2016 X5 40e warranty claim for HiVolt battery

[spulukuru]

MY 2016 x5 40e was denied HiVoltage battery service by BMW dealership in Plano, TX as it was out of warranty for driveTrain Malfunction relating to HiVoltage battery. This part though true is only half the story.

I bought the car in 2019 at 28k Miles when it was under full Mfg warranty. I had noticed at the time of purchase from Carmax that i used to get only 7/8 miles on electric when it was supposed to get atleast 10 to 11 or higher. might sound meager but it almost half of the specified 14, Though the specified 14 was a long stretch i wanted to get atleast 10/11 as that's my back and forth commute from home to office. The BMW dealer Tech gave me sermons on how to drive the electric vehicle in ideal operating condition to achieve at 10/11 miles on electric and that there was nothing wrong with the battery. bsically lo AC, no hard breaking, no full throttling, eco pro mode etc. i told him my office is only 5 miles with 10 signals along the way. Anyway I gave up and accepted the issue and was ready to live with it. My first mistake not fighting this at that time. couple of yrs later while still under 8yr/80k warranty the DriveTrain malfunciton started again and this time it was the AC stopping and car getting into limp mode and the usual issue associated with this problem. but it used to go away after a few mins of rest or by next day. Took it 3 to 4 times to dealer wtih this issue adn they kept fixign everything else except the battery. But it kept coming back, this went for almost an yr. i took it to the dealer in the last yr of my warranty atleast 3 times for the same probolem but they always foudn some other issue and fixed that and cleared the codes adn returned the vehicle. They kept telling me that the battery wasn't charging due to these other issues and its all fixed now.
exactly 3 months after the 8yr warranty expires but still under 65k miles. the driveTrain malfunction came again and this time they told me there was nothing the could do adn it was the battery that was malfunctioning and needed a replacement that will cost me $22000.
All along this it was the very same problem they were diagnosing, driveTrain malfunction, except they couldn't diagnose or didn't accept it as a battery issue, but after warranty expired, they convinently repoted battery malfunction for the very same problem, Drivetrain Malfunction. My car is still under carmax warranty but they don't cover any batteries and that was clear from day 1 of their extended warranty. They covered every other mech/ece issues.

Is there any possibility i can fight the dealer or the BMW North America to get this battery replaced without any cost as this was not a problem that started after the warranty expired but was never fixed properly even after repeated complaints for the same issue while the car was still under warranty.

The Dealer's service manager has politely shown me the door and handed out a phone Number for BMW North America and asked me open a case with them while telling me that most probably i will have bear some cost partially and that too if they even approve the replacement as its out of warranty. He kept telling me that they fixed everything that was diagnosed as a driveTrain malfunction according to the codes and the BMW inspection process and that the drivetrain malfunction has many reasons and not necessarily a battery malfuction. Basically a nice F** off.
what are my chances of winning this if i take this to BBB Auto or should i talk to BMW customer service first, will there be a resolution or will i be wasting time. Does BMW really care once the car is out of warranty. The fact remains that the car was taken to the dealer multiple times for the same issue and now warranty expiry deadline is really a reason to deny any claim for an issue was persistent. its not possible that the battery just malfunctioned right outside the warranty the first time.

really Apologize for the long post. any help in this direction is really appreciated. Let me know if anyone ever dealt with the BMW customer service adn how long it took before they even respond.

This car is loaded to the hilt except active stop and go it has every other package that can be bundled into an X5 40e that was there for that model. i hunted a lot before buying this car and really love it except this dreaded issue. Its literally non nunctional with AC stopping. Limp mode is fine in the city but no AC is the killer. I ended up getting stranded on I35s recently when i went on a long drive from Dallas to Austin(3hrs). and the AC turned off in the 100+ weather this last few weeks. and with limp mode on the freeeway. needless to say it was a disaster. the car works fine as long as it does before the malfunction kicks in every few weeks and drives my wife crazy in this hot weather before it cools dn next day.

[Davidcaruso77]

Sorry to hear this. Mine only gets about 10 miles. I asked to have it tested before warranty ends but was told it would cost over $500 just for the test. My next plan is to try to perform it myself at home with ISTA. Not sure if I can do it yet….. $22k quote for replacement makes me sad and want to sell mine.

[samsonx]

A drivetrain malfunction due to the high-voltage battery issue have a cell imbalance seems extremely unlikely to be related.. However a cell being too imbalanced could mean that cell is weaker than the rest in the module and when under high-load could dip on the voltage too much causing the error. Also, the battery will balance itself with the help of the battery management system on-board each module (3 or 4 battery modules I think).

I'm curious if there is a way to run the car on the ICE only disable the HV-powertrain.. could allow yours to still be usable? Since the drivetrain "damage" caused by the HV battery is fixed now?

As for $22k to have the battery replaced that is just crazy! When buying mine I was aware the issue with the older lithium batteries and expected mine was going to go out within a few years and intend/hope that I can do the replacement/re-coding myself..

Originally Posted by Davidcaruso77

Sorry to hear this. Mine only gets about 10 miles. I asked to have it tested before warranty ends but was told it would cost over $500 just for the test. My next plan is to try to perform it myself at home with ISTA. Not sure if I can do it yet….. $22k quote for replacement makes me sad and want to sell mine.

Mine also states it gets only 10-12 miles when fully charged. I'm also looking to run the ISTA+ test for the battery capacity check.. just getting started with my first BMW - only just acquired my 2017 40e on Friday! I'm betting the previous owner did not realize they should be getting minimum 70% range after 8 years. I wish mine got the battery checked before the warrant expired (just a few months ago!)

[timmyc73]

Dealing with the same issue with my daughters '16. Basically got the same run around as the OP and the car was purchased at BMW North Scottsdale. SA is no help and neither was BMWNA. She had this car for just over a year and now she's facing a 25k$ battery? WTF, BMW? That's what she paid for the car?!

I am looking into giving it to a friend in CA to see if they can register it there and utilize the extended warranty for the HV battery. It's really the only option for her. The other option is to trade it in to another dealer, but that's pretty bad Karma. It would likely go straight to auction, but then again, that is the chance you take at auction?

Really sucks for so many e40 owners. She LOVES the car and was devastated to hear the news.

On the other hand, my wife's i3 has been a dream!

Good luck to all of you in the same situation. It really is BS that BMW isn't stepping up, here.