[Novvaa]

Not asking for any advice or anything here. Just figured I’d share the story so that future searchers can see how it all turned out.

So we custom ordered this vehicle and picked it up earlier this month. 2024 X7 40i in Carbon Black. Fairly loaded. It’s got 1100 miles on it so far. Wife drove it to pick up lunch earlier this week and that’s where our story takes place.

Chick Fil A almost always gives you a drink carrier if you have more than one drink in your order, at least where we live. It’s king of annoying because there’s two perfectly accessible cup holders so I really only need a carrier for 3 or more drink. Anyway, they give my wife the two drink in a holder, one tea and one milk shake. My wife is always worried about going out of her way for other people even when it doesn’t make sense so instead of immediately putting the drinks in the cup holder, she set them on the arm rest and pulled forward while holding the carrier in order to keep the line moving. Well then someone cut her off as they pulled in to the parking lot and she was forced to hit the breakes. She loses her grip and the tea and milkshake tumble forward on to the controls. She tried to wipe up as much as possible but there’s only so much you can do in that situation.

She drove it home and I went out with the vacuum and got as much out as possible. During this process, a bunch of error messages pop up, including a drivetrain malfunction, bricking the car. The error messages did go away after a couple of hours but we wanted to have it looked at anyway. Roadside sent a tow truck to pick it up and took it to our preferred dealership. The dealership sent us their review today and said that while it is currently functional, they do recommend that we replace the module, as the buttons are now all sticky and some remain depressed even after they are no longer being pressed. We would have asked them to replace the module even if they hadn’t made this recommendation, just to avoid issues down the road.

Our service advisor did recommend that we file a claim with our insurance to see if they’ll cover it. We are waiting to hear back on that. They did give us an estimate to swap in a new control module, including the drive controller and the ride height controller. Total cost is about $2500 which isn’t as bad as I’d thought it would be.

My wife is a car enthusiast herself so this really isn’t a case of negligence or anything like that. It was just an unfortunate series of events. She’s obviously distraught but shit happens so I’m not worried about it. Cars are meant to be driven and we aren’t going to baby ours.

I’ll update this post when we find out if insurance will cover the damage.

Edit: Insurance will not be covering the damages. I didn’t think that they would, we just filed the claim at the suggesting of our service tech. $2500 lesson but it is what it is. I made sure to support my wife in this situation and make sure she felt loved and not disciplined. Can always make more money.

[Madsen203]

There’s another thread about this same thing. It’s unfortunate that it happened. Sorry, OP.

[Novvaa]

Originally Posted by Madsen203

There’s another thread about this same thing. It’s unfortunate that it happened. Sorry, OP.

I saw one for an X5 from 2022. Not sure if that’s the one you mean but yeah I think the circumstances are similar but that guy did say he was able to have insurance cover it. My company (USAA) has not said one way or the other yet.

[rjabend]

Originally Posted by Novvaa

Not asking for any advice or anything here. Just figured I’d share the story so that future searchers can see how it all turned out.

So we custom ordered this vehicle and picked it up earlier this month. 2024 X7 40i in Carbon Black. Fairly loaded. It’s got 1100 miles on it so far. Wife drove it to pick up lunch earlier this week and that’s where our story takes place.

Chick Fil A almost always gives you a drink carrier if you have more than one drink in your order, at least where we live. It’s king of annoying because there’s two perfectly accessible cup holders so I really only need a carrier for 3 or more drink. Anyway, they give my wife the two drink in a holder, one tea and one milk shake. My wife is always worried about going out of her way for other people even when it doesn’t make sense so instead of immediately putting the drinks in the cup holder, she set them on the arm rest and pulled forward while holding the carrier in order to keep the line moving. Well then someone cut her off as they pulled in to the parking lot and she was forced to hit the breakes. She loses her grip and the tea and milkshake tumble forward on to the controls. She tried to wipe up as much as possible but there’s only so much you can do in that situation.

She drove it home and I went out with the vacuum and got as much out as possible. During this process, a bunch of error messages pop up, including a drivetrain malfunction, bricking the car. The error messages did go away after a couple of hours but we wanted to have it looked at anyway. Roadside sent a tow truck to pick it up and took it to our preferred dealership. The dealership sent us their review today and said that while it is currently functional, they do recommend that we replace the module, as the buttons are now all sticky and some remain depressed even after they are no longer being pressed. We would have asked them to replace the module even if they hadn’t made this recommendation, just to avoid issues down the road.

Our service advisor did recommend that we file a claim with our insurance to see if they’ll cover it. We are waiting to hear back on that. They did give us an estimate to swap in a new control module, including the drive controller and the ride height controller. Total cost is about $2500 which isn’t as bad as I’d thought it would be.

My wife is a car enthusiast herself so this really isn’t a case of negligence or anything like that. It was just an unfortunate series of events. She’s obviously distraught but shit happens so I’m not worried about it. Cars are meant to be driven and we aren’t going to baby ours.

I’ll update this post when we find out if insurance will cover the damage.

That kind of spill can cause latent defects in the electronics such as conductive whisker growth. I am not completely familiar with the electronics under the spill, but I recommend being very careful perhaps including not driving the vehicle.

[Orient330iNYC]

for 2500 in damage, is it worth having a claim on your record? might not result in rate increases now, but if you ever go to change providers, it'll be on your record.

[streborx]

I don't do food and drinks in mine, but if I did, I'd do a preemptive tear-down and water proofing of all the console electrics. Too bad BMW's designers didn't think about this.

[Novvaa]

Originally Posted by rjabend

That kind of spill can cause latent defects in the electronics such as conductive whisker growth. I am not completely familiar with the electronics under the spill, but I recommend being very careful perhaps including not driving the vehicle.

The vehicle is at BMW for replacement of the control module.

[Novvaa]

Originally Posted by Orient330iNYC

for 2500 in damage, is it worth having a claim on your record? might not result in rate increases now, but if you ever go to change providers, it'll be on your record.

Not sure really. I don’t suspect we’ll be switching providers any time soon. But we’ll see what the come back with and go from there.

[Novvaa]

Originally Posted by streborx

I don't do food and drinks in mine, but if I did, I'd do a preemptive tear-down and water proofing of all the console electrics. Too bad BMW's designers didn't think about this.

It does seem to be somewhat of a design flaw, especially with the proximity to the cup holders. We won’t be resorting to no food and drink in the car since it’s our family hauler and we’ll be using it on long trips. But we won’t be using it to pick up food on a regular basis anymore and we will be using safer beverage containers when we do have liquids in the vehicle.

[davecraze]

I had the same happen to my previous X5. I paid to replace it. Was about $2k, as I recall.

[MADBMWX5MC]

Oh. no....

[Novvaa]

Originally Posted by davecraze

I had the same happen to my previous X5. I paid to replace it. Was about $2k, as I recall.

They quoted us about $2500 so pretty similar to your experience I guess.

[MystroX5]

I don’t allow any open containers in my BMW. Just got back from another successful 2500 mile extended family vacation. I found this to be the only acceptable solution for fast food drink containers. I put a McDonald’s medium or small cup inside an empty large cup with two lids. This won’t allow any condensation and adds a significant spill protection. Our drink of choice is screw top water bottles or Yeti travel mugs.

[Novvaa]

Originally Posted by MystroX5

I don’t allow any open containers in my BMW. Just got back from another successful 2500 mile extended family vacation. I found this to be the only acceptable solution for fast food drink containers. I put a McDonald’s medium or small cup inside an empty large cup with two lids. This won’t allow any condensation and adds a significant spill protection. Our drink of choice is screw top water bottles or Yeti travel mugs.

That’s not a bad idea at all. We ordered a couple of Stanley Ice Flows and those seem to be up to the job but I like your idea for fast food stops.

[NBTT]

There was a class action lawsuit out in California a few years ago because the air bag module under the cup holder was being compromised by moisture from the cup holders. BMW paid out. It is hard to accept that you can put an iPhone in a bucket of water without damage but the BMW engineers can’t figure out a way to address and solve this issue. Splashing liquid in this area is foreseeable and because of the placement of the cup holders, invited. Nice cars for sure but durability not the strong point.

[rjabend]

Originally Posted by NBTT

There was a class action lawsuit out in California a few years ago because the air bag module under the cup holder was being compromised by moisture from the cup holders. BMW paid out. It is hard to accept that you can put an iPhone in a bucket of water without damage but the BMW engineers can’t figure out a way to address and solve this issue. Splashing liquid in this area is foreseeable and because of the placement of the cup holders, invited. Nice cars for sure but durability not the strong point.

It is hard to seal the printed circuit boards and all the associated cable connections but it can be done. I don't know what the auto industry practice is, but putting a seal underneath the cupholders or not having electronics under them might be the easiest solution. In any event it ain't rocket science.