2600 miles into ownership and i have my first problem :(

[rabster]

After 2600 trouble-free miles, my i3 showed a 'passenger restraint' fault yesterday. I used the BMW Assist feature in the car which was pretty cool and arranged to have BMW assist come out this morning to check the car over. Turns out that there's a fault on the drivers airbag so it needed to go to the dealer as in any case, the mobile guys/girls cannot touch anything on the I3's.

So off we went to the dealer, dropped off the i3 and was promised a courtesy car etc. no worries it will be delivered today for you Mr Stewart.

Got home, BMW Assist called me and then started asking for my bank card details....hold on!!!!! It transpires that BMW are using Enterprise car rentals for their courtesy cars. Now I've hired cars before and not had an issue BUT when a car that's just 2 months old goes wrong then I don't expect to haver to sign my life away with a rental company in order to keep mobile. I told BMW Assist to put the hire car on hold and then called the dealer who couldn't provide a 'proper' courtesy car. So I think I'm going to just use my wifes car until I can get the i3 back rather than have to worry about ridiculous excess's with the hire car but from what I've heard, it could be up to a few weeks to get the part in.

Overall I'm happy with how quickly BMW Assist dealt with the initial problem but not happy with the whole hire-car approach.

 

[jadnashuanh]

I've had the dealer use Enterprise. They do not charge your card, but if you fail to return it, or damage it, they use the card as collateral. This is pretty standard. The fine print on the service agreement often has some interesting provisions, but most people never read them and just sign.

 

[DocRush]

As we had encountered a similar experience (due to our latest _previous week_ event) in İstanbul I can also add sth.

Here the official dealer provides Avis' car rental system. A.F.A.I.K. Avis portfolio comprise multibrand choices but the dealer might have an agreement which dictates "BMW make courtesy vehicles" for its customers.

I also remember that we (me & my wife) did hesitate during the swap procedure in front of my wife's office when the valet driver presented the contract that we reluctantly accepted to fill our Credit Card details in.

It is pretty witty according to dealer's perspective; they don't bother customers' unending courtesy car requests while coping with mechanic/cosmetic/electronic interventions. :roll:

regards...

 

[jelloslug]

I would find a different dealer. My dealer has loaner i3s just for such occasions.

 

[S3RDP]

After 2600 trouble-free miles, my i3 showed a 'passenger restraint' fault yesterday. I used the BMW Assist feature in the car which was pretty cool and arranged to have BMW assist come out this morning to check the car over. Turns out that there's a fault on the drivers airbag so it needed to go to the dealer as in any case, the mobile guys/girls cannot touch anything on the I3's.

So off we went to the dealer, dropped off the i3 and was promised a courtesy car etc. no worries it will be delivered today for you Mr Stewart.

Got home, BMW Assist called me and then started asking for my bank card details....hold on!!!!! It transpires that BMW are using Enterprise car rentals for their courtesy cars. Now I've hired cars before and not had an issue BUT when a car that's just 2 months old goes wrong then I don't expect to haver to sign my life away with a rental company in order to keep mobile. I told BMW Assist to put the hire car on hold and then called the dealer who couldn't provide a 'proper' courtesy car. So I think I'm going to just use my wifes car until I can get the i3 back rather than have to worry about ridiculous excess's with the hire car but from what I've heard, it could be up to a few weeks to get the part in.

Overall I'm happy with how quickly BMW Assist dealt with the initial problem but not happy with the whole hire-car approach.

I too was given an Enterprise rental car when my i3 had to be recovered but it was late in the day and the 3 series arrived within 30 min. Was told no courtesy car available but I suspect the real reason was the garage did not want to tie one of their vehicles up for a indeterminate time. Was told that despite part being available in Germany it could take 10-14 days to arrive - crazy when vehicle is off road. Fortunately only had to wait a week. By way of comparison ordered BMW floor mats on German website on Thursday which were delivered to my home 11.00am Monday. Despite an undoubtably heavily discounted hire rate I cannot understand the financial sense, let alone the damage to the customer experience, in not getting small part air freighted to UK and at dealer within 48 or 72hrs. Diesel 320 ghastly - only consolation was I used it to do a quick 200 mile trip and was not charged when returned half empty tank. Like rabster my experience from BMW Assist and their local recovery company was very prompt and faultless.

 

[spinball]

Is "BMW Assist" just pushing the SOS button on the ceiling or is it a menu in iDrive?

 

[rabster]

Is "BMW Assist" just pushing the SOS button on the ceiling or is it a menu in iDrive?

Hi, I used a menu in the idrive. Cant recall the exact option now but effectively it uploaded a chunk of data somewhere and then automatically connected me to the support center. They offered to get an engineer out within the hour. Was very simple and well managed.

Got my i3 back yesterday. Was a loose connector in the drivers airbag so in the end a simple fix. As for the hire car, I passed on that as I could use my wife's car for far less financial risk!!! What I learnt from this is that if I had used the dealer rather than BMW Assist, then I would have been able to take one of the dealer courtesy cars as my i3 would have been booked in. As I used BMW Assist I got forced down the car hire route. I can see the logic in it and I guess.