My M4 is broken. Drivetrain malfunction - DCT failure and replacement

[dondula]

Was driving last night on the freeway and all of a sudden on the nav screen it said Drivetrain malfunction... Car went into neutral and I coasted onto the shoulder.

When I tried to put the dct in gear it would switch back to park. So it was stuck in gear.. Pressed the SOS button and the call connected and I listened to music on hold for 1 1/2 hours.. No one ever picked up and I could not disconnect. Finally the call ended on its own and I called bmw road side direct from my cell. Bmw road side played so many games, kept canceling tow trucks after waiting 2 hours and then scheduling a tow etc.. Supervisor didn't care at bmw when I escalated it. My wife and I were stranded from 6:45pm to 2am with no food or water. Bmw couldn't reach anyone who wanted to take responsibility for my car being it is lower to the ground and can risk scraping the bumper when pulling on to a flat bed.

The car needed a low loading tow truck.. Bmw said we are going to have to spend the night.. I called AAA and they had the nicest guy out in 30 min.. He didn't have the right truck either but he works with a local bmw dealer and knew exactly how to Handel it.. Bmw roadside never once helped and never told the towing people what we needed to move the car.

My m4 has only 400 miles on it and it's broken.. It's at the dealer now so god only knows what it will need?

Update 6/30/14:

BMW HQ did some kind of over the air session with my car today and decided the DCT Trans needs a replacement. It is not a carry over trans like some have said. It is completely different, which is why they cannot use the other stock they have in the USA. Going to take 2 to 3 weeks to get a new DCT and a couple days to install it.

In the mean time, my service adviser has made it clear not to contact him, He will contact me if anything changes and if I need anything in the mean time, do not contact him....

I have only called him 1 time since my car came in for service. So I will sit and wait and enjoy my 3 series base loaner in the mean time.

So it's a faulty DCT, BMW confirmed it was not my fault and nothing I did wrong.


Update 7/1/14:

Someone from BMW NA called me today and said they are working with my dealer to get my car fixed asap. But there is a problem he said.. BMW USA nor BMW Germany have 0 DCT trans units to send us.. Now he has to contact the manufacture of the DCT and have them make one up special for my repair and this could be awhile.. He said that is why he is now getting involved.. I told him if it takes 30 days or more, I will exercise my rights and contact a lemon law attorney that I have used successfully before.

I told him it's not right to lose a new car esp when I paid extra to have it early for the summer.

Will keep everyone posted of more info as I get it. I am no longer in communication with the dealer, He told me to call him directly if I have any questions..

So the wait continues with no answers yet until the manufacture of the DCT gets back to him with an ETA.


Update 7/3/14:

One note to add is that last week when I towed the m4 there, The next morning I was told that the tech found metal shavings in the trans pan or something like that... He said that could have been the culprit.

I received a message on my cell phone just now from the guy at BMW NA handling this situation.

The message was over a min long so I was a little nervous at first to even listen to it thinking it might be bad news..

It was actually good news for a change!

He informed me that they moved heaven and earth trying to get this part for me and expedite it as fast as possible etc etc..

He said they got their hands on a DCT and sent it out next day air from Munich yesterday and as of an hour ago it was in Chicago clearing customs.. So I assume this will still try to get to the dealer by the end of the day today.

He wished me a happy 4th, said he alerted the dealership that the part is on its way and said we would talk soon and if I have any questions, to give him a call any time.

I can only assume that I should get my car back Monday. Dealer service is open Saturday's till 4 I believe, but it takes a day to install this part, so Monday I don't see why it shouldn't be ready to go unless the dealer holds me up for some reason. Will continue to keep you all posted.

PS: he never mentioned how they received the part or got their hands on one... he may not even know himself. But I will ask when I speak with him next.

I hope this good news and positive momentum keeps flowing..

[lawjizams]

That sucks that you had to wait that long to get assistance. I would expect BMW SOS service to be better then that. Hopefully they will have you car back up and running in no time. Keep us posted.

[stressdoc]

Public relations Fail.

[E90Fleet]

This type of failure on a brand new model is often software calibration related.
Its often cured by switching the car off totally (either via start button or getting out and locking the car) and then switching it back on again.

If its a common problem software changes will be sent out ( again very common for new models)

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by stressdoc

Public relations Fail.

To the extreme... make sure you get a free payment or 2 out of this one. Ridiculous!

[Sedan_Clan]

That sucks man. Sorry to hear about the lack of customer service.

[Jockey]

Another reason I have AAA

[Wah]

Where are you located? Where did you break down?

[Jaguar]

wow, what an incredibly horrible experience. BMW Assist should have some major clean up to do. What state do you live in?

[IMrMark]

wow! BMW definitely owes you a lot for that disaster. I'd actually heard complaints about the roadside towing from another M owner, very much the same as yours (waiting forever, towing companies not caring, etc). However BMW dispatches that side of things, it sounds pretty poor. It amazes me you sat on hold for 1.5 hours after pushing the SOS button. Isn't that the same system that is supposed to connect you in the event of a crash? :X

[JoeFromPA]

Wow man, I am so sorry to hear that. Please escalate this issue as much as you can. Totally unacceptable.

[dreamsongs]

If this happened to me I'd be seriously pissed. Pissed enough that I would bite someone like that dude on the Uruguayan team in the world cup...

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by IMrMark

wow! BMW definitely owes you a lot for that disaster. I'd actually heard complaints about the roadside towing from another M owner, very much the same as yours (waiting forever, towing companies not caring, etc). However BMW dispatches that side of things, it sounds pretty poor. It amazes me you sat on hold for 1.5 hours after pushing the SOS button. Isn't that the same system that is supposed to connect you in the event of a crash? :X

My personal experience with their roadside towing assistance has always been good (..like when my '03 PY M3's motor went pop), so it never fails to shock me a bit when somebody has an experience like this.

[Technic]

Time to call BMWNA and complain until their ears bleed... this shit cannot happen again.

[sand99]

These forums are filled with horror stories about BMW roadside assistance -- I've seen guys that had to wait 90 minutes or more for the tow truck to arrive -- but never one this extreme! Wow. And what an epic fail for BMW Assist.

You should post this to BMW's facebook page. They really need to step up and take care of you and fix their issues with roadside assistance pronto IMO.

[dmk08]

I'm surprised that the biggest concern in the thread is that BMW assistance took forever. Not the fact that an M4 with 400 freaking miles is leaving someone on the side of the road already.

[Carl L]

Sorry to hear this. While it's most likely (and hopefully) a software error, BMW North America's response is a disgrace. Escalate to the highest possible channels.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by sand99

These forums are filled with horror stories about BMW roadside assistance -- I've seen guys that had to wait 90 minutes or more for the tow truck to arrive -- but never one this extreme! Wow. And what an epic fail for BMW Assist.

You should post this to BMW's facebook page. They really need to step up and take care of you and fix their issues with roadside assistance pronto IMO.

Yeah, but this forum is a microcosm; a small sample group of chihuahuas that bark loudly. If you were to base your opinion of BMW and their service on what people on forums say, well, you might never want to buy a BMW in your entire life.

[RPiM5]

Completely unacceptable.

Sending you a PM.

[shortseller]

Crazy story - and sorry to hear!

Pretty sure BMWNA isn't going to do squat but I'd call them anyway and put them through the ringer. Been there, done that with them myself, pretty much got they were really sorry and would add my complaint to "a file blah blah blah..." thank you very little. My one and only experience with Road Side Service was negative, so I went back onto my wife's AAA family plan, regardless of the free BMW program.

AAA as back up, priceless.

[solstice]

I've never heard of a DCT break-down on either the E9X or the F1X M cars. It's not for sure this is a DCT fault, the refusal to engage gears can just be a SW procedure invoked at certain drive train error codes, which can just as well be sensor malfunctions as real faults.

Anyhow, we all knew this was coming sooner or later. The first drivetrain malfunction. It seem to happen with all newer BMWs, until the SW is patched a couple of times...

[pillpusher84]

wow .. this is the 2nd DCT issue I've heard of on the F82 ... not looking so good right now