Ferret vs Dealer

[Ferret]

Am I going mad?

On the v8's is there supposed to be a cast bar that hangs off the back of the gearbox, supporting the exhaust in front of the cats?

Anyone got any photos of this?

I've been advised by the indy that it's shattered and needs replacing (I know it exists on my car) after really cracking it hard against the rediculous speed bumps on our estate.

Was supplied the part number for 16 by the Indy:

This definitely looks like the bit that's under there and broken - with the slight following hiccough.

The dealer is point blank telling me that this should never have been fitted to my car, it's never been sold by them, it's not a UK part and they're categorically not going to sell it to me.

What gives? Is my car fitted with a part that it shouldnt be?

[repenttokyo]

so they have it, and they're not going to sell it to you? that's an interesting business plan they've got going there...

[winfred]

the dealer for some ****ed up reason doesn't want to sell out of market items, i've never seen a aluminum exhaust brace on any v8 bmw, some have little steel ones but nothing that big as is in the picture, some dealers will order anything in the system and sell it you just gotta find one

[Sixdown]

could you not order it online and then ask your indy to install it?

[E34-520iSE]

I can't understand why the dealer won't sell you the part. I've bought various trim parts that were never fitted to my car from three local BMW dealerships. All I did was ring up, order the parts by part number, pay via card and collect them at an agreed time. I think you need to find another BMW dealership!

HTH,

Shaun M

[attack eagle]

no doubt... I buy EU spec parts via my local dealer all the time.

[Ferret]

This is getting interesting, I need to sidle under the car and take photos of this then...

I wonder what's going on, there's definitely a cast alu cross bar under there.

Looks like it's time to storm the dealer in the mafia suit and a 'just order the goddamn part, bitch' attitude. Worked last time I had shite service off their parts dept. (Free parts for the win! )

[whiskychaser]

Had to ring my local dealer (Williams BMW) so I checked to see if they can get the part you want too. There arent any in UK but plenty in Germany. Its £18 plus VAT and they get a delivery every Thursday. If the fedora and chalkstripe dont you have another route

[Ross]

Had a steel one on the 530.
Why argue with the pinheads only to get sodomized when the invoice comes.
Any exhaust shop can fab a bracket.

[E34-520iSE]

This thread has made me curious about BMW UK's 'official' stance on buying non-spec parts for their cars. I could understand the dealer's reluctance to sell parts if the car was brand new and on finance, as they wouldn't want any hassles, like 'this bit won't fit - WHY?' or 'I dropped a bolt in my engine and now it's knocking' but if the car is solely the property of the keeper then they should be able to fit what they like to it, even if it's a bright pink leather M5 interior or two front shotgun mounts. I'm sure BMW don't just stockpile all these parts for the fun of it - they are there to be sold.

Cheers,

Shaun M