[caber]

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Hello bimmer ladies and gents,

I come to you today with a situation that would benefit from your feedback. It's a bit lengthy, so apologies in advance.

I picked up my g80 m3 back in late November of 2022 and it's been a joy ever since. Since my pickup of the m3, I have been very fastidious with the maintenance and treatment of it. 6 months in and I haven't even launched it yet. I noticed a few minor interior rattles as I drove the car more (it's my daily), but about 2-3 months ago I noticed a larger, more annoying rattle coming from behind the rear driver side seat. My initial instinct was just to turn the music up in the car to drown it out, but even then I could hear the rattle. It sounded very localized and finally after a few weeks of hearing it, I got in the back seat to try and diagnose where the sound was coming from. I started tapping on the area behind the back seats where the speakers are housed and found that if I tapped towards where the back window comes to meet the "behind the backseat" area where speakers are housed, the rattling was very distinct. A tap on the opposite (passenger) side would continue to produce a rattle on the driver side rear area, same as before.

I contacted my CA to schedule an appointment for it to be diagnosed, but my CA did not follow through for me. I became busy, life happened, and more weeks went by until I was so fed up that I just scheduled a service appointment for myself through the myBMW app. i took it in yesterday morning and explained the rattling issue and how to reproduce it. The dealership techs agreed they could recreate the sound, and that it was atypical so they said they would find the cause. After completely disassembling the back seat and associated housing behind the seats (where the speakers sit and all that), they found the culprit: A piece of plastic fitting trim that had been broken. The fitting trim is is a long plastic bit that fits the width of back window which is mounted via screws that hold the rear seats down. There is a clean break that goes nearly the entire width of the plastic trim piece.

How could this have happened? It's a very strange place to have damage because it's not accessible from the inside of the car; you can't see it. It can only be seen after disassembly of the back seat which opens up the rear of the car/beginning of trunk area. The dealer was considering possibilities when they noticed my darker-than-factory tint I had on the back window as well as all around the car. They asked if I had tint applied after their dealer installed tint (which I asked them not to do, but they did anyway), and I said yes. They said that "outside influence most likely broke this trim piece" and that I should contact my tint shop to let them know the situation and ask if they are willing to cover the cost, a whopping $780 in parts/labor (aka almost entirely labor).

I call the tint shop, a reputable shop here in the Phoenix Metro Area, and explained the situation to my guy there. He was rightfully shocked at the price to repair the damage, and explained that during their tinting process, no disassembly of the vehicle is done. The only thing they do is sit in the back seat, spray the window, slap the tint on, squeegee, and done. They don't understand how they could have applied enough pressure behind the back seat to bend the outermost housing to the point that the recessed plastic trim piece received enough pressure to break. They said that they would be willing to take a look at the m3 if I bring it in to the shop, and if they can determine they could have caused the damage, they would replace it for free and do the work themselves.

The issue with that is that it would require my Dealer to reassemble the back of the car without the broken piece, as it has been removed, then for me to drive 35 miles to my tint shop, have them disassemble everything again, take a look at where the broken plastic trim had lived, take a look at the broken trim which I would have to bring in as well, and then ONLY if they think they caused it would they replace it free of charge. They could just determine that, after all that, they didn't cause it and then I'd be stuck yet again with a disassembled rear interior of my m3 and a looming bill to fix something I am not at fault for breaking.

So I call the dealership back to try and see if they could at least agree that the damage COULD have been from the factory of the dealer tint install process, and perhaps the damage was small and then grew over time as the car was driven. The dealer is adamant that it is 3rd party damage, and the simple fact that I had tint done by a non-dealer service center, that it will not be covered under warranty as it introduces reasonable doubt that they could have caused it (although it seems equally possible in my eyes).

SO.... after much back story and context, I am sitting at my home with no car, no loaner, a m3 that is able to be fixed this very moment by the dealer, but with a $780 bill that neither the Dealership nor the tint shop are willing to cover.

What would you all do? I just want this fixed and I do not want to pay to fix it as I did not cause the damage. I do not want to burn bridges at the dealership nor the tint shop as they've been great with me so far and I plan to do more work with them. Thanks for reading my long ass story.

-EDIT-
To better visualize what I'm talking about, check this video from the dealer technician: https://us.citnow.com/vsnXYrd5lQZ skip to 1:19 to skip to the damage portion.

[BimmerFix]

I would have just paid it at the dealer , got the issue fixed and moved on with life. Way too much headache & stress for that amount of money

[drexplode]

is the tint shop owner/manager able to visit the dealer to perform an inspection it's current disassembled state?

Is the broken piece a functional item which results in another failure or is purely a noise issue? Can you live with the noise issue during your continued ownership? If no then pay for the replacement and service cost, and be done with it.

[caber]

Originally Posted by drexplode

is the tint shop owner/manager able to visit the dealer to perform an inspection it's current disassembled state?

Is the broken piece a functional item which results in another failure or is purely a noise issue? Can you live with the noise issue during your continued ownership? If no then pay for the replacement and service cost, and be done with it.

I will be calling my tint shop to see if they're willing to make the trek across town to do their inspection there, that's a good suggestion thank you.

The broken piece doesn't initially appear to be a functional item, but it does seem to be a required piece used to properly fit the behind-the-seat housing/area together. I could live with the noise issue, but it is distractingly loud and after long drives it is incredibly grating. The issue now is that the dealer has already put man hours in to disassembling the back seat area and someone's gotta pay for those man hours up to this point. If I were to have the dealer just reassemble everything and not put in the new trim piece, which has been ordered and is in stock ready to be installed, I (or someone) would still have to pay for the labor costs for that process.

To just be done with the situation, I could just pay the ~$800 to fix it, but on principal I have an extremely difficult time paying for a repair on something I had 0 influence breaking. I'm continuing to go back and forth with the tint shop and dealer to see if something can be done, but everyone seems to be digging their heals in.

[drexplode]

Originally Posted by caber

I will be calling my tint shop to see if they're willing to make the trek across town to do their inspection there, that's a good suggestion thank you.

The broken piece doesn't initially appear to be a functional item, but it does seem to be a required piece used to properly fit the behind-the-seat housing/area together. I could live with the noise issue, but it is distractingly loud and after long drives it is incredibly grating. The issue now is that the dealer has already put man hours in to disassembling the back seat area and someone's gotta pay for those man hours up to this point. If I were to have the dealer just reassemble everything and not put in the new trim piece, which has been ordered and is in stock ready to be installed, I (or someone) would still have to pay for the labor costs for that process.

To just be done with the situation, I could just pay the ~$800 to fix it, but on principal I have an extremely difficult time paying for a repair on something I had 0 influence breaking. I'm continuing to go back and forth with the tint shop and dealer to see if something can be done, but everyone seems to be digging their heals in.

Sounds like you stuck between a rock and a hard place as they say. If the tint dude doesn't make the trek then just pay for it and be done with it. Swallow your pride so you can drive your beauty once again.

[caber]

Originally Posted by BimmerFix

I would have just paid it at the dealer , got the issue fixed and moved on with life. Way too much headache & stress for that amount of money

If things stagnate too much through my next set of calls, I'll just have to do this because any additional time I put in to this is just wasting money. Would rather not but also do not want to continue this run around.

[caber]

Originally Posted by drexplode

Sounds like you stuck between a rock and a hard place as they say. If the tint dude doesn't make the trek then just pay for it and be done with it. Swallow your pride so you can drive your beauty once again.

Fair point, and you're right. I miss the car dearly and need to take care of errands so it may just be time to eat a bit of a shit sandwich.

[drexplode]

Originally Posted by caber

Fair point, and you're right. I miss the car dearly and need to take care of errands so it may just be time to eat a bit of a shit sandwich.

post some pictures of this plastic piece so all of us arm chair engineers can root cause analyze the failure mode.

['Cane]

The dealer is grasping at straws. There is no reason for any tint company to disassemble anything. The laser cuts out the material, they spray the window, apply the tint, squeegee and dry, then on to the next. Likely that your dealership knows this as well, but is looking to pass the buck.

[ano0oj]

Contact BMW NA and escalate. It seems like the dealership can't prove it was someone else, and they know it. Don't let them play you, if you navigate this correctly this will be 100% paid for by BMW.

[caber]

Originally Posted by drexplode

post some pictures of this plastic piece so all of us arm chair engineers can root cause analyze the failure mode.

There were pics sent to me that are trash. The best example of what's broken is in the video at the end of my OP. 1m9s in they open my back door and show the broken piece, and flex it a bit to show where it's broken. Get those detective coats out and take a gander.

[caber]

Originally Posted by 'Cane

The dealer is grasping at straws. There is no reason for any tint company to disassemble anything. The laser cuts out the material, they spray the window, apply the tint, squeegee and dry, then on to the next. Likely that your dealership knows this as well, but is looking to pass the buck.

100%, I agree. The dealership has leverage because of the introduction of my 3rd party tint company, however. Because there is even a .00001% chance that BMW did not cause this issue, they can use plausible deniability to escape blame and can't definitively say who caused the damage. I just called the dealer back and they said that they're willing to work with me and are trying to find a discount amount they can provide to me for the situation to help resolve this in a "fair" way. Seems that they might be offering a 50% split on the cost of this repair, so I would be on the hook for <$400. Obviously I would like to pay $0, but this has been a pain in the ass and I wonder if I should just bite the bullet, pay my 50% and be done.

The dealership did say they're going to let me keep the broken piece, so I will be updating this thread with higher quality pictures of the damage. Such a weird piece to break.

[caber]

Originally Posted by ano0oj

Contact BMW NA and escalate. It seems like the dealership can't prove it was someone else, and they know it. Don't let them play you, if you navigate this correctly this will be 100% paid for by BMW.

I do hate being played, but also realize that while they can't prove it was someone else, it also can't be proven that it was BMW that caused the damage. I feel my leverage is limited in this situation due to the circumstance.

[drexplode]

Originally Posted by 'Cane

The dealer is grasping at straws. There is no reason for any tint company to disassemble anything. The laser cuts out the material, they spray the window, apply the tint, squeegee and dry, then on to the next. Likely that your dealership knows this as well, but is looking to pass the buck.

on to root causing the problem. is it possible the tint dude used an extra long squeegee and slammed the flat end between the rear glass and rear deck? I'm not a tint dude so i dont have much experience other than get off my lawn watching from afar.

[Tethys]

Dealers will look for just about anything to not do things under warranty, I can't see how a tint job could have caused that, unless they were sitting the backseat with all of their weight on their elbows on that side doing the job. The question is when did you first hear the noise? If it was soon after the tint job then may be what happened, if they are willing to split that might be your best solution.

[caber]

Originally Posted by Tethys

Dealers will look for just about anything to not do things under warranty, I can't see how a tint job could have caused that, unless they were sitting the backseat with all of their weight on their elbows on that side doing the job. The question is when did you first hear the noise? If it was soon after the tint job then may be what happened, if they are willing to split that might be your best solution.

I also can't see how the tint installers would have been able to do this. There really isn't even enough space to allow that kind of leverage-weight to be applied to go through the outer-most housing to then apply pressure to the interior piece enough to break it. And it's really weird, I didn't even notice the rattle until 3+ months of the new tint being installed. I probably put 4k miles after the tint install before I even realized it. To be fair, I blast loud music during most all of my drive and it could have been present earlier and I just didn't hear it. With that said, I think it's a progressive damage issue as it's gotten louder over time so I may have not heard it initially, and only heard it after the damage continued to progress.

[caber]

Originally Posted by drexplode

on to root causing the problem. is it possible the tint dude used an extra long squeegee and slammed the flat end between the rear glass and rear deck? I'm not a tint dude so i dont have much experience other than get off my lawn watching from afar.

While I think it's unlikely that a tint install could have caused this, it is not impossible. I wasn't there to monitor the work, there's no recordings of the install, and that introduces a wild range of possibilities. So yes, it is definitely possible that some tool they used or an elbow placed just right could have caused it. I think it is entirely unlikely, but there is higher than a 0% chance so it's possible.

[colo3Kid]

I would accept the dealer's offer of reducing the cost by 50%. The bulk of this cost is a labor cost that is difficult to avoid, people need to be paid for their time, and since the techs at the dealership did remove everything properly to get to the area and they did find the problem - you at least got the answer to the rattle. Perhaps as mentioned the tint guys got physical on the deck between the backseats and the window, and got some weird angle on the squeegee and leveraged pressure to this area, breaking the plastic piece. It simply isn't cracked in the middle there is also a break around the "bracket" area where there is a bolt holding down this plastic piece. I would share the video with the tint guy if he can't make the trip to the shop to see it in person. But I would pay the split cost and move on, unless you want to live with the rattle. Unfortunately stuff can go wrong in the the real world. If the rattle happened around the time of the tint job, then well..... it sorta makes some sense. Will the tint guy step up and a part of the labor? He should but that is his call and I wouldn't expect it. Move on. Life is short enough.

[caber]

Originally Posted by colo3Kid

I would accept the dealer's offer of reducing the cost by 50%. The bulk of this cost is a labor cost that is difficult to avoid, people need to be paid for their time, and since the techs at the dealership did remove everything properly to get to the area and they did find the problem - you at least got the answer to the rattle. Perhaps as mentioned the tint guys got physical on the deck between the backseats and the window, and got some weird angle on the squeegee and leveraged pressure to this area, breaking the plastic piece. It simply isn't cracked in the middle there is also a break around the "bracket" area where there is a bolt holding down this plastic piece. I would share the video with the tint guy if he can't make the trip to the shop to see it in person. But I would pay the split cost and move on, unless you want to live with the rattle. Unfortunately stuff can go wrong in the the real world. If the rattle happened around the time of the tint job, then well..... it sorta makes some sense. Will the tint guy step up and a part of the labor? He should but that is his call and I wouldn't expect it. Move on. Life is short enough.

Yeah that's pretty much where I'm at now. I don't want to be a jerk and not honor the time and effort that went in to diagnose the issue, and don't want to be "that customer" who the dealership is unwilling to help in the future for anything else that may happen.

Tint guys seem pretty unwavering in their stance that they didn't cause it, but are willing to work with me I'm sure. I'm going to bring in the broken piece to them here in a couple days and try to maybe get some store credit for their shop so I can get some future work done at a discounted rate. We'll see how that goes, if anything wild comes up I will post here. Also will be posting pics of the broken piece in greater detail along with a part number when I get it so that anyone in the future might have questions about the same piece.

[colo3Kid]

More pics of the piece and part number may help others in the future. Good luck.

[Znomorph4theWin]

Pay the 50% and move on. While sticking to your principles is important and a true testament to one’s integrity, negotiating a reasonable resolution to get your baby back is the ultimate goal here. The enjoyment of a rattle free car exceeds the $400 spent to get there. YMMV.

[caber]

Originally Posted by Znomorph4theWin

Pay the 50% and move on. While sticking to your principles is important and a true testament to one’s integrity, negotiating a reasonable resolution to get your baby back is the ultimate goal here. The enjoyment of a rattle free car exceeds the $400 spent to get there. YMMV.

When you're right, you're right. Appreciate the input from you and everyone else.