Just to recap. You have an Eight year old car, which has mileage equivalant to driving three times around the Earth. The engine has trouble and you want the manufacturer to be responsible for repairing it. Have I got this right? If you found a suitcase full of cash in the trunk, would you share this with them, also? Just wondering.

Sounds right to me. BMW sold cars, discovered a MAJOR design flaw (ENGINE BLOCK!!!) knows about the problem fairly early on and JUST extends the warranty. Having also been burned by BMW I think it was handled very poorly. This is a known problemn that eventually affects ALL of the engines. They should have ALL been replaced. At the very least as a service to its loyal customers they could have notified us of the problem so those of us subject to it could monitor the problem. So let me get this straight, a manufacturer sells you a $70k car and they know the engine is going to fail. They don't tell anybody to save a buck, and you consider that to be ethical business?

I posted this on the E32 board but am posting it here also since it affects 1995 E38 740 owners as well.

I have a beautiful 93 740IL with 70K miles and now the engine is suffering from poor idle and a failed leak-down test. I've owned the car since 25K miles and never have I been told by the dealers (who always serviced the car) or BMW that they were having trouble with this V8 engine as it gets older. Now I'm told BMW won't pay to replace it because of the age of the car.

I'm now very seriously considering a lawsuit against BMW of North America. If anyone else is having a similar problem or has been through this, I welcome your comments or suggestions. I've owned five bimmers but not sure I will continue to support a company that won't support it's consumer when a $70K car has an obvious defect. Should I be penalized for being a buyer who doesn't drive much when BMW has made a design error???

Any comment?