Pumas turn to Oxnard…

Still day two, but got a call back after I published my last post and I wanted to get this out as soon as I got word…

My ActiveE, who I am temporarily naming Godot is now Oxnard bound.

Oxnard is the regional center for the ActiveE and is often a point of escalation for ActiveE faults. So I am hoping for a quicker turn around.

I guess it’s time to get reacquainted with my 25 cent per mile vehicle… Also known as my ICE X5! I was planning on driving that a few times this month to get up to the mountain for some skiing, so that might actually start happening

Waiting on Pumas… Day Two…

So… Just heard back from my Service Advisor.

I forgot to mention that the car would not take a charge overnight 12-11-12 (or 11-12-12 for my German and International readers) as well as being stuck in Transmission Error mode. Nor would it take a charge with subsequent attempts.

So, yesterday afternoon, after the car was towed to the dealership, the low level electric (12V battery) died and they had to replace the 12V battery. There was hope that these issues would be cleared by that battery replacement. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I got the call and was told that we’re now waiting on BMW Corporate to get back to my guys (one of the drawbacks to being in the West Coast in this program is that the guys in Corporate could be NJ for US and Germany for International, so I don’t know who they’re waiting on.)

So, the dealership tried to plug the car in for a charge again after replacing the 12V battery and that was not working either. So, we’re now waiting for Puma response…

If you’re interested in seeing these updates as I publish, subscribe to the blog. I plan on updating as often as I get updates for this… I just hope that this does not turn into a Samuel Beckett play. Otherwise, I will have to break from my normal behavior and give my car a name, I’m just hoping that it would not have to be Godot!

12-12-12 might as well have been 13-13-13 for me…

I guess the words “spoke too soon” should’ve applied to my “completed” 20k service last week.

I was lucky enough to pick up my vehicle last Friday after the dealership completed my 20k service at 21,021, it was a particularly slow weekend for me, driving wise, as we pretty much stayed close to home. So, it was a little perturbing when I received the dreaded “Transmission Error” last night.

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I’ve only had a few of these in the past, however, this has been the first one since my dealership moved my car from being serviced by the one technician that they’ve had on the ActiveE with a second tech who just started working on my car. Not to say that I blame the guy… But that’s just suspect for me.

So, I figured not to panic, I started the list of things to do when this error pops up…

1) I took the key out and waited a few minutes started the whole process and the car did not start.

2) So, I figured to try it again and waited an hour… No effect.

3) I decided to go to sleep, plug the car in and try it the next morning… Tried it, still the same error.

4) Tried the reset switch by the battery

5) Finally had to call for a tow truck…

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A “skate”, I think “sled is better”…

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So, what did we learn since the first tow 9 months ago…

Well, not much. Apparently disengaging the low level electric and putting the car in neutral does not seem to be much of a priority anymore.

Well, for those interested, I was able to get a copy of the guide for tow-truck drivers from the guy who picked up my car (and proceeded to mark up my front drive way with rubber drag marks for my car…)

Skates are now “recommended”, however, skates are not what I thought they would look like, Sleds would have been a better name.

Ugh… Now, I wait… And hopefully it’s not too long. I am still hoping to try to catch up to Tom M! or at least stay ahead of Todd C. Hard to do when I’m driving an ICE 328 Sedan.

Permanent fix for the spline issue is in!

So, got my Active E on Friday and didn’t really put any miles on it this weekend.

We had our annual holiday party with our friends at our house, so, didn’t really do much driving. I did let a couple of friends test drive the car to get them ready to EVolve into the EV lifestyle. Consistent with the theme of my blog, we discussed this as PURELY an economic decision on top of the PERFORMANCE of a BMW Electric vehicle and it’s scheduled successors in the BMWi family.

Glad to say that it looks like it’s performing as it did prior to the week long service in the shop. Apparently a new technician worked on my vehicle this past week and I have to say that I can tell. The original technician was very meticulous and the vehicle felt restored to me as before. However upon inspection of my vehicle this weekend, I noticed a spare plastic piece that seems to be lose and I can’t figure out where it came from. Additionally the carpet covered pieces in the trunk don’t seem to be flush against each other as opposed to how my original technician delivers the vehicle to me.

I have not had time to check launch control. However, I did notice that I finished my commute to work about 3-4% state of charge LESS than I normally do. The weather is a nice Southern California 65-70 today, HOWEVER, a lot of people seem to be off as I was going closer to 75-80 on parts of my commute that would normally be slower (have to keep up with the rest of traffic.) So, that’s probably it.

So, what was the permanent fix? Basically a plug that fits in the E-motor to keep the lubricant back to the junction between the motor and the gears so that it does not get spun off by the torque of the motor. I don’t have a picture, but should I run across one, I’d make sure to post.

Still waiting for my Active E from service…

I know that I’m missing my Active E when I start checking out other electric “cars.”

I joined the EV revolution with the Active E and not the Mini-E. However. I did find the following electric Mini today…

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So, get your kids ready for the future and pick up one of these at your local Costco.

And hopefully I will get my Active E back this Friday, complete with the permanent fix for the spline issue.

Finally finishing up my 20k service…

  by dennis_p
, a photo by dennis_p on Flickr.

The car went into the shop on Monday, December 3rd to finalize the work from the 20,000 mile service. 21,021 miles… Not bad. Waited a few weeks for the part to (hopefully) fix the spline design issue that’s been reported.I’m hoping that the charging issue that folks have been reporting on Chargepoint/Coulomb chargers don’t affect this vehicle as I have a Coulomb charger at home. Fingers crossed. Still waiting on my dealership to tell me to pick up the car… Though it looks like Thursday, Dec. 6th… as of right now.

A thousand miles later… and waiting a week… (estimate)…

It’s been a 1,000 miles since my Little Milestones post eleven days ago. I guess I estimated too low… I was planning on dropping my ActiveE off at exactly 20,000 miles (as I’ve done at 5,000; 10,000; and 15,000 miles) not this time…

Brought it in at 19,999 miles…

Less than a mile short of 20k mile goal for service this morning!

another view…

Another shot of my ActiveE at 19,999 miles

So, if you’re planning on dropping your ActiveE off for service at Long Beach BMW right now, you might have to wait…

So, what am I in for. A permanent fix for the Spline problem is in play. The dealership confirms a conversation that I had with my visit to Tom Moloughney last month that they have developed a “plug” to ensure that the lubricant in the spline stays put and does not spin off as we use our Electric Motors. Additionally, the latest version of the software will be flashed into my car to minimize the GFCI faults at some public chargers.

Hopefully this update doesn’t remove Launch Control (as fun as it is to get the Checkered Flag.) As was reported on this ActiveE Forum post or perhaps Ardie is being punished and Launch Control will still be there when I get my car back.
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Either way, dropped the car off around 9am PST today, November 12, 2012 and was promised to get it next week. Hopefully sooner. So, fingers crossed…