DEALER, I WAS TOLD THAT EVERYTHING WAS FINE AND THERE WEREN'T ANY ISSUES. ALL OF THIS FINALLY CAME TO A HEAD-ON SUNDAY, 6/21/2020 WHEN MY CAR FINALLY CAME TO AN ABRUPT STOP. AFTER TOWING, I WAS TOLD THAT THIS IS A TIMING CHAIN ISSUE AND WOULD COST ME $7,400 WHICH WOULDN'T NECESSARILY REMEDY THE ISSUE, I HEARD THIS COULD REACH TOWARDS 15-20K. I FIND THIS HARD TO BELIEVE AFTER HAVING ONLY DRIVEN THIS CAR ON AVG 8K/YEAR AND HAVING ROUGHLY 84K MILES IN TOTAL. MY EXPERIENCE WITH BMW HAS SINCE BEEN PAINFUL TO SAY THE LEAST SINCE. I'VE HAD THIS TOWED TWICE IN 2 DAYS, BEEN GIVEN AN ULTIMATUM ON EITHER FIXING THE VEHICLE OR BUYING A NEW ONE - WHEN ASKING FOR A LOANER, I WAS TOLD THAT I NEEDED CONTACT ENTERPRISE AND RESERVE ONE ON MY OWN. I'VE OWNED MULTIPLE GERMAN CARS AND NEVER HAD TO DEAL WITH THIS LEVEL OF UNPROFESSIONALISM. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 BMW 528XI. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 70 MPH, THE DRIVE TRAIN MALFUNCTION WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE COASTED TO THE SIDE OF THE ROADWAY AND LOSS MOTIVE POWER. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHO DIAGNOSED THAT THE ENGINE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE RESIDENCE. THE CONTACT CALLED THE GLOBAL IMPORTS BMW LOCATED AT 500 INTERSTATE N PKWY, ATLANTA, GA 30339, (800) 294-1853, AND WAS TOLD THAT THE TIMING CHAIN FAILURE CAUSED THE ENGINE TO FAIL. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND REFERRED THE CONTACT TO THE SERVICE DIRECTOR OF THE SAME DEALER. THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS OUT OF WARRANTY. NO FURTHER ASSISTANCE WAS PROVIDED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 155,000.

MY 2012 BMW 528 XI ENGINE N20 JUST GRENADED ITSELF DUE TO THE ISSUE IN THIS LINK BELOW AND NOTICED YOU HAD A CLASS ACTION SUIT THAT LET BMW COVER CUSTOMERS UPTO 7YR/70K MILES. I HAD TO SHELL OUT 7000 FOR REPLACEMENT ENGINE. MINE FAILED JUST OVER 70K MILES AND THERE ARE NUMEROUS OTHER CUSTOMERS IN THE SAME BOAT BASED ON WHAT I AM READING IN THE FORUMS. IS THERE ANOTHER CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT THAT COULD BE FILED TO COVER THESE CUSTOMERS SO THAT BMW EXTENDS WARRANTY TO 10YR /120K FOR THESE FAULTY ENGINES. BMW ENGINE CHAIN DEFECTS CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT IS WILLIAMS, ET AL. V. BMW OF NORTH AMERICA LLC, ET AL., CASE NO. 2:17-CV-11567, IN THE U.S. DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY. HTTPS://WWW.CARCOMPLAINTS.COM/NEWS/2017/BMW-N20-N26-ENGINE-LAWSUIT-BLAMES-TIMING-CHAINS.SHTML

WITH ONLY 76K MILES WHILE DRIVING ON HIGHWAY WITH NO WARNING DRIVETRAIN MALFUNCTION COMES ON CAR STOPS. BROUGHT TO BMW AND WAS TOLD OIL WAS DARK WITH PIECES OF SHRED METAL AND ENGINE NEEDS TO BE REPLACE FOR OVER $10,000. WAS SO CONFUSED DUE TO HAVING A OIL CHANGE LESS THEN 1 MONTH AGO. NOW CALL IS SITTING BECAUSE I CAN'T AFFORD TO REPLACE ENGINE AND STILL OWE MONEY ON CAR WHICH NO ONE WILL TAKE DUE TO IT NOT DRIVING.

DRIVETRAIN MALFUNCTION LIGHT CAME ON AND NOW THE CAR TAKES A LONG TIME TO GET UP TO ANY DECENT SPEED. PROBABLY 0-35 IN ABOUT 10 SECONDS. I WAS ADVISED BY A SERVICE CENTER THAT TIMING CHAIN FAILURE IS IMMINENT AND I WOULD NEED TO PAY $8000 TO REPLACE THE MOTOR ON A CAR FOR WHICH I OWED $11000, THAT AT THE TIME WAS ONLY WORTH ABOUT $4000. AS OF TODAY, IT'S WORTH ABOUT $800 WITH A $3800 BALANCE ON THE NOTE. OVERPRICED SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE AND COSTLY REPAIRS WERE ALL PERFORMED AS THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN.

MY 2012 BMW 528 XDRIVE SUDDENLY GOT A WARNING LOW OIL PRESSURE FOLLOWS BY DRIVE TRAIN MALFUNCTION, AND SLOWS DOWN-WENT ON NEUTRAL AND STOP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. ALL THAT HAPPENED WITHIN LESS THAN A MINUTE. I GOT IT TOWED TO THE BMW DEALERSHIP FOR A DIAGNOSTIC AND THEY TOLD ME THAT THE TIMING CHAIN GUIDE HAS BROKEN APART, TIMING CHAIN CAME OFF, JUMPED TIME, STARVED ENGINE FOR OIL & CONTAMINATED ENGINE AND WILL REQUIRE A WHOLE NEW ENGINE REPLACE WHICH WILL COST AROUND $13756.56 +LABOR+TAX MY TOTAL WAS $ 16456. I FOUND OUT I AM NOT ALONE AND THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM WITH BMW OF THIS MAKE AND MODEL. I ALSO CALLED THE BMW NORTH AMERICA THEY TOLD ME THAT THE EXTENDED WARRANTY WAS ONLY UP TO 70,000 MILES AND THEY CAN NOT DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT, MY CAR FAILS AT 105K MILES. I THINK BMW MUST STAND BEHIND THERE PRODUCT. WE CAN NOT BUY AN EXPENSIVE CAR LIKE BMW WITH AN ENGINE LIFE IS LESS THAN 8YRS.