Dealer won't honor California battery 10 year warranty

[Neil]

My 2014 i3 Rex with 80k miles 10 year anniversary is coming up in July. It is registered in California. My range has been pretty bad (40-50 miles) for a long time and my average kappa based on about 24 readings since Dec. 2021 is 12.4kWh or 65.7% of 18.8kWh, so I decided to bring it in for the battery test in January. I brought it in with the CEL on for issues with the front cooling fan. I didn't think this would affect the battery test. They tried to perform the test but said the front fan (is this the SME cooling fan?) wasn't coming on and the test wouldn't run because the fan wasn't working. I brought the car home to do the work myself and managed to install a fan from 2017. That job was a bitch! Anyway, a few weeks later, I brought the car back for the battery test (CEL was still on since it did not apparently clear after the fan replacement) and every cell (module?) failed at 56% SOH which is quite a bit less than the 70% limit, so I though I was going to get a battery replacement. But BMW had other news for me. This is what I was told "...If the vehicle is still within the capacity coverage this can be claimed to address the customer complaint. If it's out then there is no coverage under SULEV without a defect" Within capacity coverage I understood to mean the 8 years, but between 8 & 10 years, the CEL must be on (with some related and undefined to me) fault for them the honor the California 10 year battery warranty. By the way, they quoted me $38k+ for the repair.

Is this legitimate?

I would appreciate hearing from anyone about their experience with California (or other covered states) 10 year battery capacity warranty claims and what was the final outcome.

I will be calling BMW customer relations shortly. Does anyone have any suggestions on what else I can do?

Thanks to all

 

[weajd]

Search the internet for the extended warranty on REXs in California.
Hire an attorney to write a letter discussing breach of the agreement BMW made with California Air Resources Board to cover the REX. BMW NA should have figured out a way to reduce costs on repairing batteries by now.

 

[weajd]

BTW - https://qccharge.com/
QC Charge in Vista, CA (san diego county) works on Nissan Leafs, Teslas, Toyota RAV4 electrics. Maybe they would pick this up as a challenge.

 

[ajnrocks]

Did you have any luck with this? I am looking at buying a used 2015 i3 Rex with high mileage and potentially a weak battery and am interested in warranty experiences for CARB states between the 8 year/100k and 10 year/150k points.

 

[Neil]

Quick update- I contacted BMW customer relations, the lady quoted me the warranty, I asked if there was anything they could do. She said they would get back to me within a week. They waited the obligatory 3 days, got back to me with a confident "no". I still have until July before the 10 years is up, still considering any possible options and hoping my car fails with one of the "acceptable faults" before the 10 years is up.

 

[JimBmwi3s]

Quick update- I contacted BMW customer relations, the lady quoted me the warranty, I asked if there was anything they could do. She said they would get back to me within a week. They waited the obligatory 3 days, got back to me with a confident "no". I still have until July before the 10 years is up, still considering any possible options and hoping my car fails with one of the "acceptable faults" before the 10 years is up.

I call BMW customer service once because a California BMW refused to sell me an i3s because I was out of state and wouldn’t sell even if I went in person - the BMW Customer Service response was they are independently run so BMW can not tell them what to do.

 

[JimBmwi3s]

Why not call another BMW dealer - $38,000 you can buy a 2021 and have 10k in your pocket and trade in your current one

 

[eNate]

I call BMW customer service once because a California BMW refused to sell me an i3s because I was out of state and wouldn’t sell even if I went in person - the BMW Customer Service response was they are independently run so BMW can not tell them what to do.

Anybody know off hand if the extended California warranty provision applies to REX i3's originally purchased in another state?

 

[Jacky]

Keep the paperwork for proof. Then contact the Calif Air Resource Bd and file a complaint. Then contact the Calif Bureau of Automotive Repair and file a complaint. They are very good at investigating. Also, file a complaint with Calif Consumers Bureau. Finally, you can file in small claims up to $12,500.00, but it must be served in Calif on the BMW dealer.

 

[petern12]

I am in the exact same predicament as you, having a 2014 i3 REX with a bad HV battery (11.7 Batt Kappa Max - 45-50 miles range). I came across this article(link below), which may be of help to us. An automotive journalist named David Tracy at Autopian in Socal recently bought a 2014 i3 REX with 130k+ and a bad HV battery managed to get the whole pack replaced under the 10yrs CA PZEV warranty (Note his pack was still functioning with 48 miles range fully charged). It was done by a Socal BMW dealer and I've just sent David an email asking for the name of the dealer. Btw, I do have a CEL on, but it's pointing to the REX, most likely an O2 sensor issue. The REX is also fully covered for any CEL triggered/ inability to pass smog.

https://www.theautopian.com/i-bough...res-why-that-was-actually-a-stroke-of-genius/

 

[Neil]

I saw that article and thought WTF with all the trouble I'm having with this. Thanks for following through with the author and I'd appreciate anything you find out. I'm wondering if there was something else wrong with his car indicated by the CEL satisfying BMW's fault requirement. Maybe you'll get lucky with the O2 sensor issue satisfying the conditions that were indicated to me by BMW.

 

[Trukinbear]

Anyone find the name of that dealership in California? I've got the same issues