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2010 2011 BMW 5 Series Forum F10 BMW 5-Series (F10) Forums Regional Forums UK Stuck on a round about for 5 hours!
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      08-04-2011, 06:20 AM   #1
rory1968
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Thumbs down Stuck on a round about for 5 hours!

I have a 520D SE with sports auto with just over 8K on the clock. The other evening as I was exiting a round about;the car cut out (fuel sensor failure). The BIG issue was you cannot engage Neutral unless the car engine is running. BMW assist would not send a technician as it was 21:30hrs.They are able to jack the car up and disengage the gearbox.
BMW assist sent a recovery driver who did not have any "skates" to put the rear wheels on ,so,as to move the car safely.They offered to drag the car onto the back of a flat bed lorry as long as I took responsibilty for any damage done! Don't think so. Well to cut a long story short BMW left me stranded blocking road junction. The Police asked me twice to get the car moved,so,in the end I had to get the AA out to move the car. They did not have the right equipment either,but,at 02:30hrs in the morning and the Police saying they will have it dragged and charge me for storage I was left with no choice but to have the AA move the car with in adequate equipment.
I complained to BMW and they have informed me that a mix up had happened. If you use BMW assist then they will pay for any damage there recovery people cause,but,not if you use another recovery service.
Have been told by the Police and the various recovery drivers that this appears to be happening more regularly. Love the car,not so sure BMW can use the term "emergency Service".
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      08-04-2011, 06:42 AM   #2
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That's disgraceful. I've never had any issues with emergency assist on the two occasions I have used them (in >10 years ownership) but that's a terrible story.
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      08-04-2011, 07:03 AM   #3
rory1968
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I was not impressed to say the least,but,thankfully I did not go mad with them at the time (did not want to create an excuse for them).I eventually managed to speak with a manager at BMW Assist last night. I asked him to listen to the the call that took place with the call handler before coming up with a load of "reasonable" reasons as to what went wrong. He rang back an hour later admitting that they had not got it right,but,tried to blame the recovery guy for most of it. I asked him why BMW did not talk to me at the scene after she told the recovery guy to leave? And if she had raised the problem to her manager after the call why they never rang me back to check if I was OK. It just drives me mad when they go all round the house as to what went rang,but,fail to fully acknowledge what part they played. The company I work for has just awarded BMW with one of the biggest contracts in the UK,so,I would have thought the service should have been spot on.
I have since contacted our procurement department recommending that the F10 Auto should be removed from the list on safety grounds and replace it with the new A6.If this was a lone female..............................
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      08-04-2011, 08:22 AM   #4
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Others, including myself, have discussed this issue previously and I also raised it as a matter of concern with my dealer.
On earlier F10's you could unlock the gearbox by inserting a special tool under the central cup holder, but this feature has subsequently been moved to underneath the car.
I'm reliably informed that, provided you have electrical power and the starter motor is functioning, you can select neutral by moving the shift lever whilst cranking the engine.
Atrocious service from BMW and it doesn't exactly inspire any confidence.
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      08-04-2011, 08:27 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rory1968 View Post
I have a 520D SE with sports auto with just over 8K on the clock. The other evening as I was exiting a round about;the car cut out (fuel sensor failure). The BIG issue was you cannot engage Neutral unless the car engine is running. BMW assist would not send a technician as it was 21:30hrs.They are able to jack the car up and disengage the gearbox.
BMW assist sent a recovery driver who did not have any "skates" to put the rear wheels on ,so,as to move the car safely.They offered to drag the car onto the back of a flat bed lorry as long as I took responsibilty for any damage done! Don't think so. Well to cut a long story short BMW left me stranded blocking road junction. The Police asked me twice to get the car moved,so,in the end I had to get the AA out to move the car. They did not have the right equipment either,but,at 02:30hrs in the morning and the Police saying they will have it dragged and charge me for storage I was left with no choice but to have the AA move the car with in adequate equipment.
I complained to BMW and they have informed me that a mix up had happened. If you use BMW assist then they will pay for any damage there recovery people cause,but,not if you use another recovery service.
Have been told by the Police and the various recovery drivers that this appears to be happening more regularly. Love the car,not so sure BMW can use the term "emergency Service".
Interesting story ....... Out of interest how many times did you speak to BMW Assist in the 5 hours ? ...... did you speak while the recovery driver was there telling you it was your responsibility ?

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      08-04-2011, 11:39 AM   #6
rory1968
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Unfortunately you can only select neutral when the engine is running. BMW tech told me that they have raised it with BMW as having to jack car up and disengage gears from underneath was not good enough.as for BMW assist they left at 22:30hrs to sort myself out. Heard her on the recovery drivers phone say leave the scene!
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      08-04-2011, 03:20 PM   #7
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Slap it all over the internet, thats what I will do if they drop me in it.
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      08-04-2011, 03:56 PM   #8
rory1968
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Spoke with dealer this evening,they only started working on car at lunchtime,but,cannot start car. The service guy said they just don't know whats gone wrong with the car. As for gearbox;he confirmed that you can only select neutral when the engine is running or from underneath the car. I was told that I would get a 3 series equivalent car while mine was been fixed. This has turned out to be a Peugeot 3008! Not impressed as I do anywhere between 800 and 1500 miles per week!Need to get this sorted ASAP
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      08-04-2011, 05:51 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rory1968 View Post
Unfortunately you can only select neutral when the engine is running. BMW tech told me that they have raised it with BMW as having to jack car up and disengage gears from underneath was not good enough.as for BMW assist they left at 22:30hrs to sort myself out. Heard her on the recovery drivers phone say leave the scene!
FYI I append salient points extracted from an instruction issued by BMW Germany, entitled "Automatic Transmission Emergency Release"
1. Activate ignition
2. Press brake pedal
3. Press start/stop button
4. As soon as engine is cranking, press unlock button on gear selector and move it forwards to position N. Continue to hold the gearshift in this position until the alert gong sounds and you see the message "Gearbox Dysfunction" - now release the gearshift lever.
5. Reselect gear position N within 6 sec
6. N is then displayed on the instrument panel
7. Keep brake pedal depressed until engine stops cranking (presumably you press the stop/start button to stop the starter motor at this point)
8. The ignition must remain activated in order to maintain N, once it is switched off the transmission will revert to P.
I did not get this from my dealer, but from a very reliable source and it is an official BMW publication; therefore, I'm somewhat surprised to hear that your dealer is unfamiliar with the procedure.

Last edited by Jon D; 08-04-2011 at 06:32 PM..
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      08-05-2011, 03:07 AM   #10
rory1968
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I was looking on the web for such a solution while I waited.I thought as everything is software managed there should be a system like you discribed. I asked the BMW (mondial)if there was such a procedure yesterday and he said you have to jack the car and manually disengage the gear box. Shame I can't try the above,but,I have saved it to my phone in case this happens again..! Let's hope not.
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      08-10-2011, 06:32 AM   #11
rory1968
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon D View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by rory1968 View Post
Unfortunately you can only select neutral when the engine is running. BMW tech told me that they have raised it with BMW as having to jack car up and disengage gears from underneath was not good enough.as for BMW assist they left at 22:30hrs to sort myself out. Heard her on the recovery drivers phone say leave the scene!
FYI I append salient points extracted from an instruction issued by BMW Germany, entitled "Automatic Transmission Emergency Release"
1. Activate ignition
2. Press brake pedal
3. Press start/stop button
4. As soon as engine is cranking, press unlock button on gear selector and move it forwards to position N. Continue to hold the gearshift in this position until the alert gong sounds and you see the message "Gearbox Dysfunction" - now release the gearshift lever.
5. Reselect gear position N within 6 sec
6. N is then displayed on the instrument panel
7. Keep brake pedal depressed until engine stops cranking (presumably you press the stop/start button to stop the starter motor at this point)
8. The ignition must remain activated in order to maintain N, once it is switched off the transmission will revert to P.
I did not get this from my dealer, but from a very reliable source and it is an official BMW publication; therefore, I'm somewhat surprised to hear that your dealer is unfamiliar with the procedure.
Well I picked the car up yesterday and it's all fixed. They had to replace the high pressure fuel pump. With regard to the above procedure for getting car into neutral....Mondial tech said no! But BMW tech left his training manual in the car and it the above procedure is in his training manual. Just need to drop manual back at some stage...it's only the section on transmissions and pretty detailed.
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      08-10-2011, 07:13 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rory1968 View Post
...BMW tech left his training manual in the car...
I reckon I wouldn't be returning that before I'd had a good read of it and copied anything of particular interest
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      12-25-2011, 09:29 AM   #13
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My car (F10) went over a stone and the AT got damaged. This was in India and the service network is very limited. My car was stuck on the road for 16 hours before a BMW mechanic could come and disengage the gearbox. This happened in a remote place that was 5-6 hrs drive from the nearest city.

First 7+ hours were spent by Mondial in sending the tow truck to the spot and trying in vain to move the car into N and put it on tow truck, then they had to bring in a BMW mechanic to get underneath to disengage the gearbox which took another 8+ hours.

I am afraid the above procedure may not have worked in my case because the engine was OK, it was the transmission that died in P and refused to get into N. Unfortunately, BMW doesn't give us an MT option here.
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