[ToothPlumber]

Hey guys! Long time lurker, new member...

I received my i8 about 2 months ago, and all of a sudden, it gave me a drivetrain error and couldn't start my car. I was reading other people who were having this issue and wanted to ask how long did it take for them to figure out the problem, and to resolve it as well.

My assistants called the roadside assistance which was prompt and reliable, but after a week of not having the vehicle, the only response the service center gave me is that they are still running diagnostics (after 1 week later and 2 calls to follow up) and they would call me when it's ready. If people are waiting weeks for their car to be diagnosed/repaired, then it may be reasonable to wait without bothering them. If not, I'm just going to have the car transported to another service center with a better reputation.

I wanted to get my wife a matching i8, but seriously reconsidering it now...

[Aye-eight]

Glad to see that lurkers can be converted. ;-)

I had that issue. Twice, in fact. Car was in the shop for about a week the first time (this was back in 2015, when the cars were new to everyone). Second time, it was less than a week, if I remember correctly. That was when they actually changed a part (had something to do with the sensor that tells the gearbox which gear it's in). Problem has not re-occured.

[emmfive]

That's not acceptable. They need to tell you what's going on, why they're having trouble diagnosing, etc. My SA would never leave me hanging for a week without an explanation.

[jnkirk1974]

I've had continual regenerating brake malfunctions. About to take it in for the third time for that very issue. It's becoming a beating.

[MalibuBimmer]

What is the Lemon Law in Texas? Sounds like you guys are getting abused.

[ToothPlumber]

Thanks for the replies! I ended up having the vehicle transported to BMW San Antonio yesterday when the local dealer said they needed to disassemble the car down more to diagnose it further and charge me 1500 (10+ labor hours) since they suspect it's rodent damage and not covered by warranty.

If it is rodent damage, I'd rather pay for good service than left guessing about the status of my car. The car arrived in San Antonio today, got a call from SA; the service difference is night and day even if the news isn't good. At least there is communication and they informed me how long it would take if it was a wiring harness issue.

[Aye-eight]

If they claim rodent damage, have them send you pictures. I find that a rather unlikely explanation. A few people here have had this error message (me included, twice, as said above), and I don't think "rodent damage" has ever come up as the explanation.

Mind you, warranty cost is borne by BMW USA, not by the dealer. But there may still be some incentive for them to claim it's not covered under warranty.

[SteveMc]

Originally Posted by Aye-eight

If they claim rodent damage, have them send you pictures. I find that a rather unlikely explanation. A few people here have had this error message (me included, twice, as said above), and I don't think "rodent damage" has ever come up as the explanation.

Mind you, warranty cost is borne by BMW USA, not by the dealer. But there may still be some incentive for them to claim it's not covered under warranty.

Rodent damage, oh yeah that's me...

http://bmwi.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1177460

To the OP - it took my dealer a long time to diagnose the issue, but once they were happy with the diagnosis, it took about 2 weeks to fix, most of which was related to getting the new wiring replacement parts shipped to the UK from Germany.

I was lucky (and very grateful) that BMW UK decided to cover the cost as a goodwill gesture, as rodent damage is not covered by warranty. Given that, the dealer decided to replace as much wiring as possible, rather than just the obviously damaged ones. Again that probably added a bit of time on.

Mildly off topic, my brother supplies catering equipment. He tells that all their stuff has metal shielding on the bottom to make them rodent proof (rodents are very partial to the plastic casing on the wires due to their soya content). Why BMW made the i8 battery cover out of plastic therefore, seems odd.

[Ashwins]

I got a drive train malfunction message this morning. Once I got to my office and tried starting the car again in about 30 minutes, the message went away. My car is about 10 months old. I've got a servicing scheduled with a local BMW dealer on the 22nd. Is it recommended that I continue driving the car until then?

[ToothPlumber]

Originally Posted by SteveMc

Rodent damage, oh yeah that's me...

http://bmwi.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1177460

To the OP - it took my dealer a long time to diagnose the issue, but once they were happy with the diagnosis, it took about 2 weeks to fix, most of which was related to getting the new wiring replacement parts shipped to the UK from Germany.

I was lucky (and very grateful) that BMW UK decided to cover the cost as a goodwill gesture, as rodent damage is not covered by warranty. Given that, the dealer decided to replace as much wiring as possible, rather than just the obviously damaged ones. Again that probably added a bit of time on.

Mildly off topic, my brother supplies catering equipment. He tells that all their stuff has metal shielding on the bottom to make them rodent proof (rodents are very partial to the plastic casing on the wires due to their soya content). Why BMW made the i8 battery cover out of plastic therefore, seems odd.

Yeah... I ended up paying for the whole wiring harness, still don't have the vehicle since they said it takes 3-4 weeks to get the part from Germany. I wonder if there's anyway to rodent proof the bottom.

[sridvijay]

Hey everyone,

Long time lurker here as well and just took over someone else's lease on an '15 i8 3 weeks ago! Car was absolutely sublime for the first 2 weeks and just today while driving back from work I got the same errors (middle of ramping onto the highway, car drove normally except no regen braking).

1. "Drivetrain: Vehicle cannot be restarted" and
2. "Regenerative braking not available".

Seems to be the same thing jnkirk1974 had here: http://bmwi.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1304221

Luckily the dealership is only 2 miles away from my apartment in Boston, and I drove it straight there and they said that they'd check it out tomorrow morning when the technicians are in again. Once we parked in their service bay, it did restart normally and the error wasn't there anymore. (hopefully that's a good sign?)

A little worried about some of the responses on the issue popping up again and the car stopping in the middle of the road but *really* hoping that doesn't happen.

Does anyone by chance have any other info/updates on what happened with theirs?

In the meantime, here are some great pictures of the car! Hopefully it'll be back on the road by the end of the week! *crossing fingers*

[SlipperyGary]

I had a drivetrain error while driving on the freeway. The message said that it was ok to continue driving, but to use caution. The car drove normally, but the cruise control would switch off periodically. After reaching my destination and turning the car off, I restarted the car and did not receive the error again. I took it to the dealership the next day. They reprogrammed the car with the latest update and I haven't had a problem since then. It took a couple of hours for them to do the reprogramming.

[sridvijay]

Just as an update on this if anyone else was curious. I also had to constantly call my service center for updates since they wouldn't call me.

Turns out it was some high voltage cable from the range extender to the motor or something that they're ordering from Germany that'll take around 10 business days to arrive.

So from start to the estimated finish, the car is down for about 3 weeks. Now I get what people were talking about when they were bashing on the i8's reliability issues...

[SlipperyGary]

Originally Posted by SlipperyGary

I had a drivetrain error while driving on the freeway. The message said that it was ok to continue driving, but to use caution. The car drove normally, but the cruise control would switch off periodically. After reaching my destination and turning the car off, I restarted the car and did not receive the error again. I took it to the dealership the next day. They reprogrammed the car with the latest update and I haven't had a problem since then. It took a couple of hours for them to do the reprogramming.

Oops. Spoke too soon. Got another Drivetrain Malfunction. Will need to see what the dealership says on Monday. Dang it!

[wanesso]

Mine is in the shop now---also with regenerative brake and drivetrain malfunction errors but said car could be driven 'moderately' --kept driving to work and when I restarted, the error messages were gone. Two different i8 techs will look and assess, waiting to hear.



Computer glitch...

[sridvijay]

Wonder if this software update has anything fixes to this? http://bmwi.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1397869