Saturday 11 November 2017

BMW Battery Failure : 8,000 km Later


This battery failure episode would likely come as a surprise to readers of this blog, just as it had been a nasty surprise for myself. We have always invested in genuine BMW parts for its perceived reliability and dependability. But besides the surprise of the failed part, the failure of the Auto Bavaria customer services was the nastier part that left a bad after-taste in the mouth. More about this later.


Battery is a wear-and-tear component that would deteriorate over time; and Auto Bavaria Malaysia recommends for BMW cars' batteries be replaced with original BMW premium batteries for added peace of mind. This X1 had a replacement battery done in July 2016 with its mileage registered at 19k km, at a cost of circa RM1,350.

My other marques' mechanics had recommended that using other batteries (DIN75 for X1) from Century, Yuasa, Panasonic, etc would be a cheaper alternative. These brands would typically cost between RM400 - RM480 per piece with 12 - 15 months warranty. Do note that BMW battery comes with 24 months warranty, so the premium price does have an added advantage in terms of coverage period therein.



Fast forward some 14 months later to November 2017, and my missus was surprised to find that the X1 displayed the typical BMW low battery startup on one fateful morning. The fact that it was her birthday and she had a couple of appointments planned up with her mates, made the situation worst. She called me to ask for the next course of action, and I duly-called the BMW Roadside Assistance. Unfortunately, the calls were to no avail.


So, I called the insurance company to arrange for a panel mechanic to jump-start the car. The mechanic duly-arrived in a short period of time; but he was unfamiliar with BMW cars so a flat-bed carrier was arranged to bring the X1 to the nearest BMW service centre i.e. Wearnes Autohaus Segambut. 





Over at Wearnes, the experienced mechanics quickly determined that the problem was due to a faulty battery but since it was still under the BMW 24-months warranty, they recommended that I get the BMW Roadside Assistance personnel to replace the battery so as not to incur additional charges.


And so I found myself rushing over to Wearnes so that I could pass my car to missus to continue on her plans (which had already been disrupted anyhow), while I planted myself at the cafe and called Auto Bavaria Malaysia umpteen times and finding myself get passed from department to department; until they could finally confirm that the battery was under warranty as per the computer system and dispatched a team to drive the car back to Auto Bavaria Glenmarie for the FOC battery replacement.

I was informed that the car would only be ready the next day, as they needed to check if the fault was actually the battery (in which case the warranty would kick in) or due to other factors e.g. starter, alternator, electrical leak, etc. If it was due to the other parts, then the battery would need not be replaced but the faulty parts would necessitate the repairs.


Although I felt that it was an inconvenience and would have preferred the team to just replace a new battery in-situ so that I could continue on the day's plan, I understood that they could have an SOP in place and acceded to their request. I did appreciate the team's roadside assistance services to drive the car to Glenmarie by themselves so that I need not follow them there, and there find my transport back to my place again. Still, it had taken from morning to evening to settle the issue; although I had no idea that the misadventure was in fact just starting.



Note that the car was charged vide the front (look out for the area to clamp on as per the picture) and not directly at the battery in the rear, as that could damage the electronics or ECU.


The next day, I was contacted by an after-service personnel based in Auto Bavaria Glenmarie, whom informed me that the car had been duly-checked by their technicians, rectified accordingly, and was now ready to be picked up.

Phew, I thought in my mind, now it's all settled.

But then... he next informed me that they would be charging me the towing charges; and an additional RM1,900 being the diagnostic services and replacement battery charges.

I explained that there must have been a mistake as the car was driven there and not towed there, and that I had already informed them that it was a battery problem and the service personnel had confirmed over the phone that the battery was still under warranty and would be replaced FOC but that the replacement could only be done at BMW Glenmarie, hence the trouble of time and effort on my part to wait for them. Had they informed me that the battery was not under warranty, I would have just gotten Wearnes to replace a battery in-situ and be on my way; rather than to waste so many hours on that problem.

The personnel then informed me that he would check further on the matter, and would call me back later. 

After a couple of hours with no additional feedback per se, I tried calling their general line but the operator was unable to locate the said personnel. I had to leave a couple of messages before the personnel reverted to me later the evening.

He then explained that he had been busy with other customers hence the delay. And that he would waive the towing charges because (surprise, surprise) my car was not towed in as he initially thought. And that their technicians had to perform a full diagnostic in order to ascertain if the fault was indeed with the battery. That was a SOP on their part as an original battery replacement out of the entity's pocket, was an expensive exercise and they must ensure that it was indeed a battery fault. He had earlier deduced that it was a starter problem as BMW batteries would not normally fail in such a short duration of time. In fact, he shared that such batteries normally could be used for up to 5 years; hence they had to look very carefully for the source of the problem.

After running extensive diagnostic, they found no problems with the car except for the battery. However, the personnel informed that he was unable to honour the warranty on the battery as he was unable to find the registration of the battery in the system (yet, the ones whom spoke to me over the phone yesterday were able to check and inform me that battery was under warranty and the replacement would be FOC at the service centre). He was further unable to clarify from the technician whom had replaced the battery a year ago as the chap was on a 2-week holiday in New Zealand and he could only provide the warranty for the battery if the technician confirmed that it was duly attended to. So my options were either to wait 2 weeks later to pick up the car, or pay RM1,900 and pick up the car on the very day.


I asked to speak to his superior i.e. Mr Antony David, but I was informed that Mr David was at a conference in Penang and uncontactable until Monday back in office (Hello, does he not have a phone that you could just call over?). And I soon found that other heads were coincidentally either on leave or MC, so there was no others whom could assist me on this case. At this point, I informed him that I would opt to pick up the car the next day with 2 options :

1) Pay the RM1,900 for the said new battery and they reimburse me after clarifications with the holidaying technician (Again, I want to sing the Hello song); or

2) Put back the current faulty battery, jump-start the car, and I would drive over to Wearnes to replace with a Varta or Delkor battery that they have there (since the original BMW battery that was paid at a premium, turned out to be a defective good and further not covered by warranty; and I was not in the mood to be taken for a ride with a similar BMW battery).

You could imagine my utmost frustrations when the personnel then informed me that if I opted for option 2, I would have to bring over a tow-truck and tow it out of the service centre as they might choose not to jump-start the car for me since I was not paying for the battery!


I called my lawyer and was going to exercise my rights as a consumer, as I could no longer tolerate the nonsensical treatment that the personnel was dishing out to me! If this was the normal standards that Auto Bavaria Malaysia treated its customers i.e. like dirt, I would dispose off the Beemer rides in the household and bring the business to other more deserving marques. I was up to my neck at that point in time!

Thank goodness then that another personnel i.e. En Hafiz from the Customer Services was thereafter allocated to look into my case given that I had cautioned the earlier personnel that I was prepared to go legal; and within 30 minutes, En Hafiz informed me that he had made the necessary checking and could confirmed back that a new battery would be replaced on my car with no charges at all as per originally provided under the BMW 24-months warranty.

I wondered why that confrontational after-service personnel could not go the extra mile like En Hafiz, to really treat customers with respect and dignity. If he could have learnt from En Hafiz, we could have skipped through that nail-biting nasty episode over the last few hours and just got to the thank-you-so-much part. Kudos to En Hafiz for his excellent customer services skill, and Auto Bavaria Malaysia should really take care of this asset of a staff.


That was last evening.

This morning, I went to Auto Bavaria Glenmarie and met with both the after-service personnel (whom I hope that I would not have to deal with again as his customer services left too much to be desired!) and En Hafiz; and appreciated the fact that Auto Bavaria had replaced the new battery and that it came with a 24-months warranty starting today.

The mileage is 27k km today on the X1, and let's see if this new original battery does last the miles as it's supposed to or if it would be a dud as per the previous one. One could only cross one's fingers and hope for the best.



NB : The personnel informed me that he was surprised that the previous battery lasted only 14 months and deduced that it was because the car was only driven for 8k km within the period, so it failed because it was under-utilised. Had the car registered 80k km within the period, I supposed he could then say that it could be due to the battery being over-utilised. Like that also can, win liao lor!

Friday 10 November 2017

Promotion : BMW Style 405M M-Sport Rims & Pirelli RFT Rubbers


Some readers have asked about the Style 405M M-Sport rims that was installed on my missus' X1 some months back. The combination had given the X1 a new look and we are pretty satisfied with the setup.


Well, Auto Bavaria Malaysia is doing a promotion on this model; and the price had been reduced from RM29k to RM21k for a limited time only. If any of you readers are interested to dress up your rides, do take advantage on the current promotion and have fun in the process.


Thursday 14 September 2017

WTS : BMW Style 433 20" M-Sport Genuine Rims & Goodyear RFT Tires


RRP : RM32k

BMW Style 433 20" M-Sport rims as per the following :
  • Genuine M-Sport rims, not Taiwanese replica rims.
  • Shoe-horned from X6 to X1 (yes, really!).
  • Front (20x8.5J), Rear (20x9.5J), 5x120 PCD.
  • Suitable for BMW and Land Rover models.
  • Used for 3k km only since new.
  • Reason for sale : Changed to 18" rims for the X1 (the 20" attracts too much attention!).
  • Make me an OFFER for the rims, and I'll include FREE 4 pieces of made-in-Germany 245/40R20 Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric Run-Flat Tires (95% thread).
  • These tires are Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 run-flat tires, known for ultra high performance and sporty handling as per motoring reviews.








Monday 28 August 2017

Initial Impression of Style 405M Matched With Evo2


It has been a few days since the change of 18" shoes for my missus' baby SUV, and I have been en-tasked with stretching the rubber up and trying out the setup. So this would be a general initial impression of how it has held up over miles and miles of M roads and B roads.



First off, from the looks department, missus remarked that the 20" Style 433 filled up the wheel arches better and generally made her ride looked far more aggressive than the current 18" Style 405M set-up. Can't argue with her there. However, given that the objective of the change was to make the ride looked less prominent to unsavoury eyes out there, I would said that the objective has been met then. Box ticked. Cheerio, next then.


At the full steering turn, the ride responded faster due to the smaller tire size, which made U-turns an easier affair to navigate. The previous ones were more stable on the highway due to the larger contact patch with ground and corresponding weight though.

(NB : I am writing this from a Beemer SC as am waiting for the ride undergoing a change of front brake pads (warning light for change in 500km; but since I am available today, might as well get this over and done with. The service chap whom had been assisting me with our ride remarked that the car did feel lighter with the change, and that the Evo2 are very grippy tires around corners. They have a souped-out 328i M-Sport with Evo1 tires for sale here. Pictures at the end of the page.)


From the rear and the sides, the 405M looked pretty attractive. The 5-spokes transformed to 10-spokes at closer look, and I liked how the light played with it as per the picture in the parking lot.





The grip from the Evo2 was quite something given its relatively lower price compared to the Pilot Sport 4, but I'll need to test 'em out in the rain for a more unbiased review. Anyway, this would be a long-term review so do keep your eyes posted hereabouts.

Any in case you are in the market for a souped-out 328i, this could be yours for circa RM200k.




Saturday 26 August 2017

New Shoes : 18" BMW Style 405M M-Sport Rims & Hankook Evo2 Rubbers


Readers might remember that the X1 was fitted with 20" BMW Style 433 M-Sport rims back in March as per the entry @ https://bmwx1sdrive.blogspot.my/2017/03/new-shoes-20-bmw-m-sport-with-goodyear.html, and it has been 5 months down the road. During this time, we have added circa 3,000 km to the 20" shoes, which added stability to the ride especially during more aggressive cornering.

Truth be told, the rims looked really huge on the X1 and it seemed to be attracting too much attention at times. My missus confided that she had found strangers looking at her car when parked at road sides; and while she does not use the X1 much, it was still disconcerting. The last straw was when she found 2 chaps squatting next to the rims after her girls' night out at Bangsar, and they only moved away after she sounded the alarm.


Much as she liked the 20" Style 433 M-Sport rims, they would have to go for something that was less of a show-off.

Readers might also remember about the entry about a fellow X1 owner in Belgium with 20" BMW Style 405M M-Sport rims @ https://bmwx1sdrive.blogspot.my/2017/03/belgiums-bmw-x1-with-20-m-sport-sports.html. I showed her the rims and asked if she could accommodate the design, albeit in a smaller 17" - 19" form factor.


She was okay with the design, and we decided on the 18" wheels as they would look more in-tune with the ride's general size as a baby SUV.

"Not too big, not too small, just nice!", as Goldilocks exclaimed in the Three Bears story.

So the dice was casted; and the tire shop further recommended that we try out Hankook Evo2 (in lieu of Michelin Pilot Sport 4 that I initially wanted), as these were tires that were reportedly 80% as capable as PS4, but at 60% of its price. I Googled some reviews on the Evo2 and noted the positive reviews from its users.




Since we were getting non-RFT tires this time around, I have further ordered the 135/80R17 space saver tire that would be residing in the X1's boot.




So when the tire shop called to say that the stocks had arrived after the initial order, it was my job to drive over and ensure that a good fit would follow-suit thereafter.









This time around, I chose this tire shop as I find the owner to be knowledgeable and willing to spend time to share on his recommendations. I have no qualms to recommend this place to any of my fellow readers needing tire services around the PJ area. PM me for the contact if necessary.

The 18" shoes were obviously lighter than the 20" ones; and I could feel the agility of the ride after the balancing was done. The set-up was at 8Jx18 ET30.

However, in the looks department, the 20" ones were obviously the real head-turners. The 20" Style 433 M-Sport rims are currently up for sale, if they tickle your fancy. Read up on the advert @ https://bmwx1sdrive.blogspot.my/2017/08/wts-bmw-style-433-20-m-sport-genuine.html. You could grab a bargain for the package at RM10k, instead of the original prices of RM22k (rims) + RM10k (tires). 


Since we hardly utilise the X1, we would have to have it in more of the daily run in order to test the new shoes and rubber over time. Look out for the up-coming reviews in due course!