[joezepher]

First time using this forum so Hello everyone and Happy new year!

I brought a six month old 130i m sport two months ago and apart from the over firm ride i love it When picking it up (early evening at main dealer) i noticed the brake calipers and inner hub on disk to be fairly rusty. Couple months down the line and they have got worse! Took to local BMW service but they said they were in good working order but admitted they looked bad. I explained i knew nothing mechanical was wrong, just that they look terrible and not what 30k of car should. They then said for £150-£200 some fresh paint could be applied.

I just got back from a week in France and whilst there i went to French dealer who said in broken English "Its not good" Anybody have any ideas of where i stand? I'm not talking about a small bit of surface rust but something you would see on a 10-12 year old car that spent most its life near the sea.

Other minor complaints; noisey window seals, sticky external door handles and very poor bmw floor mats that are plain dangerous!!

Many thanks Joe.

 

[preppeller]

Hi there!

If you take a look in the bmw problems pages, you will find people talking lots about your minor complaints. As for the bmw floor mats being dangerous - are you sure they are genuine bmw mats? as my ones are fitted bmw ones and they have velcro at the back which hold them in place. You wouldnt even know I had mats unless you looked closely.

Your main problem sounds odd. I have minor rust discolouration on the disk hubs and calipers, as does my dads 5 series, but nothing which looks structual. When the summer months come, I will be getting some silver (or black) hammerite on them. If your dealer is being awkward, you could always call bmw uk customer services for advice.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Ikki]

As we have seen on some of our meets, the rusty hub problem affects some cars and not others. I have little rust on my hubs after two years, but as you are pointing out other cars hubs become very rusty within a short period.

 

[TommyD]

joezepher, Welcome to the 1er community.

I seem to remember this problem discussed a good while back, maybe a forum search might help you. Sorry, i cant remember the outcome.

 

[BMWPulp]

hi

I have exactly the same problem. the "hub" between the alloy and disk brake is rusting quite bad along with some of the calipers.

BMW were not prepared to fix on taking it down for just that one problem, but were prepared to clean them up and spray some protectant on when its in for first service in approx 4000 miles. Im now making a list (gets longer weekly at the moment!) so they can sort it all in one hit.

I think I have attributed to the problem with cleaning my car twice a week. I was using Meguiars Wheel cleaner, which I then found was actually eating away at the lacquer and causing the rust. Have now been using the BMW official wheel cleaner and it is really really good. Leaves the wheels like new, has to be said and it seems to have stopped the rust (guessing because its not acidic).

i did try some rust remover, and it worked for a while, but came back with avengence in this weather - and it was such a hassle to do! I spent £23500 on this car - it does make you wonder!

 

[jonathan.nyp]

Hi, joezepher,

Yep the rust you mention does seem to be a bit much , a little rust on the disc after is been raining is normal. One application of the brakes and its gone normally. I'd take your car to another dealer for a second opinion.

With regards to your door handles, there is a known problem with them sticking , you can book it in with your dealer and they will replace them free of charge or a light application of greese should help.

 

[joezepher]

Dear BMW,

On Oct 26th (2006) I purchased a seven month old BMW 130i M (reg VO06ZPV) from a very helpful Richard at Cotswold Cheltenham BMW.

I remember when picking it up i noticed some rust on the brake calipers and the disk hub itself but was not too bothered and thought it would disappear with some use. Two months down the line and the problem has worsened, The calipers covered in a deep brown rust that just looks terrible. I took the car into my Local Dealer (Holland park, London) and somebody had a quick look and assured me they were in safe working order. I explained this was besides the point and that it looked so bad and added that ive never seen a BMW or any car for that matter less than six/seven years old with same amount of corrosion, the gentleman agreed but ended by saying they could re-paint the brakes and this would cost £150- £200! A good friend of my fathers has a 18 month old 330i which has the same brakes, they still look new. I have just got back from a two week trip around France, whilst over there i visited a French BMW dealer, they looked at my Brakes and in simple English said "Not good"

I spent £22k on this car and believe its worth every penny, i smile each and every time i drive it. When i give it a good clean all that stands out is the brown tint behind the spokes of the wheels, its only 9 months old and done 10k miles. Even people like my mother who has no idea about cars ask me "why do the brakes look rusty?"

I do hope something can be done to help solve this problem.

Regards Joe Achilles.

I got this reply, :?

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: FW: CASE 102026 Rusty Calipers.
Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2007 15:47:10 -0000

Dear Mr Achilles

Thank you for your email received January 4, 2006.

We are sorry to hear of the situation with the callipers and hubs on your BMW 130. We would like to apologise for any concerns this may be causing you.

We can confirm that corrosion is cosmetic and does not effect the functionality. The corrosion is caused by external influences such as salt on the roads and the use of non approved cleaning agents. As the hubs and callipers on your vehicle are exposed due to the alloy wheel it means that the rust is more visible than on other vehicles.

As the rust is due to external influences and not due to any manufacturing defect we are not able to offer a contribution towards the cost the brakes being re painted.

We are sorry you have had cause to contact us under these circumstances and trust you will understand out position on the matter.

Yours sincerely

Joanne Grierson
Customer Service Executive

BMW Group UK
Ellesfield Avenue
Bracknell RG12 8TA
Tel: 0870 5050160
Fax: 0870 5050205

Do BMW care what its customers think? I sent this letter back this evening.

Dear Joanne,

I'm sorry to hear your unable to help me with my problems. As mentioned in original e mail i'm fully aware this is a cosmetic matter, but you expect a 30 grand car to look good after 5-6 years were talking 9 months! External influences such as salt on the road is something parts like these should be designed to cope with. In terms of cleaning products i only hose/sponge wash the car and use BMW wheel cleaner, it was BMW owned before me. The fact that my Calipers/hubs appear to have more corrosion has nothing to do with size and open space on alloys.

I have shown the brakes to my Local Garage (non BMW) who Totally agrees with me and actually reckons they were never painted/lacquered in the first place. I have attached some photos i took over the weekend.

I strongly suggest BMW start using decent paint on components exposed to the elements, take a look at VWs Golf GT, GTi and esp R32 Brake calipers.

I find it hard to reason why BMW wont spend £20 on paint and a bit of time to please a customer. I'm Most un happy.

Yours sincerely

Joe Achilles.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[rsmallwo]

good work joe

I bought my 130i in very similar circumstances and it was as you describe. I managed to get the stealer to do the hubs and calipers as part of the deal but 3 months on i can see rust starting to come back but no where near as bad.

Be good if you can get them to admit some sort of design flaw, you are completely correct in what you say, should be ok for 3 yrs at least. if the paint work corruded then you'd get a respray, the design of the wheels means they will be looked at, their response is a cop out, you can see where their coming from but if the wheels AREN'T designed to be "looked" at in admiration then no need to worry about rust but the wheels on that model are designed to be looked at.

You could try making something up such as "I went to a Fiat dealership and they have similar problems with some hubs, they will respray them upto 2 times in warrenty period. bullcrap but if fiat "do it" why don't BMW.

Good luck

 

[joezepher]

Cheers everyone,

Sorry but glad to hear other people have suffered the same problems as me Will Post BMWs reply, if i get another one that is...

 

[rsmallwo]

I'm onto BMW now about this problem, customer services say as has been said above about external factors but i point out that its a design flaw, they should have been painted with something from the factory to stop this happening. Its now with the dealer who sold it me as they have already painted them once. I see this going no-where

I am going to point out that VW don't have this problem

 

[rsmallwo]

I'm onto BMW now about this problem, customer services say as has been said above about external factors but i point out that its a design flaw, they should have been painted with something from the factory to stop this happening. Its now with the dealer who sold it me as they have already painted them once. I see this going no-where

I also mentioned that it was no-where in the brochure that the hubs would rust in certain environmental conditions an it wasn't said to me by the stealer either.

I am going to point out that VW don't have this problem as also mentioned.

Has anyone else got anywhere with this issue?

 

[gmcelroy]

Hi rsmallwo,

I've just got a facelift 120i M Sport and I was quite surprised to notice that it looks like BMW have started painting/treating both the Hubs and Calipers on the facelift model. The calipers themselves seem to have a clear lacquer on them and the hubs a silver paint. I was quite impressed to see this I'd the front hubs on a neighbor's brand new 3 series coupe and they were already developing significant rust (and the car was only 2 weeks old ). So it may be worth looking at the hubs/calipers of a facelift car at your local dealer to see if they have perhaps changed the design as this may strengthen your argument.

Regards, Graham.

 

[rsmallwo]

Thx for that Graham

 

[joezepher]

Yeah cheers for replys guys, please let me know what happens with your dealer (who are they by the way?) Also will keep an eye out for the new 1 series and see if i can spot paint on the calipers etc...

Also just posted something about my external door handles, thats the kind of dealer i have to deal with, check it out....

Cheers Joe

 

[rsmallwo]

BMW Hull Stratstone

 

[graham]

I am now in the same boat as you guys although the dealer that I bought the car from is 'looking into it'.

My local dealer said it was not a warranty issue and therefore they can't do anything.

This is NOT acceptable and we should lobby for replacement of the parts with new parts.

Especially now that they have developed the design so as to eleviate what they consider to not be a problem!

I have asked Blue Bell to contact BMW and complain on my behalf otherwise they can have the car back!

Graham

 

[rsmallwo]

I sent this email to bmw, address given to me by bmw germany for their customers services '[email protected]'

"Hello

I would like to make a complaint regarding a certain aspect of the car I have bought from BMW.

My car is a 130i M Sport, UK Reg VN55 ***

The problem I have is that the Hubs and Callipers on my car corrode very easily, after only a few months use they look as if they are years old. Having mentioned this to my purchasing dealer, my local dealer and BMW Customer Services UK they all give me the following excuse that because these parts corrode due to external factors they are not covered under warranty.

The issue that I have is that the model of car has large alloy wheels that are designed to be a focal point of anyone's attention when they look at the car, further more they are of a 5 spoke design which thus reveals all the workings of the brake system etc, this is the way the car is designed to look. However it looks very bad to see excessive amounts of corrosion on the hubs and callipers because the design of the car means that you look at these areas alot more than you normally would. I feel that the hubs and callipers should have been painted or treated better when they left the factory to stop this occurring at least in the warranty period. You don't pay the premium I've paid to have a car that essentially rusts, it looks really bad.

I would like BMW to make me a happy customer and rectify this issue in some way, I'm not asking for everything to be replaced, just something to be done to remove the rust and stop it returning in the rest of my warranty period (18 months).

If I had been informed in a brochure or by the dealer that this problem would occur and BMW would not fix it then I would be more understanding of the problem and take it as a consequence of owning such alloy wheels but it was never mentioned to me that my hubs and callipers would rust so easily. Maybe they shouldn't and there is actually a fault with these hubs and callipers, I don't know.

I've bought this car based on the BMW reputation for quality, I've paid a premium for that quality. A car that rusts so visibly (the key word here is visibly) is not a sign of quality.

Thank You for looking into my complaint.

Richard S******"

Haven't had a reply yet.........sent last week 24th April

 

[graham]

Blue Bell can do nothing apart from clean them up (which I may as well do myself), they have been quite good about it but say that if they fit new calipers they will just rust again.

I cannot fault them as a dealer.

I don't really feel like giving the car back as it is a good spec, so I will contact BMW in Germany to complain.

If I get nowhere I will clean and lacquer them myself.

By the way, it appears that upon closer inspection they are not coated with anything at all from factory which is just not on.

They are also not the same as on a three series which is interesting!

Graham

Graham

 

[rsmallwo]

BMW responded with this: (from bmw uk not germany so they just forwarded the email on)

Dear Mr Sm*****

Thank you for your email dated May 08, 2007 regarding your BMW 1 series.
I would like to apologise that you did not receive a response to your
previous email.

I can advise that we have looked into this matter and have discussed
this with Cotswold Hereford. I can confirm that as corrosion is caused
by external influences, rather than a manufacturing defect, this will
not be covered under the warranty.

Corrosion is caused by a number of external factors including stone chip
damage, salt and grit used on British roads and the use of non approved
cleaning agents. Surface corrosion occurs naturally on the brake discs
and hubs, however, it is usually removed and worn away by normal driving
and brake usage. In instances where the vehicle is left undriven for a
period of time, corrosion can excessively build up and maybe become too
substantial to be removed by normal driving.

I understand that Cotswold Hereford and three of my colleagues have
stated that this will not be covered under the warranty.

I am sorry that you have had further cause to contact us and trust that
you understand our final position on this matter.

Yours sincerely

BMW Group UK
Diva Renton-Roderix
Customer Service Executive
Ellesfield Avenue
Bracknell RG12 8TA
Tel: 0870 5050 160
Fax: 0870 5050 205
Mail: [email protected]
URL:

http://www.bmw.co.uk

 

[rsmallwo]

I've replied with this:

I am astounded by this response.

If you actually read my email i am making a complaint against the design of my car. If anyone with an ounce of common sense when designing the car had thought that the 130i m sport would suffer from alot of corrosion due to the wheel design then lets treat the hubs and callipers with a high temperature paint/rust resistant paint rather than not doing anything which is the case in this matter.

None of your competitors suffer from such an affliction, I've looked at VW R32's driven in my area under the same conditions of wear and tear and there is no rusting on their hubs or callipers what so ever.

I know, that BMW know about this problem because on the facelift 1 Series there is a lacquer coating on hubs to stop them prematurely rusting. This is what should have been put on my car but no-one thought to do so.

Obviously BMW do not care for my custom that much as you can't even be reasonable with me and offer to help out on this occasion, so be it.

I will proceed to tell fellow BMW 1 Series owners of these problems via this website:

http://www.babybmw.net/portal.php

Thanks for nothing

R**** Sm*****