Sounds to me like the technicians are unable to diagnose the fault correctly.

It is very unlikely all those systems have failed. More likely a single failure is causing many fault codes.

 

That’s what they initially thought but they were sent a series of tests to complete by BMW technical to carry out and after going over the results they have been instructed by BMW in Germany to replace the whole system.

 

wow.

 

I dont think I could ever completely trust the car again! I would be asking for a new one!

 

This is what I’ve said to BMW Uk the car is in the garage stripped down how can it be put together again as good as the factory they are currently looking at the costs and time involved in getting the parts as they are all coming from abroad, the labour time to see if it’s cost effective to even fix they have even warned me the car may have to be shipped to Germany for repair if this is the case then they will probably replace the car.

 

car may have to be shipped to Germany for repair if this is the case then they will probably replace the car.

You've been spun a yarn there, it will get sent to Farnborough for Master Techs to work on it. (been there done that got the t-shirt, and a diagnostic protocol named after me)

 

Shame as it was a lovely car.

 

Shame as it was a lovely car.

I know I have the same drivetrain in a 2 series package. The "normal" 2 series is woeful, the 225xe is a serious under-rated vehicle.

 

Hopefully they will just replace the car.

 

Really sorry to hear. As the fault occured within 30 days I would reject it formally and ask for my money back or a replacement car (as you prefer?) Are they providing a loan car at present?

Everything you need to know about your right to reject a car

 

Yes they gave us a car which wasn’t suitable but they are going to replace it tomorrow.

 

Also if you've got BMW Finance on it get yourself a case manager assigned and have the finance suspended pending resolution.

 

Yes thanks they have opened a case on this and have advised the will seriously arrange compensation when resolved so just a waiting game at the moment.

 

Badly written, overcomplicated software with poor alarm logging.

One fault triggers an alarm which is followed by another part noting the first fault has stopped another part functioning which triggers another alarm ad infinitum!

It can't be the whole drive train failing on this car, just one part causing the cascade.

I had an ICE BMW convertible once that occasionally completely refused to start until the engine had been spun for 30 seconds or more in a few tries. It then slowly caught and ran ok again.

Nothing was logged as a fault. Surely you would expect an alarm of some description to log if the engine doesn't fire after say 5 seconds but no.

 

Badly written, overcomplicated software with poor alarm logging.

How many bits of a postcode can the Ampera take?

Its very easy to say badly written or overcomplicated without actually seeing how things works. As a decentralised multi-agent system the BMW architecture is pretty hard to beat.

 

You've been spun a yarn there, it will get sent to Farnborough for Master Techs to work on it. (been there done that got the t-shirt, and a diagnostic protocol named after me)

That's BMW's perogative but the owner should get another one sharpish for being a Beta tester.

 

Either way BMW have made the decision to replace the whole system does that mean they have seen something on the diagnostics that worries them are they hiding something from me ?
It’s not good press when the car has only done 139miles

 

It means it's a failure mode they haven't either anticipated or coded for. They may well want the whole drivetrain out to test to find the failure mode, and can release a software update to look for it in future.

Hopefully they'll do the sensible thing and get you into a new car.

 

Fingers crossed my Case manager will be in touch today.

 

IMHO....... You will never get the car back in the new condition you have a right to expect it in, the longer you delay in asserting your rejection right the more difficult it may become and the more you will be strung along. Close that chapter off decisively, and then reassess your situation. If they offer you a big discount on a new one as compensation and to encourage you back into the same vehicle, then you can assess that choice without any pressure arising from 'inertia' from the current situation you are in.

I've been there so many times and so many times I chose to try to tough it out, I can tell you it's not the way to go. Your mind becomes clouded and deluded with false optimism when the thing in question is the thing you want. Make a clean break and reassess what you want.

 

Did they fix your Mini?

My story is quite similar, but mine only survived 25 miles after delivery before it died. In a car park on the first day I owned it, it refused to start 'Drivetrain fault' - funny that it said 'do not turn off engine', when it was already off.
I called Mini assistance and they sent a technician (although as a the car had only been registered 3 days before, the registration number didn't exist in any of their systems so I had to persuade them that yes, it is a real car...). Long story short, after multiple calls to BMW/Mini UK nobody had any idea what the problem was - 35 messages on the diagnostic computer, many of which nobody really understood. First Mini PHEV the technician had ever seen, and no record of this failure with any Countryman in the UK to date. A few hard resets (disconnect the 12v battery, wait 5 minutes, reconnect) they admitted defeat and it was recovered to Sytner Leicester. (we had to push it to a place the recovery truck could get at it - very HEAVY). And that was the last I saw of it for 4 weeks.

Mini gave me a previous shape Mini Countryman Cooper SD for 3 weeks, and then I complained a lot to Sytners and they got me a brand new a 5 series from BMW UK until it was back. My understanding is that one of the cells in the drive batteries had failed and took out one of the ECU computers that controls the drivetrain, so although the petrol engine was fine it refused to start because the battery had a error. Mini UK technicians had to come and work on it, change the battery cells, many cables, ECU's, etc. I have a feeling they never really understood the problem, just threw parts at it until it was fixed.

I did think long and hard about cancelling and reordering a new one, but I didn't want to wait another 4 months for the spec I wanted. In the end I got a free Type 2 cable from the selling dealership, and a lot of apologies.

That was in November, and now 8,000 miles later the car is perfect, no issues so I am glad I stuck with it. But I really think that as PHEV's start to get old and batteries and control systems fail, they are going to be bet avoided on the second hand market.

 

Very worrying that they are experiencing cells failing. After quite a few years experience building my own EV's and killing more than a few cells by my own laziness and inexperience, the only thing to suffer was the cell.

It is possible that the BMS was damaged on the Mini and could have been the reason for the cell failure.

Looks as if BMW are on a steep learning curve with the Mini EV but shouldn't be with the i3 and i8 under their belt.

 

EV design is a field in which there are a a lot of blazé players, I find.

"Oh, we just throw a few cells in there, and people know how to make electronics reliable these days" etc.. You see this view on this forum all the time, and it is not unrepresentative of auto manufacturer management either.

I have spent the best part of my career fixing problems in automotive manufacture and the moment you think something is trivial because you've done it many times before, or you think it is so simple you don't understand how anyone else could get it wrong, then the hens come home to bite you.

Having a history of building two fault-free mass produced automotive modules is usually 'lucky', rarely 'clever'. There is always a trade off in the amount of design effort versus getting the product productionised in time, at cost. Sometimes it is just not always long enough to iron everything out. That's why evolution rather than revolution is the order of the day to achieve high reliability. We are still in 'revolution' mode.

 

A common myth is that a PHEV can becused if the EV side isn't working. The fact is that none will start if the EV side is broken and most won't start if the ICE isn't working either! One of the reasons some on here aren't keen on them.

With some high mileage Ampera on here, I guess it shows that GM did do a good job as few (none?) issues of this type has been reported over the years and even Vauxhall dealers seem to be able to fix them when they do go wrong

 

The Volt/Amp does allow the car to run on ICE with battery cooling alarms as mine did with an air con pressure error which turned out to be false.

 

The Volt/Amp does allow the car to run on ICE with battery cooling alarms as mine did with an air con pressure error which turned out to be false.

The Ampera has to have a working HV side to power the electric motor, the ICE can't drive the wheels directly except in certain torque and speed conditions (split mode).

If the battery can't be cooled then I assume it must go into reduced propulsion mode and run as serial hybrid with no buffer? Did you get that message?

But then the Ampera is a "special" PHEV

 

4 weeks now car still isn’t back though BMW uk have given me a brand new Msport X5 to use and there paying the fuel thankfully.
They are going to let me know on Friday whether they are going to Just order me a new car I’ll keep you posted.

 

I assume they will be letting you keep the x5 while the replacement is being built/shipped?

It isn’t your fault that they can’t fix it and you haven’t rejected the car they have, now that really could be some cheap motoring!

 

Now I am really worried because Halfords have voided my warranty. I had the car serviced there but they refuse to provide a detailed breakdown of which parts and lubes they have used. The Mini warranty specifically says that unless I have such a breakdown then the warranty is void. I am trapped inbetween Mini who is trying to keep all the servicing revenue in house by voiding warranties for no reason, and Halfords who refuse to provide more than a one-line explanation 'Full Service" of what they have done. I am hoping the car will be reliable for the remaining 2 years but this story fills me with dread....

 

Halfords? For a car under manufacturers warranty How much did you save getting it done there? I did not know they even serviced PHEVs - interesting!