BMW of Fairfax (Virginia)
In another thread, I posted that we bought a 2011 335is on March 25th, original owner and only 41K miles. The "is" was only built from 2011-2013 and it continued to use the N54 engine while the rest of the 3-series "335" line-up swapped to the newer N55 engine. From 2007-2010 the N54 engine was notorious for a high pressure fuel pump (HPFP) issue, so much so that on October 10, 2010 BMW NA announced a voluntary recall to upgrade the software for the fuel system and an extended warranty (10 years, 120K miles) to cover the HPFP itself.
Day 2 or 3 of our new ownership of this car, and after a spirited drive, when coming back into our driveway the idle became erratic, stumbled and the car shut off. It restarted but the CEL came on. Pulled the diagnostic codes and there were 6 codes related to the fuel and/or ignition systems. A little research pointed toward the low pressure fuel sensor (LPFS) as the first step in tackling this issue, so we replaced the LPFS with the new and improved one and 5 of the 6 codes disappeared. The one remaining code pointed toward the HPFP issue but the car was running fine. A couple of days later, the car stumbled again at idle and it posted the same code which indicated a HPFP problem.
I called BMW of Fairfax, explained I had just bought the car from a private party and explained the problem/symptoms/codes. Told them I had replaced the LPFS and they said that would have been their first step, it sounded like the HPFP to them, thought I would be covered by the BMW NA HPFP recall/extended warranty. They told me a 2011 model car was not covered, the recall/extended warranty only covered 2007-2010 model years. But they fully understood it was likely the same issue and suggested I call BMW NA to see if they might cover my car under that previous model year recall/warranty. I talked with BMW NA, a couple of times, and basically the answer was no, my car wasn't covered by that recall/extended warranty, but take it to the dealer for an assessment and maybe some "goodwill" could be afforded to the situation since I'm a multiple and repeat BMW owner.
Dropped the car off at BMW of Fairfax on a Tuesday evening, the next day before noon they said they had checked the car and it definitely was the dreaded HPFP issue, it needed a new one. They called BMW NA on my behalf and got BMW NA to agree to split the cost of the repair, 50/50 parts and labor. But they also suggested you should call too, as the current owner of multiple BMWs, maybe they'll give you some additional goodwill. Tried that and BMW NA said no, 50/50 for the repair was all they would offer. So I told BMW of Fairfax to fix it.
Next day I get a call from my service advisor, Frankie Johnson (the best!), she tells me the car is ready. The parts & labor for the HPFP repair is normally $1350, add in tax and shop fees charge and you're up close to $1500. Frankie talked with her SM & GM and got them to toss some dealership goodwill on top of BMW NA's goodwill, the end result was $489 for me out the door, and with a 2 year unlimited mileage warranty on the HPFP repair. That's great customer service, and why I will continue to frequent them for my parts and the occasional service visit when I can't fix it myself.
