First World Problems

[2011CrazE89]

My ADT smoke alarm keeps sending false signals to the fire department. Now ADT wants to charge me $45.00 per false alarm call. I told them I can assure you I’m not feeling any warmth whatsoever and the house is not in a ball of flames. SO your equipment failed twice!

Turns out the battery was weak and sent out false signals. Fee waived ;-)

[NEFARIOUS]

I'm looking for a new job as we speak (LA / Orange County area, anybody looking for techs?)... But what started out as a plush job where I had my own office, a huge corner desk, the fastest desktop in the school (it had 12GB RAM, Core i7 and SSD... I even snuck COD on it ) and executive-grade leather office seat, then to my own open cubicle since the dude can't make rent and we had to downsize to a MUCH smaller area and sat in the cheapest office chair you can get at Office Depot... and with the addition of one more work/study student, now I don't have a desk at all and sitting on a plain plastic chair and getting work done on my laptop and the person occupying my desk isn't even all that computer literate .

[Billup]

I forgot a lunch today, so now I need to call a bunch of suppliers to pretend I need something so they can take me to get free lunch.

[Fifty3bags]

Had to take a post coffee dump at work this morning. The restroom on my floor was closed for cleaning, so I figure I can wait a bit till they get done. 10 mins later still not done, so I had to walk up the stairs to the third floor.

[2011CrazE89]

As much as I love my Z4 the warranty has officially expired. Considering going back to a C Class MB which I originally traded for the Z4.

[upstatedoc]

Originally Posted by 2011CrazE89

As much as I love my Z4 the warranty has officially expired.

Yeah, my sphincter psi went up 10-fold when my BMW warranty expired..

[Billup]

What's this warranty thing you guys are talking about?

[John 070]

Originally Posted by 2011CrazE89

As much as I love my Z4 the warranty has officially expired. Considering going back to a C Class MB which I originally traded for the Z4.

Seriously, of course anybody would prefer a car under warranty. Who in their right mind would drive a car out-of-warranty? Someone who is not a lease sheep, and someone who cares about finances. My car has been out of warranty for 10 mos. now. Ooooh, so scary, it's a N54.

When I thought my right front hub was spent the other day, I looked up the parts on autohaus az, would have been $97 for a *** OEM bearing (BMW list is $294), and another $4 per bolt times 4. Inconvenient, sure. Hardly worth getting a new car over. Turns out to be a screw in the tire, not the bearing. Life goes on.

LOL the forum *** out the brand of bearing. It's F. It's A. It's G. That's the brand.

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by John 070

Seriously, of course anybody would prefer a car under warranty. Who in their right mind would drive a car out-of-warranty? Someone who is not a lease sheep, and someone who cares about finances. My car has been out of warranty for 10 mos. now. Ooooh, so scary, it's a N54.

When I thought my right front hub was spent the other day, I looked up the parts on autohaus az, would have been $97 for a *** OEM bearing (BMW list is $294), and another $4 per bolt times 4. Inconvenient, sure. Hardly worth getting a new car over. Turns out to be a screw in the tire, not the bearing. Life goes on.

Yeah, I don't get it either... it's like people expect these cars to blow after a few years. My car has been out of warranty for a year now... 38K miles so far and I plan on keeping it for 4 more years. I bought it used and drive about 20K miles per year. The things that go bad on these cars are so well discovered now and so many parts / repair shops are available that it's truly crazy to be worried about it.

[John 070]

Originally Posted by Billup

What's this warranty thing you guys are talking about?

Here's a really unusual concept. If something breaks on a car, it stinks. If it's a BMW, this is what I had in mind when I got a thud thud thud noise on the way to work the other day:

Balance of savings account before going to work: $48,327.98.

Bearing failure: $93.81 for the bearing, $4.15 x 4 for the one-time use bolts, free shipping, no tax. That's $110.41 for the parts I need. Downtime may be 2 wks. or more before I can do it, because we're going away this weekend. My bank account is going to be hit and have a balance of $42,217.57 as a result of being out of warranty. That's kind of how it works, when you have no warranty, you pay out of pocket for repairs. My Nissan has been out of warranty for 11 1/2 yrs. now. It's not very scary or dramatic.

[John 070]

Originally Posted by ASAP

Yeah, I don't get it either... it's like people expect these cars to blow after a few years. My car has been out of warranty for a year now... 38K miles so far and I plan on keeping it for 4 more years. I bought it used and drive about 20K miles per year. The things that go bad on these cars are so well discovered now and so many parts / repair shops are available that it's truly crazy to be worried about it.

I think you can relate. When you think something has gone wrong, you think, oh s***. Then you start to be logical and try to find out how much the parts are going to cost and if you can DIY. If you can't, you'll also try to figure out what the damage is. Even if you had to shell out $3,000, that's way cheaper than a new car.

I just spent $1,300 on my 1998 Nissan. That is the first time since 1998 that anything cost more than $699 (that was the exhaust when it was 12 y.o.).

[2011CrazE89]

Originally Posted by John 070

Seriously, of course anybody would prefer a car under warranty. Who in their right mind would drive a car out-of-warranty? Someone who is not a lease sheep, and someone who cares about finances. My car has been out of warranty for 10 mos. now. Ooooh, so scary, it's a N54.

When I thought my right front hub was spent the other day, I looked up the parts on autohaus az, would have been $97 for a *** OEM bearing (BMW list is $294), and another $4 per bolt times 4. Inconvenient, sure. Hardly worth getting a new car over. Turns out to be a screw in the tire, not the bearing. Life goes on.

LOL the forum *** out the brand of bearing. It's F. It's A. It's G. That's the brand.

Originally Posted by ASAP

Yeah, I don't get it either... it's like people expect these cars to blow after a few years. My car has been out of warranty for a year now... 38K miles so far and I plan on keeping it for 4 more years. I bought it used and drive about 20K miles per year. The things that go bad on these cars are so well discovered now and so many parts / repair shops are available that it's truly crazy to be worried about it.

I agree. Right now the cars running great. And of course I budgeted for potential costly repairs down the road. What sucks is now every little clink, clank, clunk sound I hear. I no longer have the luxury of dropping it off to the dealership and saying: Here fix it! And put me in another one for my troubles. Going to miss those free loaner cars.

I just have to find a good mechanic other than BMW for maintenance. There really isn’t anything out there that compares to driving the Z. This car is a blast to drive!

[Billup]

Originally Posted by John 070

Here's a really unusual concept. If something breaks on a car, it stinks. If it's a BMW, this is what I had in mind when I got a thud thud thud noise on the way to work the other day:

Balance of savings account before going to work: $48,327.98.

Bearing failure: $93.81 for the bearing, $4.15 x 4 for the one-time use bolts, free shipping, no tax. That's $110.41 for the parts I need. Downtime may be 2 wks. or more before I can do it, because we're going away this weekend. My bank account is going to be hit and have a balance of $42,217.57 as a result of being out of warranty. That's kind of how it works, when you have no warranty, you pay out of pocket for repairs. My Nissan has been out of warranty for 11 1/2 yrs. now. It's not very scary or dramatic.

Well, I drove the hell out of my car when I bought it, and ran out of warranty, and ended up having valve cover gasket leak, because there was a huge crack in the rear, and the gaskets themselves were leaking, along with needing new plugs and coils.

I did the plugs and coils for around $300. BMW helped me out with a $1,300 bill for the remaining repairs.

I would have loved to have a warranty at that time. Instead, my bank was my warranty fund. Sad day.

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by Billup

Well, I drove the hell out of my car when I bought it, and ran out of warranty, and ended up having valve cover gasket leak, because there was a huge crack in the rear, and the gaskets themselves were leaking, along with needing new plugs and coils.

I did the plugs and coils for around $300. BMW helped me out with a $1,300 bill for the remaining repairs.

I would have loved to have a warranty at that time. Instead, my bank was my warranty fund. Sad day.

You can do the plugs and coils for under $300 now as there are newer metal coils that are a bit cheaper... the VCG costs $27... 2 beautiful DIYs on it out there.

[Joekerr]

Originally Posted by John 070

Here's a really unusual concept. If something breaks on a car, it stinks. If it's a BMW, this is what I had in mind when I got a thud thud thud noise on the way to work the other day:

Balance of savings account before going to work: $48,327.98.

Bearing failure: $93.81 for the bearing, $4.15 x 4 for the one-time use bolts, free shipping, no tax. That's $110.41 for the parts I need. Downtime may be 2 wks. or more before I can do it, because we're going away this weekend. My bank account is going to be hit and have a balance of $42,217.57 as a result of being out of warranty. That's kind of how it works, when you have no warranty, you pay out of pocket for repairs. My Nissan has been out of warranty for 11 1/2 yrs. now. It's not very scary or dramatic.

So let me get this straight...
Balance before going to work = $48,327.98
New bank balance as a result of being out of warranty = $42,217.57

Difference as a result of being out of warranty per bank = $6,110.41
What you thought it was going to cost = $110.41
Additional cash outlay for driving a BMW = $6,000.00

See! The BMW got you again...and this much only for a bearing failure. Imagine how much it might cost to replace the wiper blades when they go!

[Billup]

Originally Posted by ASAP

You can do the plugs and coils for under $300 now as there are newer metal coils that are a bit cheaper... the VCG costs $27... 2 beautiful DIYs on it out there.

Yeah I know it. I replaced everything with parts from the stealership because it was the middle of winter and I needed to get to work on Monday, couldn't wait for shipping since they had my car in a bay the whole weekend, and I sure as hell wasn't going to pay them an extra $150 for them to install plugs and wires.

I've done a VCG on the inline 6 before. I got way to frustrated with getting the valve cover out because its fucking wedged in there so tight, and busted some things along the way. I didn't want to go down that road again.

[UncleWede]

I've been out of warranty since 2010. I literally put a piece of electrical tape on the dash to hide the damn SES light. Down to 18MPG when the wife drives it, but I still get about 23.

Only spent about $300 this year outside of the rearview mirror the wife smashed with her purse. For that, my son plays ball with the son of the local parts manager, and I got a mirror for $125.

[Billup]

Fortunately, I haven't had to do any more repairs and it's now 42k miles since last year, so there's that at least.

Although, my first world problem, as I was leaving my appointment yesterday, I noticed a pretty decent scrap across my front bumper from what appeared to be a white car. I looked at all the white cars in my apartment complex but nobody had red paint on their bumper.


I'm pretty upset by this. One thing after another.

[John 070]

Originally Posted by Joekerr

So let me get this straight...
Balance before going to work = $48,327.98
New bank balance as a result of being out of warranty = $42,217.57

Difference as a result of being out of warranty per bank = $6,110.41
What you thought it was going to cost = $110.41
Additional cash outlay for driving a BMW = $6,000.00

See! The BMW got you again...and this much only for a bearing failure. Imagine how much it might cost to replace the wiper blades when they go!

Hey you have a point, I logged in and I was going to be charged $6,000 for shipping and handling?

[John 070]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

I've been out of warranty since 2010. I literally put a piece of electrical tape on the dash to hide the damn SES light. Down to 18MPG when the wife drives it, but I still get about 23.

Only spent about $300 this year outside of the rearview mirror the wife smashed with her purse. For that, my son plays ball with the son of the local parts manager, and I got a mirror for $125.

See? If you had leased or bought a new car, you would not have had to buy that roll of electrical tape. Another case where it's just toooooo SCARY to drive a car out of warranty!

[John 070]

Originally Posted by Billup

Yeah I know it. I replaced everything with parts from the stealership because it was the middle of winter and I needed to get to work on Monday, couldn't wait for shipping since they had my car in a bay the whole weekend, and I sure as hell wasn't going to pay them an extra $150 for them to install plugs and wires.

I've done a VCG on the inline 6 before. I got way to frustrated with getting the valve cover out because its fucking wedged in there so tight, and busted some things along the way. I didn't want to go down that road again.

Plugs are really easy, just never use anti-seize. I did mine for $68 instead of the dealer wanting $450. I bought one coil pack for $42 so I suppose that's wasted money. I just wanted to see what I was dealing with as some said they have broken the coil pack pulling it out.

[Billup]

Originally Posted by John 070

Plugs are really easy, just never use anti-seize. I did mine for $68 instead of the dealer wanting $450. I bought one coil pack for $42 so I suppose that's wasted money. I just wanted to see what I was dealing with as some said they have broken the coil pack pulling it out.

I did the plugs and coils myself, I just purchased them straight from the BMW dealership, so it of course, had to cost me more than if I ordered online. Last time I did the VCG, I busted a tab trying to wedge that shitty plastic VC back in, so I'm just avoiding anything like that for now.