Am I being snowed? My brand new 525i BMW sounds and handles like a truck. After seven months and 12,000 miles I was told that the problem is the tires. They say the roaring sound I hear at when I approach traffic lights and other slow speeds is due to uneven tire wear. The dealer told me that the car was out of alignment even though I never felt the car was out of alignment at all. He said since I have the sport package all it needed was for the car to be out of alignment just a hair to cause it - and I'd never know and that the damage to the tires would be almost immediate. Of course when I first called the dealer questioning the road noise they told me that was normal for the sport package. When I couldn't take it anymore and brought it into the dealer they charged me $150 to align and rotate the tires and basically told me too bad and that it will continue to sound like that and attract stares and comments and the warranty won't cover it even though it wasn't my fault. They told me that it is my responsibility to rotate and balance the tires every 5,000 miles even though it didn't say it in the manual and the dealer doesn't tell you that and that the tires generaly only last 18,000 to 20,000 miles. But I guess if BMW told you the truth people would be turned off by the high maintenance and then they wouldn't sell many cars. Now that they've aligned and balanced the tires it runs worse than ever. The car pulls to the right and tugs sligthly in either direction on rough roads. I get sympathy from the dealer but that's it. Essentially I now have an 8 month old luxury vehicle that will cost me more than $1,000 to buy new tires and then pray that was really the problem. The dealer was quick to point out ALL the responsibilities I have as a driver/owner but wouldn't take any responsibility for a luxury vehicle that requires a buyer to be a mechanic, rotate tires every 5,000 miles (which I'd have to pay for - so much for 36 months free maintenance), buy new tires every 12-18,000 miles etc. Funny thing is that when I brought the car to another dealer for a second opinion they were quick to tell me it was my fault because the tire pressure was very low - even though I had been to the first dealer just a couple of weeks before. I guess that means the first dealer didn't bother to check the tire pressure (!) OR the tires are losing air that quickly because of a defect! Odd that BMW doesn't mention these things when they're selling you the car. Instead the salesman concentrated on the low maintenance requirements including how this this ulitmate driving machine was so good that it didn't require its first checkup until all the green lights went out (which one is still on). I guess its true that you don't HAVE to bring the vehicle in every 5,000 miles but what they forget to tell you is that if you don't, you wind up paying extra for all the damage that's done because the car truly isn't what they claim it is. So the shame of it all is I spent a fortune leasing a new car and don't get the chance to enjoy it. I'm ready to toss the keys but according to the dealer the "ultimate driving machine" depreciates in the first months to the point that I will owe the leasing company $5,000 to get out of the lease. I bought a BMW, much like the Lexus I owned before it, because i'm not a mechanic and I want the service, quality, low maintenance that I thought comes with owning a luxury vehicle. I didn't buy a truck - at least I didn't think so. Thanks for listening.
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