Water Damage / Warranty / Poor Response times and design flaw

<p>I had purchased my first BMW 520i in November 2013 and was immediately in love with all the features and the comfort of the drive.</p> <p> </p> <p>However as of events that transpired on the 10th January 2017 where I drove through a little bit of water no higher than 10cm my car went on for a while and then stopped. I tried starting it again with little luck it switched off completely and would then refuse to start.</p> <p> </p> <p>Bearing in mind my car was still under warranty I called BMW on call and was then told a technician would come out to disengage to the gearbox so that it can be towed.</p> <p> </p> <p>I was also told that I would not be entitled to a courtesy car due to the fact that BMW does not cover water damage.</p> <p> </p> <p>At the time I just wanted to get my car sorted out so I just made other arrangements for transport.</p> <p> </p> <p>The car was towed to the closest BMW dealership for evaluation and assessment and I received a report and a quote for +/ - R220,000.00 to repair the damages and was told due to it being water damage the warranty will not cover this.</p> <p> </p> <p>I had to then get my insurance company involved which have now written off my car due to the cost of the repairs.</p> <p> </p> <p>I sent an email to BMW customer service on the 14th January 2017 stating my disappointment as it was not like I intentionally drove into a Pool or river to test the car as an aquatic vehicle. To date I have not yet received a response for that email.</p> <p> </p> <p>I then sent another email after I had confirmation for certain that my car was written off that I was even more disappointed and what the trouble and cost it had put me through on the 1st February 2017. I also mentioned how I am going to inform everyone I know and for them to pass that on that all the new BMW’s from the 1 series to the 5 series have the very same issue with the air intake being so low that when you drive through a little bit of water the chances of your turbo sucking in water are high and this will cause your engine to cease and will not be covered by the warranty.</p> <p> </p> <p>I then received a call on the 3rd February 2017 from BMW customer services trying to explain that the warranty covers defective product, but a design where the air in-take is lower than all other vehicles is a defective design, I was then told that BMW could not help me or do anything for me at all. So the call was a waste of my time.</p> <p> </p> <p>I have since then been on the BMW website and done my research into this air in-take and found that all the air in-takes are low on the BMW models from the 1 series to the 5 series.</p> <p> </p> <p>I also found that my car was the 5th BMW 5 series since the beginning of the 2017 to have had experienced this problem.</p> <p> </p> <p>The service, design of these engines and the warranty that conveniently does not cover water damage is a result of poor service, besides the lack and late response from BMW South Africa have pushed me into seeking a Different brand.</p> <p> </p> <p>With the rains we have experience in Gauteng over the past few months expect to see more and more BMW models broken down.</p>