[lux.sh]

Yesterday, my car took a dump on me.

Perfectly fine throughout the day. Late night at 10pm, trying to go home from my buddy's..
I start the car and all of sudden my car was acting like a 9sec-drag racing car with quad turbos.
The whole car was vibrating like a cell phone and exhaust note was louder than a WRX with 5" piping.
I try to rev the car a little bit and took it up to 2000rpm.
It sounded like I was at 9000rpm. It was so loud. High-pitched screaming in a very bad way.
I reversed out of the parking lot and try to get home(less than 0.5 miles away) without using the gas pedal.
Afraid of damaging anything further, I stopped the car and pushed the car home.
Mean while, a nice red 350z and gray G35 passed by, laughing. which I understand. I would too.

Long story short, I just picked up my car from BMW of Eugene.
$70 for towing
$90 for rental car
$310 for the repair + diagnoses
= Grand total of $470.

Thank you very much. Superb engineers in Germany builds these cars so well, they made sure it breaks down RIGHT after the warranty expires.
Cheers. Those of you hesistating for extended warranty, this is exactly what I was talking about in those previous threads.

For those of you with knowledge in mechanical experiences, please help me analyze what caused this, what is long-term effect of this, and what I have to do to prevent this problem:

"Customer states there is a vibration/noise upon acceleration. Had to have the car towed. Check and report, verified car is missfiring. Checked faults in DME. Followed SIB 110505. Removed VANOS solenoids and cleaned with air. Reinstalled and checked integration level. Ok. Started the car, still missfires. Removed spark plug and coil on Cylinder 5. Insulation of plug appears to have been overheated. Spark plug and ignition coil on cylinder 5 are bad. Replaced spark plug and ignition coil for cylinder 5 and cleared faults. Car starts and runs smoothly.

Parts: Spark plug. High PO: $21.66
Parts: Ignition coil: $58.16
Job: Labor - $220.00
Job: Shop supplies - $10.00

[BKV122]

Well its common for spark plugs and coils to go in about any car.
My coil went on me a few months ago cost $80 from the dealer and replaced it myself

[spdy330]

Heck the whole car is a computer. They have it programmed to automatically self destruct after 50K is you do not have extended warranty.

[Magic Man]

Originally Posted by spdy330

They have it programmed to automatically self destruct after 50K is you do not have extended warranty.

REALLY???? They actually self destruct???? Jeez, I am sooooo glad I bought the extended warranty!

[mattsten]

Originally Posted by BKV122

Well its common for spark plugs and coils to go in about any car.

+1. What is appalling and disappointing is the labor charge....

[lux.sh]

Originally Posted by BKV122

Well its common for spark plugs and coils to go in about any car.
My coil went on me a few months ago cost $80 from the dealer and replaced it myself

Yeah, spark plugs Im aware of, but never really had any experience with coils in my life somehow. This is my first german car, and my previous japanese vehicles didn't have coil problems so I didn't know. Thanks for the insight.

knowledge is power guys. Learn how to do it yourself and don't waste $220 on labor like me.

[chromisdesigns]

You know, I like BMW of Eugene -- they helped us out a number of years ago when the crank sensor went out on my E36 M3 in the middle of a long road trip. Very nice to deal with...BUT:

You got an not-so-expensive lesson on why not to take your car to the dealer for non-warranty work. You could have had the job done for half that at almost any independent BMW shop, using the same parts. If this had been a big labor job, though, you could have spent hundreds, needlessly, just by using the dealer.

[lux.sh]

Originally Posted by chromisdesigns

You know, I like BMW of Eugene -- they helped us out a number of years ago when the crank sensor went out on my E36 M3 in the middle of a long road trip. Very nice to deal with...BUT:

You got an not-so-expensive lesson on why not to take your car to the dealer for non-warranty work. You could have had the job done for half that at almost any independent BMW shop, using the same parts. If this had been a big labor job, though, you could have spent hundreds, needlessly, just by using the dealer.

I agree with you. When this problem occured, I actually called two shops. 1. BMW dealership 2. Local Autobahn Shop specializing in German cars.
It was definitely cheaper to get it diagnosed at the local shop. I was worried about the problem being bigger than I expected, so I decided to take it to the dealer just for diagnoses.
If extensive repair is needed, I was going to take it to the local shop and tell them what the problem is according to BMW dealer and let them repair it.
When the dealership said total is $310 including diagnoses, I figured towing it back to local shop and all is going to be a big hassle so I just told BMW Eugene to do it.

I know what to do next time. Thanks for the tip.

[John 070]

Originally Posted by BKV122

Well its common for spark plugs and coils to go in about any car.
My coil went on me a few months ago cost $80 from the dealer and replaced it myself

I could live with the $300 repair, but the OP does have a point with German engineering. My Nissan is 12 1/2 and 190k and never had a coil go bad, nor anything electrical, nor anything fuel, nor anything in the interior. CV joints and exhaust, two things, that's it. It has stalled and failed to start 0 times.

The 335 has stalled over 40 times and failed to start 3X. I know, high mileage, 18k.

[chromisdesigns]

Originally Posted by John 070

I could live with the $300 repair, but the OP does have a point with German engineering. My Nissan is 12 1/2 and 190k and never had a coil go bad, nor anything electrical, nor anything fuel, nor anything in the interior. CV joints and exhaust, two things, that's it. It has stalled and failed to start 0 times.

The 335 has stalled over 40 times and failed to start 3X. I know, high mileage, 18k.

So, you'd rather drive the Nissan?

[lux.sh]

Originally Posted by chromisdesigns

So, you'd rather drive the Nissan?

whats wrong with nissan again?

[E90 87ss]

coil and a plug are not a big deal. It happens to the best of vehicles. Honestly don't sweat it, take a look at the x35 owners. HPFP, coils, plugs, turbos....

[mattsten]

Originally Posted by lux.sh

whats wrong with nissan again?

Do you want to take a gander at how much a brake job costs at that little gem? Nope...too low. According to automobile magazine at 21k they paid $7346 to get new pads, discs, and fluid changed. High performance costs money. The better performing and more advanced vehicle the higher the costs to own will be. I am not defending BMW as hpfp problems really suck, but I know all competitors to this car are not perfect either. The 08 G35 I had was certainly not.....the rotors warp like clockwork and the interior wears horribly, the dashboards warp (good luck getting that covered under warranty...I was told "they all do it...go check the lot")...check those forums if you don't believe me. Now, I am not bashing a Camry or Altima owner, but don't try to compare this vehicle to a BMW and expect it to be the same.

[aesfah]

i had the same problem in my 330i. misfire...same symptoms...faulty coil replaced. fortunately it was covered under CPO warranty. just plain bad luck, i guess. i gotta find an indi-shop for when my CPO runs out.

[fdriller9]

You guys are all scaring me. I'm approaching 57K...I've already hit 4 years this month and have 52175 on the OD. I think one of my coils are going bad too. I'm been experiencing long cranks in the morning and my car feels slower.

[Chriztofor]

To the OP and anyone else thinking that the extended warranty is a god send. I don't think the coils or plugs are covered. http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...ghlight=beware

You need to invest in a peake reseach tool or a BT scan tool. You will save a ton of money and it will pay for itself after just one scan.

[lux.sh]

Originally Posted by mattsten

Do you want to take a gander at how much a brake job costs at that little gem? Nope...too low. According to automobile magazine at 21k they paid $7346 to get new pads, discs, and fluid changed. High performance costs money. The better performing and more advanced vehicle the higher the costs to own will be. I am not defending BMW as hpfp problems really suck, but I know all competitors to this car are not perfect either. The 08 G35 I had was certainly not.....the rotors warp like clockwork and the interior wears horribly, the dashboards warp (good luck getting that covered under warranty...I was told "they all do it...go check the lot")...check those forums if you don't believe me. Now, I am not bashing a Camry or Altima owner, but don't try to compare this vehicle to a BMW and expect it to be the same.

You took my joke a little too seriously. Nissan is not a bad brand at all, and I hate when I see BMW or german-biased people bashing on other brands for no reason. It seemed like the person I quoted was referring to a fact that nissan is crap compared to BMW. I posted a finely crafted vehicle by nissan and proved my point that nissan is not a bad brand. My intention really wasns't to stir up reliability issue.

What people often get confused with these "top notch" vehicles is that general population expects "better quality per dollar". These people don't know too much about cars, they just expect better quality overall. Most of us, who knows about cars do not expect Toyota reliability(this term should no longer be used due to recall issue ), but rather "better performance per dollar".

This becomes quite annoying however, when repair bills add up or time spent at dealership getting stuff fixed is becoming overwhelming(or interrupting your life). I think thats where people start complaining, even though they know they paid extra for the performance/balance aspect, not a trouble-free fee. This applies to ANY brand, like your Infiniti. Comparing Camry to 3 series is just plain stupid and I think we all know that we sacrificed a bit of reliability for performance.

Hey now that I think about it, this might be a fun topic to discuss in this forum. I might create a thread regardint reliability. Pitch in if you see it.

[lux.sh]

Originally Posted by Chriztofor

To the OP and anyone else thinking that the extended warranty is a god send. I don't think the coils or plugs are covered. http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...ghlight=beware

You need to invest in a peake reseach tool or a BT scan tool. You will save a ton of money and it will pay for itself after just one scan.

Good look out, but I actually asked my service advisor whether this would've been covered under extended warranty and he said yes. He could've said that just to piss me off, but I trust him. Dealt with him for a long time and his information has been always accurate. Who knows, maybe he was talking out of his ass.

[chromisdesigns]

Originally Posted by Chriztofor

To the OP and anyone else thinking that the extended warranty is a god send. I don't think the coils or plugs are covered. http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...ghlight=beware

You need to invest in a peake reseach tool or a BT scan tool. You will save a ton of money and it will pay for itself after just one scan.

In CA, they would be covered under one of the emissions warranty provisions. I was just checking them for another thread the other day, and surprised to find them included. 7 Yrs / 70K, I believe it was.

[dashredder]

Sorry to hear about the mess. At least it was not too costly. My old Honda cost me about $600 while it was STILL UNDER WARRANTY to fix mega crappy brakes more than once. You never know, but there are many people on here with e90s that have not spent much at all on repairs / maintenance. One thing here and there is bound to happen.

[RoundelM3]

Within any family of vehicles, be it BMW or Kia, you're going to get some with more problems than others, and some that have none at all. I had a coil go out on an '03 ZHP, and it turned out that there was a service bulletin on a bad design that caused the coils to overheat and fail. They replaced all 6 at no cost to me other than the time spent at the dealership.

That said, with sophistication comes complexity, and with that complexity, the probability of a failure will increase. My wife's Altima will probably never have any of the issues that pop up with cars that are loaded with electronics and the superior handling and performance of a BMW. But it will never look, handle, or perform like a BMW either. Are we "compromising" reliability for performance? Depends on your viewpoint, but I had my share of issues with the Porsches I used to own too.

[Saintor]

Question... if a coil goes on my car, will I have a specific error code accessible on my Scangauge II?