AVOID new 7 series at all costs! 745Li owner here...(Duplicate; registered now.)
Yes, another dissatisfied Bimmer owner here. This is my 7th BMW, so I'm not unfamiliar with them at all. I've had an '02 745Li for 14 months now. It's been driveable about 12 months out of that. 19,000 miles in, the navigation system has been replaced twice, the exhaust once, battery twice. Various software upgrades - and downgrades when the upgrades screw up the car - have been performed; they take about a day each. Parking sensors have been replaced, and other computer modules along the way. Current problems? Transmission stinks. Go up a hill slowly, the transmission downshifts. Get to the top, and either drive in that low gear or play with the gas pedal to remind the car to shift. Same issue going downhill; it won't shift back to where it should be on its own. If I'd wanted manual I would have bought manual. I've had comments from passengers about that issue. The navigation system is hard to read (I'm on an '04 version now), and loves to freeze up at the most inconvenient times. If it's not freezing up, the display is telling me to go one way, the voice another. Half the towns in my area don't seem to have any driveable roads, according the BMW. The streets simply don't exist when trying to put in information. There are random error messages. Like reminders to put the car in park before turning it off. Always helpful when driving down the interstate. Or nasty notes about needing a remote to drive. (Gee, what is that thing in the ignition?) The memory is that of a geriatric patient; it forgets settings, and likes to reset everything to metric when least expected. Pushing the start button occasionally starts the car. Other times it just runs the battery down. Currently, the car is swearing that I have a flat tire. Darn if I can see it! At least it's the rear tire today. Yesterday it insisted it was a front tire. My dealer promised a buy back last fall. It's the end of June - I haven't had any success. On Friday, in desperation, I went to the Audi dealer and signed for a 2004 A8L. I pick it up tomorrow. I then went to my BMW dealer and pleaded one more time. "We're working on it." BMW's last offer was that if I gave them back the '02, plus $5000, I could step into the '04. Sounds good, but... I paid a 30 month lease in advance. If I take their offer, they'll allow me to start a new lease without penalty. In other words, every penny I've put into the lemon is lost, and I'm back at square one. And I'm supposed to accept? The original terms were I give them the '02, they give me the '04, and we call it even. Same terms, buy out at the end, etc. Why should I pay more than I already have? I didn't ask for these problems. I'm even willing to put out the extra $5000 for tax & title, although I shouldn't have to. Their offer causes me to lose everything, tens of thousands of dollars. So I plan on picking up the Audi, parking the BMW in the driveway (I just don't feel comfortable or SAFE driving it anymore), and hire a good attorney to do battle. Seems BMW feels they already have my money, so too bad. Anyone else out there in the same situation? Most of the '04 owners I've met had their '02's bought back. I'm stuck with an expensive and worthless toy. If anyone has any bright ideas, comments, or similar - email me at heidi@ctrealtor.net. And wish me luck!
