What does it take to convince these guys?

So last year I bought an E46 M3 to use as a track car.  It came with an outstanding Takata airbag recall, for which the parts arrived at the dealer in July.  I wasn't particularly concerned about it because track car, so I ignored it.

Six months go by, and they will not go away.  They've sent me a dozen postcards about it and called me 3 or 4 times.  Every time I've told them that it's now a race car and has no airbags any more, they say they'll update the database, then a month later they call me again.  Just got another postcard:

I am really temped to make an appointment and bring the car in just to see what the service advisor says when he sees it.

I do love the icon at the bottom of the postcard, though. :)

Just bring it to the shop as is and tell them to fix it. That should probably take care of the issue...

If you're familiar with the Hell's Tree Huggers Harley Prius it had a recall after becoming a race car. I don't remember the whole story about how the recall went.

I just got a third Takata recall notice for a car which was destroyed in 2015! Similarly I have told them the car doesn't exist....

I'm honestly amazed I haven't gotten more hate mail about the trailer hitch / gas tank protection recall I've been ignoring on my ZJ.  It has a factory hitch that hasn't rusted apart, so all they're going to do is look at it and go "yup, this one doesn't need any corrective action" and that'll be the end of it.  Not worth my time unless I can convince them to give me a shiny new hitch for no reason. 

In reply to codrus :

Body-cam plus a trip to the dealership would be priceless.

Send a reply telling them you died of your airbag injuries.

Pete

Honestly, it takes getting the right service advisor who remembers/has time to submit the paperwork correctly. Also have to remember that sometimes it's 3rd parties buying outdated info from the DMV or wherever they get info from.

Can you get them to give you the airbag replacements so you can sell them to buy brake pads or tires?

If not, I would wrap bandages around my head, go down there and throw a scare into them.

i one time had to bring in my 00 explorer for a recall involving the cruise control. It does not have cruise control.

Took it in, the replaced the old wires and cap on the harness with a new wires and cap on the harness, took 10 seconds they apologized profusely and the shop was our go to for work i didnt want to touch (quoted me $275 to do both kingpins and an alignment on an e350.....i jumped at that. Ended up taking them 40 man hours to do because they were so tough)

Toebra said:

Can you get them to give you the airbag replacements so you can sell them to buy brake pads or tires?

If not, I would wrap bandages around my head, go down there and throw a scare into them.

I was thinking the same thing, maybe it could be worth refitting the stock steering wheel to get a free replacement airbag, they're worth a few hundred right?

At least you own the car. I still get them for my 2011 Honda Civic that I sold in 2014. 

codrus said:

So last year I bought an E46 M3 to use as a track car.  It came with an outstanding Takata airbag recall, for which the parts arrived at the dealer in July.  I wasn't particularly concerned about it because track car, so I ignored it.

Six months go by, and they will not go away.  They've sent me a dozen postcards about it and called me 3 or 4 times.  Every time I've told them that it's now a race car and has no airbags any more, they say they'll update the database, then a month later they call me again.  Just got another postcard:

I am really temped to make an appointment and bring the car in just to see what the service advisor says when he sees it.

 

I do love the icon at the bottom of the postcard, though. :)

 

I need that as a sticker. 

I say take it in, I got a call about having a outstanding head gasket recall on my Iris Neon. 

And when you take it in, ask if there are any outstanding TSBs for your climate control and "infotainment," neither of which is currently giving you the kind of luxury experience that a modern BMW owner is entitled to.

I vote just show up and drop off the wheel with the airbag installed.

Stealthtercel said:

And when you take it in, ask if there are any outstanding TSBs for your climate control and "infotainment," neither of which is currently giving you the kind of luxury experience that a modern BMW owner is entitled to.

There's quite a lot of NVH as well. :)

The stock wheel won't fit on the steering column that's in there now.  I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't just give me the airbags either because OEMs usually require that the old parts be sent back before they'll pay a dealership for warranty work and I don't have my original airbags any more either.  (They got donated to BMWCCA so that they could set them off as a demo at a car control clinic.)

One advantage of trading my 2008 Grand Caravan for a 2017 model at a Dodge dealer: I am no longer getting the recall notices for the ignition switch. I'm guessing the dealer processed whatever recalls may have been outstanding before sending the van off to auction which removed me from the system.

Of course, now I am inundated with "OMG!! Your warranty is about to expire!!!" notices... 

codrus said:

(They got donated to BMWCCA so that they could set them off as a demo at a car control clinic.)

 

Did anyone get hit by shrapnel at the demo?

Try BMW Customer Relations: 

Customer Relations

1-800-831-1117

(https://www.bmwusa.com/contact-us.html)

Stampie said:

Did anyone get hit by shrapnel at the demo?

I dunno if they've run the demo with that particular airbag or not yet, but I doubt it.  They're pretty safety-conscious. :)

I vote take the car in with a go-pro running in it. Don't say anything. Either that, or do the same thing but take the wheel off and go up to the desk and ask if it would be easier to put the new airbag in with it out of the car.

In reply to mtn :

100 million times do this!

codrus said:

Stealthtercel said:

And when you take it in, ask if there are any outstanding TSBs for your climate control and "infotainment," neither of which is currently giving you the kind of luxury experience that a modern BMW owner is entitled to.

There's quite a lot of NVH as well. :)

The stock wheel won't fit on the steering column that's in there now.  I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't just give me the airbags either because OEMs usually require that the old parts be sent back before they'll pay a dealership for warranty work and I don't have my original airbags any more either.  (They got donated to BMWCCA so that they could set them off as a demo at a car control clinic.)

 

Between taking the wheel in and dropping it on the counter, and the fact that you donated a recall airbag for a demo, there's a lot of gold in this thread.  But to the latter, I would simply inform them that you were so nervous about the recall that you removed it and detonated it in a safe, controlled environment to ensure it would not harm anyone.  I want to see the service advisor when you say that.

In reply to Ian F :