12-14-2022, 04:06 AM | #1 |
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BMW made my car illegal
Heads up to anyone importing a BMW to Portugal, I went through a lengthy process to convert my US BMW X1 to meet Portugal specs. It included getting new tail lights, a switch for the rear fog lights and getting the teil lights reprogrammed to be amber. The cost was pretty significant but in the end my car passed inspection. The only issue was that I needed to get BMW to certify the engine number. So I took my car to Caetano Bavaria and while it was there they reset the vehicle to the original values meaning that it was back to miles, no rear fog light and red rather than amber turn signals. Several days later I noticed the red turn signals. I raised the issue to BMW and they acknowledged that they did it and said that they would do it any time a vehicle is serviced. If they do not correct the problem I will be filing a criminal complaint
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12-14-2022, 07:05 AM | #3 |
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I wasn't expecting it to be easy but once I passed the Portuguese IMT Inspection I did not expect BMW to tamper with my car without my permission. They do not own the car so they had no right to make an unsolicited modification to my car
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12-14-2022, 08:57 AM | #5 |
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What is important is that they did some service OP did not ask them to. BMW has nothing to do with that. Any software updates done automatically through BMW dealership will set the car to US spec by the vin number associated with the vehicle. It’s the dealership that is responsible for that.
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12-14-2022, 10:37 AM | #8 | |
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If he already had car in the US and was moving it was probably much cheaper to just ship it than to sell it here and buy a X1 there |
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12-14-2022, 10:40 AM | #9 |
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I'm aware generally how much more cars cost in Europe (and the rest of the world). My brother lives in Australia (and now is Australian) and it's insane what they cost there. However, in leaving the US, that would be a consideration you'd think you'd take into account. I wouldn't expect to be able to take my car with me and have anything close to a smooth transition - unless it were to a second or third world country where nobody would care if it met the regulations. That would, of course, negate even taking the car.
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12-14-2022, 11:02 AM | #10 |
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You guys are missing the point…
Guy took his car to the dealer and the dealer performed a software update on the modules, resetting the coding to the original one per VIN as stated above. Happens to all of us every single time we take our cars to the dealer… but we don’t come here to post it with a sensationalist title… lol OP, just recode the car and next time save the settings so you can reapply them when you update the software again. |
12-14-2022, 03:10 PM | #11 | |
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12-14-2022, 03:11 PM | #12 | |
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12-14-2022, 03:26 PM | #13 |
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I think BMW also has really good lawyers on payroll who will suck the OP's bank account dry if he hires an attorney to try and sue them. But hey, it's worth a Boy Scout try.
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12-14-2022, 04:51 PM | #14 | |
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You guys enjoy that lol cheers |
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12-14-2022, 05:23 PM | #15 | |
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Is this part of the issue? |
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12-15-2022, 06:56 AM | #16 | |
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If they plugged in a diagnostic tool to read engine numbers or whatever, there’s every chance it flagged a coding anomaly that the system resolved. |
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12-15-2022, 09:29 AM | #17 | |
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Getting a Certificate of Conformity, (if that is what is necessary by involving BMW) may be needing 'corrections' for the VIN number. |
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12-15-2022, 10:38 AM | #18 |
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Not sure if they have the same systems Portugal but the dealerships I been to in the USA get the car information from the key fob.
I think this was an honest mistake and BMW stated that they will fix it when the car back in foe services so not sure why the OP is so upset. Bring the car back in if you want them to correct the mistake right away. |
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12-15-2022, 12:07 PM | #19 |
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The guy who coded your car did a bad job - should have changed the FA to make changes permanent. But go ahead and blame BMW instead.
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