[Jadenkid22]

Went to BMW Rallye in Long island New york due to a check engine on my 2019 X3 B48 which was a CPO purchased July 2022 with 35k miles. Still has warranty till April 2024 and it only has 40k miles now. Pulled the code and it said knock sensor interruption which led me to believe rats chewed on it. Anyways fast forward to 10/01/2023 check engine comes on in the morning. Car says i can keep driving but to visit dealership soon. Car felt normal tbh drove it like this for about almost 2 weeks and felt completely fine. BMW rallye takes car in and calls me next day stating it will be 19500 to fix the knock sensor due to its location. The Service advisor stated to me multiple times that it wasn't a "big deal" and to just "call Geico and they will pay for it/total the car"

Took the car out immediately and had a local ex BMW mechanic fix it for $500 lol. He just spliced the cable and soldered it. Had to take out intake manifold though but showed me several other cables that were also chewed on but not cut all the way through. Fixed all of them and also installed 2 "rat repelling speakers" for an extra $100. Found the exact same speakers on amazon for $55(for 2) and the reviews were pretty good.

Edit: My fiance has a Service advisor cousin who works at Mercedes and he has stories for days on how he "robs people" by increasing the costs of works or literally just lying about work they need done when they don't at all.

Edit 2: I ended up doing some further research and discovered that the knock sensor has a plug that connects to it from a ECU engine harness which has a bunch of other plugs. It did seem complicated once I found the actual part. In my head it seems as if you would have to disconnect every single sensor wired to that specific ecu plug that branches into a bunch of other plugs. This is the part number for it - 12518681952. They don't sell just a knock sensor plug. It's a bundle of cables that all connect to one head that plugs in. Still cannot be 20k.

I hate dealerships.

[spangle1980]

WOW - you lucked out there. Old school of hard knocks versus new ways of world perhaps. i.e. Investigate, diagnose, fix versus toss and replace.

[Jadenkid22]

Originally Posted by spangle1980

WOW - you lucked out there. Old school of hard knocks versus new ways of world perhaps. i.e. Investigate, diagnose, fix versus toss and replace.

Yup. The guy who fixed it for me says he gets 2-3 cars daily with rodent damage here in NYC. They mostly chew on coil cables though. So car runs on less cylinders or doesn't run at all.

[bocabimmer]

Assumedly by the story that means the issue wasn’t the sensor but a chewed wiring harness? Either way if it’s fixed with some critical thinking rather than “throw away” repair for that difference in price, wow.

[ASAP]

if i had a used bmw... i'll use my indy guy as well lol... although when i went to him with my older 335 he would try to rip me off too... good to hear you got this resolved

[TonM3]

$19,500?
Rats of extraordinary size

[Alias1431]

Originally Posted by Jadenkid22

and also installed 2 "rat repelling speakers" for an extra $100. Found the exact same speakers on amazon for $55(for 2) and the reviews were pretty good.

Link? Sounds like snake oil.

[huggy509]

independent mechanic instead of dealer parts fitter

[kraken]

Originally Posted by Jadenkid22

Went to BMW Rallye in Long island New york due to a check engine on my 2019 X3 B48 which was a CPO purchased July 2022 with 35k miles. Still has warranty till April 2024 and it only has 40k miles now. Pulled the code and it said knock sensor interruption which led me to believe rats chewed on it. Anyways fast forward to 10/01/2023 check engine comes on in the morning. Car says i can keep driving but to visit dealership soon. Car felt normal tbh drove it like this for about almost 2 weeks and felt completely fine. BMW rallye takes car in and calls me next day stating it will be 19500 to fix the knock sensor due to its location. The Service advisor stated to me multiple times that it wasn't a "big deal" and to just "call Geico and they will pay for it/total the car"

Took the car out immediately and had a local ex BMW mechanic fix it for $500 lol. He just spliced the cable and soldered it. Had to take out intake manifold though but showed me several other cables that were also chewed on but not cut all the way through. Fixed all of them and also installed 2 "rat repelling speakers" for an extra $100. Found the exact same speakers on amazon for $55(for 2) and the reviews were pretty good.

Edit: My fiance has a Service advisor cousin who works at Mercedes and he has stories for days on how he "robs people" by increasing the costs of works or literally just lying about work they need done when they don't at all.

Edit 2: I ended up doing some further research and discovered that the knock sensor has a plug that connects to it from a ECU engine harness which has a bunch of other plugs. It did seem complicated once I found the actual part. In my head it seems as if you would have to disconnect every single sensor wired to that specific ecu plug that branches into a bunch of other plugs. This is the part number for it - 12518681952. They don't sell just a knock sensor plug. It's a bundle of cables that all connect to one head that plugs in. Still cannot be 20k.

I hate dealerships.

Can you please share who this mechanic is?


Thanks

[BimmerXdrive]

I honestly think this a way for dealerships to not deal with client vehicles. They present a absurd price even under warranty to deter you from coming back again lol and worst case they make $$$ off you and do a easy fix.

[g11hoonigan]

Speaking of rat...while cruising down the highway behind a 4runner the other day, I saw a rat fell off from around the spare tire area, rolled and tumbled, but it didn't seem hurt. It ran off to the shoulder after I passed.

[MmmCar]

My cousin llives in nyc..everytime he parks
His x4 he has to spray around the car. He has the speakers installed too. He has already had car at shop twice for rodent damage. Insane

[BMWZ4]

Did you drive back to the dealer to show him your $500+ invoice for the work? Curious what they would've said...

[bocabimmer]

They would have said that’s not an approved fix we could have done. Their only option would have been to replace the entire harness as that’s the only way to get it back to factory spec.

Was that the only way to fix it? No. But that’s the only way they could.

[IAmSpeed]

$20k is a highway robbery, glad you didn't do it.

For car at this age, I usually really take my time to shop around, get quotes from everywhere, and pick the one I feel most comfortable with.

[Wgosma]

That $19,500 mentioned in first post can’t be correct….$1,950 makes sense. Perhaps OP mistakenly added add’l “0” ?

[AlteBMW]

I don't know about a $19,500 charge but I have had different experience at this same dealer. Expensive? yes, but not any more than other dealers, and generally very upfront. A few years ago I had some major suspension work done on a 5 series because of pothole damage. A day or two into the repair the manager called to tell me they had let a jack down too fast and cracked my rocker panel. They replaced the rocker panel, properly painted at no charge, and comped all the labor charges for the suspension repair. They very easily could have said they found the rocker panel had been damaged by the encounter with the pothole, but they did not. The true test to me of an organization is how they behave when they screw up. I have been a customer ever since.

[B767capt]

My mom's 2019 7 series had rodent damage as the steering wouldn't work when backing out of the garage. Had it towed to the dealer and the estimate was 31k which insurance came out and authorized. The entire body was pulled off and they sent a video where there was just the frame and motor sitting on the garage floor and parts everywhere. They found fuel line damage too after the body was off. Took Germany 3 months to hand-make the wiring harness as that's something they make on request and don't keep in stock. Too many variants I guess. To make the wire more biodegradable, BMW's wire coating is made from soy so the rodents smell it as a source of food. The dealership said they see it often.

[embedgs]

What is the problem with the location of the knock sensor? I have installed the hitch by myself in the garage, it takes like half an hour to get to that sensor.
I thought my quote of 1.5k for the rubber radiator hose was ridiculously high...

[IAmSpeed]

I'm so sick of dealers bullshiting quotes nowadays. Visited same dealer with same issue, and two different service rep gave me completely different quotes in two different days 😕

[COM40]

Originally Posted by IAmSpeed

I'm so sick of dealers bullshiting quotes nowadays. Visited same dealer with same issue, and two different service rep gave me completely different quotes in two different days 😕

If you're under warranty why do you care about the dealer quote?

[bocabimmer]

Originally Posted by IAmSpeed

I'm so sick of dealers bullshiting quotes nowadays. Visited same dealer with same issue, and two different service rep gave me completely different quotes in two different days 😕

To be fair, I’m sick of indys doing the same thing. I just got quoted $1900 to replace the front struts on my minivan. Second place I visited was only $1000 so…