E36 M42 Engine Gasket Ripoff

["Lib Mendonça" <LMendonca@xxxxxx>]

	How can an individual judge the 'quality' of an automobile? Any =
manufacturer can produce a bad product, but how the manufacturer deals =
with that problem is a good yardstick to measure the product and the =
producer.
As a long time BMW owner I was disappointed when, last September, my 1993 =
318i required a $928.00 repair to replace the head, profile and water pump =
gaskets. This repair forced me to rent another vehicle at an additional =
$523.00 cost.  I was concerned that a vehicle that was less than four =
years old, with only 90,000 kilometers on the dial could experience such a =
major failure. =20
I contacted BMW Canada and was offered a 'goodwill' gesture: a $300.00 =
credit for future repairs.  I consider this offer inadequate.  The =
mechanic I was dealing with admitted that the gaskets were a common =
problem in this engine model (M42).  I discovered, through the Automobile =
Protection Association, a Service Bulletin in which BMW Canada warns =
dealerships of coolant leaks "due to a deteriorated rubber timing case =
profile gasket" on the M42 engine.  The Service Bulletin was issued in =
October 1993. I purchased my BMW in August.  The Service Bulletin =
acknowledges a major design flaw or manufacturing error that was not =
revealed to me at time of purchase, or during service visits. For almost =
four years BMW knew my engine would fail, but did not warn me, did not =
repair the defect, and now will not accept responsibility for the failure!
I have subsequently discovered, through the Internet, that this was a =
defect in all the 1991-94 E30 and E36 models. See the Unofficial E36 Home =
Page. The digest has been a good source of information from other owners. =
Even the BMW Car Club of America, in their publication The Roundel, has =
acknowledged the defect. Jenny Morgan, a contributing  editor has written =
about the defect in her column of October 1996.
The June 1998 edition of the BMW Car Club of America's publication 'The =
Roundel' contained four more letters from aggrieved 318 owners, and the =
July edition has a letter from the Technical Editor for the Roundel, Mike =
Miller.=20

	Mr. Miller writes: "The 1991-1993 M42 engine profile gasket is =
clearly not a shining moment for BMW." He goes on to ask, "*wouldn't it =
make good business sense for BMWNA to stand behind their product in this =
case?  Do they not have a moral obligation to loyal BMW owners to make =
good on this admittedly defective part?"

Because of this Service Bulletin the 'goodwill' offer by BMW seems to be =
nothing but a sop to cover poor engineering and indifferent customer =
service. BMW North America has defrauded thousands of owners, by knowingly =
selling cars with a major defect, and refuses to live up to their inflated =
reputation for engineering quality. This defect has been handled in an =
unethical manner, and, I would argue, in an illegal manner.
Time for a small claims court action! Anyone else out there suffering the =
same fate?=20

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