UKC

Evening all.

Purchased a BMW 4 series from an approved BMW garage in July last year.
Last week I noticed it running low on the drivers side front. Suspected a suspension issue and booked it in at a different BMW garage.

The front shock/spring had failed and also caused some other damage. Still yet to see a full report.
The issue is that i've now been told that all the shocks that are on the car are non genuine BMW parts and seemed to have been modified by the previous owner.

So last year i was sold this car with non genuine or certified BMW suspension that has now failed.
I was never informed about these parts when the car was purchased even though BMW put there approved used cars through 'vigorous checks'.

The BMW garage the car is at were concerned and obviously will only replace all 4 shocks with genuine parts.
I have contacted the garage I purchased the car off as i have no desire to keep the car and want to hand it back. (It's on HP Finance).

I also contacted my insurance company who informed me that i would not have been covered in an accident as the modifications were not added to the policy.

Thoughts?

Ben

In reply to Ben_Climber:

If it's a diesel with xdrive its common practice among true fans to switch the springs and dampers from BMW's SE comfort setup to an ACS Eilbach or H&R setup. If that's what happened here your car was probably a cherished model

In reply to Ben_Climber:

Depends whether or not you wear a shell suit while driving it.

In reply to BnB:

Yes, its a 435drive.
I did think the ride was hard compared to my previous BMW.

Still not impressed that it was sold like this and i was not informed by the garage.

Ben

In reply to aln:

Only at the weekends.

In reply to Ben_Climber:

Classy

In reply to Ben_Climber:

hahaha so if I put a non genuine lamp in my sidelight my insurance is void? What a load of crap. Theres a massive difference in fitting non genuine parts and modifying your car. Your insurance company probably thought you were on about racing suspension or something along those lines.

Anyway sorry you're upset about your car breaking I have just spent a few days fixing my old one. Don't worry about it, fix it and move on. Cars break. That's life

In reply to Ben_Climber:


Not much use to you, but the person you spoke to is almost certainly wrong. FSA rules state that non-disclosure is not (by itself) sufficient grounds to refuse a claim. For an inadvertent non-disclosure (such as you made), the worst you could expect would be having to subtract from the claim the difference between what you paid and what the premium would have been if you had disclosed the modification.

In reply to Ben_Climber:
It 'feels like' you have quite a strong case for sending the car back and getting any money back, with the car not being sold as described when you agreed to enter into HP. You might reasonably say you're worried about anything else being missed?

It's not my place to argue whether you should do or not...

In reply to Cheese Monkey:

Theres a massive difference in fitting non genuine parts and modifying your car. Your insurance company probably thought you were on about racing suspension or something along those lines.

If the parts are essentially the same as OEM then there isn't a need to inform the insurance company.
However, if for example, they deliberately lower the ride height, then that would be deemed a modification and you would therefore have to inform them.

In reply to FactorXXX:

This looks like a classic case of the 435d ACS springs swap. Yes it is technically notifiable to the insurer but it is a BMW sanctioned mod that improves the handling without affecting the original manufacturer's warranty. I would however investigate whether the car has had a remap or tuning box at some point. While replacement suspension components are nothing to worry about, a dealer must not sell you a remapped car as "approved" and you would have grounds for a refund in this instance.

In reply to Timmd:


It's never your place to argue Tim, you're a voice of reason on here..

In reply to FactorXXX:

Yeh exactly that's what I was trying to put across but I'm not the best at conveying my thoughts sometimes

In reply to Cheese Monkey:

Yeh exactly that's what I was trying to put across but I'm not the best at conveying my thoughts sometimes

Don't worry, I quite often have difficulty in reading the true intent in posts...

In reply to Ben_Climber:

If you blow your nose before driving then you might have snorted your brain into your hanky and your insurance is void. Most of these insurance guys know sweet FA about vehicles and will swing any nonsense to shift responsibility. Once upon a time insurance companies had plenty of reasonably well qualified guys making decisions about this stuff but even they were not really qualified to make decisions about modifications. With most of the car dependent on electronic and the guys in the workshop barely able to keep up, the chap in the insurance office has no chance.

The reality is that springs break A LOT. Look in the gutters at any roundabout! BMW springs break. I have had at least two break on one of my BMWs and I put a pair of Eibach springs in and never had trouble again. And do NOT start me on anti-roll bar links.

You refer to the shock absorber: the damper? A strut body? Not sure what that is about. So is this really about a spring failure or is it a damper failure or a structural component of the suspension?

In reply to Ben_Climber:


Pattern parts are not a modification (provided they are manufacturer spec) and so that is garbage. Or were they "uprated" e.g. lowered?

In reply to MarkJH:


In that case, the worry is if the non-disclosed aspect would have been sufficient grounds for the Insurer to refuse to offer cover in the first place. That said, I think currently when it comes to insurance claims, any non-compliance has to have been of material significance to the incident for it to be grounds for repudiation (until a few years ago, it used to be a strict case of any breach, even if irrelevant to the claim, was grounds to refuse a pay-out - not so now).