[reelss]

Hi guys, I am an owner of a 2009 BMW 328i with only 57K miles on it. I have owned it for all but one year of the car.

In May of 2018, I took the car to the dealer (after having many non dealer mechanics misdiagnose it) with a battery drain issue. They determined that it was the HUH (Car Radio and the electronics within) which were drawing power even when the car was parked and shut off. They reprogrammed it and it worked. They charged me about $1000 for the reprogram and the new battery.

I have started experiencing the same issue again, the car dies over night and needs a jump. Took it in this week, and they came back saying the the radio now needs to be replaced. They want to charge me another $1900 for a new radio, installed and reprogrammed.

I am at a loss when it comes to keeping the car, or getting rid of it.

Is it possible to make a case that they should have fixed it the first time (last year), instead of now having to replace the radio?
Would you spend $1900 (plus another $1000 for another maintenance that's due) on the car?

Any thoughts, advice and helpful comments would be greatly appreciated.

[nsjames]

no I wouldn't spend $1900 on a radio replacement at the dealer.


you should replace it yourself.

a cable, a junkyard/ebay radio and a day spent in the coding forum and you could have it fixed for a couple hundred bucks.

at this point a 2009 e90 is simply not worth the money it costs to have it serviced at a dealer, unless you have a particular attachment to it.
either start DIYing, find an independent mechanic that is worth a damn or get rid of the car.


hell. You could even pay someone to remote code it and just do the actual install work yourself and still come out for a third the dealers estimate.

[mecheng77]

Yes they should have replaced the radio in the first place, I've never heard of reprogramming fixing a drain / short issue.
If they don't budge, which is likely: find a used radio and get someone local to reprogram it, both are easy and cheap.