Wifey got a letter in the mail for a class action lawsuit against BMW for the infamous HPFP failures in the N54 engine (perhaps the N55 is included), and this is what they're offering:

All costs relating to pump failure +
1 pump replacement - $50
2 pump replacements - $100
3 pump replacements - $150
4 pump replacements - $200

Guess we'll be getting a $100 + out of pocket expenses for our troubles. I would tell them to shove it since my time is worth way more than that (how do you put a dollar figure on limping the car home to LA from Vegas), but maybe something is better than nothing.

What I am uncertain of, however, is if this precludes me from lemoning the car. Wife has 1 more year on the lease and I want to keep the option of lemoning the car if it fails one more time...

Any thoughts?

 

are they serious? so if you have one failure, they will offer you a $50 check? that sounds almost insulting...

 

Owners get chump change and the lawyers will get millions.

 

What a joke, right? I would rather pay $50 to have some exec at BMW call me and apologize for the trouble, maybe offer me some movie tickets or a t-shirt. lol.

Way of the world my friend, way of the world.

 

Damn Mike that sucks goat *****.

Of course internet is keeping this hush hush I didn't even know about this.

 

The HPFP on my 535i has been treating me nice, I would like to keep it that way lol.

 

You can opt out of this (of course) and handle it with a lemon lawyer couldn't you?

My neighbor had his 335i lemoned and bmw paid him back the whole amount. I don't think he went with a lemon-lawyer.

pretty much

refer back to the lady who opt out of the class action suit and sued honda herself in small claims for false mpg

 

I was just gonna say the same thing, that lady opt out and sued Honda, she got a settlement of $9500 from Honda.

I got a friend got all his money back from his lemoned Z4 3.0is also, he drove it for 2 years 15k miles. Makes me want a BMW, a free luxury car is worth the hassles of going to the dealer every week The best car in life is free

 

I wonder if the HPFP is made by Bosch? Their HPFP common rail fuel pump for diesel applications has been failing quite often. This pump is used by the Ford Powerstroke, Chevy Duramax, Dodge Cummins, and the Volkswagen TDI. the NHTSA is looking into it right now. It seems that the pumps are designed to operate within a certain cetane range(cetane being the equivalent measurement to octane for diesels). The intended cetane level is only available in Europe. Almost all diesel fuel available in North America fails to meet the requirements of the pump.

 

Maybe because I've got the only lemon.

Wifey: "Perhaps we can trade it for another bimmer?"
Me: "Yes, the BMW Toyota Sienna."
Wifey:
Me: "Alright, maybe an M3."

It's a 2010 335i with the M sport package, and it's caused me more headaches than any other car I've owned, and that includes all the crappy cars I beat on and neglected when I was young. That stupid car makes me heart JDM even more.

Wait, you get all your money back? Why didn't anyone tell me this before? I thought they just give you FMV or give you another of the same vehicle.

And what if it's a lease?

 

When I had my '09 335i and was on the BMW forums,the rumor was that BMW has tried pumps from Bosch,Siemens and a third company.
No fix so they bumped the warranty on the fuel pump to 10/120.BFD!
Awful feeling knowing that your BMW could go into limp mode or die at any time.

 

Exactly. I had same thing with my '09 335i. First failure within 6 weeks after delivery, took a few days for them to obtain a replacement, but it was actually a rebuild that was installed. The next failure, same thing, but they were prepared with the parts and I was in/out same day, and then received a letter from BMW NA a few weeks later with 10 year warranty on the HPFP. Then last year, I received an official recall notice from BMW on the HPFP, took it in, and the HPFP was replaced again along with several other related parts. While the drive was the best, I couldn't take the lack of reliability, related service issues and lack of customer focus, so sold my first and last German car this past Fall along with all the service records. Like a couple other posters it appears, I became paranoid I'd get stuck on the 15 in the middle of the desert or have to deal with limp mode when I was too far away from home.

When I received my letter referenced by the OP, I made such a deep sigh that my dog came in looking to see what was wrong with me. I won't be submitting the paperwork for $150 and tossed the letter out a while back. One needs evidence and dates of service to submit the claim, and I'm not going back to the new owner of the vehicle to dredge up all that history. Too this day, every time I read about BMW gaining in sales and see new Bimmers on the road, I think about my poor experience, and am just glad to be back to a Lexus-only stable in my garage once again -- where IMHO reliability and service matter. It's amazing how people continue to buy cars based on image and "the drive", but apparently not prioritize reliability and longer-term cost of ownership in their decision as highly as I do. I made a costly mistake that I won't make again.

 

This made me lol.

So the notice says that in order to exclude myself from the class action lawsuit, I need to submit something in writing prior to Feb. 6th. The letter didn't come until a week after that date. Low and behold, no postmark on their envelope either. Sons of batches...

I will still try to opt out just in case it fails and I want to lemon the vehicle. Within the first year, I have had two replacement pumps installed. It wasn't easy dealing with the dealership either; I was turned away a couple times after the car went into limp mode because the dealership claimed they couldn't duplicate the problem. So after that, I took pictures of the dash on at least 4 separate occasions showing it was in limp mode on various days and at various mileage as proof. After showing them the pictures, they finally replaced it with the pump that is currently in the vehicle.

I'd like to hear more from anyone who has lemoned their 335i, so if anyone has done so, please post!

 

Try a bimmer forum

 

Mike, if you're still interested, I'll ask my neighbor for the full info and how he got it lemoned

Will they actually admit their car is problematic or say it's "worth the ownership" ?.

Not trying to start anything, but a lot of people love their bmw so much they'll put up with it. Some will say it's only an internet myth, a unicorn .........like a 2nd gen nsx