What do you think about your BMW Dealership and the BMW people?

at BMW of Palm Springs they have some great service.......they don't mind kids looking at the cars (unlike the Porsche Dealerships!)
and the people at the BMW area at the LA auto show were nice.

so i think the BMW Dealership is all cool out here.....i have heard several complaints on the boards so i was just curious about how good their service is?

our local dealer is very very bad. they will overcharge for everything. would you pay 35000 for a base 325i with no options? i was driving by last week and they had a silver m3 like mine in the used lot. so i stop to look and they are asking $42,000 for a 1997 BMW M3 with 65000 miles. totaly out of line. the techs are all worthless, i know more about bmw's than most of them. certified technician my a$$! and to make it even worse it is a combined lincoln bmw dealership!? not too mention the fact that they will practically steal your keys to get you into a new car.

my 2 cynical cents....

wow!
that sucks
my dealership was selling a Z8 with no mark-up tag(i think thats what they call it sorry)

Well if you come to the Palm Springs area for those golf tournaments or tennis (which i highly doubt) check out the area........IT SUCKS!
hehe sorry

I have Cain BMW in North Canton, Ohio. I hate their sales staff. The first time I went in there the BMW guys (they also sell Toyotas on the same floor) treated me like shit.

The service manager is a good guy, and the parts guy will sometimes work with me on pricing. They did screw up my alignment once though and I had to get it done again.

Basically I'll buy parts there, but I'll never buy a car there or get my car worked on.

I absolutley LOVE mine...I work at one...:D Great service and THE BEST sales force around!:stickoutt

BMW of North Haven in CT is absolutly horrible. list of damages caused by them while they were servicing car includes 4 severly scratched wheels, snapped belts in front tire, broken power window mechanism, burnout out power window motor which they told me they did and that i would have to pay, missing front underpanel, watch tech do a burnout in my car right in front of me. add this to the fact it has been back over 10 times for a hessitation which has been diagnosed as a bad clutch, bad throttle body, bad 02's, faulty ecu 3 times and it ahs the most current updates, and the best one "M engines are only designed to be beaten on and will not run smooth around town!" they suck and their attitude towards customer service is horrible. DO NOT go here.

Weber BMW is horrible. if you do not look like a million bucks, they will shrug you off. They told me I had some axle damage and it would cost 3-400 to repair. When I went to the install fest at M PWR 95 house last sat, we found no such damage. Caveat emptor.

CHONGUS

FUCK DEALERSHIPS!

BMW Cleveland has been great to me......I have my Z3, M3 and 318is all serviced there. They work with me on price in parts, even when I want 73 .02 cent items. Always pleasant and friendly in service, sales and parts. They even sponsor the Z3 Northern Ohio Convoy to Homecoming (they have for the past 3 years). Class folks.

The sales, service and parts staff at Global Imports in Atlanta are friendly and courteous. Sometimes it takes the techs a couple of tries to make the right diagnosis, but they do good work nonetheless. The guys in parts are the best.

BMW of Darien isn't much better, slvr. Their customer service is pretty awful, but at least they don't damage the car when they fix it. Have you been to BMW of Bridgeport yet (formerly Helmut's)? I might try them. What I'd REALLY like is a good independant shop in eastern Fairfield Cty....

My closest dealer, Co's in Ft Collins, CO, has always been nice to me, and have even come in under estimate a couple times. Just today I asked about an error code I had after changing an air boot and they gave me a possible solution and reminded me to get the radio code.

Only ONCE did they piss me off - I took the car in for some routine stuff and some recall things (radiator cap, something with a throttle cable) When I drove away I immediately noticed the idle was lower. It still ran OK so I didn't go back. I drove home (a couple thousand feet higher in elevation) and the car had trouble starting the next day, which it NEVER did before. Day after same thing. I called them and they said bring it down. They insisted that it could not have been anything they did, and recommended replacing this and that, etc. I said no, you screwed it up, you're going to fix it gratis. They kept insisting, and I had to talk to the service boss and spell it out - WHEN I BROUGHT THE CAR IN IT IDLED PERFECTLY AND STARTED FINE - WHEN I LEFT YOUR GARAGE IT WAS BROKE. They finally agreed, they did a lot of trial and error and got it working. I paid for one part (at discount) and no labor.

Originally posted by booboo
our local dealer is very very bad. they will overcharge for everything. would you pay 35000 for a base 325i with no options? i was driving by last week and they had a silver m3 like mine in the used lot. so i stop to look and they are asking $42,000 for a 1997 BMW M3 with 65000 miles. totaly out of line. the techs are all worthless, i know more about bmw's than most of them. certified technician my a$$! and to make it even worse it is a combined lincoln bmw dealership!? not too mention the fact that they will practically steal your keys to get you into a new car.

my 2 cynical cents....

hey what dealer was this at?

BMW of San Francisco (http://www.bmwsf.com) are also pretty bad.

They seem to do sales, not support. The only customers they seem to value are those who will buy, or recently have bought, a brand new car. Others are grudgingly allowed on the premises.

This is annoying. Even worse, I get partial information from their parts people. (I get much better and more complete info here. Thanks.)

Everyone is pleasant, albeit aloof, and they tolerate small children very well. So I learn what I can here, I buy off the net, and go there to let Isaac play with the new cars.

Global BMW (Atlanta) Very nice people, very expensive people. They wanted 4 hrs of labor at $100/hr to install a $120 short shifter. I did it at home with a jack and a friend in 30 minutes.

I can't sing enough praise for BMW Cleveland. I bought my '94 325IC from them last Oct. I purchased a used car warranty and have had to bring the car in for very minor things. I brought the car in one time because one of the taillight bulbs was out. The service advisor walked up to my car with a bulb and a screwdriver, installed the bulb, and said "no charge". I've had to leave the car for the whole day on a few occasions and each time they set me up with a brand new 3-series loaner. Great dealership!

I've had no problems with <a href="http://www.beverlyhillsbmw.net">BMW of Beverly Hills, CA</a> but at the same time, I'd caution anyone to just be careful with any dealership. The one to avoid is BMW of Santa Monica, CA. They are bad and have never gone there.

As for my experience in Beverly Hills, I've taken it there while the car was under warranty. After that.....NEVER again. No bad experience but just don't want to get ripped off by the $tealer. Only for a part may I go there. And plus of all dealership BH would sell M3s at $15k over sticker price.

My suggestion is to go to a BMW dealership that is a member of the BMW CCA (and the local chapter). At least they'll have the backing of true BMW enthusiasts.

After the warranty expired I only go to my independent BMW mechanic.

Gio

well here in fort lauderdale, fl I cant complain. i bought my car of a local small dealer, and though the engine and other is great the suspension in front was totally dead (dead struts, opened rack boot, broken tie rods ... ended up with a fixing bill of near 2000 including alignments)
I brought it at dealership and they walked me through everything they were going to do (showing defective parts on the car), gave me an estimate of price which they were very accurate on and so far there seem to have no problems with the job they've done, car feels like new.

Also they arrange so that you can get the same tech and advisor everytime u go in, makes it a bit more friendly.

The service was real nice too, got a rental car for the day when I had to drop it over there at of course no charge.
So well even if small tech might have done the same work at a bit cheaper, i dont mind having to pay the 20$ labor diff that dealership charge so far I trust them and every work done is 1y warranty.

The people at Gearhart BMW are pretty good except for their poisoned leadership. The techs and 'service advisors' are good people persons but their 'leader' leaves something to be desired. He's very quick to dismiss a problem or try to baffle you will bullshit. His people then have no choice but to fall in line with what he says.

Park Avenue BMW has a very nice service manager although I sometimes feel he is hiding something. The rest of the people there suck moose. Too bad he can't get a job at Gearhart, THAT would then be a dealership to go to for service.

I have experience with 2 dealers in particular. The first is Harloff in Encinitas, CA. These people seemed to be courteous, but tried to stick me with a $60 bill for labor on a $2 part which I was initially told would be covered under warranty. Okay, you say it's only $60, but I vote with my $$$, and they will be getting no more of mine.
The second is Brecht BMW located in Escondito, CA. Now these people know what they are doing. The family has been racing BMW's for years. They are a Dinan shop, sell BMW motorcycles, and even have a Mini Dealer just around the corner. I ordered a key from them, but wasn't going to be able to pick it up, so they Fed-Exed it to me NO CHARGE!!!


bg

Best BWM Dealership on the face of the earth :

Frank Z Imports -
Dayton Ohio!

I have nearly worked at the BMW Dealership here in Lexington, KY before called Ol' Don Jacobs and am not very impressed with the sales staff or department at all as there is a silly high turnover and they don't know beans for the most part about their products. As for the Service & Parts Departments however it is very god and last time I check fair priced as well and also a Dinan certified site.

Checkerd Flag BMW, Audi, Porshe, & Jaguar in Virginia Beach, VA where I also live is pristine! If ever you wanted to find a great dealership with knowledgable staff in sales that are courtious and helpful this is the place. They had the local BMWCCA chapter newsletter in the sales area and knew the organizers of the local BMWCCA personally. As for the Service & Parts Departments they seemed very knowledgable of the products they serviced and from talking to others that have had their Bimmer, Jag, and/or Audi's serviced there they were extremely highly praising Checkerd Flag!

The parts people at Paul Miller in NJ are just phenomenal. That guy who usually works the counter has hooked up almost every person I've seen go there.
The service there is ok, but their rates are RIDICULOUS. $189 for an alignment last I checked, while other dealers in the area were charging $129.

Park ave. sales is cool. Their service is horrible. The tech are great, but the management is complete assh*les. You can't begin to imagine how many times I"ve heard them threaten customers who say they'll contact BMW NA.

In the Baltimore area,

BMW of Towson - Unless you have some sick desire to get raped on pricing, service, and the attitude of the service staff, stay away. They revamped the airbag system on my car. I specifically told the advisor guy to replace all the components to the airbag system, and double checked with him that if the light went off again, it'ld be covered by their parts and labor warranty. Two weeks later, SRS light goes off again, the assh*le refuses to look at my car without charging me $80 diagnostic fee. I've just given up on that light now.
Their parts people are always chill. Good parts discounts on BMW CCA members.

BWM of Owings Mills - Parts and service is cheap, techs are good, but sometimes the service advisors are morons. If you could avoid them and talk directly to techs, this is by far the most quality and cheapest dealer around ($89 for an alignment...just to give you a gauge....and yes I get alignments often...is it my fault coilovers are adjustable :dunno )

Originally posted by sardil
BWM of Owings Mills - Parts and service is cheap, techs are good, but sometimes the service advisors are morons. If you could avoid them and talk directly to techs, this is by far the most quality and cheapest dealer around ($89 for an alignment...just to give you a gauge....and yes I get alignments often...is it my fault coilovers are adjustable :dunno )

I have to agree with you on Northwest. I bought my car there. The sales people are ok, and the service managers are average, but their techs are good and the prices can't be touched by anyone around. Schaull up here in York is ok too.

TulleyBMW is a pretty good dealership. Overpriced when it comes to parts and service, just like any dealership though. Service techs/managers are great and so are the sales team.

Originally posted by jaramill
The one to avoid is BMW of Santa Monica, CA. They are bad and have never gone there.



SM BMW sucks, I will never go back. They didn't fix an oil leak and when I went back to complain some time later (after the extended warranty ran out), they claimed they suggested additional work the first time (which they didn't) to trace the leak. The best they would do was to offer me a discount to fix it (so they would break even, and I would pay ...). I said forget it, and sold the car.

And when I called the SM BMW parts dept. to see if they would match another dealer's price, they flatly refused to discuss it. "Pay our price or go somewhere else." They apparently have enough business, so why bother giving them mine?

Nick Alexander in LA is pretty good, I do my warranty work there. The only bad part is that it is deep in the 'hood (but they save rent that way). And their parts dept. is competitive with the other deep discount dealers, Circle and Pacific.

While I didn't purchase my car there, Irvine BMW has been very responsive to my needs.

I went in today to talk with the service manager regarding a gasket adhesive mentioned in the Bentley manual. The parts department doesn't sell it and none of the local stores carry it. I figured there must be a equivalent product, and I wanted to get a description of it so I could figure out what would be an appropriate substitute. The service manager went in the back to check, and came out with half a tube of the adhesive. The name would have been enough (they're using a different brand then the one mentioned in the Bentley and TIS too), but he gave me the tube and saved me a trip to the auto parts store -- and a couple of bucks.