Dealer damaged my M4 with aftermarket charge pipe during maintenance

[behindthen0thing]

Have a 15 M4. I had the spark plugs and oil changed here in Germany to the tune of about $760.

Anyway, About 5 days after having this done, I'm on the freeway, and getting on it to get up to speed, and the car falls on its face and I here air hissing wildly. I let off the gas and slowly press again and every time the boost comes on I can hear it just venting into the engine bay, and a huge loss of power from the engine.

I limped it home and parked it. I checked in the engine bay and where the forward charge pipe connects to the turbo, there was no bolt and it had just simply blown off/separated.

BMW sent out a mobile guy to take care of it for me. He took the car apart in the parking lot and tried to install a new bolt there. He was unable to do so because the threads on the turbocharger side are stripped out.

Apparently, when they removed the charge pipes to change the spark plugs and then reassembled they stripped the threads on the turbo.

The car has aftermarket tuning, and aftermarket charge pipes. So I asked them if they are warrantying this work to either replace or repair the turbo. I was told they are not sure. They also said that they regret doing the job since I have aftermarket parts on the car. Freaking Germans.

Also they did not even offer to give me a loaner car, and it's possible my car will sit over a week now that it's getting right into christmas time.
Luckily I have a second vehicle but that should not factor into this at all.

Anyway, I will report back if the dealer will take care of me correctly by correcting the fault for free, or if they will be giving me a hard time.

[blockdoc]

Originally Posted by behindthen0thing

Have a 15 M4. I had the spark plugs and oil changed here in Germany to the tune of about $760.

Anyway, About 5 days after having this done, I'm on the freeway, and getting on it to get up to speed, and the car falls on its face and I here air hissing wildly. I let off the gas and slowly press again and every time the boost comes on I can hear it just venting into the engine bay, and a huge loss of power from the engine.

I limped it home and parked it. I checked in the engine bay and where the forward charge pipe connects to the turbo, there was no bolt and it had just simply blown off/separated.

BMW sent out a mobile guy to take care of it for me. He took the car apart in the parking lot and tried to install a new bolt there. He was unable to do so because the threads on the turbocharger side are stripped out.

Apparently, when they removed the charge pipes to change the spark plugs and then reassembled they stripped the threads on the turbo.

The car has aftermarket tuning, and aftermarket charge pipes. So I asked them if they are warrantying this work to either replace or repair the turbo. I was told they are not sure. They also said that they regret doing the job since I have aftermarket parts on the car. Freaking Germans.

Also they did not even offer to give me a loaner car, and it's possible my car will sit over a week now that it's getting right into christmas time.
Luckily I have a second vehicle but that should not factor into this at all.

Anyway, I will report back if the dealer will take care of me correctly by correcting the fault for free, or if they will be giving me a hard time.

Sucks man

Worse case, you retap the threads yourself. Shouldn't really be that big a deal. Best of luck

[behindthen0thing]

Thank you. I was thinking of helicoiling it. I suggested the dealer do it and the guy said that he was nervous that it wouldn't hold under full power. Imo that's rediculous.
I said, well it's up to you if you want to give me a new turbo, Im ok with that too.

Worst case it's a good excuse to upgrade turbos. Am i right?

[SnailBums]

If a aftermarket shop/ you installed aftermarket charge pipes I can't imagine the dealer would cover the repair. They can easily just blame it on whoever installed the non-oem parts.

Mike

[behindthen0thing]

Thats what I was concerned about, but the dealer was the last one to remove and install the pipes.

There were no problems before they removed and reinstalled them. I suspect they might try to tell me that it was preexisting due to the fact they are aftermarket pipes. I have my own rebuttals prepared if that's the route they try to go.

[behindthen0thing]

I guess i didn't make it clear initially that the spark plug change and the oil change were done at the dealer.

[IK6SPEED]

Originally Posted by behindthen0thing

I guess i didn't make it clear initially that the spark plug change and the oil change were done at the dealer.

The Dealer is not going to warrant after market parts as they are not up to “BMW Standards”.

Yes, I know...Just letting you know the “Company line”.

[GearRex]

In my humble opinion, this has nothing to do with the fact that an aftermarket charge pipe is mated to the turbos, but more about poor workmanship on behalf of the tech that worked on the car.

The tech had to remove the charge pipes to get to the spark plugs (stock or aftermarket), and during the re-assemble process, he stripped the threads on the turbo side, and chose not to install the bolt, or leave it loose.

Instead, the technician should have contacted the customer, or do the “right thing” and re-tap the threads in order to do a quality job, and correct his mistake. How much time is that? 10 min.?

The tech knew perfectly well what would happen, the charge pipe would come off or break under boost; but he also knew that it was an aftermarket part, so he knew he could hide behind the cliche “is not a BMW original part, blah, blah”.

Why doesn’t anyone take responsibility for their own screw-ups?, who knows. A sign of the times, I guess. I am an old timer.

BMW stock change pipes suck butt - by the way- which is the reason people upgrade them with aftermarket parts, particularly if you have a tune.

[behindthen0thing]

This is precisely what happened.

Anyway, So far they have now left my car broken, and have not picked it up like they said they would. And they will not be back on duty until next Thursday. Also No loaner car was offered.

So my vehicle is now down for 6 days minimum after doing scheduled maintenance at the dealer.

I called the dealer this morning, then they directed me to some BMW roadside emergency service, which then redirected me back to the dealer.

they said the service writer is off until thursday and they can't do anything until then. They could give me a car but I would have to pay for it.

They keep mentioning that my car is tuned with the word they use is "your car has G Power". Anyway, the Turbo itself is STOCK, and I asked them what difference does it make what software is in the ECU if you strip out a bolt?

If you broke the windshield at your shop would you not replace it because of ECU tuning as well?

I called BMW Corporate here in Germany and filed some complaint.
Hopefully they will at least repair or replace the stripped housing sometime next week. But the way this is handled so far is completely unacceptable, and unfortunately predictable.

Originally Posted by GearRex

In my humble opinion, this has nothing to do with the fact that an aftermarket charge pipe is mated to the turbos, but more about poor workmanship on behalf of the tech that worked on the car.

The tech had to remove the charge pipes to get to the spark plugs (stock or aftermarket), and during the re-assemble process, he stripped the threads on the turbo side, and chose not to install the bolt, or leave it loose.

Instead, the technician should have contacted the customer, or do the “right thing” and re-tap the threads in order to do a quality job, and correct his mistake. How much time is that? 10 min.?

The tech knew perfectly well what would happen, the charge pipe would come off or break under boost; but he also knew that it was an aftermarket part, so he knew he could hide behind the cliche “is not a BMW original part, blah, blah”.

Why doesn’t anyone take responsibility for their own screw-ups?, who knows. A sign of the times, I guess. I am an old timer.

BMW stock change pipes suck butt - by the way- which is the reason people upgrade them with aftermarket parts, particularly if you have a tune.

[overlook637]

The front charge pipe is at a mildly difficult angle for the bolt. I guarantee the tech used a straight extension to feed to bolt to the turbo and then began to crank it in. The tech should had used his hand to start the bolt then use an extension and swivel to tighten it up.

Helicore the threads. It will hold.

[behindthen0thing]

The Dealer made things right. They came off vacation, issued me a loaner vehicle. about 7 days later they were able to repair the vehicle and I'm back in action.
It did take several phone calls and a couple of emails to management to get things done. But they repaired the car and did not charge for it. Initially they dropped the ball but they made things right afterward. The Dealer is Karl and Co in Mainz.

[behindthen0thing]

As an added bonus, after driving a 4 cyl 3 series for a couple weeks, the M4 seems so much faster now. I don't know how people can stand driving such boring cars all the time.
To be fair the 3 series was overall pleasant and got excellent fuel mileage. Just a very mundane driving experience. Good option for wives and girlfriends imo.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by behindthen0thing

The Dealer made things right. They came off vacation, issued me a loaner vehicle. about 7 days later they were able to repair the vehicle and I'm back in action.
It did take several phone calls and a couple of emails to management to get things done. But they repaired the car and did not charge for it. Initially they dropped the ball but they made things right afterward. The Dealer is Karl and Co in Mainz.

Nice