Maintain SOC - where (if at all) is the usage of REx stored?

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fbt12

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 28, 2019
Messages
50
Ok. Now that many of us have turned on maintain state of charge menu pick, what happens when BMW says, " Sorry, you have a USA car and have enabled a feature that was not sold in the USA. So, we are denying your claim on replacing the REx system that has failed under the warranty period."

Is the history/usage of REx stored anywhere that would be accessible? If so, how easy is that history to get?
 
That exact thing happened to an i3 owner, in Northern California I think. REx engine failed with car still under warranty, Dealer hooked it up to the BMW service diagnostics computer, and it showed every time the REx started, the duration of the run, and what the state of charge of the HV battery pack was at the time the REx started. Based on the diagnostics data retrieved, BMW refused the warranty claim (of $13,000) because of the unauthorized code changes that allowed the REx to be started on-demand to maintain SOC. The i3 owner did not have the repair done, and apparently still drives the car with the REx unavailable.

If you do a search on the i3 Facebook group page, you will find his postings on this.
 
Thanks MKH/Mark ---

My question is just because we turned something on that is not officially authorized for USA vehicles, if the REx is not overused (whatever that "number" is), BMW should still be liable for repair. Wanted to know if actual limits of use are established by BMW and actual usage of REx is actually tracked/stored.

Assuming we don't sign away all rights when we buy the car, i am thinking there may be a legal case for getting warranty repair for REx assuming we did not abuse REx.

Can BMW actually tell if we activate a feature and then turn it off? Is there history of coding/re-coding ECUs stored?

While i don't plan over taking a lot of long distance trips and using hold SOC a lot, i am curious as to the risk on warranty repairs of REx.




[I don't have a FaceBook account.]
 
Can BMW actually tell if we activate a feature and then turn it off? Is there history of coding/re-coding ECUs stored?

I don't think there is a history of coding/re-coding, but there is a history of most of the component's operation, such as the REx. So if a component is recorded as operating outside normal parameters, (and BMW is well aware of what Bimmercode is and used for), they can claim that user coding a component to operate outside factory specs constitutes an unauthorized after-market user-modification, which would cancel any factory warranty coverage for that component.
 
MKH said:
Based on the diagnostics data retrieved, BMW refused the warranty claim (of $13,000) because of the unauthorized code changes that allowed the REx to be started on-demand to maintain SOC.
Of course, in any market other than North America, BMW could not have denied warranty coverage for the exact same problem because HSOC is enabled by default. One difference might be that warranty terms could be more generous in the U.S. such that the warranty might have expired in other markets.

I think the owner could have pushed harder for warranty coverage but didn't because he had already driven over 100k miles and seemed to have moved on to other cars.
 
alohart said:
MKH said:
Based on the diagnostics data retrieved, BMW refused the warranty claim (of $13,000) because of the unauthorized code changes that allowed the REx to be started on-demand to maintain SOC.
Of course, in any market other than North America, BMW could not have denied warranty coverage for the exact same problem because HSOC is enabled by default. One difference might be that warranty terms could be more generous in the U.S. such that the warranty might have expired in other markets.

I think the owner could have pushed harder for warranty coverage but didn't because he had already driven over 100k miles and seemed to have moved on to other cars.

That probably also depends on the dealer, as in my case I had the REX coded, and they did replace the REX and the warranty covered it - no complaints.
 
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