Good old AA!

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Not been on here for a while and realised I was missing you guys, especially the pits! and I have one or two takes to share so I thought what the hell. 
Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I started my 540 up and as she idled while putting on my belt, I noticed the battery light was flickering. Once I'd revved it a bit the light went out and as I drove past my work I asked one of the mechanics opinions. He said could be the belt (it did sometimes squeel when I turn the engine off and on full lock) So I thought ok, next week I'll get a new belt put on.
Anyway, the following weekend I was driving on an A road at 60 then I noticed my rev counter drop out, followed by my speedo about 5 seconds later then as I start to accelerate up a hill, the ignition lights all came on, "CHECK CONTROL" lit up on the dash and I lost all power. Luckily I managed to put my foot on the clutch and coast to the side of the road.

Unable to see anything obvious I called the AA. As I was in a dangerous position (well sort of) he was there within 30 minutes. Funny thing is he pulled up in a silver transit with black stripes and "CUSTOMER SERVICE" written on the side which I'm sure is the livery on a BMW service van?
Anyway, he said my battery had no juice so put his jump pack on and boosted it then got her started.
After running his meter across it he confirmed the alternator is not charging but with his battery boost pack connected he'll follow me home and then I can sort it out later.

Once he'd got me home after the pack connector had jumped off and my car again died right in the middle of a double roundabout! Lucky the very nice man was right there behind me so quickly got me going again! anyway, he told me I had breakdown warranty cover.
"What?" I replied. He said it will cover up to £500 (minus £25 excess) of work as a result of his callout.
I got a local garage who were a bit short of work to recover my car and get her up and running again within 48 hours! All I had to do was take my £25 in when I collected the car!

Apparently I'd signed up to it back in 1999 at a cost of £8 a month on top of my AA cover. I thought I was in for a seriously high bill which may have grounded the car for a bit.
Thanks to the AA and the cover I didn't even remember having, my car is still plodding on 17 years after she first hit the road!

Mike

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540 V8 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Bavarian-Board Contributor Lick my badge Joined: 07-December-2005 Location: Running the asylum Status: Offline Points: 2280	Post Options Post Reply Quote 540 V8 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Good old AA! Posted: 19-October-2011 at 21:04
	Not been on here for a while and realised I was missing you guys, especially the pits! and I have one or two takes to share so I thought what the hell. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I started my 540 up and as she idled while putting on my belt, I noticed the battery light was flickering. Once I'd revved it a bit the light went out and as I drove past my work I asked one of the mechanics opinions. He said could be the belt (it did sometimes squeel when I turn the engine off and on full lock) So I thought ok, next week I'll get a new belt put on. Anyway, the following weekend I was driving on an A road at 60 then I noticed my rev counter drop out, followed by my speedo about 5 seconds later then as I start to accelerate up a hill, the ignition lights all came on, "CHECK CONTROL" lit up on the dash and I lost all power. Luckily I managed to put my foot on the clutch and coast to the side of the road. Unable to see anything obvious I called the AA. As I was in a dangerous position (well sort of) he was there within 30 minutes. Funny thing is he pulled up in a silver transit with black stripes and "CUSTOMER SERVICE" written on the side which I'm sure is the livery on a BMW service van? Anyway, he said my battery had no juice so put his jump pack on and boosted it then got her started. After running his meter across it he confirmed the alternator is not charging but with his battery boost pack connected he'll follow me home and then I can sort it out later. Once he'd got me home after the pack connector had jumped off and my car again died right in the middle of a double roundabout! Lucky the very nice man was right there behind me so quickly got me going again! anyway, he told me I had breakdown warranty cover. "What?" I replied. He said it will cover up to £500 (minus £25 excess) of work as a result of his callout. I got a local garage who were a bit short of work to recover my car and get her up and running again within 48 hours! All I had to do was take my £25 in when I collected the car! Apparently I'd signed up to it back in 1999 at a cost of £8 a month on top of my AA cover. I thought I was in for a seriously high bill which may have grounded the car for a bit. Thanks to the AA and the cover I didn't even remember having, my car is still plodding on 17 years after she first hit the road! Mike
	Current:E34 540i Touring 6 speed manual(Mpower bodykit & suspension)& Chrysler Voyager 3.3 V6 auto Previous:E34 530iSE AC Schnitzer suspension. E28 525e auto-Standard

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Andrew Rolland Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Go away rain Joined: 19-August-2004 Location: Scotland Status: Offline Points: 6579	Post Options Post Reply Quote Andrew Rolland Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 20-October-2011 at 09:24
	Good stuff The AA saved my bacon when the dizzy bearings went in my Senator allowing the rotor arm to hit the dizzy cap breaking it into a million pieces. Transported from York to Linwood on the back of a lowloader. Would have been a huge recovery bill if I hadn't been with them. Mind you that was 10 years ago and they have got their moneys worth now out of me thru yearly membership. The van livery could be any form of customer service, not just BMW. When I called BMW Emergency Assist they came out in a couple of E61s with BMW livery but on the weekend it was a VW van like you describe. The chap told me he covers all premuim makes for Emergency Service. Audi, Merc BMW Landrover etc. The AA will hire these guys in if they are short of their own patrols or to cover leave periods etc. Glad to see you are still driving the old girl
	Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series! Current '13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto Previous '04 04 E60 545i SE Auto '03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen) '98 S E39 523i SE Auto