Slashdot Mirror
BMW Recalling One Million Vehicles in North America (reuters.com)
Several readers share a report: BMW said Friday it is recalling about 1 million vehicles in North America for two separate issues involving fire risks and said it may expand the recalls to other countries. One recall covers 670,000 2006-2011 U.S. 3-series vehicles to address a wiring issue for heating and air conditioning system may overheat and could increase the risk of a fire. The second recall covers 740,000 U.S. 2007-2011 vehicles with a valve that could rust and lead to a fire in rare cases. The recall includes some 128i vehicles, 3-series, 5-series and X3, X5 and Z4 vehicles.
Cars have to be recalled. If there is a serious defect cars get recalled. In software it gets swept under the rug and when a fix is available you have to pay extra for it. "Software Engineering" my ass.
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
Oh, when I saw BMW recalling 1 million cars, I was sure it was going to be because their turn signals didn't work. Because, you know, BMW drivers never freaking use their turn signals.
... since the bug only triggers when the driver uses the turning signal.
Log in or piss off.
Duh.
Why is this here for discussion.
If you have one of these cars get it fixed.
If not, ignore.
What's to discuss?
Stuff happens. They'll fix it.
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
Huh, fire issues? I thought maybe they'd accidentally built 1 million cars with functional signal lights.
As a former automotive tech I realized years ago that automakers even one's who make premium automobiles started cutting corners in obscure places that most people would never know. When you think of how much wiring goes into a automobile these days, its no wonder they try and find ways to reduce its cost. The question is, when something like this happens that you ask yourself why a fuse did not save the wiring before it caused a hazard? As a electrical engineering told me once, if wires get really warm or hot then they are not using the right gauge of wire or connection. Things should not get warm in electrical. That's not a good thing.
This is a pretty standard recall - I imagine that a thousand or so of these notices go out every year from all call manufacturers.
You make an appointment to take the car into a dealership, they fix it and you're on your way. Easy peasy.
Somewhere people have gotten the idea that recalls are a primary indicator of poor quality/design when in reality, supplier parts don't meet specification, specifications are wrong and basic mistakes are made.
The certification process does an excellent job of ensuring the vehicles are safe, recalls generally come out after a few million hours of operation in which something wears out or rusts (which is what happened here).
So, why is this story worth the bandwidth here?
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
You know, since BMW drivers are assholes who can't drive.
Hmmm. basic code-page 437 punctuation now being handled by unicode?
That seems pretty stupid.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
If you're going to compare the two, I'd say it's more like with software, you are on fire every day and the updates just change how you burn. Unlike an automobile where they recall millions of cars on the chance of something happening, instead of 99% of users suffering.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Imagine Apple or Google(well LG, sammy...) fixing a 10 year old phone, or just keeping the software updated.
Acutally it's sensible. They know there's an issue, and they're doing something about it. Continuous improvement.
I'll believe in continuous improvement when we start actually punishing greed and corruption that often creates these problems in the first place.
That would also include the NHTSA, not just car manufacturers. A damn good example of this would be when NHTSA allowed Takata to continue to install defective airbags well after they fined them $70 million for it.
Defects will continue in record numbers. Why? Because greed has proven it's worth it.
They're great until the odometer hits 100,000 miles.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
BMWs are re-badged Ford Pintos.
Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
Wow - what a fanboy. Don't know where you live but in the USA nobody wants a BMW, Audi, or MB once their warranty ends.
Here in Europe German cars are extremely popular as second-hand cars because of their long average lifespans and high reliability. This is also why resale values are higher and why lease rates are lower for a VW than for a similarly priced car from e.g. Renault or Ford.
Just check the depreciation on a 10+ year old BMW; a 2004 335i that was $48k new is worth less than my 2004 Mach 1 which cost $29k.
I have no idea what a 2004 Mach 1 is, but only a very rare and expensive-when-new car will be worth more than a few thousand Euros after 13 years. Cars lose most of their value in the first few years and a large part of that when you drive the first kilometres. That's a fact of life, I'm afraid.
For "great German engineering" from BMW, how about plastic water pumps that frequently fail before 75,000 miles?
Most ars have plastic water pumps and they are normally replaced along with the timing belt as part of regular maintenance, usually every 100 000 or 120 000 km. I doubt metal would perform much better. You would probably get more contamination in the coolant.
High pressure fuel pumps that were so bad it took 3 or 4 redesigns to get right. Timing chains driven from the flywheel end of the crank, and therefore expensive to replace, that frequently fail despite being "good for the life of the engine". Main and rod bearings that wear out before 100,000 miles (last N/A M3 and M5). Batteries that must be replaced once a year due to the charging cycle (last gen 5 series). Intake port flaps that break off and damage the engine on diesel models. The list goes on and on...
Every car has weaknesses and high-strung performance models like BMW M3s and M5s are probably more likely to have engines failures at some point than a simple 316d. However, the fact remains that the most reliable vehicles are mostly German. Skoda and Toyota also do well.
Gaskets, too! I just got rid of my 2008 5 series with 90K miles I'd owned from new, because of gasket issues. In January I paid $2500 to fix some oil leaks, including one from behind the alternator mounting bracket (a known issue with this engine!). Then in June I paid $2000 to replace two rubber gaskets from the cooling system (these were in the bottom of the V in the V8, and so could be expected to fail, but the intake manifold had to come off to get to them!). And last month I was quoted another $1900 to fix a couple of more minor oil leaks. These quotes were all from a good independent shop, not inflated dealer prices. I passed on the last repair, and dumped the car. I'm driving a Ford now, after 15 years in BMWs. Half the money to buy, still good to drive and lots of safety features. I did go for an 8 year warranty, though, in case it's no better built than the Bimmer.
Let's see ... 2004 Ford Mustang ... 6 recalls including one for a leaking fuel filter which could cause a fire, and one for a sticking throttle pedal.
http://www.fordforumsonline.co...
A BMW without it's rudeness personality chip won't cut you off without signaling, harming the brand's reputation.
Corporatism != Free Market
Yeah, no shit... imagine if japanese, Korean or American cars ever required a recall - we'd be up in arms.
I'm a fanboy. 1992 E34 ( 525i ) and 2000 E46 ( 328i ).
Easy to work on ( no, really ), within the era's I have owned.
BMW has been trying hard to make their later model cars harder to work on, it seems. But the older ones are great, in my opinion.
To be clear, the water pumps have plastic impellers, they are not made of plastic entirely. And they do tend to fall apart after a while. Get a Graf replacement pump with metal impeller blades ( unless you want to do the Stewart pump at about 200.00 ), remove serp belt, remove 4 bolts, push out with provided threaded eyelets ( coolant will spill, catch it ), Vaseline up the o-ring on the new pump, pull it back in with the 4 bolts, top up with proper coolant ( different than "green", dont buy the premix ), put the serp belt back on, go.
On the 2000 328, the coolant overflow tank ( different than most, ) will split and fail, if run too long. replace it.
Few seem to fault Honda for building engines that are interference ( valves will hit pistons if the timing belt gives out ) and electing to use a belt, guaranteeing that you have to service something that requires major disassembly every 60k to 100k miles, or risk your engine being ruined. Ford elected to use plastic for the thermostat cover on a 1996 mustang I owned, which gave way and ruined the engine when it ran itself out of coolant. Ford then turned around on a car that was maybe a year old and few miles and replaced the engine with a rebuilt unit, not a new one. Point being all manufactures have issues.
Hoping to get an M3/M5 at some point, had the use ( free, for about 2 years ) of a mustang. The one with the coyote motor. Loved the go. It could not corner for anything. Either of my BMW's would have dusted it in any cornering heavy track. And been left waaaaay in the dust on a drag strip... :-) So, the M would have the handling I am used to, with something close to the power level of the mustang.
emt 377 emt 4