One day last year, my BMW 330XI stalls on my driveway after I arrive from a trip and I have it towed to Bimmers Only Inc. to fix it. Using Bimmers Only seemed like a good idea because I can walk from the shop to my house.
However, the unfortunate story of Bimmers Only “repair” is as follows. They determine that it is an overheating problem. In trying to solve the problem they replace about everything that in one way or the other has to do with the cooling system of the car – like the radiator and all sorts of hoses -- and charges me roughly 3,500 dollars. The owner tells me that somebody had put in too much of the type of liquid that you find in auto part stores that fixes holes in radiators and water hoses and that this had clogged the cooling system.
Shortly thereafter on my way to Poughkeepsie the car overheats and in my naiveté I again have the car towed to Bimmers Only and ask that they fix it – whatever it was that was causing the overheating. The shop takes what seemed like an eternity to fix it by replacing some more hoses and charges me in the order of $400 more.
And guess what happened after a couple of weeks: A friend of me brings me to the airport and the car overheats again on the Van Wyck expressway. Luckily I was able to haul a passing taxi cab and didn’t miss my plane. I felt guilty about leaving my friend especially because we had a hard time explaining to BMW roadside assistance where we were located. However, after I left him, my friend disconnects and reconnects the battery cables and the temperature gauge went down and the car started right up. To me this seems to indicate that the computer chip is faulty, this chip might be responsible for the circulation of the cooling liquid. It might also be the temperature sensor or the valve that makes the cooling fluid circulate or not. I don't know. I am only lay person and I haven’t had the chance to bring the car to a BMW dealer due to a hospitalization, a trip to Europe and a subsequent illness that put me in bed for another three weeks.
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