Sorry to read that. I had the German version for many years and had no problems. I had to apply for a French one when I came to France . I’ve had no problems yet, but I only use it here as a backup, i.e not much.
It’s probably like a lot of things, as long as it all works normally you’re fine. We all know about French customer service (although it’s a Luxemburg bank)!
Update on the BMW situation:
The garage originally thought the problem was the VANOS system (to include timing chain, sprockets etc.) and it would cost more than what the car was worth. Several days later we have another email from them and on further investigation they said they were replacing the fuel pump and relay which has been done and we collect the car tomorrow. The garage have said everything is OK with this fix but I do feel a bit nervous now.
So it comes to crunch time on deciding which way to go - do we say it’s time to sell the car and buy a new one or would it be more advantageous to consider leasing a car. To buy a car as an equivalent (BMW528i touring) would be out of our price range so initially long-term leasing would be my first choice. As we do not do the mileage we used to, a smaller car would fit the bill. However, not knowing anything about how long-term car leasing works and more specifically how it works in France, does anyone have any recommendations for companies to look at to start our search. For example, would we be able to fit a tow bar on the car (it’s essential for us). We will not ever be returning to England, nor do we ever visit there so buying a replacement car or leasing from the UK would not be a consideration.