[rich644]

After only 3 months and 800 miles I have received the dreaded drivetrain malfunction alert.

It's been in the shop for three and a half weeks and they can't seem to find the problem, they have replaced injectors, the fuel pump and a few other bits related to the ignition system. Additionally, they have discovered that it's not holding compression on the #3 cylinder.

The service adviser says they are going to try a few more things but if they can't figure it out soon they will likely just replace the engine rather than spend any more time on it.

I'm not sure that I want it back. I'm barely into a three year lease and I'm starting to have buyer's remorse. I've owned 5 BMWs over the last 20 years and up until now I have had nothing but great experiences. Now i'm just wondering if there is a legal way to exit this lease and get something else.

A couple questions for the group:

#1. Am I being unreasonable to not want a car with a transplanted engine?
#2. What is an acceptable amount of time that a car can be in the shop before I start asking for lease compensation or exit clause .

TIA

[vance]

I think after a month, you're eligible for a manufacturer lemon buyback if I'm not mistaken? At least they're giving you a free loaner and hopefully won't charge you any lease time while this has been in the shop?

[MalibuBimmer]

First thing tomorrow morning Google "Missouri Lemon Law attorneys," find one and go in. Do not waste any time. Your rights are ticking away!

In California you'd be able to get out of this car and get all your money back, plus BMW would have to pay your legal fees. California's Lemon Law is very protective. You need to find out what your rights are in Missouri. Posting here is not the way to do that.

[rich644]

Thanks for the advice.

UPDATE: It's been almost 2 months in the shop and they are no closer to finding a solution. I just heard from the service advisor and the last thing they replaced (VANOS system) failed to fix the problem. and they are back to square one. They have basically done a top end rebuild and its still is not working. It's been like this literally from the first minute of ownership. The "Drivetrain Malfunction" alert went on 10 miles after I pulled out of the dealership (but i was able to reset it the first time)

The service adviser has been very apologetic and have said they are out of ideas. The case is been escalated and BMW NA is now involved and working with the dealership.

It looks like I will not be getting this car back. I'm not sure what the next step is.

*Do we terminate the lease, and call it a day?

*Should I ask for the money I have already spent on this lease over the last five months for a non functional car.

*Let them replace it with another i8 (There are lots of unsold i8s!)

The dealership and the service advisor has said they will do "whatever it takes to make this right". My SA was surprised that I'm not more upset. & says I have every right to be angry. I hesitate to get attorneys involved while they are trying to work with me.

"Give me the first i8 roadster off the line or else!!"

[Emon Crew]

Originally Posted by rich644

Thanks for the advice.

UPDATE: It's been almost 2 months in the shop and they are no closer to finding a solution. I just heard from the service advisor and the last thing they replaced (VANOS system) failed to fix the problem. and they are back to square one. They have basically done a top end rebuild and its still is not working. It's been like this literally from the first minute of ownership. The "Drivetrain Malfunction" alert went on 10 miles after I pulled out of the dealership (but i was able to reset it the first time)

The service adviser has been very apologetic and have said they are out of ideas. The case is been escalated and BMW NA is now involved and working with the dealership.

It looks like I will not be getting this car back. I'm not sure what the next step is.

*Do we terminate the lease, and call it a day?

*Should I ask for the money I have already spent on this lease over the last five months for a non functional car.

*Let them replace it with another i8 (There are lots of unsold i8s!)

The dealership and the service advisor has said they will do "whatever it takes to make this right". My SA was surprised that I'm not more upset. & says I have every right to be angry. I hesitate to get attorneys involved while they are trying to work with me.

"Give me the first i8 roadster off the line or else!!"

You're a really nice guy. Go get an attorney and protect yourself and the money you've spent.

Have you been making your lease payments while the car has been in the shop!?

[stressdoc]

At a minimum you should be completely reimbursed for your lease payments. The i8 is a fantastic car; if you are still in love w it then by all means request a brand new one. It might make sense to wait for a 2019 at this point, that would be pretty reasonable compensation from my perspective.

[rich644]

UPDATE :
The service manager called me this afternoon. while they are still working on trying to fix the car , they are waiting for more parts to try from germany.

He said he understands if I don't want the car back and was trying to work with BMW NA on making things right. He acknowledged this probably qualifies as a "lemon"

He suggested two options:

1.) they can give me another 2017 they have in the showroom, and maybe BMW will throw in some compensation towards it.

2.) we can just cancel the lease and maybe some compensation as well . The service manager wasn't too specific on numbers since any credits /compensation is coming from BMW NA, not the dealership.

I think the dealership is doing their best, They don't stock any i8 parts and they don't have the authority to give me a brand new car without authorization from BMW. I have had 6 BMWs over the last 20 years and have done European delivery twice. I have been well treated by the company in the past, so I'm not in a rush to get lawyers involved.

However, I wouldn't be opposed to a 2018 roadster for all my troubles .

[MalibuBimmer]

I see you did not bother either to acknowledge nor take my advice. Interesting, for a guy to come on here and ask for advice and ignore it.

[rich644]

Originally Posted by MalibuBimmer

I see you did not bother either to acknowledge nor take my advice. Interesting, for a guy to come on here and ask for advice and ignore it.

I'm not ignoring anyone's advice, Im just not following it, i.e. threatening a lawsuit.

There is nothing actionable here. BMW has offered my money back or a discount on another 2017. So I'm not a victim.

When this all started, I was initially curious what my options were and if I could leverage my misfortune to the front of the line for a 2019 model. But BMW has been gracious and things have played out to my satisfaction. As with all my partners and suppliers, if there is a hiccup in our relationship, I give people a chance to make things right, I don't use litigation (or the threat of) as the first course of action.

[stressdoc]

So... 2019?
By chance did you get one of the sweet protonic dark silver editions? What a shame to have that one lemon out.

[Mr.SugarSkulls]

Originally Posted by rich644

I'm not ignoring anyone's advice, Im just not following it, i.e. threatening a lawsuit.

There is nothing actionable here. BMW has offered my money back or a discount on another 2017. So I'm not a victim.

When this all started, I was initially curious what my options were and if I could leverage my misfortune to the front of the line for a 2019 model. But BMW has been gracious and things have played out to my satisfaction. As with all my partners and suppliers, if there is a hiccup in our relationship, I give people a chance to make things right, I don't use litigation (or the threat of) as the first course of action.

He can be sort of a girl, sometimes.

[Sophisto]

After getting the drivetrain message for three times now (popping up when in sports mode, after manual shifting with speed around 180-210km/h) I brought the car to my BMW i agent.

After checking ECU and everything they are still not 100% sure yet, but it seems that a part of the electrical engine is damaged.
It's not fixable so they want to swap the whole engine...

I am 100% sure and happy that the car is under warranty.

[stressdoc]

Originally Posted by Sophisto

After getting the drivetrain message for three times now (popping up when in sports mode, after manual shifting with speed around 180-210km/h) I brought the car to my BMW i agent.

After checking ECU and everything they are still not 100% sure yet, but it seems that a part of the electrical engine is damaged.
It's not fixable so they want to swap the whole engine...

I am 100% sure and happy that the car is under warranty.

What year is your i8?

Sorry to hear about the problem. Hopefully BMW is getting useful experience from the i3 and i8.

[Sophisto]

A very early one - built in June 2014.

Meanwhile the Dealer was able to repeat the message during a test drive. It is definitely a temperature problem. As they also found a broken temperature sensor of the turbo they will replace it first.
If this doesn't help, the control box of the electric engine will be next to be replaced - a 7-8000 Euro job!
Because my car has an extended dealer warranty BMW will take over all costs.

Important to know:
If the drivetrain message appears, do NOT press "OK" as the message is not held by internal error memory (asking myself why???) which makes it quite hard for the technichians to encircle a cause.

Edit - Problem solved!
The message did not pop up since the temperature sensor of the turbo has been replaced. Mechanic says it could have been damaged by the enormous heat of the surrounding engine components.

Repeating myself: the drivetrain message is only showing the result (= electric engine switches off) of a hidden fault and can have several root causes! Do not press "OK" before the car is checked by BMW service!