THE BMW ActiveE FORUM

[HenryE]

I've had my Active E for a little over a month and 1300+ miles. It's been so much fun!! Yesterday I received an email from the Niello BMW service department telling me "YOUR BMW TOLD US: IT'S TIME TO COME IN." Apparently the car contacted Niello BMW to inform them that something isn't right. I've never owned a BMW before.......is this typical of other BMW's or just the Active E. I'm not sure how I feel about "my" car talking to someone without me knowing about it (but then it is only a lease). I tried to attach a pdf of the email but it's too big so here is the text:


YOUR BMW TOLD US: IT'S TIME TO COME IN.

Dear Henry:

Your 2011 ActiveE has indicated that you need to schedule a service appointment for the following service(s):
• Vehicle check

You may not have noticed it requires attention - fortunately, your BMW knows exactly when the time is right. Thanks to BMW TeleService, an intelligent onboard system, your vehicle automatically alerts Niello BMW Sacramento with information about its maintenance needs.

As always, you can rest assured that our BMW trained technicians are prepared to keep your vehicle at peak performance, using the latest tools and equipment and only Original BMW parts.

Don't wait - schedule your appointment now by clicking on the link to the right, calling (916) 486-1011, or visiting http://bmw.niello.com/.

Let us help you get the most out of every mile.

[wchung1]

Happened to me a few days. I just passed 1,300 miles. I agree with you. It is a little bit of a nuisance. However, it is a trial car. I believe this a part of the process.

What do others think?

[dennis]

This is normal on newer BMWs. My 2008 328i did this as well...

Dennis

[pahlemann]

Henry, did there not come on when you started the car for a short second the message Service on your screen and a 5000 miles or 05/2012 below that?
Peter

[MBCA]

I got a call from my dealership saying they thought I was at 4,000 miles and needed to come in for service. They said to disregard when I told them I am still under 1000 miles having taken delivery only last month. The next day my car started displaying a service light so I called, told them my mileage and they said you must have an Active E and this time I was told the Active E is supposed to have service at 1000? Not consistent with other information I have seen but I am taking it in anyway.

[eec007]

I just took my car in for service today at 1600 miles...it's a service interval that my dealership wanted.

Anyhow, they are keeping my car over the weekend because I reported a few issues:
1. Regenerative braking comes on and off when going over a road with dips, if fast enough I can cause battery and steering column lights/errors to appear. Unfortunately this is a near daily experience for me since my commute has a road with just the right dips/waves in it.
2. Got the dreaded red drivetrain light once in the past month.
3. USB External Device starts music from the beginning of the USB stick upon start of car, not from where it last left off.

Apparently the dealership only downloads the data, sends to BMW NA and waits for a response?

The good news is that my loaner car is a BMW Z4, my realistic dream car. Embarrassingly, it took my a good 15 minutes to figure out how the top goes down today at lunch.

[HenryE]

Originally Posted by pahlemann

Henry, did there not come on when you started the car for a short second the message Service on your screen and a 5000 miles or 05/2012 below that?
Peter

Peter,
When I turn the car on the "car icon" appears briefly outlined in yellow, along with the message "Service mls 3700." Maybe my Active E sent a message to BMW a bit early and that generated the email asking me to bring the car in.

[z3scot]

The same thing has happened to me. My car has 2020 miles on it and I have had it almost 7 weeks. The service light was lit, which is both mileage and time based. The time was set for 5/12 and had expired even though I had 3000 miles left.

I took it in anyway and ask my Service Adviser why the time interval was so short. He contacted BMW, who said the interval was set to the time it left the factory, not on when I took delivery.

I'll bet there will be a lot of AEs showing up at the dealers for service this month.

Scott

[ydoc]

Originally Posted by z3scot

The same thing has happened to me. My car has 2020 miles on it and I have had it almost 7 weeks. The service light was lit, which is both mileage and time based. The time was set for 5/12 and had expired even though I had 3000 miles left.

I took it in anyway and ask my Service Adviser why the time interval was so short. He contacted BMW, who said the interval was set to the time it left the factory, not on when I took delivery.

I'll bet there will be a lot of AEs showing up at the dealers for service this month.

Scott

z3scot,

Did they service your ActiveE or send you away to come back later?

[eec007]

Anyone else take their working ActiveE in for service and have it turn into a several day ordeal? It seems that the dealerships need to wait for BMW NA to respond with action items and these responses only come once a day. I'm hoping the BMW NA can respond faster or have a set of procedures that should be done initially. Apparently my car needs to be fully charged by the dealership, then a start/stop 20 times. That means another day without my ActiveE. The Z4 loaner was fun for the weekend, but I'm really missing the regen and full torque now.