today (eeks) to have some warranty work done before some upcoming track time. They have this semi-enclosed staging area (two side walls and tall roof) where you park in a line. As I was talking with the service guys, one of their young kids got in my car to pull it forward.

Holy hell, it sounded AWESOME. The new AA exhaust just rumbled away. Right next to me there were three M5's in for service, all in a row. They sounded great, but my M3 was slightly louder and a bit more aggressive, the M5 mellower.

The service guys were impressed and started asking me about the exhaust. I lied and told them that it was an official ///M exhaust found only in europe that I had specially imported (grey market). They were impressed. :D

This post has no real merit, but just thought I'd share 'cause I got a kick out of it.

Jeff (god I hate loaner cars)

Just out of curiosity, why do you have to lie about who makes your exhaust? If you're happy with it, tell the people who compliment you who actually makes it. I mean, the dealer might find out anyways that it is an aftermarket exhaust if they inspect your car. Be proud of what you own man.

You took it the wrong way.

It was a joke. I don't have a high opinion of the local dealer, some of friends call them 'a bunch of part changing monkeys with no talent', and wanted to get them scratching their heads over my fable.

They'll figure it out when they see AA on the tips, at which point I'll exclaim "those freaking rat bastards they ripped me off, I'm gonna sue their asses for selling me a knockoff part." (noting, of course, there is no "they" or "rat bastards")

Then, I'll see if I can get them to look up this fabled part on their EKT. . .

It's all good. :D

frayed is right...

The local dealer sucks, they deserve it!!!

Jeff B.
95 Cosmos M3

I DISAGREE. I USED TO WORK AS A SERVICE CONSULTANT AND YOU ALWAYS WANT TO ESTABLISH A GOOD REPOIRE WITH THE DEALERSHIP YOU ARE BRINGING IN YOUR CAR TO. WOULD YOU CUSS OUT THE WAITER BRINGING FOOD TO YOUR TABLE?? I DON'T THINK SO.

NOT THAT THE DEALERSHIP WOULD SABOTAGE YOUR CAR, BUT THE DAY YOU REALLY NEED THEIR HELP, IE. AFTER WARRANTY PERIOD IS OVER, THEY HAVE THE POWER TO GIVE YOU GOODWILL OR TELL YOU TO KISS THEIR ASS. "HEY BUDDY, YOU'RE OUT OF WARRANTY AND ITS GONNA COST YOU $125./HOUR FOR US TO FIGURE IT OUT!"

JOKE AROUND IS FINE, BUT BE GOOD TO YOUR SERVICE ADVISOR AND YOU WILL REAP THE REWARDS IN THE LONG RUN.

ALSO, SOME ADVISORS MAY BE IDIOTS, BUT MANY KNOW MORE THAN YOU THINK.

you people have zero sense of humor

What some folks seem to fail to grasp, is the humor in the situation w/o ever uttering an unkind word or word of disrespect as regards the dealer.

You see, if I happen to pull it off, the dealer will think I'm a moron. . .for believing that this "AA" exhaust is some special, euro, M3 grey market exhaust.

I think that's hilarious. I could see them shaking their heads as I drive away, thinking 'poor sap. . . '.

LOL.

And nel, I ONLY go to the dealer for CPO stuff and to the parts dept. for baubles that I don't bother with mailordering from Pacific BMW.

Otherwise, I go to my trusted independent shop, which is stocked with truly talented techs who cater to and understand enthusiasts. This is something the dealer cannot understand.

Originally posted by fourfa
you people have zero sense of humor

agreed. *slaps forehead*

frayed - I see what you're doing and if you get a good kick/laugh out of it, that's cool. I guess your sense of humor is different than mine. Keep in mind though that there are some dealerships where the service advisors and technicians are well aware of aftermarket performance parts. Thus, when you tell them BS about stuff on your car, you might end up looking like a fool. It's kind of like in that movie "Rush Hour". Jackie Chan's character told Chris Tucker's character that he usually lets people talk first. Then, after all the talking is done, one can find out how full of shit the other person is.

For exampele, this one time, I was getting my car looked at and this guy with an E36 M3/4 pulled up. He thought he was so special because he had 18 inch wheels with a BMW center cap. He just bought the car and was saying that he had a "special" package which included these special wannabe multi-piece chrome wheels. Too bad the wheels were some cheap chrome ones that looked multi-piece that had the BMW centercap snapped into them. The service advisors and technicians told the owner of the car that the wheels were nice and that it must be cool to have that "special" package that nobody else has. They owner took the compliment well and I'm sure he felt like he was on top of the world. After that guy left, the service advisors and technicians were laughing.

It's too bad that you have a low opinion of your local dealership. On the contrary, I have a pretty high opinion of two of the local dealerships near me. They really know their stuff. I've gotten opinions from independent BMW shops, and they told me stuff that was completely wrong and oppsosite of what was right from what the dealership said. I'll continue going to the dealership for my repairs. I treat them good and they do the same in return.

estoril-

I still don't think you 'get it,' but that's all right. It was really just an innocuous, spur of the moment comment to get a couple of guys at the dealership to go 'ooh, ahh. very cool.' It's all sort of silly.

On the other hand, wrt my opinion of the local dealer, they have earned my it. I did not wake up one morning out of the blue and decide that I don't like my dealer. And, this is not to say all dealers do not meet expectations. My first BMW was purchased from a dealer in the DC metro area. I had a great experience there, mainly b/c my salesmen was a true bimmerhead, and a 'salt of the earth' kind of guy who understood enthusiasts like us. That was 7 years ago, and my salesmen turned me on to things such as BMW CCA and Zymol, and planted the seed that one day I must get on a track.

It's great that you have awesome dealers close by to you. Indeed, in DC, I liked my dealer quite a bit better than the local independent shops, one of which was not trustworthy and which charged dealer prices.

But, when you have access to truly talented techs, who charge less than the dealer (hourly rate) and charge the time spent on your car instead of the book rate (eg, 7 hour book rate to change cams vs. 3.5 hours of actual time), who race bmw's, and who choose to be techs b/c they just like to wrench on cars, you begin to understand what true service is all about.

Jeff (I still hate my loaner car)

hey frayed,

Ian and I have stood in the showroom there for 1/2 an hour and still no one will even ask us what we want.

They suck...:toiletman

Jeff B.
95 Cosmos M3

frayed - It is good that we have different opinions on dealers versus independent shops. I'll be sure to keep the information in your experiences in mind if the dealer starts pulling some fishy stuff in the future.

I hope the repairs on your car get done in a timely fashion with the utmost quality. Lates.

frayed - what you did was....

HILARIOUS!!!:clap:

GUYS - lighten up...

and Nel...there a little button just above SHIFT key on your keyboard - it's labeled Caps Lock...hit it so that the light on the keyboard is OFF not on.:buttrock

Some dealers are good, some dealers are bad, some wrencheads are good, some are bad.

My experience with both dealerships that I "usually" go to for CPO stuff is good. No complaints.

Geez Jeff, I wish guys like you who know nothing about your car would let the dealer do their jobs since they're the experts. :rolleyes:

Why, I only had to practically lean over the counter to help the parts teen find out the overblown price of the x-brace.
Not all dealers are created equal. I wouldn't be surprised if all of the good BMW techs in Austin had bolted from the dealer to one of the many independent shops around here.

BTW, can you hook me up with your grey market exhaust supplier? I know a lot of guys who'd be interested in a Group Buy. :cool:

95-

I'm surprised Ian didn't kick someone's ass. j/k Ian is pretty laid back.

estoril-

It's all cool. It actually took time for me to trust an independent shop given past experiences.

It's not so much that I have trust issues with the dealer, it's that I question their competence and am turned off by their arrogance (although their receptionist is pretty hot, so they positive marks for that). :D

Jeff

Originally posted by Ian
Why, I only had to practically lean over the counter to help the parts teen find out the overblown price of the x-brace.
Not all dealers are created equal. I wouldn't be surprised if all of the good BMW techs in Austin had bolted from the dealer to one of the many independent shops around here.

BTW, can you hook me up with your grey market exhaust supplier? I know a lot of guys who'd be interested in a Group Buy. :cool:

Hey Ian, I figured you were lurking around. What did they quote you for the x-brace? I was quoted $7.20 for the muffler hangers by the cats, and called Pacific BMW and got a quote $3.96. Given that spread, they would have quoted you $256 for the brace. j/k.

On the exhaust thing, let me talk to my suppliers. You see, there's a limited supply of these truly unique pieces, as they were made only for a limited production, out of Unobtanium for weight savings, and generated too much extra power to be considered safe in the hands of a mere mortal. This is why the ///M division discontinued their use. But, I'll see what I can do.

Jeff (waiting to return the loaner car)

Yep frayed, (i'll answer for Ian here)

They wanted $170 for the X Brace.

I laughed at the guy!

They are, in general, the highest prices I can find in the US. Even with my CCA discount.

Jeff B.
95 Cosmos M3

Originally posted by frayed
Holy hell, it sounded AWESOME. The new AA exhaust just rumbled away. Right next to me there were three M5's in for service, all in a row. They sounded great, but my M3 was slightly louder and a bit more aggressive, the M5 mellower.

Yup :D :clap:

Originally posted by 95Mpower
They are, in general, the highest prices I can find in the US. Even with my CCA discount.

So, how the hell did we get so lucky? Having 4 dealers in the DC area kept the dealerships hungry to earn your business, and more customer focussed, competetive, and efficient. I miss that.

Perhaps we've approached this the wrong way. I'll borrow a concept from Ian's post above. We should feel privileged to be treated to such a unique experience. Yeah, that's it.

Jeff (still in loaner car hell)

PS, the 82% price difference from Pacific to the local dealer on the muffler hanger reflected my BMW CCA discount from both dealers. Just 8 mos. ago, the local dealer would not even give a CCA discount.

I've already decided that when an E46 M is forthcoming, I'll drive to Houston to avoid their "service" in sales here in Austin.

Arrogant bastards that don't deserve our business. (at least in sales)

Jeff B.
95 Cosmos M3

Originally posted by frayed

(although their receptionist is pretty hot, so they positive marks for that). :D


I hear that... Whenever I go to the dealerships, there are many hot looking women in business suits... Something about that professional look... ;) As an added plus, the dealership usually gives a flower to all the lady customers getting repairs done. Too bad us guys don't get anything.

Not to turn this into a dealer bashing thread but maybe this will give other more background about why we are not sympathetic to our local highwaymen: We poked and prodded and raised the hood on the new 745i for 15 minutes and not one person bothered to come outside or even crack the door open and yell at us.

Lack of competition has turned these guys into worse than mediocre. I have nothing personal against their service (yet) because I've never taken my car in. Here's a great example of their monopoly: about 9 months ago they had a sign on their service door that said they would not service your car unless you bought it from them!!!!!! Can you f-ing believe that? When Jeff B was trying to get his plastic water pump changed out he had to e-mail freaking John Roberts Jr. (in Dallas) to let them know about it and the sign was gone pronto (they could loser their franchise for something like that). It's about as far away from BMW's public persona facet of taking care of any BMW owner as you can get.

Anyway, end of rant. That's only one example of many. Pretty sad when I live about 3 miles from the dealer yet wouldn't buy a car there, service one, or buy parts there if I can help it at all. Sometimes I'm happy I'm long out of warranty and can cut the umbilical.

What are you saying Estoril, your dealership doesn't perform sexual favors?

Ours does.

Just not the kind of favors that heterosexual men would find acceptable. :eek:

-----------------

OK. I'll keep it clean. Bob, I apologize in advance, but I had to say it.

-------------------

edit: just got off the phone with the service rep. long story short I was screwed out of ~$50 for unauthorized repairs. i specifically stated that i had to be called to authorize any repairs that would not be covered under CPO.

--------------------

Ian, BJO, 95,

I'm meeting Mel Meyers at NXNW for happy hour at 5 or so. Y'all are welcome to join us.

On the contrary, they'll F you in the A without you even asking!

(without the common decency of a reacharound)

PS - I'll try to make it over there; I've got a gift for you anyway :awink:

I was getting all jazzed to come meet up with you guys when I realized I carpooled today. (don't have my car)

Have to be next time I suppose...

Jeff B.
95 Cosmos M3

edit: just got off the phone with the service rep. long story short I was screwed out of ~$50 for unauthorized repairs. i specifically stated that i had to be called to authorize any repairs that would not be covered under CPO.
That kind of BS happened to me at least three separate occassions...you may remember.

I was told to "eat it" and I did because it's like telling the chef his food stinks before he cooks it for you!

I hate it when dealers do that!!

Originally posted by frayed
But, when you have access to truly talented techs, who charge less than the dealer (hourly rate) and charge the time spent on your car instead of the book rate (eg, 7 hour book rate to change cams vs. 3.5 hours of actual time), who race bmw's, and who choose to be techs b/c they just like to wrench on cars, you begin to understand what true service is all about.

I am glad we have such independent shop here in vancouver!

Those guys are very careful with what they do and pays alot of attention to small details about the car that the dealership would have overlooked either deliberately or not.

Also they charge on the actual hours put into the work rather than book rate! I have very high opinions with them.

They treated my car like it was theirs.
They would place a piece of clean cloth over my seat before they sit in it as not to get it dirty. And even offered to clean my engine cover because it had some splattered coolant stains from the previous owner.

Check them out:
CG Motorsports (http://www.cgmotorsports.com)

Wanna hear about a total AssF*ck attempt made on me at the dealership?

I got a service recall bulletin on my 99 528 about a thermostat, so I set-up an appointment and send the car in with my wife. Warranty work, no big.

I get a message from the female service writer that the car (20k miles) needs a clutch kit and a flywheel, prob cost $2k. I freak. I ask her if the car is on the lift, she says yes. So I go there and the car has not left the spot we parked the car in in the back parking lot. I ask the service wench how the car was diagnosed with a bad flywheel and clutch when it had not moved!

She tells me the sevice tech was in jury duty and not available to explain. I said ok. Next day, car not ready nor was anyone able to explain to me about the clutch. I ask her why the thermostat had not been done - she says it's out of stock b/c of the 9/11 attack delays!

OK. So I walk over to the parts counter, the guy there tells me they have 55 new thermostats in stock. I buy one, walk back to the service wench, shove it in her face and grab my keys back. While she is talking to another customer I tell her how I do not appreciate being lied to repeatedly and how utterly disgusting her behavior was to blame the delays and incompetence on the 9/11 attacks.

Went home and changed the f*cking thermostat myself. Called the service manager and chewed his ass out, called my friend there who is the pre-owned senior manager and he said "they tried to f*ck you!"

Mind you I know just about everyone there from the sales guys to the wrenches in the back so no one f's with me when I personally bring my car in but as soon as they saw my wife they gunned for her hard!

Yes I am still angry. And yes the clutch was fine.

Eugene

Here is the POS that caused me 3 days of grief BTW.

now that's BAD.....:bigun2:

Eugene,

I pick up my car, in no mood to play around. Screw the exhaust funnies. While only 50 bucks, I'm irritated.

Lo and behold, they washed my car. Great. No. They f'n put swirls in the entire clearcoat. It looks like they washed my car with a 60 grit silicon carbide slurry.

To top it all off, they leave me a card in my car that my dashboard lights don't work. Now, I can't see my odometer.

Oh well, I suppose it could be worse. They could have poured sugar in my gas tank. I should be thankful.

Jeff

Don't forget the part about them leaving your seats all the way pushed and leaned back and your new stereo system tuned to the rap station and cranked up.

Did you check for any doobage in the ashtray?
Hopefully the clients you drive around won't find any stash under the seats or something...
"Honestly baby, it's not mine..."

Yeah, no shit. I was a bit disturbed when I got my car:

1. Paying for unauthorized repairs (it turned out to only be $27, but I was irritated). What made this particularly irritating, when I told the service advisor that I did not authorize the repair, he justified it by stating that he saved me the trouble from having to jack up the car and get under it this weekend to fix it myself.

2. My completely detailed car, cosmos, now has light swirls in the clearcoat. I worked pretty hard to remove them, now I have to do it over again. When I wash my car, I take care not to introduce swirls. The god damn monkey that washed my car did not take such care.

3. My odometer no longer lights up. They left a note in my car, pointing this out. Why the hell didn't they call me about this when they had the car?

4. My seat was WAYYY back and the seatback was WAYYY back, ghetto style, with my stereo tuned to a rap station and the volume cranked up. I'm kind of anal about this, as I spent serious coin on my stereo, and went through a great deal of pain to get it 'right'. I've endured 1 blown amp, and two blown subs. More disturbing, it makes you wonder who was tooling around in my car at high speed on the way to the car wash, before they cleansed my car with a 60 grit wash mit.

Screw em. I'm better off just paying my local shop to do work that would be covered under CPO. While I got about $300 dollars in repairs done for a $50 deductible, I question whether it was really worth the aggravation.

Jeff (who no longer has the loaner, but is more polarized than ever about the local dealer)

Jeff,
Sorry to hear of your problems at the dealer. I only use one tech at the dealer. Thankfully he just moved back to Columbus, because I used to have to drive 110 miles to take the car to him. But, he'd loan me his personal car while he had mine, pick up and drop off my car if he was in the area, and handle yelling at the desk jockey about what the car needs. I'm so happy that he is only 15mins away now.

FWIW, there is a Group N/ Motorsport exhaust available. I had one on my car for quite a while. It is the lightest, loudest exhaust available (16lbs) and it also makes REAL power on the dyno. The downside is that the muffler itself (no pipes to the cats or whatever) costs almost $1500. I bought a well used can from PTG (it had been used on their racecars at tracks that had strict sound control) for $500 an spent another $250 building pipes to the cats. It finally got too loud for me to handle on the street.

Brian

Jeff..did you have extended warranty on your car? It's a 98 right? I need to start looking for one since my warranty ends this coming July..but after hearing the story about your car...I am hesitant to take it to the dealer. Did you complain about the swirl marks? I am thinking about getting a extended warranty...6years or 72k miles through the UFCU for about 1K

I'd get an aftermarket warranty, which is accepted by your favorite shop.

There are several good independent shops in town. My fav is Sayther's. The place is too cool. On Thursdays, Terry's wife cooks lunch for the whole crew and any customers that want to come by. I think Terry works on bimmers 2 parts love for the marque/ 1 part money. A rare combination. Terry is also a tech consultant to the BMW CCA (check your Roundel).

The other good shop is Black Forest. A buddy with an E34 M5 uses another shop up north, but can't remember which.

Check to see if either of these shops (or your fav) can service your car under the warranty plan you are thinking of (most shops do). There are some side benefits to using an aftermarket warranty, like friendliness to aftermarket parts and some others that we can talk about offline.

Jeff

Do you know of aftermarket warranty that offers 100k warranty? I
am planning to keep my car for a long time so an extended warranty is a must for me. What type do you have? I've heard about Sayther's from Jim Hag.., will check it out sometimes since he's closer to me vs. Black forrest which is up north.

I have warranty until 125k miles

I have mine through wynn's oil.. have yet to file a claim though so I cant say how good they are... I got 3 year 36k miles -- most I could get for the current mileage on it

I think GE covers through 100k miles, depending on which you buy. I'll check with my friend with the E34 M5 to see which he is using.

I'll be dropping off my car at Sayther's later this week or next for a tech inspection, I'll let you know when I go if you want me to introduce you to everyone there.

Jeff

Sorry to hear about all of your bad experiences, guys. I haven't been to the dealer too many times myself, but they have been very good so far. The only issue I had, they changed my RSM's after an inspection and after that I'd get this loud thudding sound coming from the rear passenger side. I was guessing that it was related to the installation of the RSM. So I took it back and they had a mechanic ride with me over some speed bumps. He heard it immediately, and after 15 more minutes back at the shop everything was fine. So far, so good, with my local dealership.

Jeff...I like to check out Sayther's place with you but I work in Pflugerville and only got 1hr to break away for lunch so that wouldn't do. If you guys are still planning to meet on Sat, email me and I will try to make it. BTW...didn't know that Jim H was a "dirty ol man", practically sleeps and eats at the PH..kekeke...Let me know when ya wife will be gone so we can partay :)

How is the service and advice at Sayther's? I hear about them all the time but I also work and live in Pflugerville and they are pretty far south. I use European Imports near IBM but it is a pain in the butt to try to get an appoinment.

bozack: try black forest. they moved their shop to burnet near steck.

I didn't know they moved, I'll give Black Forest a shot sometime.
Damn, all these M3's from the board in Austin and I rarely see any M3's on the road here in Austin......:dunno

bozack...you live in Pflugerville? I work right next to Tinseltown N..so anytime you wanna do lunch..email me.. tootaloo :)

Hi folks,

I wanted to add something regarding "BMW of Austin." They are no longer John Robers BMW as all of you Austin people know. The new facility is good, I was able to take a short tour of the garage with a service advisor, it's absolutely clean and professional. Also, my service advisor is GREAT!!!!!!!!!! The 528i I'm driving right now is from California, but my service advisor treated me as if I bought the car from them, and I'm also out of warranty already. So, I can speak that the service department and my service advisor is extremely professional.

But, I can't speak much for the sales team that works at BMW of Austin. They suck, as some of you know, because I was in there for abouat 20 minutes looking all over the new M3 and even sitting in it... and a bunch of sales guys just walk on by as if I was invisible. And, another sales guy even referred to the "SMG" as auto.. hahaha. I was dressed decent, went in on a Sunday with pleated shorts and a polo shirt, just casual.

So, all in all, their service is great, but sales suck.

Jimmy

Jimmy...so did you test drive the new M3? It's seems like the people that works there are pretty snobbish..I wish the new owner fires all of them when he bought the dealer from JRoberts. Those guys are pretty pathetic in terms of customer service ...if u came in to test drive or even looking to buy a car. My brother in law bought an X5 from this guy...he said the saleman was a rude jerk but he bought the car anyway. I would have spit in his face....walk out and buy a car from dealer in Dallas or Houston..Nice wheels btw....where do you live?

Tony

Hi Tony,

Wassup? Nice to meet you.

Here's the situation with my car. I sold the black 325 in the signature to my uncle out in Cali. Now, driving a 528i for the interim before placing order to buy an '03 M3. I just haven't had the chance to take pics and post up the 5 series picture for the signature.

I didn't get to test drive it at BMW of Austin. I was there this past Saturday and there were 3 M3s around. 1 Imola and 1 silver both used out bakin in the sun on the front middle. 1 brand new M3 silver, sitting in the showroom. I did, however, test drive the manual '02 M3 back in Hawaii, just not at this dealership.

I live near 183 and 360. Where you at? I'm new to town, moved here 5 weeks ago for new job.

Jimmy

I live in Circle C, south of Mopac and Slaughter. Welcome to Austin..hopefully this heat doesn't deter you from living in Austin :)...pretty nice scenery. BTW...there is a bimmer enthusiasts group that meets every month for happy hour..

site is : austin_bimmer@yahoogroups.com

go join the mailing list and you will set for the next meeting. We are trying to get our pimpy member (Jim H) to set us up in the VIP section at the Penthouse for the next get together...are you there Jim??:D .

Hey Tony,

Thanks, I'll go check out the yahoo group. I've been looking for Austin bimmer meets, but only on the bimmer.org board. So, far, no meets yet. Arg.

Hey, I just stopped by BMW of Austin and I went after work, so I was all dressed up. I was out looking at the used M3s sitting on the front lot, imola cab and silver coupe. Out pops this salesguy and he ask me if I have been helped. I said no and asked him some questions and he leads the way into his office. I think it's because I was dressed up, that's why he came out. This past Sat, I was wearing a cap, maybe they don't like that? Haha. So, anwyay, this salesguy was not too bad. Not as bad as I think.

Jimmy