The i3 arrived ... with empty battery, and dirty !!!

[DJCeeJay]

After placing the order 18th December, that car was delivered 16th March. The big bubble of excitement was quickly burst as soon as I sat in the car coming off the trailer - the car had 0 miles range in it !!!



So I had to rearrange my day in the office (where it was delivered), get the car back on the trailer, and have me driven to my home by the delivery driver with the car, where I charged the car up (having to work from home).

To add insult to injury, the car was in a condition in places that I would not expect a brand new car in. Dirty pedals, mud on the entry and in the wheel arches. I would expect a new car to be show room condition - the demo cars I drove were in better condition. The delivery driver said "they got hundreds of new cars, many are parked on a muddy field" !





Another email and call to the dealer, and they apologized more and said their head of corporate sales will meet with their PDI centre (car prep centre) who failed to charge the car, and left the car in this state. They offered to to pick up the car a day later on a covered trailer, clean it, and bring back. The car was delivered back with a fine layer of dust, and the pedals still dirty (in the grooves), just looking like it had a quick wipe over (which left the back bumper with fine scratches).



No-one called me to ask if the car was now to my satisfaction - it wasn't. So I spent Sunday cleaning the car, and protecting it with sealant, as well as polishing the bumper to remove the scratches.

I had no choice in selecting the dealer - the leasing company selected them - but I forwarded them my complaint email. I will not deal with the delivery dealer again.

Rant over, now I just want to enjoy the car. I will write up separately my early impressions after a few weeks.

 

[RJSATLBA]

That's the second tale of woeful service on delivery that I've heard in less than a week, BMW will want to know, track down somebody senior at BMW UK and tell them but keep it brief! You might be pleasantly surprised, like I was a couple of weeks ago after something that I had fed back, even though I'd stressed it was only feedback, not a complaint.

 

[rabster]

Shocking. if mine arrives in the same condition i'll be rejecting it straight away. Who was the dealer? think its useful for us all to know.

The delivery of a new car is an exciting and special experience and the dealers should all know that.

 

[PluviaPlumbum]

Pound to a penny the leasing company has not got the first idea about the need to charge the vehicle. Poor service nevertheless.

 

[psquare]

Really sad to hear you've had such a bad experience. Hope you get it sorted and yor complaint gets resolved.

I have to say that my BMW i dealership in the UK (Rybrook) did very well and the whole handover was a nice and memorable experience. All kudos to them.

 

[justanotherdrunk]

just ouch

 

[S3RDP]

What an awful and disappointing experience. I would be really angry. It is no excuse to think you don't have to do the job properly because you are selling to a leasing co. It is still a £30k + premium car.

I collect my new REx tomorrow so am keeping my fingers crossed. Service from BMW i Park Lane so far been really good although I ordered the car from the third dealer I visited because first two seemed indifferent in following up my interest. Because I am venturing into somewhat unknown territory and will no doubt need some hand holding in my early days of ownership it is so important to find a dealer who you hope is going to guide your painlessly through the process.

 

[Pentacat]

Thanks to my awesome SA I was lucky enough to be at my local dealer when their i8 allocation rolled off the delivery truck. I was SHOCKED that the state the car arrived in...if it had been my car being delivered there would have been hell to pay.

The i8 arrived completely uncovered, all of the protective materials had been removed BEFORE it was placed on a single car flatbed carrier. I'm not sure how far the car had traveled in that state but it was completely filthy. There was also at least two places on the front lip/splitter that showed signs of something making contact with the car. Either it was pushed into something or vice versa, in any case the damage was easily visible from 10 feet away and was going to require a trip to the body shop before final delivery.

Not as big an issue on the i8 but it had 0% charge on it as well at delivery.