Quote:
Originally Posted by tyrannosaurus69
Appreciate the sympathy mate; although it won't help with the car, it made me feel a little better! The garage called just after I wrote this post to tell me that it's still misfiring after replacing the injector. and that they will need to carry out "Further investigations", before telling me that I only drive for short journeys, which may have caused some problems. I mean, there is a global pandemic going on...
In regards to the cost, yeah I get the feeling they're taking the piss a little, or more likely a lot. I wouldn't have taken it to this garage, but all of the local garages made up excuses about not being able to take it in when the steering rack went. Finally one garage owner came clean on the phone after saying he couldn't take it in for two weeks, and when I told him two other garages had said exactly the same thing he burst out laughing, before telling me that trying to sort the steering was more effort than it was worth. The garage I went with seemed professional and sympathetic about the cost, so I went with them when the EWL came on. Nearest BMW dealership is miles away and I have my daughter all day, so putting her in a cab there and back is a bit of a no-no.
After a (completely) sleepless night I've decided to part-exchange the car for, probably, a newer Ford, and put the money wasted on the car down to experience . I love the BMW, and it made me smile every time I looked at it in the driveway, but reading this thread has made me realise that it's just going to be a complete money sink, with no guarantee of reliability even if I spend thousands on it. I'm registered disabled and rely on my wife for most of our household income, and my decision to buy this car has cost us every last bit of our savings and placed an even bigger financial burden on her, so feeling pretty shitty about the whole thing.
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If you can't get a refund on being sold a clearly unfit for purpose car, then part-exchanging it is probably your wisest move mate, because aside from the injector/coil merry-go-round, you'll always be worrying about the timing chain and other delights that have surfaced with this pathetic engine over the years.
If it's any consolation, I sold mine to a dealer after only 8 months of ownership, at the loss of £3K from what I paid for it. Nobody would touch it privately (probably all read this thread lol) so I had no choice. Funnily enough I was recently checking the MOT histories of all the cars I've ever owned for old time's sake, and found my old BMW. Had a little chuckle to myself when one of the recent MOT advisories mentioned the engine management light being on, and then felt bad about it, as I too was once a victim of this poor show by BMW.
Funnily enough, like you I had come from a Ford Fiesta that had given years of trouble free service. At the time I vowed never to buy another BMW ever again, but was tempted back by their diesel offerings. Happy to report I've not experienced the same nightmare I had with the N43, in fact it has been very reliable so far. My wife is keen on buying a petrol 1-series next month and I must admit alarm bells and Vietnam-esque flashbacks started at the mention of a BMW petrol, but I am told the engines that came after the N43 don't suffer from the same symptoms. Fingers and toes firmly crossed!