MatHadder

I just wanted to warn people on here about the bisimoto d-series headers. I picked up a set as part of the introductory group buy a little over a year ago, and just had them break for the second time. The first time I just noticed some cracks around a couple of the welds, but this time one of the welds broke all the way around the tube.





Also, they don't weld inside the collector, so I have had to deal with an exhaust leak the entire time I have had them on my car (customer service told me this just how it is).




Overall, I have been very disappointed with the quality of the headers. Their customer service has been friendly, but all they are willing to do is replace the headers with another set, if I pay for shipping. This leaves me out the money I already paid to repair them, plus the v-band...etc...

MatHadder

This thread is a repost of the thread I had going in the All Motor forum, which the moderators asked me to recreate here.

I have communicated with Bisimoto through email, over the phone, and in the previous thread on this same topic. They have admitted that they had manufacturing problems with the first batch of d-series headers, and they claim that they have resolved this issue in the current headers. They are willing to replace my header, but they will not send me a new one until I return the broken one, and they require me to pay shipping both ways.

I have a couple issues with this. I have a large amount of money invested into this header already, since it does not come with a flange, and therefore had to be customized to attach to the exhaust. They want me to pay to ship the header back to them, and also pay for them to ship me a new one, and then I will have to pay to have the header installed again, all because the original header they sent me was defective.

Also, because I chose to V-band the header to the exhaust, if I return the header to them, I will not be able to drive the car. This means that when I receive a replacement from them, I will be forced to have the car towed to a shop to get a v-band welded on. Towing the car is an additional expense which could be avoided if they would ship me a replacement header before requiring me to return the one I have.

As a side note, I have felt like they have done everything possible to blame this issue on me. They have accused me of breaking the header by installing a v-band (the first time it broke I had a stock dohnut gasket, and the v-band setup has a flex pipe on the exhaust, directly after the v-band connection to the header). They told me my warranty was expired(I ordered the header 12.5 months ago, but it took so long for them to build and ship them that I have only had them for about 10 months).

I have decided it is not worth the additional cost to get a replacement header from them. I have asked Randy twice to refund the payment I sent to cover shipping me a set of replacement headers. I am still waiting for a refund.

0Sales@Bisimoto.com

Mathadder,

I offered assistance several times over but you kept attacking myself and others at the company simply because we would not ship you a header without you shipping us your header first. You consistently made snide remarks and attacked me while I still offered assistance, I have put forth the work to get your refund in motion but for you to act so childish and consistently attack is beyond me.

I am somewhat confused as it seems like you are taking one side based upon what was written by one person. Please realize we went out of our way to assist in rectifying the situation, please do not make an assumption based off of one side of the story.

Again, you have heard one side of the story, in either event we have tried to rectify the situation. The fact of the matter is that Mathadder did not want to send his header in after it was damaged the first time and then decided to fix it himself. After all was said and done at the end of his warranty period he brought this up and we still extended our warranty to him.

If you would have read the original thread the OP got upset because we would not send him a new unit until we recieved his old unit.

I understand that there are two sides to every story but please at least hear both sides out before you decide to comment.

MatHadder

Your assistance was making me to pay for shipping both ways on a header you sold me, which you have admitted has a manufacturing defect.

You also won't ship me a replacement until I return my current header, which would make my car undriveable, which means I have to pay to have it towed to a shop to get the new header fitted to the car (another thing I have to pay for because of the quality of your products).

I don't think I have attacked you once. I have done my best to state my side of the story. You, on the other hand, continue to make attempts to blame me for the headers breaking, and you continue to bring up the out of warranty claim, which simply isn't true.

A good company makes products that don't break because of their design. If you can't manage that, good customer service involves accepting responsibility for your mistakes, and not expecting your customers to just keep sending you more money to remedy them.

0Sales@Bisimoto.com

Brad,

The first thing I had told you was that we did not suggest the use of V-bands, from there you called me a crook and a poor representative. The fact of the matter is that your refund it already in process; I was in the room when you spoke to Hedi directly and you had both agreed that although the header was out of warranty that we would help you out and get you a new unit upon the sending back of your unit.

I never said we were not responsible, but given the fact that you had it repaired twice and then brought it back to us it should have rang a bell in your head that something in your setup that was being used was causing unnecessary stress. You paid to have a replacement shipped to you, the only caveat was that you needed to send your header back in return.

You keep on saying we never took responsibility, but if that were the case why were we trying to help you out, if we didnt take responsibility and we didnt care we would have told you to F off, but we didnt. You need to calm down and get your facts straight because last I recall your last thread ended with multiple people calling you out for common sense.

The header did not break because it was poorly made; the header broke because proper allocations for give and flex were not made in the system. The choice of not allocating for any items such as a flex pipe or donut gasket were not made by us as a manufacturer but let it be known that it was your choice, if it makes you feel better it is not directly your fault but rather the fault of the parts you chose to use.

MatHadder

My header was not out of warranty. It had been 10.5 months since I had received it when I contacted Hedi. How long is your warranty period? Is 10.5 less than 12?

Also, I feel a little like a broken record here, but I will go ahead and repeat this: The header broke with a stock exhaust collector with a donut gasket. The shop that made me a new exhaust with the v-band noticed 5 or 6 of the welds on the exhaust had cracked, before they had even started working on the car. Since they were already doing work on the exhaust, and I had a race the next weekend, I just had them fix the cracks. A week later the header broke as pictured above.

Is that clear? 5 or 6 cracks with stock style exhaust, broken tube with v-band exhaust.

As a side note, I don't remember seeing anything about you "not suggesting the use of v-bands" until after my header broke. Maybe you should actually tell people buying your products things like that, although it is probably easier to just come up with a list as the headers break...

MatHadder

Actually, my thread ended with me asking you to refund the payment I sent you, WHICH YOU STILL HAVE NOT DONE.

Also, everybody who "called me out" did so on the basis of "it's racing, parts break". Is that how you feel? I thought you built parts for racing. That is like saying,"if you use these parts for their intended purpose, they will break".

0Sales@Bisimoto.com

MatHadder,

To my knowledge your refund was placed early this week, if it still has not shown up by tomorrow morning shoot me a pm.

MatHadder

Still no refund....Is this really that hard?

0Sales@Bisimoto.com

I apologize Mathadder,

Considering we will be at the SEMA Show for the duration of the week, n the event that you need the money immediately I am fine with personally sending you the money if you are willing to take that as a refund.

I was unaware you did not recieve your refund yet as you neglected to PM me to make me aware of it but again let me know and we will work something out

MatHadder

Since you can't seem to accomplish the simple task of issuing me a refund, I went ahead and filed a complaint with Visa today.

S95Sedan

Its pretty obvious that its probably due to a design flaw aswell as to the fusing of the material rather then welding it. (almost all welds apart from the reversion steps have this issue, there too thin) Also the reason mine cracked in the very same place as yours after just two weeks of driving.





(Yes it has been installed properly with a flex section)


The company who ordered it for me (also good friends) did have contact with them but anything concrete hasn't been worked out yet. (Main reason being its still being fixed by having every "thin" weld rewelded)

0Bisimoto

All Bisimoto units have a 1 year warrantee on defects in workmanship. If there are any issues with any of our headers, we will and have taken care of them without qualm.
The OP was given every opportunity to take care of him, but every effort by Bismoto was declined, even though his unit was out of warrantee.

Here are some key points:
Bisimoto headers make amazing power, and we listen to our cutomers.

The feedback has been to make headers with lovely welds, and we succumbed to this request by fusing the primary tubes. We performed harmonic and vibrational tests in addition to road longevity tests before releasing them to the public.

1.4% of D-series customers experienced fractures due to this, and hence we now double bead units on all Bisimoto headers. This went into effect in March 2010.

All Bisimoto headers are still vibration and water tested.

No company is infallable, but it is our duty to improve on products on a consistant basis.

If the OP, or anyone of our customers, experience any issues with the Bisimoto line of products, I will see to it personally that it get the highest form of attention and resolution. All they need is an RMA number from Bisimoto Engineering, and upon return to the company we will bend over backwards to get it resolved.

I hope that helps, and my sincere apologies to the OP for his experiences. We are all one big Honda family, and I have sincere gratitude to all the enthusiasts worldwide who choose Bisimoto line of products. Thank you.

MatHadder

Keep saying that and maybe it will become true.

In order for me to take advantage of the "opportunities" you offered me, I would have had to spend about as much money as it would cost to purchase a new header.