390 total miles. Had 8 miles when we bought it 3 weeks ago, At 390 miles, the dreaded Drivetrain Malfunction message appears. Had car towed to local San Antonio BMW dealer. At first, they said there was an injector problem and it was covered under warranty. Replaced one injector and the replacement failed. BMW then suspected contaminated fuel. With their sophisticate lab fingers, they said the fuel felt oily and that it must be contaminated. Now BMW says outwith warranty coverage and it will require an expenditure of $10,700 to replace the entire fuel system. Also was told that if there is engine damage, teh engine may have to be replaced but we wouldnt know that until the fuel system was replaced. BMW SA recommended getting with my insurance company, in this case Progressive, to see if they will cover it under comprehesive coverage. Progressive adjuster came out and took two sample of fuel, one from the tank. one from the injector train where the original bad injector was located. He placed each sample in a glass container and waited 2-30 mins to see if there was any phase separation. There was not. There were also no visible contamination of solids. Progressive later did a test of just pouring te gasoline in a styrofoam cup. Ate right thru it. At this point, Progressive said the fuel was not contaminated, and that would normally be the end of anything on their end. However, as a good will gesture, Progressive is having a Fluids Forensic Lab (Armstrong Forensics Laboratory) to perform a detailed analysis of the fuel. Progressive has a fuels and liquids expert on staff that all she deals with is this sort of issue. She seems very knowledgeable. She contacted both Costco, and the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation to determine if there had been otehr complaints lodged. There were none, In my opinion, if the gas at this Costco had been contaminated, tehre would have been other reports. But there are none. A little context to the event. BMW originally fueled the vehicle as part of their car delivery service. We took delivery on or around March 19. On March 31, the tank gauge was reading slightly below 1/2 tank. We topped off with Costco Premium fuel, which I have been running in our Mercedes for over 15 years without an issue. We then drove approximately 127 miles over two days without issue. On April 3, we had driven approx 5 miles from our home and we were going up a hill when the light came on. We had it towed to the dealership. The Progressive expert said that it it was bad fuel, it would have failed very quickly after fueling. She beleives it is mechanical or computer issue. We should get the gas detailed analysis back by May3. Anyone else have this issue or have any comments? Should I elevate this to an Ombudsmen or do they read on here.? I have a much more detailed synopsis if someone needs it. I have also asked te SA for a detailed write up of everything they did (or didn't) do before and after they did the old "it feels oily with the finger" analysis. I suspect that maybe the mechanics hands were already a little oily, as this is not a scientific approach for determining if fuel is contaminated. Thanks all, sorry for the long rant. Tim in Comfort TX
