X6 first annual service

Posted on by Ian C.

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!

Drivetrain malfunction

Posted on by Ian C.

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)

X6 first dealership visit

Posted on by Ian C.

Because I picked up my X6 from the BMW ‘factory”, it’s never been to the dealership till this week where I took it in to hopefully eliminate an annoying rattle somewhere above my head! I was given a 2 series BMW which is a bit of a reduction in size (and engine power!) from my car … it even looked smaller than Margaret’s 2 series convertible, when I got home!

The interior as well as being small was much reduced in technology; the center display tiny compared with my X6, with no built-in navigation or anything else, but it did connect fine with wireless Apple CarPlay – I’ve added a photo of my X6 interior for comparison:

Happily the next day my X6 was finished (though I can’t tell yet if the rattle is resolved, due to the 100 degree temperature driving home and needing lots of a/c!); the dealership also washed it:

I will comment on the “car scanning” that occurred when I arrived at the dealership – they have a “UVeye” system that takes photos of your car from all sorts of angles and “identifies” existing damage (presumably so they can deny anything that occurs while the car is being serviced). However it’s pretty useless, identifying a heap of “scratches” etc that are clearly just reflections or dirty marks!

UPDATE: The rattle was NOT resolved; maybe for a couple of days but it’s there on every drive again now.