Our story with BMW and a 2009 X6 3.5

[SD2md]

We ordered a 2009 X6 3.5 October of 08, received it December of 08. Drove the car across country and enjoyed it very much.. then... Every 4000 miles or on the dot, It started taking more than 3 cranks to start.. soon enough the famous Engine check light comes out. After a small check at the dealer, it is the Fuel pressure pump. They replaced it the first time.... 4000 miles later.. same thing happens.. 4000 miles later..3rd time... You get the idea. 5 times into it and without having to resort to Lemon law ( it was a california car... and ca lemon law is pretty darn strict) BMW and the original dealer ( Horrigan bmw in Reading pa) stepped in and made it right. Bmw ordered us a new car. We took delivery of a new 2010 with some extra upgrades with 1.9 miles on it.

Driving the 2010 now and owning a 2009 for 30000 miles i can tell you what i am happy and unhappy with:

• 2009: Very non friendly Idrive system.
• Sometimes it takes over 30 seconds to boot ( mostly you are backing out of your driveway and need the rear view cam...)
• Rear view cam was a mess and u'd rather stick your head out of the window.
  • Bluetooth: once you disconnect it takes about 5 min for it to find your phone again... even if you force it. and it took a minute or two to find it at startup.
  • wheels upfront no matter how perfectly balanced they are they will be used more from the inside.
    Engine vibrations once the car start aging can be felt in steering wheel
  Now on the 2010:
  • the first thing i notices are these 3 engine bars that were added in the engine bay ( one upfront 2 back) less vibration.
  • The idrive system is just WAY better. easy nav, crisper screen, google maps you can upload travel itinerary directly to from your pc.
  • Way better ipod interface ( the old one showed 2-3 words max and the rest of your title is gone, it even has a search feature now.
    Sound system, they upgraded us from the old bose... this is way better and when it is on max volume you hear no static.
    The trunk cam is almost military grade. clearer wider picture.. and this time if you are at a stop light turn it on and you will see the driver behind Clearly
    They finally updated teh trunk and it has tracks ( the 09 didnt).
    
    That s all i can think of so far.. Overall BMW and the dealer stood by their car and made it right and we are very much appreciative. I think Horrigan BMW ( we have been a customer for a decade) Have absolutely made us a lifetime customer. We hope we will not be having fuel presure pump problems with this one ( i think they rectified that with the manufacturer on the 3.5 in the 2010) but i am sure if it goes south BMW will step in.
    
    pictures from the day of the swap.
    Sports package with 21"
    Sports seats with allecantra red leather/suede combo
    bamboo wood
    Electric trunk
    and all the other fun packages and trinkets.
    
  
  
  

[dmlgc]

just to be clear ..
"it was a california car"
"Horrigan bmw in Reading pa"
"you are located in Washington DC"

[chuck92103]

I wonder why the OP even bought a BMW.

Everything mentioned as important is not what BMW is about. If all you wanted is google and and a nice sound system, you could have gotten a Maxima and saved a bundle.

Seriously though, glad everything worked out.

p.s. Google maps is not new, it was on the 2008 models as well.

Let us know how the voice recognition works. I heard they removed a lot of features in the new iDrive to speed it up. For one, you can no longer say "call Joe Stevens" and the phone would dial. I have not confirmed this.

[e92law]

What were your options on the 09 car?

[SD2md]

DMLGC. Hometown is philly... San diego was home temporarily and now DC is home now temporarily.. some of us move a lot for work.

[SD2md]

dmlgc.. los altos hill was home tooo a few years ago...

[SD2md]

chuck, the 09 we had didnt have any google crap in it.. I just sent the 21" to powder cooat today... going black.

[chuck92103]

Originally Posted by SD2md

chuck, the 09 we had didnt have any google crap in it.. I just sent the 21" to powder cooat today... going black.

my X6 was built in May of 08. It has google in it. it was not obvious. I had to enable MyAssist via iDrive.

It was ther on your 09, you just did not realize it.