M56 SULEV Motor Warranty

[killcrap]

every sulev m56 engine equipped vehicle will eventually need a fuel tank replacement. majority of the time, the DMTL leaks fuel outside the canister, and the cause is a bad fuel tank. ive never seen a m56 that needed a fuel pump though. early ones had problems with noise, and there is a software update to change the operating strategy of the fuel pump so it didnt make as much noise. and yes there is a 15yr warranty on the emissions related components

[tjones02]

Is there a service bulletin that details the 15yr 150K emissions equipment warranty? If so what is it?

[Techniker]

Is there a service bulletin that details the 15yr 150K emissions equipment warranty? If so what is it?

Bumping this thread -- I have the same question. I love being able to look down my nose at Prius drivers, but I want to be fully armed and informed ahead of time should my new-to-me 325i w/M56 fail later in life. Up until reading these threads, all I knew is that E46 SULEV parts were outrageously expensive to replace. Didn't know that we might have recourse with good old BMWNA.

I'm coming to the end of my CPO warranty, so... this is important for me to know.

[catapultpg]

http://www.ge39.com/files/M56sulev.pdf

I argued my case and got a $8800 fuel pump repaird for 0...it was under warranty. You can't talk to a regular person at BMW North America....it has to be someone familiar with SULEV vehicles. The warranty for 15 years/150,000 was mandatory for automobile manufacturers who were producing zero emissions vehicles by usuing more expensive emissions parts. The automobile companies had to find a way to meet thier zero emissions quota...so instead of going electric car or hybrid....they had to use very expensive parts and knowing this the govt. made them warrany those parts for these extended period. The goverment did not want the automobile companies to be able to unfairly charge the customer for their method of meeting the number of zero emission car quota. So it comes down to BMW of North America got a ZERO EMISSIONS credit for producing your car. Therefore they are responsible for the parts that help your car achieve zero emissions.....these are listed on attached. YES california has the mandatory warranty on these parts...but the manufacturer took the credit to meet california's quota so they are responsible for the warranty whereever the car is located. You will not easily find anyone at BMWNA that knows the rules here. You have to demand either DEALERSHIP pursues or that BMWNA gets you in touch with someone who for sure knows SULEV.

[Techniker]

http://www.ge39.com/files/M56sulev.pdf

I argued my case and got a $8800 fuel pump repaird for 0...it was under warranty. You can't talk to a regular person at BMW North America....it has to be someone familiar with SULEV vehicles. The warranty for 15 years/150,000 was mandatory for automobile manufacturers who were producing zero emissions vehicles by usuing more expensive emissions parts. The automobile companies had to find a way to meet thier zero emissions quota...so instead of going electric car or hybrid....they had to use very expensive parts and knowing this the govt. made them warrany those parts for these extended period. The goverment did not want the automobile companies to be able to unfairly charge the customer for their method of meeting the number of zero emission car quota. So it comes down to BMW of North America got a ZERO EMISSIONS credit for producing your car. Therefore they are responsible for the parts that help your car achieve zero emissions.....these are listed on attached. YES california has the mandatory warranty on these parts...but the manufacturer took the credit to meet california's quota so they are responsible for the warranty whereever the car is located. You will not easily find anyone at BMWNA that knows the rules here. You have to demand either DEALERSHIP pursues or that BMWNA gets you in touch with someone who for sure knows SULEV.

VERY useful to hear an actual account of this! Thank you for sharing your experience so that the rest of us can be assured and armed with this knowledge. This should definitely go in the E46 FAQ. Now if only I could remember where that is... :)

[Edgy99]

Good thread with good info. It helped save some other guy from paying around $8K for a new fuel filter.

Nice example of the Internet saving another BMW owner -- full story here:
http://cparente.wordpress.com/2011/0...w-sulev-owner/

[Kevlar]

Good read... those SULEV cars are tricky ones and since they are so few and far between, they easily fall through the cracks of knowledge.

[spoonerDee]

It really is true about the dealers playing dumb or just plain being dumb about the SULEV vehicles. I called my local dealer about parts under warranty and the person I spoke to had no idea what I was talking aboot.

[Edgy99]

Waking up thread to say we've helped another guy save $8K, and I've got word from Bimmer and Roundel that they will cover this story in upcoming columns. The power of shared information!

http://cparente.wordpress.com/2012/0...hicles-sulevs/

[stefanom3]

learned something. but I wouldn't blame BMW...
looks like this is a california specific "problem" (and maybe few other states)

[90turbo1]

It really is true about the dealers playing dumb or just plain being dumb about the SULEV vehicles. I called my local dealer about parts under warranty and the person I spoke to had no idea what I was talking aboot.

i wouldnt say its the dealer playing dumb, it makes no difference to the dealer one way or another, if anything they should be helping you get it warrantied because they get to sell BMW a fuel tank. The problem is they were sold for a few years and only in California and i think a state on east coast. If I saw one on a dealer lot I would walk away, there are other differences in those cars that are a headache. To me they felt underperforming, and were sort of detuned along with some different engine components and that silly gas tank. but that could be just me. They are hardly ever seen in the dealership I work at and when they do come in the person either just bought the car from an auction or is from out of state.

[ezbmr]

Now OTF has something to complain about. I would think you could replace it eventually with a regular tank, pump and filter, but damm

[Melcher4]

I didn't know about the warranty when I got the car with 100k from a used car dealer and so when I took it in to BMW SOUTH COUNTY in San Diego to have them fix the tail light recall my SES light came on and they checked it and discovered it was the fuel filter and told me that it was all under the warranty, and then when my light came on later for my camshaft position sensors they told me the warranty also covered that too. So I had it all replaced at no cost. so I guess it depends on the quality of people at the dealer, they could have easily hosed me, but they didn't. Now they're gonna replace a few fuel injectors and all the seals under that same warranty.

[Ben Carufel]

I didn't know about the warranty when I got the car with 100k from a used car dealer and so when I took it in to BMW SOUTH COUNTY in San Diego to have them fix the tail light recall my SES light came on and they checked it and discovered it was the fuel filter and told me that it was all under the warranty, and then when my light came on later for my camshaft position sensors they told me the warranty also covered that too. So I had it all replaced at no cost. so I guess it depends on the quality of people at the dealer, they could have easily hosed me, but they didn't. Now they're gonna replace a few fuel injectors and all the seals under that same warranty.

Welcome to the forum. Glad that BMW of South County was able to help you. They're good people. In fact, my E46 325i SULEV just started suffering from long crank times and hard starting, so I took it to them and they diagnosed it as a bad fuel pump and replaced the pump/tank assembly under warranty. No more problems; she's running like a top now.

[Gepetto82]

Waking up thread to say we've helped another guy save $8K, and I've got word from Bimmer and Roundel that they will cover this story in upcoming columns. The power of shared information!

http://cparente.wordpress.com/2012/0...hicles-sulevs/

Has this been written yet in Roundel or Bimmer? It would certainly be of service to all us SULEV owners out there...even though there probably aren't too many...

[Edgy99]

Has this been written yet in Roundel or Bimmer? It would certainly be of service to all us SULEV owners out there...even though there probably aren't too many...

Yes, Mike Miller reprinted my post in his Bimmer Tech Q&A column, and the issue has come up before. Unfortunately, he often makes it out to be the owner's problem, not BMW's. Seems to me a warranty is a warranty, and it can't become void just because the car is driven over a state line. It should be on the company to honor it, and on dealers to know about it.

Glad to read accounts in this post that show dealers sometimes do know about the warranty and honor it.