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BMW 7-Series Maintenance and Repair

831 messages,  Last post on Feb 17, 2013 at 11:00 AM

You are in the BMW 7-Series Forum.

What is this discussion about? BMW 7 Series, Electrical, Engine, Sedan

Messages Page 40 of 84

#384 of 831 Check Engine light issues - 740i by vchiu

Dec 03, 2005 (12:36 am)

Dear all
 
I am the owner of a 2000 740i I bought second hand in february 2005. I drove it about 6K miles and reached about 110K miles overall.
 
My main problem is that the "Check Engine" light is always on.
My early mistake is that I did believe the salesman who told me that this was an unimportant glitch and that the Engine works well.
Indeed, it went through pollution test with success, whereas the engines revs smoothly and silently. I am just a bit disappointed by the car overall performance, as I would have expected more torque and brisker speed pickup.
 
The BMW repair agent is unable to give me any explanation for this light. It seems his computer does not give much over standard figures. 2 Lambda sensors have been exchanged and "check engine"light reset, but it light up again after 30-50 miles.
I had the card serviced immediately after buying it (in the BMW network) and no issue was diagnosed.
Twice, the light went out itself for a few minutes, when I was going at slow speed, but it lit up again and solid.
 
The on-dash computer gives me too optimistic figures by a consistent 6%. My average fuel consumption must be around 18 MPG ( 14l/100km), 20% city,50% highway, 30% smaller roads.
 
Does anyone has a clue?
 
Thank you for your inputs

#385 of 831 Re: NAVIGATION SCREEN WON'T APPEAR [bmwthad] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Dec 03, 2005 (10:26 am)

Replying to: bmwthad (Dec 02, 2005 9:44 pm)
Try posting with CAPS LOCK off. Most people find this type of posting very hard to read and skip over it.
 
thanks
 
MrShiftright
Host

#386 of 831 navigational screen won't appear by bmwthad

Dec 03, 2005 (5:16 pm)

I went out town for 4 days & when I came back my 2001
bmw 740il car battery was died. I gave it a hot shot & it started up but I lost the display on my navigational screen, the truck release and the alarm would not work.
   
Magically a few days later the alarm & trunk release started working but the navigation screen still would not come on. the dealer briefly look at it & seems to
think that the screen is not bad because it has power & sight illumination. Can someone please help me. the
dealer could cost me a fortune trying to find the problem.

#387 of 831 60k maintain service by key2bimer

Dec 05, 2005 (6:49 am)

i have 99 bmw740il, the light comes up. i know i have to get it done soon because it has 59k right now. Is there anybody know what does it require to chnage or fix when you do 60k maintain service?

#388 of 831 Re: Navigation System FAILURE - HELP!! by cardrx

Dec 10, 2005 (6:44 am)

Replying to: jmindes (Nov 04, 2005 11:50 am)
I have an identical car 2000 740IL and know that the scroll feature to select is clumbsy and difficult. I am sure you have probably tried to click the knob in to see if that free's up the problem. My computer did hesitate often and pause sometimes for long periods of time when entering selections and it was frustrating, but not as frustrating as when it recently just died and the screen faded to black and has not come back. In addition, Navigation System FAILURE - HELP!!I have an identical car 2000 740IL and know that the scroll feature to select is clumbsy and difficult. I am sure you have probably tried to click the knob in to see if that free's up the problem. My computer did hesitate often and pause sometimes for long periods of time when entering selections and it was frustrating, but not as frustrating as when it recently just died and the screen faded to black and has not come back. In addition, the radio will play for about 2 minutes, and then it shuts off automatically. I have to double click the on\off knob and the radio comes back on, but then 2 min. or so it shuts off again....and so on.
 
I know the radio must be caused by the navigation system problem but my dealer has no intention of trying to solve the problem, they want to sell me a new car at best or at worst, a new navigation system for thousands. Somehow I think there must be a better and more reasonable solution.
 
I am afraid your small problem could be the beginning of a bigger problem like mine.
 
I bought the car new, paid well over $70k when all said and done and after 5 years, this system should not be failing and if so, there should be a reasonable fix available.
 
Sorry I couldn't help you, but I am having similar problems. Others say when you disconnect the battery or get a jump, that is what causes the problem, but I did not have any electrical issues that could have caused this.
 
I recently brought it to the dealer to fix a low coolant level situation, brakes (front and back) a suspension problem, wipers, brake light and oil service (over $4k) and he tells me another $2,600 or more if I want the Nav system replaced.
 
HELP

#389 of 831 Re: Frequent Service Visits [bmwna] by scholder

Dec 11, 2005 (3:04 pm)

Replying to: bmwna (Oct 05, 2005 8:34 am)
How about checking on this for me with (2) 2001 740i models, one with 3/00 production date and one with 12/00 production date. This is concerning the telephone interface issue.

#390 of 831 E38 730i brake light sticking on by tigs

Dec 23, 2005 (8:03 am)

Hi everyone, I have a 1994 E38 730i and it has just one tiny problem: every so often the brake lights stick on. It's not the switch, that's been checked and on the diagnostics machine no fault comes up. The local dealer wants me to pay £75 plus VAT per hour to have an apprentice check it out until he finds something or nothing. Not a hope of me agreeing to that one. Anyone had a similar problem?
Thanks

#391 of 831 engine cranks but won't start by vypurr

Dec 23, 2005 (11:08 am)

I paid $400 a few months ago for a pump. 3 days ago my 1990 735il would crank but would not start could it be my fuel pump again?

#392 of 831 need help on why my 1990 bmw 735il won't start by vypurr

Dec 23, 2005 (12:41 pm)

my bmw cranks but won't start.I'm wondering if anyone have any suggestions

#393 of 831 Re: navigational screen won't appear [bmwthad] by spersels

Dec 27, 2005 (9:31 am)

Replying to: bmwthad (Dec 03, 2005 5:16 pm)
I have almost exactly the same problem. I've had some kind of electrical drain that has caused three battery replacements in the last 5 years. I have a 2001 740i with 105000 miles. All the miles are highway. The battery started failing again a month ago, the trunk softclose stopped working, the trunk open warning went off as soon as the car started moving, and the car alarm would not engage properly - but the navigation screen continued to work! I brought the car into the shop (Prestige BMW in Ramsey NJ) for a regular service. They replaced the battery, performed a normal service, fixed a number of other items and detailed the car. When I started the car on pickup, THE SCREEN WAS BLANK but backlit. This was rather upsetting. This was a GLARING issue and one they should have caught before I drove all they way out to pickup the car (it's a 45 minute ride between my house and Prestige BMW). My service representative (Jason) was very apologetic (obviously) and suggested the I drive the car for a couple of days and perhaps it would clear up on it's own.
 
On my way home, about 20 minutes into the ride, the screen started to flicker and came back partially. It was shifted to the right with a blank non-backlit strip down the middle. It also had lots of wiggly lines flitting across the screen. Over the next couple of days the wiggly lines stopped and I was left with a split screen (shifted right) with a 1.5 inch blank strip down the middle.
 
I brought the car back to Prestige BMW the following week. After a couple of days of diagnosis work they called me back with the BAD NEWS. THE DISPLAY WAS SHOT. However, that is not really the BAD news. The BAD news is that THEY decided there was nothing THEY did to cause this. It was all just an unhappy coincidence.
 
To compound that, the replacement part is $2000 and the labor quoted at between $200 and $300. The initial deal they offered was for me to pay them their cost ($1500) and they’d pickup the labor. There is NO WAY that this part just coincidentally happened to fail while it was in their shop. To me, it doesn’t matter whether or not they know what they did to cause the failure, they should still be liable for the damage. I’m going with the preponderance of the evidence – and I don’t believe in coincidences.
 
After walking up the management chain a bit, I got them down to $1200 (my cost) to replace the screen. This is basically splitting the full retail cost down the middle. Although a closer look will reveal that they are eating the labor (~$150 their cost) and paying $300 of the $1500 cost of the part. They pay $450, I pay $1200.
 
The fact that bmwthad has almost the same problem makes my case stronger. I strongly believe there is a FLAW IN THE DESIGN of the 2001 740 that makes the navigation screen vulnerable to battery voltage and current fluctuations. If I can find other similar issue in 10 minutes of searching on the web (Thanks bmwthad) then BMW has to have seen this problem. At a minimum, there should be a service bulletin that helps the technician avoid this failure when changing the battery and perhaps even a recall to fix the problem.
 
And I still think they should have replaced the part a no cost to me.
 
I’m interested in what others think about this and welcome any recommendations regarding how to pursue a more equitable resolution.

Messages Page 40 of 84

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