I was talking to SWMBO's cousin a few weeks ago who is a BMW dealer tech. Apparently, BMW now won't pay out warranty claims on parts unless the full diagnostic process has been followed and the unique reference number generated by the software at the end of the process is filled out on the paperwork. Even a car coming in with a suspected blown bulb has to be subjected to a full diagnostic session, just in case the fault turns out to be something covered by warranty, and they even track the start and finish times, MOT style, to check the procedure is being followed. Any discrepancies or shortcuts, and the garage doesn't get reimbursed, regardless of whether the car was fixed or not.
He was telling me one of the techs replaced a £1500 module on a 3-series because he knew from experience that it was the cause of a particular fault. It fixed the problem with the car, just as the same replacement had fixed the same fault on hundreds of others they'd done, but BMW wouldn't reimburse the dealer. Written warning for the tech.
Last edited by: DP on Sun 25 Apr 10 at 01:47
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Volkswagen Golf IV - 98 1.6 Book time fo.. new