It was everything I had expected. It was a sheer pleasure to drive, comfortable, predictable and, to quote a famous pretty woman who taught Richard Gere to drive a Ferrari, it handled like it was on rails.

That was for the first 3 weeks at which time the first of 4 major cooling system failures occurred. The repair cost this time was met by the dealer so all I had to endure was the inconvenience of not having a car for several days and the embarrassment of having my dream car in the shop. The next 3 failures cost a lot more than that. Yes, I was inconvenienced again. Yes, I was embarrassed again with the derision from my family and friends increasing with each failure. But on each occassion I ended up parting with close to $1,000 to have these failures corrected.

The reasons for the failures? Material failure. Yep, the soft plastic alloy that BMW uses to manufacture most of the cooling system with is simply not up to the task and it would crack, break or fall apart as time went on. Naturally, it came as no surprise to find out that the water pump had finally given up the ghost. It must have been wondering what was going on and where all the water was going to. It had no way of knowing that the water was being dumped on the road underneath it every few months. I am sure that the techs and service people at BMW would have known that this was a problem.

With this in mind you would think that a manufacturer that has produced a problem stricken vehicle would have an efficient and responsive service team to quickly move to fix any problems and reinforce the image of the product. I certainly thought along those lines and wrote to BMW Meneres on three separate occassions to seek advice on correct maintenance to ensure problems with this little lemon were minimised. I am still awaiting a reply. The first enquiry was almost 2 years ago now.

Two years down the track and with no response it was with some trepidation that I found myself in the position where I needed to contact BMW Meneres again today. My step son had locked the car keys in the boot of the car while loading his school items this morning. The helpful locksmith responded at 7:30 this morning and came around as quickly as he could but was not able to open the boot of the car. His only suggestion was to contact BMW and obtain a ‘key code’.

So I nervously dialled the number and waited for an answer.. This came quickly enough and, after explaining my situation to the receptionist and then the service department I was finally put through to the parts division where I was promptly informed that it was not possible to obtain a key code for this model as it was too new. It is now 10 years old.

The solution for me would be to order a new key. Simple enough.

“How do I do that? How much and where do I pick it up from?”

“We can order that for you sir, did you want a remote key or a manual key?”

“I am not sure, how much are they?”

“The remote key will cost $628 (and some cents) and the manual key will cost $312 (and some cents)”

“I will have to think about that. When can I pick them up?”

“In approximately 5 days as they need to be shipped from Asia”

That was strike number 3 for the morning. $600 for a remote key is a little bit extravagant for me but $300 for a piece of metal that I can correctly insert in to the locks of my car is just ridiculous. A 5 day wait to regain access to my car, enable me to move my car out and allow my wife to then move her car was just out of the question.

Then came the double whammy.

“Sir, if you decide to order either key we will require payment upfront”

“What? You want an upfront payment for an item you can’t supply for 5 days?”

“Yes sir”

This just takes the cake. BMW can’t be bothered sourcing these keys from a closer point than somewhere in Asia so it saves on manufacture cost and storage etc yet it can’t take the risk on a $300-$600 item and demands payment upfront from a customer in distress!!!

I hung up and have sourced an advanced locksmith who broke into the lock and retrieved the key in a little under 2 hours. The cost? $450 which I will happily pay him but grudgingly feel that I should never have been put in that position anyway.

BMW Cars – Sheer driving pleasure

BMW Company, policy and fabrication – Absolute frustration and disappointment.

I can confidently say that this will be the last BMW I ever bother to buy

Caradvice whats up with the double standards?
I thought

“*Comments unrelated to the topic or theme of the article.
*Comments that are derogatory or that purposefully insult other readers, the subject matter in question and/or CarAdvice staff.”

Were in breach of the code of conduct?!!

However; I for one don’t expect the Toyo-philes to believe that the build quality and reliability of their beloved Toyotas is just the same as Holden and Ford despite all the evidence.

So tell me, Dan never returned after a dozen people on that thread came back at him .All he could do was change the subject from one of Toyotas worst recalls to his 80 k Camry his 6 figure income and the fact he was an accountant after I joked about it just proved that they really do drive Lexus’es or is that Lexii ?

Even Dingo admitted Lexus has no true identity ………you cant pick a thing on it to determine its a Lexus from one model to another.

So you read Top Gear Australia……….hahaha says it all !

You enjoy the Real Top Gear last night? Another try hard Lexus against a German but just didnt cut it. Stay tuned cause the Caradvice Boys are currently driving the same M3 and also loving it ,but hey Ill wait for you to come on to that thread when it arrives to condemn the M3 baby…….

So can you point out those similarities of the Lexus in the 7 series ? I thought not!

He like most Toyo-philes took things out of context; missed the point completely; didn’t understand what people were saying and therefore; went on the offensive…. when he started losing due to his lack of knowledge of the auto industry etc he tried to change the subject.

He didn;t seem to mention didn’t like the fact that people had an opinion different to his either.. because [like most Toyo-philes] thinks that if he doesn’t / didn’t know about it or hear about it etc then it didn’t couldn’t or wouldn’t happen

As for and Top Gear Austrlaia magazine ; its a really reputable magazine isn’t it..? that is its about as good as the TV show of the same name…. both of which have tried to copy the original Top Gear and failed dismally

Even the Top Gear Australia magazine reckons that the new 7 series BMW is a LS knock off!!

“Lexus has no identity how can you say its stolen ideas from Lexus”
You can’t argue against stupidity!!

Lexus has no identity how can you say its stolen ideas from Lexus ,BMW is easily recognisable by its kidney grill and its not so attractive bangle butt.

Things havent changed,Germans have and are still the bench march Lexus follow.

Lexus LS looks like a Camry on steroids!

Lets not start another Toyota war ,not after Dan got his arse kicked last week on the Toyota recall hey!

You got that the wrong way around dude ! Lexus has only been around for 20 years , and who do you think they have been coping all that time.

the new Honda accord is a good example of looking like the previous version also.

I like this new 7 series, looks cleaner and more elegant than the previous model.
Quality looks like it’s also improved.