[EndoViper]

Only had the car a couple of weeks but was on a pretty empty motorway last week so decided to try the Driving Assistance Professional feature...pressed the button on the steering wheel and the lane symbol came on in the digital dash but a message came up on the iDrive screen saying 'Driving Assistance Reduced Functionality'...or something to that effect.

I thought I may not have set it up correctly so just ignored it and made a note to look at the settings later. Did that when I got home and everything seemed ok though.

Tried it again yesterday on the Motorway and in a traffic jam close to home and, both times, it worked perfectly (even though the feeling was a bit strange I have to say!).

Then, tried it again today with my partner in the car as she had not seen it and I got the error message again. This time I opened up the 'affected systems' and it said 'steering functions not available'.


Has anyone else had this? Is there a certain criteria to be able to use it or something in the settings I have got that is causing it...or is this an actual fault I need to get the dealer to look at?

[The shadow]

What definitely brings up this error message is if the traffic light option is ticked in driver assistance settings as I have tried it on and off , even though it’s not for uk it still can be ticked

[RedJon]

mine works really well, not had this error. Drove from leaving Spa to Tunbridge wells recently, it was on most of the way, just turned off for junctions

[EndoViper]

Well, I tried it again yesterday. Conditions, time, lighting, traffic etc. were all pretty much identical and it was on the exact same two stretches of road...one an A road and the other on the Motorway.

This time it worked perfectly again and didn't throw any error messages up.

So, I am going to turn off the traffic light detection as suggested and try it a few times but, honestly, I doubt that is the issue as the error messages was around steering. Suppose it's going to be one of those that I will need to monitor and then, potentially, get booked in at the dealers to look at.

[the_ape]

You can code the traffic lights on if you want (see they other thread on this)

But no, never had a warning about steering, possibly to do with the sensor for detecting you have hands on the wheel?

[EndoViper]

Originally Posted by the_ape

You can code the traffic lights on if you want (see they other thread on this)

But no, never had a warning about steering, possibly to do with the sensor for detecting you have hands on the wheel?

Don't think it's that as I had both hands on the wheel on both occasions this has happened.

I am not sure, but I think there may be an issue with the actual steering wheel or a sensor associated with it. I tried switching on the heated steering wheel function yesterday and didn't get the message to say it was on in the instrument cluster. I can use the BMW voice assistant to tell it to switch the heated steering wheel on, and she confirms this has been done, but the wheel does not warm up.

I also have it set to come on with pre conditioning and it has definitely worked as it has felt warm when I got in on one occasion and I switched it off using the button and got the message on the instrument cluster screen to say it was deactivated.

[EndoViper]

Been a while since I posted on here, but the car finally went into the local BMW dealer today for this issue to be looked at. This has been booked since late November and they couldn't get it in until now

Anyway, had a call to say that they have traced the issue around the Assisted Driving function and the heated steering wheel not activating down to an incorrectly fitted steering wheel wiring loom.

Unfortunately, the loom is now damaged due to being incorrectly fitted and they have had to order one...which won't arrive for, at least, 4-5 days. It will then take 1-2 days to fit and test.

The car has no steering wheel on at the moment and parts of the dash missing so we can't have it back either. We were given a courtesy car this morning (X3 3.0D M-Sport) but have now been told it needs to be back before 6pm this evening so they are arranging a hire car for us for the next 12 days !!!...a X5 45e. Was put through to the hire company and asked if they had any pure electric but they didn't

So, after three Months in the iX3, looks like we are back to driving an X5 again...for now anyway.

[Imspartacus123]

Originally Posted by EndoViper

Been a while since I posted on here, but the car finally went into the local BMW dealer today for this issue to be looked at. This has been booked since late November and they couldn't get it in until now

Anyway, had a call to say that they have traced the issue around the Assisted Driving function and the heated steering wheel not activating down to an incorrectly fitted steering wheel wiring loom.

Unfortunately, the loom is now damaged due to being incorrectly fitted and they have had to order one...which won't arrive for, at least, 4-5 days. It will then take 1-2 days to fit and test.

The car has no steering wheel on at the moment and parts of the dash missing so we can't have it back either. We were given a courtesy car this morning (X3 3.0D M-Sport) but have now been told it needs to be back before 6pm this evening so they are arranging a hire car for us for the next 12 days !!!...a X5 45e. Was put through to the hire company and asked if they had any pure electric but they didn't

So, after three Months in the iX3, looks like we are back to driving an X5 again...for now anyway.

You may have to visit one of those petrol station type things, yuck!!!!!

[EndoViper]

Originally Posted by Imspartacus123

You may have to visit one of those petrol station type things, yuck!!!!!

Ha ha...the first thing we said was that we were only saying a few days ago how we didn't miss the trips to the petrol station...spoke too soon.

[britaliano]

Could simply be dirty sensors, give them a wipe down before you set off next time. If the system cannot see around you properly, it will disable some functionality.

[EndoViper]

Originally Posted by britaliano

Could simply be dirty sensors, give them a wipe down before you set off next time. If the system cannot see around you properly, it will disable some functionality.

That was one of the first things I made sure of. I posted above to say it’s gone into BMW who have found the steering wheel harness was incorrectly fitted and become damaged so now needs replacing.

[britaliano]

Crikey! I was hoping it was something simple!

[EndoViper]

Originally Posted by britaliano

Crikey! I was hoping it was something simple!

Me too

Just hope they do a good job as they said it’s sat with the steering wheel off and half the dash missing at the moment.

[EndoViper]

Still don't have our car back from Wakefield Sandal BMW

After it had been there a week we got a call to say the steering wiring loom had come into stock and they were fitting it so we should have the car back by the end of the day....end of the day, we had to phone them and we were told that, after fitting the loom, they found it had caused 'another problem down the line' so they were having to order another part...which would take 3 to 5 days to arrive!

Wait another week and we have to phone them again to check what's happening. Got told the new part had arrived but they needed to fit so we should have back in the next couple of days.

Called them again yesterday as heard nothing and was told that they had fitted the part but it had not come with everything it needed so they were still missing something. They had ordered it but it's on back order and will be around a Month until they get it in stock.

I honestly don't think they know what is wrong with it and they are chasing the fault around just replacing one bit at a time in a hope it will somehow fixe it....and we are just expected to wait until they manage to...or IF they manage to...do that?

[ThreeXi]

Hello EndoViper,

Is this all being covered under warranty? Are you having to pay for the replacement vehicle whilst you wait for the iX3 to be repaired?

I really hope they get the car fixed correctly as soon as possible.

Many thanks,

[EndoViper]

Originally Posted by ThreeXi

Hello EndoViper,

Is this all being covered under warranty? Are you having to pay for the replacement vehicle whilst you wait for the iX3 to be repaired?

I really hope they get the car fixed correctly as soon as possible.

Many thanks,

Yes it's all under warranty thankfully. the X5 hire car has been provided by Sandal BMW also whilst our car is being repaired but we had to pay a £150 holding fee for it along with a deposit on the excess agreement (both of which we will get back when the car is handed back, if there is no damage to it).

[EndoViper]

So, after being on holiday out of the country for the last two weeks we were hopeful we would get back to news that our iX3 was now fixed and ready to be picked up (we had let BMW Wakefield know we would be away and the date we were bacK).

No contact from them yesterday so we called today.....only to be told that the part they were waiting for (a 'connector' apparently!) has still not turned up! They are now not able to even give an estimate on lead times either so it could be two days or it could be two Months...or even longer!

When we said this was not acceptable we were told we would be best contacting BMW Customer Services UK directly ourselves as we are more likely to get a better response than if they contact them on our behalf.

In just over a week they will have had the car two Months, and we now how absolutely no idea when, or if, we are going to get it back.

I am about to contact BMW Customer Services now but, seriously, how can this be acceptable on a car that is only a few Months old? They will soon have had it longer than we did before it went into them.

[Bevforme]

You will be lucky to get any response from BMW UK customer services… I speak from bitter experience 😖

[silent ninja]

Can you post on their Twitter? Usually companies are more responsive.

Could you look at your consumer rights and REJECT the car? If the dash was removed sadly it's likely to have rattles. Maybe new cars have changed, but in my experience anything involving dash removal leaves squeaks and creaks. It's never as good as new.

[EndoViper]

Originally Posted by Bevforme

You will be lucky to get any response from BMW UK customer services… I speak from bitter experience 😖

It took almost 30 mins of being on hold, but I finally managed to speak to someone yesterday.

They really seemed to struggle with the fact that the car is a lease through a salary sacrifice with Zenith so we have had to contact Zenith who have provided details of a portal where BMW Customer Support can get the relevant details to move a complaint forward.

They said the first course of action is to speak to the dealer and try to expedite the part arrival and fitting. If they can't do that they will look at a more suitable hire car for us to use. If they can't guarantee that the part will actually fix it then she said they will go from there to see what possible resolution we can agree on.

[EndoViper]

Originally Posted by silent ninja

Can you post on their Twitter? Usually companies are more responsive.

Could you look at your consumer rights and REJECT the car? If the dash was removed sadly it's likely to have rattles. Maybe new cars have changed, but in my experience anything involving dash removal leaves squeaks and creaks. It's never as good as new.

I actually mentioned Rejecting the car when speaking to Customer Service yesterday. My argument is that, in a few weeks, they will have had the car longer that we had it from new and that, at the moment, we are paying Months of payments through Zenith for a car we don't have and have no idea when we will have again. She did agree but not sure how far we will get with it.

I do know what you mean about rattles though. I have no doubt it will come back and it will not feel 'new' anymore due to the dash being stripped down. I am also worried about what state it will be in as it's just been left parked up in the yard between other cars going in and out for almost two Months now...expecting to find scratches and marks on it or worse when we see it next!

[Bevforme]

And covered in bird crap, which will pit the paint, but I guess some who lease don’t care about that stuff.
Interesting that lease companies get a special route for complaints to BMW. I guess that they have more clout than individuals, so their complaints matter more to BMW…
As a complaining individual, it is like walking through treacle. This all adds up to voting with £££ and choosing another brand in the future…