Quote:
Originally Posted by Dabozo
First off let me just say this has nothing to do with the fact i used BimmerCode over any other coding method...outcome would be the same regardless.
Brought my car in for its second scheduled maintenance visit. Upon arrival i asked them to look into a couple of minor issues - A battery that sometimes loses its charge and a intermittent tapping noise that i hear coming from what seems to be beneath and behind me (centre-rear) when i go over bumps. Luckily, i was able to rereate the noise with the tech next to me (imagine that!).
I handed over my keys, jumped into my loaner and left...
Several hours later i get a call from the dealer with an update on my issues...
Noise in rear- 'you had a sleeve of golf balls in the trunk'  WTF?
Battery - "umm, have you had any coding or tuning done to your car?"
I played dumb and asked why. "Well the tech noticed that when he went to lock your car, the mirrors folded in."....and so it began....
after receiving a lecture about coding and performance mods I fired back saying that no performance mods were made as i know that would likely void my warranty should a problem arise as a result and that all i did was unlock an option that already existed on the vehicle.
I was then told that for them to further diagnose my issues with the tapping noise and the battery (which btw they blamed the coding for the battery issues), the cars obd data etc would have to be sent to bmw hq and as a result, my car would likely be flagged and warranty voided!
I told them that was BS (voiding an entire warranty) and that i was on my way to take my car away.
They gave me 2 options - use my app to return the car to stock, however, that would not guarantee that bmw hq would not find out i once had it coded...or pay $500 to have them return car to stock!!
I said 'neither' and took my car.
before i decided to code my car i researched coding etc extensively here on our forum and i cant begin to guess how many times i saw posts asking the age old question, "will coding void my warranty?"...answer was always NO (unless u bricked your car of course). So perhaps im just an idiot but a really didnt think it was going to be such a big deal bringing the car in with a few convenience mods...should i have 'uncoded' the car ahead of time? apparently that would not have mattered though...should i find another mod/code friendly dealer? From what they tell me, its unavoidable to not get flagged if the cars data needs to be transmitted to hq for any warranty work...
Any advice on this you guys can share? |
It sucks to hear your experience with BMW, I also have coding done with Bimmercode and plan on reversing everything before I go in for my next service. I think it's complete BS though, you're not really reprogramming anything, just turning features on or off. So lame for them to find any excuses to get off warranting your car or sucking some more coin from your pockets. Don't want to hear any BS when I go in, so I guess I'll just code away, which is the big plus of owning Bimmercode, before and after my visits.
I do not want to be in there any longer than I have to, or hear anybody's song and dance of what I've done to my car...I always get this dirty feeling in dealerships and want to get the hell out asap.
Plus, once you reverse your coding, there is no way they can tell or prove that anything was tampered with, switch on, switch off, is basically what coding is, so screw there "BMW HQ will flag your car" theory. Thanks for posting!