A couple days ago we drove to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge; we actually planned to visit the Wizard Of Oz Museum there but it’s relocating and closed. So instead we looked at nature …
Some of the drives were not paved and I was shocked to see how dirty my X6 was afterward!
So this afternoon we headed over to Classic Car Wash to let them do their stuff, and now my car is perfectly clean once again!
It’s already more than a year since I bought my X6 and even though it’s only driven about 3,700 miles, it’s time for an oil change. I booked it in at Fields BMW South Orlando because I’m still unhappy with the Winter Park location. In hindsight I should not have gone to the Winter Park location when I ordered this car – the only reason that I did was because their website claimed to have a vehicle in stock, and that wasn’t true anyway!
On the other hand, while service at the South Orlando location seems to be better, it was a pretty desolate place to hang out while I waited – there’s only maybe 6 display vehicles there, not a single salesman spoke to me when I looked at the display vehicles (they could not have known that I wasn’t a buyer) … there was happily made-to-order food service at lunchtime (I got a meatball sub). Overall I was at the dealership for about 1-1/2 hours, and headed home with a clean X6 with new oil.
I got this video inspection sent to me, which is quite amusing – the car is just a year old, driven hardly any miles, and unsurprisingly the tires are still perfect, the brakes are unused, and everything looks good!
When I got in my X6 last night to go out for dinner, the car refused to run and displayed this concerning message!
I tried starting it a couple of times, but no go.
This morning however, the car started fine and has done a few trips without any hint of problems … it just leaves me worried now whether I can trust it on future journeys! I’m going to take it to the dealership next week to see if they can explain anything …
UPDATE: I took my X6 to Fields BMW on November 24th, and left it with them to try and diagnose what had happened – after first being told by the service writer that “this sort of thing [Drivetrain Malfunction] just happens, and it’s probably a waste of time for them to look at it”! That attitude is pretty poor I think.
Admitted it was Thanksgiving week but even so, I did not get my X6 back until December 2nd … they apparently determined that the “PCU48” had to be replaced, and had to get the part – I assume that is part of the hybrid system (and it’s a bit of a shame that the car can’t operate in some sort of “limp” mode without the hybrid, it does after all still have a huge gasoline engine!)
Anyway, I can understand that sometimes parts fail in a new vehicle, and I can understand that not everything is in stock at a dealership – but I am very unimpressed by the horrendous lack of communication from the dealership! After a message November 25th saying “we are still putting some drive cycles in the car the minute it is done I will let you know” there was total silence. Late afternoon on November 28 I finally got a call telling me that a part replacement was needed, which they needed to order, and I would hear more, but no surprise I did not! I had to chase and complain to get any sort of information, and I do now at least have my car back home again …
(and you might notice there’s been a change to Margaret’s vehicle – she looked at new BMW convertibles when we were at the dealership, but wasn’t impressed by them … and then found this very nice looking 2026 Mercedes instead)
M&I / GBMINI 