BMW Customer Service-Opinions

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

TempestSabre wrote:

I suppose a rusty old lancia would be more exciting?

Clarkson - tabloid journalist not motor journalist :rolleyes:

no but apparently, from top position.
merc c320 cdi sports
audi a4
alfa 159
saab 9-3
and the bad one is the jag x-type.

kdevitt

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ wrote:

lads lads..... when will ye ever learn....BMW,

slated by every motor journalist in the last 4 years...
to quote Jeremy Clarkson..."think 3-series and you have a job staying awake"

bottom of Top Gears "Good Car Bad Car 2006"

Wow you talk some amount of crap -

I love Top Gear and Clarkson, but as for being bottom of Top Gears good car / bad car - thats him just being contrary. In the Times he said it would be his best car in class if it didn't have a BMW badge, but because it does have a BMW badge he's going to exclude it altogether. The 3 series was voted world car of the year. And your 'slated by every motor journalist' statement is pure fiction.

Regarding UK cars suffering from nikasil more - UK fuel had a higher sulphur content than Irish fuel hence UK cars being more effected. Nothing to do with Irish customer care being any better.

TempestSabre

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ wrote:

no but apparently, from top position.
merc c320 cdi sports
audi a4
alfa 159
saab 9-3
and the bad one is the jag x-type.

LOL I thought you were serious there for a minute.

kdevitt

My mistake - he didn't say it was going to be best in class - but heres his article for anyone interested

http://www.bmw-driver.net/forum/showthread.php?t=603

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

kdevitt wrote:

Wow you talk some amount of crap -

I love Top Gear and Clarkson, but as for being bottom of Top Gears good car / bad car - thats him just being contrary. In the Times he said it would be his best car in class if it didn't have a BMW badge, but because it does have a BMW badge he's going to exclude it altogether. The 3 series was voted world car of the year. And your 'slated by every motor journalist' statement is pure fiction.

Regarding UK cars suffering from nikasil more - UK fuel had a higher sulphur content than Irish fuel hence UK cars being more effected. Nothing to do with Irish customer care being any better.

im not an expert.... but i can quote them...

"In the Times he said it would be his best car in class if it didn't have a BMW badge"

is that right.... you must have got the BMW edition.

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

TempestSabre wrote:

LOL I thought you were serious there for a minute.

that's what it says

kdevitt

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ wrote:

im not an expert.... but i can quote them...

"In the Times he said it would be his best car in class if it didn't have a BMW badge"

is that right.... you must have got the BMW edition.

Too lazy to read my last reply?

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

i know that this will open the flood gates of disgruntled BMW drivers to pull quotes from every tom, dick and harry website,
so lads quote away....
i would be scrambling to find a way to justify that wasted expense as well.

kdevitt

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ wrote:

i know that this will open the flood gates of disgruntled BMW drivers to pull quotes from every tom, dick and harry website,
so lads quote away....
i would be scrambling to find a way to justify that wasted expense as well.

Eh, the article I mentioned is the one you're quoting. And the World Car of the Year award isn't exactly a minor one.

You're dead right with one thing though - you're not an expert.

TempestSabre

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ wrote:

lads lads..... when will ye ever learn....BMW,

slated by every motor journalist in the last 4 years...
to quote Jeremy Clarkson..."think 3-series and you have a job staying awake"

bottom of Top Gears "Good Car Bad Car 2006"

Clarksons problem with them is that they are too common and successful. Not that they are a bad car which is the impression you're trying to give. Ironically from the man who runs the one of the most thristy cars on the planet, he complains they are too thirsty.

What has expense got to do with it?

unkel

Lex Luthor wrote:

Mac, was your car originally a UK car? The nikasil issue you experienced seemed only to appear mainly on UK imported cars

My direct thoughts too. Caused by high-sulphur petrol derived from North Sea oil which used to be sold in (some parts of) the UK. Massive problem in the US too. My last car had the M60 engine which was worst off because of the Nikasil issue but as my car was originally Irish, it never suffered the problem

Wonder why an Irish BMW dealer would be selling a UK car though?

Mc-BigE

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ wrote:

slated by every motor journalist in the last 4 years...

Sorry, but it’s just not true!, there are better cars out there than the 3 series, but to be honest not many.

It depends on your interpretation of "better", is the BMW more reliable than say a corolla?, probably not, or is it better to drive than a corolla? The answer to that depend on you. Both cars do the same thing for one person, but completely different for another. BMW IMO is a drivers car, Rear wheel drive, very well balanced car in a corner. To me badge has nothing to do with it , if I find another car like AUDI A3/4 VW GOLF GTI, MERC CLK SKODA VRS, LEXUS IS200 That drives better and looks good and can hold more than 2 people, I will drive that one.

Here’s a few unbiased reviews:

http://www.parkers.co.uk/choosing/carreviews/review.aspx?model_id=1345

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/road_tests/index.htm?id=185

TempestSabre

I would have thought a warranty and even manufacturing faults would be covered pan-european by BMW regardless.

Lex Luthor

TempestSabre wrote:

Why does that make a difference?

because BMW coated the engine blocks with Nikasil back in the early to mid 90's and this layer was removed by petrol with high sulphur content which was used a lot in the north UK.

The petrol here didn't have as high sulphur content and didn't erode the nikasil coating as much

TempestSabre

I meant in terms of warranty.

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

Lex Luthor wrote:

because BMW coated the engine blocks with Nikasil back in the early to mid 90's and this layer was removed by petrol with high sulphur content which was used a lot in the north UK.

The petrol here didn't have as high sulphur content and didn't erode the nikasil coating as much

now you should know that that a bit technical for a BMW driver...
what they want to know is cant they clam money back or get something free...

michaelanthony

Conlans charged me E500 storage fees without even notifying me that this fee existed.

TempestSabre

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ wrote:

now you should know that that a bit technical for a BMW driver...
what they want to know is cant they clam money back or get something free...

What is the point your trying to make because thus far you've made no sense.

Mc-BigE

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ wrote:

now you should know that that a bit technical for a BMW driver...
what they want to know is cant they clam money back or get something free...

i think \m/_(>_<)_\m/ has just joined us to aggravate.

as a matter of interest what make/model/year car do you drive?

Seth Brundle

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ wrote:

lads lads..... when will ye ever learn....BMW,

slated by every motor journalist in the last 4 years...
to quote Jeremy Clarkson..."think 3-series and you have a job staying awake"

bottom of Top Gears "Good Car Bad Car 2006"

Clarkson bought the latest M5 IIRC
Clarkson recently gave a great review for the E46 M3 CS in the times
I agree with what the others are suggesting - you are an idiot out to stir things!

opus

ned78 wrote:

Let us know how we do, because no matter how much we spend on training, or equipment, it's all for nowt unless we get some genuine feedback.

Well since you ask, I went in around 9 months ago to get a new front grill for my oldish 3 series following an unfortunate encounter with a pigeon (don't ask!). Anyway the parts manager said no problem, that he would order that & give me a call when it arrived which he said would be only a few days.

So after waiting around two weeks, I phoned in to speak to the same guy but the receptionist told me he was on the phone but she took my phone number and assured me he would call me back in 10 mins. Guess what no call back.

After that I decided to take my business elsewhere and now have a nice shiny grill on there again.

Mac 3

Sorry for not replying sooner, I was away on holiers,

My car was Irish from day one, sold new from M & G and serviced by a few BM dealers in Dublin and the one in Kildare before I bought it.
My problem was rare in this country, but it's not unheard of..

Mac

junkyard

I had a problem recently with a 2000 BMW 318i where the car wouldn't start without giving it a bit of boot under any circumstances, it would just spin and spin. Took the car to Kevin O'Leary's and they reckoned it was the accelerator cable which was replaced which didn't fix the problem. Contacted them and they wanted to replace the throttle body. Took the car to another "specialist" who reckoned it was a camshaft sensor which was replaced and yet again no fix. I was lucky to get the number of a Polish Auto electrician who works in Bandon and he diagnosed the problem in 4 minutes flat as being a pressure valve attached to the throttle body, ordered the part and haven't had a problem since. I'll give Kevin O'Leary's one thing, they are helpful but I honestly don't think they know what they're doing. This was a car that had a full service history with them and the problem had been brought to their attention before and it seems they couldn't fix it. As for their sales team, unless your wearing a suit they wouldn't even look at you. Five of my friends and myself have gone into their showrooms to buy cars at various times and as we work for a living at different trades we generally wear work clothes, the sales team look at us as if we are some lower form of life and not even fit to be in their showroom. It looks like its their lose as between us we own eight relatively new BMW's and needless to say they won't be getting any service work either. As for the "specialist" we won't be back there either.

unkel

Mac 3 wrote:

My car was Irish from day one, sold new from M & G and serviced by a few BM dealers in Dublin and the one in Kildare before I bought it.

Perhaps the previous owner(s) drove in the UK a good bit? It would be the first 100% Irish (republic) car with the Nikasil issue that I've heard of

junkyard wrote:

unless your wearing a suit they wouldn't even look at you. Five of my friends and myself have gone into their showrooms to buy cars at various times and as we work for a living at different trades we generally wear work clothes, the sales team look at us as if we are some lower form of life and not even fit to be in their showroom

Incredible. What the hell were those sales persons thinking? Unprofessional and thus plain stupid too. I'm glad they didn't sell to you so missed out on their bonus. Their loss indeed

milltown

I was mightily impressed with Barry's in Galway. I bought my car from them with 12 months warranty. I was back in Galway for a few days holidays and booked it in with them to get a few things sorted that were noticed when I collected it, cracked indicator lens and rattling electric window. I only noticed after a few weeks that the driver's side mirror glass had been cracked and a replacement stuck over it, but the replacement didn't have the blue tint or the convex edge of the proper one. I asked them how much to replace it and was told €90. I told them to go ahead as it was annoying me.

I dropped the car around to them and they got one of the lads to drop me back to the hotel in my car. When it was ready they came and collected me from the hotel and I dropped their guy back and went in to settle the bill. They said they had done the mirror for free. And the car was washed and hoovered too. My wife could not believe this. She has a company car, supplied by a garage that supplies about 100 vehicles a year to the company, and gets no courtesy or service at all. She was actually given her car back after a service with a flat tyre!

Mc-BigE

junkyard wrote:

the sales team look at us as if we are some lower form of life and not even fit to be in their showroom. It looks like its their lose as between us we own eight relatively new BMW's and needless to say they won't be getting any service work either. As for the "specialist" we won't be back there either.

Yes, I know how you feel, back in July 2000 I wanted to trade in my 1995 Audi a4 and buy a brand new 320d and I was in jeans and t-shirt, the salesman looked at me as if I was scum, he told me to come back in Jan2001! as they weren't taking any orders until then, he wouldn't even give me an idea of trade-in values for the Audi.
so the following day I drove to Killarney bmw dealers, they took my order there and then, and picked up car 2 months later (there was a waiting list at the time for the 320d).
I think BMW dealers generally see the 1 and 3 series buyers as small fry and are treated differently if your not spending very big amounts of money on X5, 5/6/7 series cars.

Seth Brundle

There was a rumour about a guy from Galway walking into Joe Duffys in rough looking work gear ready to write a cheque for their M3 CSL but was looked down upon by the sales rep so he walked out.

kdevitt

Same happened to my dad in Joe Duffys a few years back when he was about to buy an E39, he might as well have been invisible.

patsyh

bought mine in from frankfurt, managed to fluke a few extras past the VRT man, got the dealer not to put them on the invoice. Always head to bavarian in belfast for service, Irish dealers are only interested in car sales and always get the "your only a little guy and we dont care about you cause you've only got a 320D" feeling of them

junkyard

BMW aren't the only dealership with a bunch of w***ers for salesmen, Mercedes are the same and so are some of the more mundane marques. If I had a sales man working for me who looked down on perspective customers like this I'd fire him on the spot. I remember watching a documentry on a large main dealership in the U.S. and when asked to define a typical customer the owner replyed " there's no such thing as a typical customer, I've had guys come in here in flash suits who didn't have any money and I've had others in teeshirts and baseball hats who spent 500,000 dollars on a car". It just goes to show how wrong they get it over here.