Ugh. If this post sounds like a rant, I apologize. I used the on site car detailing service my company HQ offers earlier today. Drop the car off in the morning, and pick it up at the end of business.

I had heard great things from my coworkers so I decided to use them. I had the car waxed and the interior / exterior detailed. They did a fantastic job on the detail / wax front. The car looks spectacular.

When I pick the car up I find that the small air vent to the right of the steering wheel (between the instrument cluster and the Center display) is broken. The central flap is detached from the center ****, and one of the ****'s plastic pieces has been detached. The vent works fine, it opens / closes, and all of the flaps except for the broken one move as they should, but it is truly broken in the sense that the plastic bits which should be together, aren't, and the one flap is broken from where it should be attached.

I bring the car back to show the attendant (language barrier, unfortunately), I was told to bring it back tomorrow to show the manager.

I'm resigned that I'll get at best a refund from the manager for what I paid for the wax and detail, but I'm curious how much this part will cost to get fixed from the dealer.

I could leave it alone, but knowing that a 3 month old car has something broken isn't good for me being as OCD as I am, even if the vent functions okay.

I'm just so disillusioned at this whole ordeal (yes, I may be making a mountain out of a molehill), where are people who take pride in, and care about their work and aren't lackadaisical about things like even moving the driver's seat back into the position it was when I brought it in. And even noticing that they broke something.

Sorry for the rant. I just hope the entire dashboard doesn't have to be taken apart to fix / replace the vent assembly. I intend to bring it into the dealer to have it fixed at my 5K (off service interval) oil change.

 

This is the R56. F56 may be similar ...https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...dash-trim.html

 

Is imagine that the part is under $100. The install could be tedious. Check out the Sewell Mini parts website to get an actual price. They have good diagrams.

 

Photo of the broken part?

 

I just checked the Sewell site (great people by the way, I've done business with them before). The part itself is less than $40, which is good...

http://mini.sewellparts.com/oem-cata...-F56-2014.html
(Air Vent, center left) part#64229265405

Below are pictures of the broken bit from my car:





The top picture shows the break clearly. The flap was formerly the one piece of plastic to the **** is broken. And the back (inside) part of the twist **** is also broken inside the flaps.

Hopefully it is as easy as removing some trim, removing the old piece and popping in the new bit.

 

No one has any respect for anything any more. As a country (USA) we are going down hill quickly

 

Can't you just take it to the dealer, and say it just broke while cleaning it? It could have been a bad part from the beginning.

Do you think the detailer banged it with something?

Now, I'm going to be worried mine will break too if I twist it a bit hard.

 

I'm definitely taking it to the dealer. Although it could very well have been a bad part, having manipulated the part for the past three months without incident, I'm pretty confident that the detailer broke it. Hopefully I'll have a little resolution from the detailer tomorrow for the inconvenience at least.

 

That's a shame. I can't find a good car detailing service here. They always do something stupid. One company knocked my truck into 4wd low, then tried to dive it on asphalt. When it didn't want to move he gave it more throttle! I could hear my truck from my office and knew something was off. I came out yelling at the guy, if it doesn't move you don't just floor it! Something is clearly wrong! Then a different company blew half my plasti-dip off my MINI after I told them not to use a pressure washer on my car! I feel your pain...

 

Definitely take it to your dealer and talk to your service manager/advisor. I will bet they'll replacement it free of charge.

 

There's at least one screw holding it there.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...64&fg=05&hl=16

 

Devil's advocate position: I am pretty sure I could fix that from the front (without having to dismantle anything...) with a tiny amont of epoxy and that it would last for years. Take maybe 5 minutes and probably even be stronger than the original bond, in fact. Just a thought.

 

Epoxy is not for the OCD people with a 4 month old car and the OP said he was OCD.

 

There's still that round plastic part inside the vent itself, which was attached to the back of the ****, as well as another lever on the right side of it. I'm planning on taking it to my service center later this morning to show them. On the way back, I'll stop off at the detailing area at work and have a chat with the manager, see if I can at least get a refund.

 

Sure, I would see if it could be fixed under warranty as well. I'm a DIY kinda' person, so look at things from that angle too. Best of luck with it.

 

If history is any indication: DIY doesn't turn out as well for me. LOL

I'll post an update later today.

 

I received a full refund from the detailing place. All the while they were adamant that they didn't cause the damage.

Don't you hate being put in awkward positions like that? I do... They brought out the actual person who cleaned my car and he proceeded to show me that he used a delicate brush to clean the vents on the car and there was no way that he could have caused the damage. What do I say to that? I said I was sure it wasn't damaged before I brought the car in, and I'd like to at least get a refund for the inconvenience it has caused me. (I don't discount the fact that it could have been a bad part from the beginning, that it was on the way to being broken, but I knew I didn't break it -- via the process of elimination, it had to be them).

They called the manager and after speaking with him, I got the refund. He stood by his people like any good manager should do.

Although I'm unhappy that the part is broken and will have to be fixed, I am happy with the resolution. The detailers apologized to me before I left for the inconvenience. It is funny, as they were in my car looking at the broken part again this morning, they were also looking at the other vents in my car and the only thing which was going through my mind at the time was "please don't break another vent."

The Mini Service center will basically charge me what I paid for the car to be detailed to fix the broken part.

I won't be going to the on site detailing place again. lol