For the folks in San Diego county, what good/bad experiences have you had with the dealership BMW service centers here?

only good experiences with harloff, afterall they hired me.

whether you vote good or bad at any dealership, can people please tell a summary of your experience?

in my case, this was the crap I ran into:
1) service advisor didn't know the 1 yr free oil change under MP even if SI isn't done. they refused to service me under MP. I asked them to talk w/ BMW warranty and they refused that too. it wasn't until i told them their competitor would do it that they finally called BMW warranty and admitted they were wrong.
2) i had my brake fluid changed but they didn't bleed the system. (and didn't test it either I would assume) when I needed my brakes on the freeway the pedal went to the floor.... a combination of pedal pumping, engine braking and quick maneuvering got me off the freeway safely.
3) i had a faulty xenon bulb. since it would still intermittently light up, they refused to replace it under warranty. I went to another dealer the following week and got it replaced with no hassle.
4) my e-brake assembly in the rear was coming apart and rattling. they didn't fix it and told me the rattle was from loose tools in the boot. i went to another dealer and they fixed it, now my rattle is gone.

All of the above was at Cunningham. I think I gave them a fair shot since I had heard from some folks they were pretty good and I kept going back thinking, "oh, this time was just an exception." After they pumped air into my brake system I wasn't going to go back again.

Brecht:
------
While still under warranty I brought the M3 in to have a few of the pulleys replaced and fix the door lock actuator. Cost me the $50 deductable.
Only problem was that they forgot to plug the window switch and my window stopped working so I brought it to Cunningham, along with a new issue (see below).

Cunningham:
-----------
While my car was still under warranty I took it to Cunningham to get the "Brake Light Circuit" error fixed. Every search I did pointed me to the brake light switch and I even suggested that. However the service advisor told me they needed to replace both tail lights and all the bulbs before coming to the conclusion that the fix was a $15 switch. At least they re-connected the window switch that Brecht unplugged.

So I told them to not do any work, yet still had to pay them the $50 deductable. So that's why it was a bad experince.


BMW of SD:
-----------

Took the 528 in to for some recall work. My car was done by the end of the day and it was all free - This is why I thought it was good.

Cunningham
-------------

They are batting .500 here but the last service they did has left me not going near them again.....


-The first was a brake light failure light. They figured-out the problem right away and I picked my car later in the afternoon. :thumbup:

-The second was when I added Dinan software & hardware to the car. All I had done was the CAI and software d-loads. Should of taken just a day at most, it took them three days!! They gave me an X3 to drive around but come on, 72 hours to do what should of been 3 hours tops! :shifty
Once I got the car back and drove it to Bimmerfest, I see that the hood on the driver's side alignment is off and my lights needed to be re-aimed. :thumbdown I was so angry with them that I had my mechanic at Dieter's deal with them.

Finally about a month later, the car was back to normal. Thanks to Jim Williams persistance and his few well placed calls. :cool

If I would of known that they would have f@cked-up something so simple as CAI install with software d-load......I would of drove up to Harloff and seen Shane.

In conclusion, stealer's sux! Go find a reputable indie service center to go to! :buttrock

Hmm... Cunningham isn't doing well here... where are the folks that recommended Cunningham to me?? :confused

I haven't had any problems with Cunningham and we've been going there for 15 years.

Maybe we're lucky or they like us for buying so many BMWs from them.

Hi guys, old thread but I'm almost due for my 1200 service for my m3, I was wondering where you went for service and if there a service advisor and technician you would recommend. I was planning to go to brecht bmw since I purchase the car there. Thanks for the info

Hi guys, old thread but I'm almost due for my 1200 service for my m3, I was wondering where you went for service and if there a service advisor and technician you would recommend. I was planning to go to brecht bmw since I purchase the car there. Thanks for the info

Haven't heard anything lately for or against Brecht. Master Tech Shane is still @ Harloff, go see him if you don't mind going to Harloff.

Hi guys, old thread but I'm almost due for my 1200 service for my m3, I was wondering where you went for service and if there a service advisor and technician you would recommend. I was planning to go to brecht bmw since I purchase the car there. Thanks for the info
I have repeatedly had better and better experiences with BMW of San Diego in the last 2 years. I recommend them at this point until they screw up. Ask for Ann Munson.

I'm sorry some of you had bad experiances with Cunningham. I am an employee there and I've been there 3 months so far. I've noticed that like most dealerships, everyone has their flaw. Cunningham is actually going through a hiring phase. So they are training new people to make it better. So far it working, but it takes time. Should I for any reason work on one of your cars, I'll try to do it promptly.
Glad to see that changes are happening there. The problem that finally made me stop going was not a promptness issue but a safety issue. When my brake pedal fell to the floor going 70mph on the freeway right after a brake job, you can imagine the thoughts going through my mind. I was lucky.. I didn't get myself injured nor anyone else and with a lot of brake pumping was able to get the car back to Cunningham without incident. That was the worst issue I had, but general unresponsiveness, incompetence on warranty issues on the part of the service advisors, and the inability to resolve certain problems all contributed to my dissatisfaction of Cunningham's services.

I've repeatedly been impressed by the changes and improvements at BMW of San Diego. Unfortunate for Cunningham, they've lost me as a customer to BMW of San Diego. If I find reason to use another dealership service dept., I might consider Cunningham again if I hear that they have improved. Thus far, I haven't heard about such improvements...

Haven't heard anything lately for or against Brecht. Master Tech Shane is still @ Harloff, go see him if you don't mind going to Harloff.


LOL... shane = hack!

One good thing about Cunningham is that they have the cheapest price on BMW coolant. $13 w/ bmwcca discount.

Since none of my cars are under warranty I've been bringing my car to an independent shop, I seem to get a lot more done that way.

.

weak. cunningham blows, SD blows, harloff service dept is starting to blow, brecht's service director blows.

Hey Nick, got this response here...




First off, i have done more for my ex company than you...i was there 4 years before to, so i "was" involved in the business... I could say the same right back to you, "you are just a tech, you have no involvement in the business" just like me when you saw me in my last position as a lot attendant....would look good to let service advisors walk/check in the cars, move them all around...wash the cars, give customers rides home and clean up after all the slob techs there....eh?

You've been there 3 months or something, you have yet to learn the place sucks!

I was there, saw it all...did it all, except sales...which is god awful at cunningham....

cunningham is not going to regain lost customers, they will just continue to grow since BMW is growing at a alarming rate....

Show some respect-I make my living here and don't appreciate your slander of this company.-Also-the GM to which you have referred to has seen this string, so don't come around looking for any favors.

These threads always end up like this.

These threads always end up like this.
That's the truth.

Hey guys, I know I started this thread, and I really just wanted it to be informative and helpful to people in SD when they are trying to find another dealership service dept. I know for me, there wasn't a lot to go on when choosing where to take my cars. I went with Cunningham initially because they were recommended by some folks here and they were close. That turned out not so well. Then someone turned me to BMW of SD saying that their management changed completely since the UAG takeover and that things were better. BMW of SD has continued to impress.

If you want to argue between Cunningham employees and ex-employees, please keep it private unless you have relevant experiences to offer. And quite frankly, this bickering between current and former employees doesn't do anything to improve Cunninghams reputation; certainly doesn't demonstrate team cohesion.

Thanks.

Cunningham: Seeing how the kid in the 7er who worked there was driving during the BMWCCA fun rally (remember, he was the one who clipped another car making an illegal double-the-speed-limit pass over a double yellow line) made me decide to never, ever take my car there.

Harloff: Currently has my M Coupe and hasn't told me whats going on with it. What the f*ck?

Overall I'm not happy with either at the moment. Ray Rhubottom at Harloff used to be a great guy and a good service advisor...I used to bring him two bottles of wine every time I picked my car up. Now they've had my Coupe for several minor issues for almost two weeks and I've received a total of two calls about it...

Not really sure where I'm going to buy my Z4 M Coupe anymore.

Cunningham: Seeing how the kid in the 7er who worked there was driving during the BMWCCA fun rally (remember, he was the one who clipped another car making an illegal double-the-speed-limit pass over a double yellow line) made me decide to never, ever take my car there.

Harloff: Currently has my M Coupe and hasn't told me whats going on with it. What the f*ck?

Overall I'm not happy with either at the moment. Ray Rhubottom at Harloff used to be a great guy and a good service advisor...I used to bring him two bottles of wine every time I picked my car up. Now they've had my Coupe for several minor issues for almost two weeks and I've received a total of two calls about it...

Not really sure where I'm going to buy my Z4 M Coupe anymore.
Hi,

Looks like your M coupe is out of warranty, no? If it is out of warranty, why not use a independent shop? If you really insist on a BMW dealership, I really, really recommend BMW of SD. I can't tell you how many time they have impressed me thus far. (I really, really, hope they don't go the way of Cunningham) Ask for Ann Munson at BMW of SD and ask for a tour of their new facility, it's very nicely done.

Hi,

Looks like your M coupe is out of warranty, no? If it is out of warranty, why not use a independent shop? If you really insist on a BMW dealership, I really, really recommend BMW of SD. I can't tell you how many time they have impressed me thus far. (I really, really, hope they don't go the way of Cunningham) Ask for Ann Munson at BMW of SD and ask for a tour of their new facility, it's very nicely done.

CPO expires on Thursday; it was in for it's last CPO warranty.

I just called Harloff's service dept. (yes, once again, I had to call to find out what was going on with the car...they don't seem to be very good about calling me back) and the service manager, Dwayne, said that the shop foreman (Tim) could "not find any evidence at all of shift pin problems" so they are denying my request to have the shift pin bulletin done.

They did fix the two light bulbs which they forgot to reconnect when they replaced the airbag control unit back in April '04, they say. They also say that they "took care of" the SRS light, which was on.

I have an appointment to bring it back to Harloff this Thursday, 12/15, the day CPO expires, to have them replace the fuel tank sender which went bad soem time ago; I don't want them to cut the carpet half-moon access hole behind the passenger seat, so I'm going to fully disassemble that side of the interior Thursday morning and take it in to Harloff with the carpet free to be pulled back so that it can be done without cutting a hole in the carpet.

I might switch that appointment to BMW San Diego if they will accomodate me.

If there is so much as a quarter inch of curb rash on any one of my wheels they will be replacing that wheel. When it was last in during April '04, they curbed one of the rear wheels a good 8" around. That wheel already had some existing curb damage, so I just replaced the wheel on my own dime.

I live about two miles from BMW San Diego, so I've been by there many times. Their parts department is an absolute rip-off; hopefully service is better. Is Ann Munson a contact in the Service Department?

Ah...that was a Tech named Ryan...hes not a "kid"...hes just a wild hair, cool dude, just likes to go too fast.... and i worked on that car for a few months with my team leader...TiAg 760Li right?.... fast sedan, but indeed...that one was a pile...and nobody could figure out what the matter was with it, even the FSE's were stumped... they were "testing" it out that weekend...

Yeah, he was a f*cking idiot, not so much a cool dude.

I was doing a respectable amount over the speed limit around a blind right hander when he passed me at 100mph+ in the left lane around the corner.

Fuck Harloff.

Don't EVEN get me started... :mad

Cunningham: Bunch of rude dumbshits. I did the BMW of NA extended warranty replacement of my OBC there. From the information I had gathered from the BMW NA rep, they were paying for the part, and I pay for labor.

Cunningham had my car for 3 fucking days, to do a job that takes 10minutes. They didn't give me a rental car or loaner either. After the work was done, they tried charging me $570 for the part, and said they do complimentary labor. I called BMW NA, and had to yell at the service advisor. Finally they just charged me for labor.

I had never had work done at Brecht, but I had bought parts from Brecht and BMW of SD, and on both account their parts were quite a bit cheaper from Cunningham. When I was replacing my pass side mid-range I think cunningham tried to charge me like $100 for the speaker, got it from brecht for $70.

As a former employee of Harloff... I'll try and shed some light onto this subject.

Here's the thing you all need to understand about dealership service, all the company cares about is CSI. That's it. All that be nice to the customer bullshit, get cars done the right way etc... doesn't matter for what it is. It's all done to get a high score on the survey. All the dealers have the same problems and you're going to experiance it wherever you go, its just a matter of time. All of the dealers afaik in San Diego county get AT LEAST 50 cars a day that are written up for service. Each job needs to be individually written up, then distributed to a team leader/dispatcher, then handed out to the tech, then the car needs to be fetched, parts fetched/ordered, the car then is actually worked on, then test driven, then washed. So even if the job "only takes 10 minutes" it still takes a while to get teh car through the process. And if you're complaining that it took days for your car to get done on a job that only takes 10 minutes, why didn't you just do it yourself in the first place?

Ben, your car getting curbed would not suprise me, and this is true of all SD area service departments... most of the porters that get hired to wash the car don't give a flying fuck about your car. They are there to get their money for the day, dick around in nice cars, and could care less about damaging your car. I have seen countless cars damaged, run up against curbs etc. You get what you pay for in a worker, unfourtinatly. The reason I was gonig to leave was exactly for that reason, I had no motivation to work harder than I did, or for that matter give a flying fuck since Duane straight up told me I was topped out at my hourly wage. My argument was that I should get more since I actually care and haven't damaged many cars at all (I was involved in 1 mutual accident, started a manual car on a hill, someone passed behind me as a rolled back and messed up bumper moldings on both cars and i popped a tire in a ditch that should have been fixed and was the following week) which considering the thousands of cars I had driven over 3 years isn't that bad. And about Ray not calling you, that doesn't suprise me considering the volume of cars that each advisor has to deal with. If you really need a response, keep pestering him. Ray and Tony are the best advisors there imho. And if you really do want to buy an m coupe, my dad will take care of you, pm me and I'll get you his info if you want.

Nick, that kind of eliteist attitude is bullshit. I would have to agree that most porters are complete idiots, but you should show some respect for people like Jeff that actually worked hard. Shit, its not the best job in the world, but if you work hard at it you can work your way up. At Harloff, our CPO Manager started off washing cars. I myself had an oppertunity to work to becmoe an apprentice if I did some schooling first, unfourtinatly that was somethign I'd talked about with our old manager. If any of the *lot boys* find out you have that kind of attitude about them, they'll straight up fuck you over. I have personally heard other porters tell customers that the tech that worked on their car is a dumbass and things of that nature, and your csi will get fucked because of that. And shit, jeff even apprenticed, but decided school was a better option. If i were you, I'd crawl out of that hole that going to stop got you in and work at the dealer for a few years before opening that unexperianced mouth of yours again.

So basically my point is that you're going to have teh same problem at all dealer's service departments. If you go in, are polite, and just tell them you'll give them 5s on their csi survey if everything is done in a timlely manner and isn't fucked up, they'll take care of you.

Personally, I will never take my car to Brecht while Julie works there. Their sales and parts department is good though. I interviewed with Julie and she is a complete dumbass and a bitch to boot. I'll never go to Diego BMW for any reason, the sales people there are tools, people in service are straight up rude and I have heard many bad things about their parts deparment... I've had the pleasure of going there in street clothes and in a BMW uniform. Cunnigham I have never personally gone to, but I know quite a few people tha have worked there and it seems like a decent place, and i would definatly take my car there over Brecht and Diego. And Harloff.... I will not say anything more that is negative simply beacuse I'm still affiliated with people that work there and depend on that store for their paycheck. I would still take my car there if I needed something done, but would only deal with Tony or Ray as a service advisor. Sales Department is cool, and seriously, don't let your crappy service experiance prevent you from buying a car from somewhere. The two departments are completely unrelated, it really is 2 businesses under one roof.

As a former employee of Harloff... I'll try and shed some light onto this subject.

Here's the thing you all need to understand about dealership service, all the company cares about is CSI. That's it. All that be nice to the customer bullshit, get cars done the right way etc... doesn't matter for what it is. It's all done to get a high score on the survey. All the dealers have the same problems and you're going to experiance it wherever you go, its just a matter of time. All of the dealers afaik in San Diego county get AT LEAST 50 cars a day that are written up for service. Each job needs to be individually written up, then distributed to a team leader/dispatcher, then handed out to the tech, then the car needs to be fetched, parts fetched/ordered, the car then is actually worked on, then test driven, then washed. So even if the job "only takes 10 minutes" it still takes a while to get teh car through the process. And if you're complaining that it took days for your car to get done on a job that only takes 10 minutes, why didn't you just do it yourself in the first place?

Ben, your car getting curbed would not suprise me, and this is true of all SD area service departments... most of the porters that get hired to wash the car don't give a flying fuck about your car. They are there to get their money for the day, dick around in nice cars, and could care less about damaging your car. I have seen countless cars damaged, run up against curbs etc. You get what you pay for in a worker, unfourtinatly. The reason I was gonig to leave was exactly for that reason, I had no motivation to work harder than I did, or for that matter give a flying fuck since Duane straight up told me I was topped out at my hourly wage. My argument was that I should get more since I actually care and haven't damaged many cars at all (I was involved in 1 mutual accident, started a manual car on a hill, someone passed behind me as a rolled back and messed up bumper moldings on both cars and i popped a tire in a ditch that should have been fixed and was the following week) which considering the thousands of cars I had driven over 3 years isn't that bad. And about Ray not calling you, that doesn't suprise me considering the volume of cars that each advisor has to deal with. If you really need a response, keep pestering him. Ray and Tony are the best advisors there imho. And if you really do want to buy an m coupe, my dad will take care of you, pm me and I'll get you his info if you want.

Nick, that kind of eliteist attitude is bullshit. I would have to agree that most porters are complete idiots, but you should show some respect for people like Jeff that actually worked hard. Shit, its not the best job in the world, but if you work hard at it you can work your way up. At Harloff, our CPO Manager started off washing cars. I myself had an oppertunity to work to becmoe an apprentice if I did some schooling first, unfourtinatly that was somethign I'd talked about with our old manager. If any of the *lot boys* find out you have that kind of attitude about them, they'll straight up fuck you over. I have personally heard other porters tell customers that the tech that worked on their car is a dumbass and things of that nature, and your csi will get fucked because of that. And shit, jeff even apprenticed, but decided school was a better option. If i were you, I'd crawl out of that hole that going to stop got you in and work at the dealer for a few years before opening that unexperianced mouth of yours again.

So basically my point is that you're going to have teh same problem at all dealer's service departments. If you go in, are polite, and just tell them you'll give them 5s on their csi survey if everything is done in a timlely manner and isn't fucked up, they'll take care of you.

Personally, I will never take my car to Brecht while Julie works there. Their sales and parts department is good though. I interviewed with Julie and she is a complete dumbass and a bitch to boot. I'll never go to Diego BMW for any reason, the sales people there are tools, people in service are straight up rude and I have heard many bad things about their parts deparment... I've had the pleasure of going there in street clothes and in a BMW uniform. Cunnigham I have never personally gone to, but I know quite a few people tha have worked there and it seems like a decent place, and i would definatly take my car there over Brecht and Diego. And Harloff.... I will not say anything more that is negative simply beacuse I'm still affiliated with people that work there and depend on that store for their paycheck. I would still take my car there if I needed something done, but would only deal with Tony or Ray as a service advisor. Sales Department is cool, and seriously, don't let your crappy service experiance prevent you from buying a car from somewhere. The two departments are completely unrelated, it really is 2 businesses under one roof.


Glad someone understands... and thats my homie! haha...

Nah, but in all fairness, every word is 100% correct... great post.... thanks man

I like my CSI bonus, I want my extra $500/month, so I spend a little extra time on each car.

I'm glad RedV took the time to explain how the paperwork goes... And to know how many hands their vehicle changes place in the dealership that has the exact same looking car everywhere. And things do happen that delay the scheduled departure time of the vehicle. Unexpected parts break, get delayed. Backorder. etc...

I don't to one BMW center for everything anymore like I used to.

I tried BMW of SD service when my X5 4.4's driver's side window regulator went out and they were great (They even changed another one that I didn't notice was broken). A plus with them is they only charge 8.95 for Castrol TWS 10W-60 compared to as much as $12 (Cunningham!)

The parts guys at Cunningham are definitely cooler, but thats because I've been going in there frequently for the past 6 years (and my Dad even longer)