I thought I’d share my story from this weekend.
So I was on my way home, and as is becoming tradition for my Friday night commute, it was time to flick it into sport mode.
There I was merrily accelerating, on my way to pick up my girlfriend then head down the motorway for a weekend away. The phone rang. The thumping bass died down as the Bluetooth hands free took over the stereo. Then I noticed a ticking sound coming from the engine.
After hanging up the call, I turned the stereo down. I thought maybe a stone chip had got in there somehow, but then I noticed the more I accelerated, the louder the ticking got, and when I coasted, it died down.
Immediately I assumed the worst, I got home, and got BMW emergency services on the line. It took them about an hour to come out. They removed the tupperware plastic from the engine bay, then took a sharp intake of breath, you know the way a boiler engineer does when the take the cover off for your annual maintenance and suddenly find it needs a “part”.
The engine belt had begun to disintegrate!
Now aside from my Friday night adventures, I don’t drive it hard, and I’ve only covered 2500 miles so far, so this must be a problem at manufacture.
Anyway, they drove it away and arranged for a hire car.
2 hours later, the hire car turns up, an X5 xDrive 30d M-Sport, with all the optional equipment you can think of! We arrived at our Hotel at 1am, 4 hours late, but with a 55k monster rather than my 1er.
I’ve spoken to BMW this morning and my F20 will be ready tomorrow, new belt had to be ordered in.
I have to say the X5 isn’t my cup of tea and I’m looking forward to getting my car back. Having said that, there are a few items of equipment I loved and may have to put on the shopping list for next time! Full media package, heated leather seats and parking cameras might well get ticked next time.