Sadmum! I really do sympathise .... it's no suprise that BMW have just posted record profits. I think that their attitude is basically once you're out of warranty you're on your own which should not be the case so long as the car has been serviced according to the service schedule by a reputable (not necessarily BMW) garage. The only advise, such as it is, that I can give is to get an independant garage which specialises in BMWs to give you an independant assessment of the car. My experience of BMW franchise dealerships is that they make absolutely no effort to undertake repairs in a cost effective manner and quite often discard perfectly serviceable compenents as a matter of course. Private owners really are at the bottom of the food chain as far as BMW are concerned as they primarily look after their company car customers who can offset costs against tax as a matter of course.

Nope .... didly squat ....

For most people this advice is 'After The Event' and should be included in the owners handbook.

This system is clearly flawed as many customers have to use independant garages for their repairs due to the high cost of those undertaken by BMW. I too was thinking of the 5 series (3.0td) as a replavcement for my current vehicle but will probably look elesewhere having been dissapointed by the quality of the BMW product and the attitude of their customer service staff.

You were spot on (but what else did I expect) ..... Dear Mr ***** Thank you for email dated January 19, 2007 regarding your 3 series. We are sorry to learn of the problems that you have experienced with your vehicle. BMW appreciate that components can reach the end of their serviceable life earlier than we may hope. It is for this reason that we offer customers the opportunity to purchase an extended warranty after the 3 year manufacturers warranty has expired. In the absence of this warranty customers take on the responsibility for any costs that may occur for repair work in the future. We are aware of unofficial websites where customers log concerns regarding their vehicles. To gauge a more accurate account, BMW UK monitor failure reports via our dealerships. We can advise that the turbo and intercooler have not been highlighted for a recall. BMW UK will occasionally offer a goodwill contribution to our customers for work carried out at one of our Approved Dealers. BMW UK will not offer a contribution to work carried out at a non-approved dealership. We are sorry that you have had cause to contact us and apologise that we are unable to assist you further. Kind regards Diva Renton-Roderix Customer Service Executive BMW Group UK

To be honest I don't hold up much hope either .... BMW will use any means to avoid payment whether it is morally right or not. The problem is even if the work had been undertaken at their franchise for £2400 there was no guarantee either and AMC have a good reputation so the £1650 estimate seemed a much better option as I didn't want to just chuck my money away. I realise compared to others who have suffered 'Total Failure' I may be one of the 'lucky ones'. AMC did say that it wasn't only BMWs that suffered turbo problems but Merc also. When choosing my next vehicle I will just have to weigh up the benefits (or otherwise) of choosing a TDI. Any recommendations as to which are the most reliable ????

Just had mine go, not a full blown failure (thank God) but a pretty nasty dent in my wallet just the same. I've just sent the following email off to BMW UK (without much optimism): Hi, I am the owner of a BMW 3 Series Compact Reg No. DN52 UAR, the car has covered 73,875 miles. The car was purchased by myself from new and has been serviced as per the service schedule by Specialist Cars of Leagrave Road, Luton, LU3 1RJ. Last Saturday the car failed it's MOT test (on emissions) and a diagnostic test undertaken by Specialist Cars (cost £42.30p) indicated that the car required a new Turbo and Intercooler. They also provided me with an estimate to complete this work of £2,400. I was understandably surprised by the high cost of repair and also the fact that a quality vehicle such as this should suffer from such a failure at a relatively low mileage. You may have on record the fact that the same vehicle suffered a seized rear differential within it's warranty period. A little web browsing has revealed that Turbocharger failure is a 'known' problem on pre Mid 2003 2.0td engines and to put it mildly they have been going down like flys. As it is a problem acknowledged by BMW, my 1st question is why wasn't a product recall undertaken when a sudden loss of power is a safety issue. http://www.theherald.co.za/motor/2003/05/bmwturbo.htm As the problem is clearly a 'known' design fault my 2nd question is will BMW assist me financially with the rectification work as a goodwill gesture ? The car has now been fitted with a new Turbocharger/Intercooler by AMC of 668-678 Garratt Lane, Earlsfield, London SW17 0NP at a total cost of £1665.79p (£370.00 of which was labour). I look forward to your reply.

Hi, I realise there is another thread specifically about the Turbo failures of early (Pre-mid 2003) 320d BMWs however this one is to briefly outline my experience and to recommend a solution that does not damage the wallet as much as using a franchise dealer for repair. My 52 reg 320d compact fits the profile of a Turbo failure to a tee, 73k and manufactured in 2002. Nothing appeared amiss untill my MOT (6 days ago) when the car failed on emissions ... no problem I thought just a question of a re-tune (maybe too rich a mixture). The guy at the franchise did the good news, bad news bit (the good being with a warm engine the car would pass the MOT, the bad being the Turbo was on it's way out and would cost £2,400 to repair). I asked how long would the Turbo last and was told there was no way of predicting however a total failure would be LOTS more than £2,400. I was in a mild state of shock and decided to pass on the offer of booking the car straight in to drive home (quite slowly) and google around trying to find a better (ie cheaper) solution. Now it didn't take me long to get a quote which was a damed sight cheaper from a specialist BMW/Merc workshop called AMC next to the dog track in Wimbledon .... £1650 to be precise, and the only downside was the fact the place was 50 miles away. To cut a short story even shorter, I drove the car to Wimbledon without the 'Big Bang' that I was dreading and three days later picked it up complete with new (updated) Turbo, Intercooler and all the other bits. Now I know from talking to the mechanics that the job was a bitch and they also needed to buy extra bolts and a new Air Filter but still the bill only came to £1665. And on the journey home for some strange reason the mpg has leapt from 47ish to 54ish with no noticeable reduction in performance. Now I am still smarting with BMW for not doing a product recall on all early 320d models as they are fully aware of the problem, however I almost feel like I've got out of jail and can't help but recommend the garage ... AMC - BMW Services London and Mercedes services London