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When Appliances Revolt
conaone writes "From the "disconcerting" file, Baseline has a weird story about how the increase in use of embedded operating systems is causing strange things to happen to consumer products. Their example is the use of Windows CE in the BMW 745i, which apparently occasionally goes nuts. The best is the list of video clips showing off the possessed car."
Maximum Overdrive style!
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Thin I saw somethin' anout this on an old Twilight Zone rerun last week....Old Roddy Boy had a heck of a crystal ball he used to pick his stories.
I do. I sometimes listen to the Braveheart theme 'Amazing Grace' in my car.
If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
BMW is on a roll, but unfortunately they also seem to be on a design hubris trip, judging by the 745i movies and my friend's ongoing BMW Z4 experience.
I have a friend fighting with BMW to return his manual top Z4 for the power top version due to similar design oversights. Would you believe the Z4 manual top can leak and splash water into the interior when driven in the rain? BMW's "official" response: it's ok since that's the way the manual top was designed. (However, the power top design exhibits no such design flaw.) Even the BMW techs agree that the top is misdesigned, but BMW refuses to take responsibility for their design flaw and refuses to upgrade the car at the $900 power top cost to the equivalent power top version. Instead, BMW wants to make another $2700 on the new car due to their design mistake!
BMW's new design hubris and customer neglect has led it to deny its design miscues (745i rear end) and critical design flaws (Z4 manual top, and 745i iDrive and electronics), and some of BMW's most loyal customers are the victims.
Instead of providing an upgrade path at cost ($900), BMW wants my friend to trade in his new Z4 as a used car (even though he reported the problem two days after taking delivery of the car). This difference of resolution is crucially expensive since BMW wants another $2700 from my friend to address their manual top critical design flaw. BMW wants to make money off my friend twice for their design failure, and their "offer" is really just an offer for him to pay the BMW premium twice for a $900 resolution to address the leaky Z4 top. The story goes on quite a bit further, but that's the crux.
There are two basic problems I see with this situation other than the following obvious issues: shipping an improperly designed and inadequately tested manual top, nonsensical denials (even in the face of their own service techs and loyal customer(s)), and unconscionably poor customer service by BMW. The two subtle issues I see are:
1. BMW charges a premium for quality design and attention to detail. A leaky roof is an undeniably major oversight and design flaw, and telling a customer it's supposed to leak and splash into the cabin just doesn't cut it. My miata roadster never leaked into the cabin in ten years of ownership. Why should a BMW roadster at twice the price?
BMW has been hugely successful recently, but its success seems to be going to its head. The buggy, ugly 745i is the epitome of Bangle design and BMW hubris. The lowly (relative to 745i) soft top indicates that even engineering (not just aesthetics) are subject to BMW design hubris.
2. The Z4 is expensive even for a BMW at $32+k starting (compare: Nissan 350Z coupe at $25k starting with app. 100 more horsepower!). The manual top chops $900 off the Z4 price. However, through all my friend's troubles, BMW could not find another Z4 with a manual top in the region. IOW, BMW appears not to be shipping manual top Z4's.
Considering the huge discrepancy between the success of the Z4 as a design whole, and the utter engineering/consumer failure of the manual top design, I have a suspicion. BMW knows the manual top is a design failure and purposely has not voluntarily shipped any to dealers (unless spec'ed by customer). They ship power tops by default and suggest dealers only order power tops (hence no other manual tops to inspect in region). BMW apparently only intends to sell power top Z4s (and for good reason) since they already *know* the manual top is deficient. BMW intends (and certainly should) only sell Z4 power tops.
But why offer the soft top if it's a. deficiently designed, b. largely untested, c. improperly supported in the field, and d. subject to severe customer dissatisfaction? I suspect the Z4 manual top exists solely to lop $900 off the starting price for the Z4. I also suspect that BMW marketing told engineering at the last minute to create a manual top version --- not because they wanted a well designed manual top --- but because BMW marketing wanted a way to lop off another $900 off the starting price of their already expensive roadster in view of its less expensive competition (e.g., Nissan 350Z).
Voila, the Z4 manual top reject design exists solely for marketing reasons --- never mind the inadequate engineering design, testing, and execution --- and the potentially open-ended damage to BMW's design and engineering reputation. Engineering probably complained bitterly at marketing's unsavory request, but marketing apparently prevailed much to my friend's customer dissatisfaction.
I guess at this point, it's largely immaterial why BMW shipped such a defective manual top (or such buggy 745i software). Mistakes can occasionally happen. What matters is how BMW responds to customer dissatisfaction at these defects and design failures.
Unortunately, with BMW America's new hubris, they explain away the leaky, splashy manual top design as (literally) 'that's how it was designed' implying it therefore works. Perhaps BMW Germany (or the BMW America executive team?) need to step in and stop the customer dissatisfaction hemorrhaging.
Neither my friend nor I disagree the manual top was designed by BMW (surprise, surprise), we just wonder what the BMW engineeers, executives, and 'customer service' staff were smoking when they chose to ship the design. Yes, that's the way it was designed, and that's exactly why BMW should take responsibility for the design flaw(s). BMW needs to acknowledge the flaw(s) and fix or replace them to customer satisfaction. (Duh.)
So, BMW's latest hubris is not limited to Microsoft Windows CE based 745i's, nor Bangle'd 745i sedan rear ends. It also extends to their own manual soft top design on their brand new Z4. BMW, BMW America, and BMW dealerships need to reassess their priorities: is internal engineering/marketing the ultimate authority at any expense (including customer satisfaction), or is it possible tech's and customers with first hand experience could know better?
IOW, is hubris king, or is customer satisfaction still a priority at BMW Germany, BMW USA, or BMW dealerships? As a BMW owner and loyalist, I hope BMW plugs its hubris leak right quick, and bails its customers out of its leaky, flawed design mistakes.
P.s., just to level the Z4 comments slightly, I shall say that other than the fatal leaky manual top, the Z4 is a beautifully designed and delightful car to drive and enjoy. Even I delight at and in it, and I am hardly a Bangle fan. The Z4 "flame" design is a delight; the Z4 attention to detail is excellent excepting the one flaw. My friend has several used BMW's already, and the Z4 (with a working power top) is exactly what he wants and is his first ever new BMW (and new car!). It's just a shame that BMW is denying him the car of his dreams to avoid addressing its manual top design mistake.
I hope BMW wakes up without sacrificing its most loyal customers (including my friend) and doing too much unnecessary self-inflicted damage. BMW should honor their good design reputation by addressing their flawed design(s) immediately, without reservation, and to the full satisfaction of their customers. Here's to BMW pulling out of its design hubris and fulfilling its premium customer service obligations.