|
|
...Please Wait, Loading Pictures...
2004 BMW 330Ci Convertible
About a year and a half after I got the 2002 Honda Accord, (and after a couple raises and bonuses) I decided that I just couldn't do without a convertible. So I got the 2004 BMW 330Ci Convertible. The BMW 330Cic is the car I had wanted for years. I had to order it (3 or 4 month wait). Just before the car came in, I sold my Honda to Carmax (for $1000 above Kelly Blue Book) and got my new BMW a few days later. Boy was that car fun! We took a couple trips in it and enjoyed the convertible (Blue Ridge Parkway in the fall and Myrtle Beach in the winter).
I started having problems with the BMW right away. About a month after I got it, I started having trouble with the windows. The "one touch" up and down functionality did not work, and I could not put the passenger side window down at all. Also, the passenger side rear view mirror "tilt" feature (when in Reverse) worked sometimes and sometimes it did not. I took the car in to the local dealership to be fixed under warranty. They called me and told me that there was nothing wrong with the car, it was functioning as it was supposed to, and to come pick up my car. On the phone on the way to the dealership, I asked them to try a few things and they said that it was not supposed to have the "one touch" functionality. I finally convinced them that it WAS supposed to work the way I said - so when I got to the dealership I had to wait about 2 hours (ended up having to take a half day off work) waiting for them to reprogram the computer in the car. When I finally got it back everything seemed to work fine.
A few days later the passenger rear view mirror "tilt" feature quit working again. I called the dealership and they told me I did not have the mirror switch on the right side. I checked it (because I have never changed it) and it was in the correct position. They told me to bring the car in and I did and they told me that the switch was not correct. When I got my car back it worked. I NEVER EVER touch that switch at ALL and it was in the same position as when I brought the car in. A few days later, it quit working again (still did not touch the switch). I gave up on it - it did not work most of the time.
Several months later the "Check Engine" light came on. So I called the dealership to find out what was wrong. Sometimes the light would come on and sometimes it wouldn't. So of course when I took the car in, the light did not come on for them. So I picked up my car. The next day the light was on again. I took it in again - same thing. A few days later the engine light went off and the "Maintenance" light came on. So I called and scheduled an appointment to have my first service (it was around 12k miles, which I thought was a bit high). I took the car in and several hours later they called me and said that it was not time for maintenance and there was nothing wrong with my car (I had mentioned to them that the tilt feature not working for the fourth time) and that I should come get my car. I asked about the maintenance light and they said that the light was not coming on and that I had 4500 miles left until my first service (when I got there they showed me where it said that on the on-board computer). So I cranked up my car and a different light was on - the oil light. I showed them the light and they said, "Oh, you need oil". So they put a quart of oil in the car for me (and charged me the price of the oil because evidently a brand new car that burns a quart of oil before its first service isn't covered under warranty). The light went out and they sent me on my way.
A few days later, the mirror tilt feature quit working again (I'd long given up on that one anyway). A few weeks later the radiator light came on in the car. I checked the radiator and it was BONE DRY. I filled it with water and the light went off.
I can't help but wonder why a brand new $50,000 car has already lost a quart of oil, a radiator full of water, the brakes had started squeaking, and the mirror tilt feature never did work (the seat memory did not move the mirror anymore either).
It was quite an inconvenience (couple hours of mine and Marty's time) every time I have to take the car in for something (and that's just dropping it off and picking it up - that doesn't even include the wait time while I'm there, if I have to wait).
I got so frustrated with the car. It was obviously a lemon, but it wasn't covered under the NC Lemon Law because the money to make all the repairs was not coming out of my pocket (because it was under warranty). I wasn't about to wait until the money WAS coming out of my pocket. I sold it to Carmax and bought a 2005 Mercedez-Benz C230.
I owned the BMW from 2003 - 2005. The starting mileage was around 2 miles and it had about 16,000 miles on it when I sold it.