The recent episode gave me cause for concern with the technical service capabilities and trouble-shooting culture of PML. On March 8, I sent my 3.5 years old 520i to PML for normal oil change service and diagnostics. The radiator overflow tank was weeping coolant and was replaced. Subsequently, PML also discovered that the thermostat housing was leaking and was also replaced. Along with the replacement of the power steering hoses, the total bill came up to 4 figures. As I was travelling, my wife collected the car after 2 days in the workshop.
She then noticed a loud whinning sound from the engine compartment on the first day of driving and brought the car in to PML. PML could not detect the fault despite a test drive. After I returned from my trip overseas, I noticed the same whinning sound after 1 minute from cold start and I also noticed that the auxilliary electric fan was running at full speed. Strange, I thought because the aux fan should only run at high coolant temp or high air-cond refrigerant pressure.
I brought the car back to PML again, told them that the aux fan started even after a cold start but the technician kept insisting that it is temperature related and the noisy fan is due to fan bearing problems and I need a new fan. PML have no stock and I need to pay a deposit to place an indent order. No satisfied, I went to BVO in Sin Ming. There, the technician diagnosed the problem and discovered that the coolant outlet temperature sensor was faulty. It was reading high even when the engine is cold. This caused the aux fan to run at max speed. It was such a simple diagnostic and PML cannot find the problem despite spending 2 days in the workshop, plus 2 subsequent visits and telling them the symptoms. The least I expect from PML is that during pre-collection QC check such faults would have surfaced or when I took the car back on the second occassion, the technician could have hooked up the analyser and found the problem instantly. BVO found the problem in 1 hour. On my last visit to PML to tell them what BVO had found, the same PML technician even told me that the coolant temperature at the radiator is 200 deg C. I find that very difficult to believe as the engine analyser showed coolant temp at around 94 deg C. Upon my insistent, PML re-diagnosed the problem again and came back to tell me that the temp sensor was lose and the sensor was erratic and was replaced FOC.
Although my problem was solved, it raises alot of questions in my mind about service quality at PML. They seemed inclined to just tell customers to replace this and that without proper and professional diagnostics being performed. If I had followed the first instruction to replace the fan, I would need another fan replacement in 3 months time (regardless of the warranty), because the new fan would still be subjected to max speed operation because of the faulty sensor. I hope this posting is useful to other BMW owners facing the same problem or problems related to the "trouble-shooting" culture at PML.
She then noticed a loud whinning sound from the engine compartment on the first day of driving and brought the car in to PML. PML could not detect the fault despite a test drive. After I returned from my trip overseas, I noticed the same whinning sound after 1 minute from cold start and I also noticed that the auxilliary electric fan was running at full speed. Strange, I thought because the aux fan should only run at high coolant temp or high air-cond refrigerant pressure.
I brought the car back to PML again, told them that the aux fan started even after a cold start but the technician kept insisting that it is temperature related and the noisy fan is due to fan bearing problems and I need a new fan. PML have no stock and I need to pay a deposit to place an indent order. No satisfied, I went to BVO in Sin Ming. There, the technician diagnosed the problem and discovered that the coolant outlet temperature sensor was faulty. It was reading high even when the engine is cold. This caused the aux fan to run at max speed. It was such a simple diagnostic and PML cannot find the problem despite spending 2 days in the workshop, plus 2 subsequent visits and telling them the symptoms. The least I expect from PML is that during pre-collection QC check such faults would have surfaced or when I took the car back on the second occassion, the technician could have hooked up the analyser and found the problem instantly. BVO found the problem in 1 hour. On my last visit to PML to tell them what BVO had found, the same PML technician even told me that the coolant temperature at the radiator is 200 deg C. I find that very difficult to believe as the engine analyser showed coolant temp at around 94 deg C. Upon my insistent, PML re-diagnosed the problem again and came back to tell me that the temp sensor was lose and the sensor was erratic and was replaced FOC.
Although my problem was solved, it raises alot of questions in my mind about service quality at PML. They seemed inclined to just tell customers to replace this and that without proper and professional diagnostics being performed. If I had followed the first instruction to replace the fan, I would need another fan replacement in 3 months time (regardless of the warranty), because the new fan would still be subjected to max speed operation because of the faulty sensor. I hope this posting is useful to other BMW owners facing the same problem or problems related to the "trouble-shooting" culture at PML.
