An Open Letter to Mr. Harald Krüger and the board of management at BMW

[jancsi]

An Open Letter to Mr. Harald Krüger and the board of management at BMW from a very dissatisfied customer.

This letter is one that I would have preferred not to write, but it is a last attempt amongst many previously failed ones to reach out to a competent person from the management of BMW, who could aid me with my lengthy and very dissatisfactory customer experience with my local BMW dealer in Slovakia.

I am a long-standing BMW customer, having previously owned two 5-series, one 7-series and I currently own a 7 and a 3-series. The vehicle that is the cause of writing this letter is a G11 750i - VIN: WBA7B01070G712646 - that I purchased in April of 2016 at my local dealer called Regnum Bavaria in Kosice, Slovakia.

The problems started shortly after – please see a full list of failures at the end of this letter. The car had to have its engine replaced multiple times because the infotainment system was constantly reporting engine failures. Moreover, there was a strange clattering noise coming from the engine compartment accompanied by a significant loss of power. This was followed by lengthy servicing periods, during which I had to use temporary replacement vehicles of lower categories. One time this loss of power occurred - on the third engine, which also began to report the failure almost right after replacement - without any previous warnings, right in the middle of an overtaking manoeuvre, which almost resulted in a frontal crash, had it happened a couple of seconds earlier. The throttle pedal became basically non-responsive. After this incident I decided to return the car, since it became a potential threat to me and my family, who were in the car as well during that incident.

After returning the car on January 22, 2018 I made a complaint and requested a replacement in the form of a BMW 750d, following my dissatisfaction with the reliability of the petrol engine version, to which the local BMW dealer agreed. While I was waiting - between January and September of 2018 - for the arrival of the replacement vehicle, I had to drive in lower class temporary vehicles provided by my dealership. The new vehicle was delivered to Regnum Bavaria on May of 2018, but I collected it only in September of 2018, after pressuring the general manager of Regnum Bavaria. The reason of the delayed delivery was the fact, that the management of Regnum, with the approval of BMW Group Slovakia wanted sell my returned car before the handover of the new car. I would like to note that the old car has not been sold yet.

Finally, after my new vehicle was delivered - in September of 2018 - I was not given any invoice nor any formal documents which would legally confirm the replacement and my ownership. Therefore, I still – at the end of May 2019 – cannot legally register the car and I am forced to drive on a temporary license plate which restricts me on driving outside the borders of Slovakia. I cannot even insure the car. Basically, it seemed to me like they did not know how to bring this replacement into effect. I was trying to find a solution for the problem together with the aftersales manager of BMW Group Slovakia, who at the beginning of the complaint procedure assured me via email - on 23rd of March 2018 - that my faulty car will get replaced, but he too was unable to provide a viable solution.

In the middle of March this year, the general manager of Regnum Bavaria, demanded me paying 8300 euros in addition, and claimed that only after that will they be able to legally hand the car over. When I asked him by email, and also the aftersales manager of BMW Slovakia, about the reason and the sum of this required payment I had not received any answers. Both of them terminated the communication with me. I find this behaviour unacceptable. After multiple engine breakdowns and the subsequent inconvenience of treating a customer of a premium class vehicle so inadequately, it is really inappropriate to ask for any extra payments in my opinion. Not mentioning the extra costs that I will already have with the registration and insurance fees, which the first car had included for free - insurance for 3 years - as a sales campaign. Nevertheless, I was willing to accept this offer under a condition that they can guarantee to deduct this extra expense from the price of a new, lower category BMW, I would purchase later this year. I proposed this offer to the general manager of Regnum Bavaria via email but did not receive an answer. On the 11th of April, I sent an email to the general manager of BMW Group Slovakia and I received an unsatisfactory and quite universal response from the law firm of BMW with no solution whatsoever.

Frankly, the whole communication since the beginning was very difficult and inappropriate from Regnum Bavaria’s and the aftersales manager’s side. I am deeply unsatisfied with the treatment I have received so far and my positive opinion about BMW as a premium company is greatly shaken. I am hoping that perhaps this letter finds its way to the right people at BMW who will be willing to get this problem solved.

Taking the aforementioned facts into account, I would like to ask Mr. Krüger and the board of management at BMW for a clarification, whether in your opinion the way I was treated as a customer of a flagship BMW vehicle was right and I would be especially interested to know whether it is a good idea from your own viewpoint to resell the faulty returned car, which presents a potential threat for its future occupiers. I would also like to know whether it is okay for a nationwide BMW dealer to not follow the official rules and procedures of the senior international BMW Group and to completely ignore their customer or whether it is right to keep replacing the faulty engines continuously without offering a safe and viable replacement or alternative.

-John Sera

Below is a detailed list off the failures the 750i had:

[AlteBMW]

An awful experience to be sure, (both the car itself and the communications) but have you tried communicating directly to BMW as opposed to an open letter on the Internet? In the US , I would think this car would be considered a lemon and there would be certain protections available to you. Is there no lemon law in Slovakia?

[jancsi]

Originally Posted by AlteBMW

An awful experience to be sure, (both the car itself and the communications) but have you tried communicating directly to BMW as opposed to an open letter on the Internet? In the US , I would think this car would be considered a lemon and there would be certain protections available to you. Is there no lemon law in Slovakia?

The idea of writing an open letter came from a representative I got to know at the Geneva Motor Show in 2018. I tried contacting BMW directly multiple times; the Slovak as well as the international branch. I described the communication from the Slovak side in the letter and as for the international customer support; I got no help at all, just general messages generated by robots that I will be contacted shortly. I still haven't been contacted yet.

There is no such thing as lemon law here, but I will try to report this to the European Commission for unfair customer treatment. I've already talked to my lawyer about this and I will take legal action if I will get continuously ignored. As I mentioned in the letter, I just wanted to give it one last try to set things straight. Perhaps there will be somebody who could get this letter to the right people - I posted it on all the major social media platforms as well. If not, then I will have no other choice but to take the legal route.

[pugxs]

I'm sorry to hear about the situation you find yourself in. If I ever found myself in a similar situation I would like to think the BMW owners community would rally around to help spread the word and help fight back.

Let's get this shared in as many owners forums and BMW owners circles as possible.

[jancsi]

Originally Posted by pugxs

I'm sorry to hear about the situation you find yourself in. If I ever found myself in a similar situation I would like to think the BMW owners community would rally around to help spread the word and help fight back.

Let's get this shared in as many owners forums and BMW owners circles as possible.

Thank you, I'd really appreciate if you could share my case. I'm trying to reach as many people as possible. The point is not really about fighting back, I just want to get the word spread. If I could get this message through to a manager at the Munich HQ, I'm sure they would help. It's just that I can't reach them and the management at BMW here in Slovakia is totally unprofessional.

[AlteBMW]

Originally Posted by jancsi

Thank you, I'd really appreciate if you could share my case. I'm trying to reach as many people as possible. The point is not really about fighting back, I just want to get the word spread. If I could get this message through to a manager at the Munich HQ, I'm sure they would help. It's just that I can't reach them and the management at BMW here in Slovakia is totally unprofessional.

Could you pick up the phone and call someone in Germany?

[jancsi]

Originally Posted by AlteBMW

Could you pick up the phone and call someone in Germany?

Thanks for the tip. I've found some phone numbers online so I'll try to contact them. I will post an update about how it went.

[jancsi]

Originally Posted by jancsi

Thanks for the tip. I've found some phone numbers online so I'll try to contact them. I will post an update about how it went.

So I called Munich and a lady gave me the following email address; ifm-support@bmwgroup.com. She said she could not help me since she is responsible for German customers only, but that her colleagues will call me back after sending the email with some details. This happened a week ago. So I guess this attempt was once again unsuccessful.

[Mani59]

Wow, looks like 3 engine replacements!

You've obviously done the right thing in being in communication with your country BMW head office, it's a shame that they have not been able to resolve it!

Sorry to hear about the issues though, I hope you get it sorted soon!