My 328Ci, about a month after I bought it (February 2006, car is a 2000MY, had 50k miles and well out of warranty), developed the rear subframe tear that occurs with the E46 platform cars.
I took it to the local, big BMW dealer (bought the car in Columbus, and never bought from this dealer before), and explained the situation to the Service Manager. I was younger than the typical owner for sure, so I was not sure I'd be taken seriously. I did have about 250 pages I printed out from various sources regarding the issue.
He said he would have to do some research and make some calls, and I'd hear back by the end of the week.
I get a call on Thursday (took it in Monday) from the SM, and he says that the repairs were approved and to drop the car off at my convenience, it'd take about two weeks due to the work involved. I told him it'd be there Saturday morning.
Friday I get a call from the VP of North American Service, and he apologized greatly and said that he personally ensured that I would be treated like a king, and that while the repairs were being done he authorized that any other worn item be replaced with the best possible part. My guess is he wanted to ensure that I became a lifetime buyer, as someone who was not even in his twenties yet and was buying these kinds of cars, cash, is a good place to hedge your bets I suppose.
So, I had my girlfriend at the time follow me to the dealer, I spent about an hour filling out paperwork, talking, etc, and then I got ready to leave in my girlfriends car, when the SM came up and said "don't forget your loaner". He handed me the keys to a 2006 M3 ZCP 6MT (competition package) in Interlagos Blue and said that the Head of the service for the Midwest was told to give me an M3, in blue, while my car was in for repair. I was also permitted to temporarily exchange it for any other vehicle if I needed to! The car had just 3k miles on it!
He just handed me the keys and said "have fun, and you can put as many miles as you want on it, you just pay for the gas".
I got my car back after 22 days, and the entire subframe had been replaced with an M3 unit, the rear floorpan had been cut out and an M3 one welded in and reinforced, and consequently the entirecar was uupgraded w M3 axles and brakes, a brand new M3 LSD, all new shocks and springs and mounts, and much more. The total labor bill, JUST labor, was $11,948, covered in whole by BMWNA, and the parts (calculated by myself) were at least another $18k at online prices at the time.
They even replaced the wheels and tires due to curb rash, and I got a brand new set of M3 CSL wheels (required by the very different offset used by the M3 drivetrain) with brand new PS2's in 245/40R19 and 265/35R19 fitting the M3 fenders quite well.
I have never heard of anyone else getting essentially an M3 aside from the engine as a result of the subframe issue, but I still have the THIRTEEN PAGE parts and work order in my maintenance binder!
Best part is that the work is warrantied forlife.
So, y eah, they succeeded in getting a loyal customer!
