Dealership praise/horror stories

[Lovenhatebmw]

Where did you originally buy the car? That is your more likely source of the part swapping situation if one exists. Depending on what tools the guys were using they also might just read these modules incorrectly and misidentify them.

These kinds of issues are common on cars that are written off and then repaired with whatever parts the repairers have on hand (and you can get some russian dude on Team Viewer to code everything to more or less work together).

Thank you for this . The car was bought new when the 3 40 year anniversary edition was released and was never in an accident . Like I said I know zero about cars. Hoping for the best.

 

[r0ckf1re]

Thank you for this . The car was bought new when the 3 40 year anniversary edition was released and was never in an accident . Like I said I know zero about cars. Hoping for the best.

‘’ Displaying 1 series and convertible’’ Very interesting.

The F series doesn’t have a convertible 1 series.
The E88 is a 1 series convertible.


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[MR_Y]

Yes! I registered on here because this site has been eye opening ! My poor car with low mileage has been parked for nearly a year! Here's why: a year after taking my car to BMW Menlyn for a water pipe related issue my car completely broke down . I reported issues a day after the repairs like the left passenger door lock not working and car driving different ( this was in april 2022) in January 2023 the car started showing a drive train warning and in feb stalled completely with hard start. Car stayed in my garage (as I knew it was going to be an expensive fix just like a small water related issues cost the year before!) I took it to BMW fountains in October and they didnt want to work on the car and said to take it back to LMG Menlyn but they (menlyn) wanted to charge for a replacement battery first even before diagnosing the car. The costs for a new battery alone made me tow the car to an RMI approved mechanic and the mechanic found that the ecu / compuyer box (excuse me I'm not a car boffen) found that the car had a f20 ecu instead of a f30 which the car is?! The car after the initial repair was displaying in the cluster a 1 series instead of a 3series which the car is. It also had warnings of convertible roof and lane assist (all which the car doesnt have ) weird but this is a warning not to trust dealerships out of Motorplan. my car was out of motorplan last year so my suspicion is that they swapped parts. I cant prove it by I suspect it!!

Sorry to hear.
Get all the facts of the case summarised and contact Wendy Knowler
[email protected]

 

[Lisaprut]

You can always try the motor industry Ombudsman. Had many successes with them in the past.

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[TurboLlew]

Thank you for this . The car was bought new when the 3 40 year anniversary edition was released and was never in an accident . Like I said I know zero about cars. Hoping for the best.

Wow! One owner from new, only serviced at BMW and now this? The car is certainly behaving like one that has mismatched modules and has not been coded correctly (or even accidentally if this coincides with your water issue: They vacuum fill it and then there is a self-bleeding process that is done on ISTA. This is the only thing that springs to mind as to how it might have happened. Not sure this is actually a swapping parts problem or a module that has gone bad or a tech that coded the vehicle incorrectly as part of the service? Should have been an easy diagnosis and resolution if that was the case. Did you have to drive the car with these from April 2022 to Jan 2023?

Good advice to contact Wendy Knowler and the ombudsman at this point. Also contact BMW HQ. What was the reason that Fountains gave for refusing to work on the car? That may also give some clues as to what is actually happening.

 

[Lovenhatebmw]

Wow! One owner from new, only serviced at BMW and now this? The car is certainly behaving like one that has mismatched modules and has not been coded correctly (or even accidentally if this coincides with your water issue: They vacuum fill it and then there is a self-bleeding process that is done on ISTA. This is the only thing that springs to mind as to how it might have happened. Not sure this is actually a swapping parts problem or a module that has gone bad or a tech that coded the vehicle incorrectly as part of the service? Should have been an easy diagnosis and resolution if that was the case. Did you have to drive the car with these from April 2022 to Jan 2023?

Good advice to contact Wendy Knowler and the ombudsman at this point. Also contact BMW HQ. What was the reason that Fountains gave for refusing to work on the car? That may also give some clues as to what is actually happening.

Thank you! Yes the car acted very different right after the service last year and I drove it even with the drive train warning but not before taking it to BMW centurion- they did an oil service that was it. Ya, maybe it is just a coding issue and not parts but hopefully it can be fixed 🤞 I will approach the ombudsman ! Thank you for that advice !

 

[Veedub]

Sent my daughter's Mini to the dealer like 2 months back (Midrand). Recently noticed an oil leak. Eventually jacked it up and checked underneath. Oil sump plug had two washers on it and oil filter cover was leaking. I had to google to see if maybe it was a B48 thing to have two sump washers...turns out it's not.

Sent it back to them and they "re-did" the service. Oil leaks all sorted now.

Just got the typical "apologies for the inconvenience".

 

[Veedub]

Sent my daughter's Mini to the dealer like 2 months back (Midrand). Recently noticed an oil leak. Eventually jacked it up and checked underneath. Oil sump plug had two washers on it and oil filter cover was leaking. I had to google to see if maybe it was a B48 thing to have two sump washers...turns out it's not.

Sent it back to them and they "re-did" the service. Oil leaks all sorted now.

Just got the typical "apologies for the inconvenience".

Sigh....

 

[swazi85]

Sent my daughter's Mini to the dealer like 2 months back (Midrand). Recently noticed an oil leak. Eventually jacked it up and checked underneath. Oil sump plug had two washers on it and oil filter cover was leaking. I had to google to see if maybe it was a B48 thing to have two sump washers...turns out it's not.

Sent it back to them and they "re-did" the service. Oil leaks all sorted now.

Just got the typical "apologies for the inconvenience".

Doesn’t really surprise me. Not excited by bmws Midrand’s service. They couldn’t even noticed they installed my m5 m performance exhaust wonky


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[Veedub]

I dropped the car off, again, this morning.

Told the service advisor that I'm not interested in apologies this time.

I think that they might just be too busy in the workshop, so they are rushing things. The volume of cars there in the morning is scary.

BTW - they have a new M2 in a purple colour (individual/special colour option).... !@#$ but it looks good.

 

[dyllindd]

Sandton Auto. Took my car in a while ago now asking that they replace my AUX input jack as it could't pick up many different cables I tried. Would have costed about 1.5K, but I was told that the reason why it wasn't working was because my radio is faulty and had to get it replaced (would have cost about 15K if I recall correctly). Being out of 'Plan, I obviously said no. The same evening I tried some very cheap cable out of desperation from Pick n Pay, and wouldn't you know it, it worked perfectly. Haven't been there for any repair related work since.

Sandton Auto is a sh!tshow. Went there in November to get quotes on my F20 120d for discs and pads front and rear. Amount quoted was ridiculous and they didn't even have stock. Purchased Febi Bilstein Pads and Discs for basically half the price at GW and all items were in stock. All of the times I have viewed used cars at their dealership, they were parked in their basement and you'd be shocked at the quality thereof. The salesmen actually argue with you when you point out defects on vehicles claiming their workshop didn't pick up anything on their multipoint inspection. They are the closest dealer to home but I avoid them on purpose now.

 

[MR_Y]

Sandton Auto is a sh!tshow. Went there in November to get quotes on my F20 120d for discs and pads front and rear. Amount quoted was ridiculous and they didn't even have stock. Purchased Febi Bilstein Pads and Discs for basically half the price at GW and all items were in stock. All of the times I have viewed used cars at their dealership, they were parked in their basement and you'd be shocked at the quality thereof. The salesmen actually argue with you when you point out defects on vehicles claiming their workshop didn't pick up anything on their multipoint inspection. They are the closest dealer to home but I avoid them on purpose now.

Agree on the used cars point.
Both my cars purchased from them had undisclosed accident damaged. When confronted, they said the repair was not done on Motorplan, so they had no knowledge of it.

 

[TurboLlew]

Agree on the used cars point.
Both my cars purchased from them had undisclosed accident damaged. When confronted, they said the repair was not done on Motorplan, so they had no knowledge of it.

This is such a BS response. It irritates me every time I hear it. "Oh it isn't in the system so it must never have happened". The fisheyes, runs and sunken bits were factory then?

When you are trading in a car that WAS repaired properly "Oh this has a comment so it must get knocked down by basically the repair value..." as though it is still completely damaged and they had to spend money to fix it If you're buying the same car? "Oh it was only cosmetic" and priced R10K below a no-comment car. (extra points if the no-comment car has visible paintwork and presents poorly relative to the 'damaged' car )

Even worse, if a car is not repaired on motorplan and THEY find it, the plan may be suspended until proper repairs are done... Seems if it is them selling the car with the undisclosed repair, that rule doesn't apply.

They absolutely don't miss paintwork (even bad factory paintwork in some cases!) when you are trading a car in. This is whether they are inspecting visually or on the other tools they have access to that us plebs don't. While car shopping is fun, it is painful showing up to a dealer and seeing an obviously misrepresented car. I wonder if @Teezoh can add a known paintwork/known damaged list of VINs to localhoons. It would have saved me so much time (and money buying Vindocs/Carvertical reports). Probably a liability/privacy risk (or knowing the industry, will probably place a very large target on your back!)

On another somewhat related note, it seems that showing up and asking to buy an M8 or M3T can't get anyone's attention these days (even with an acceptable trade in offer. It was a dumb idea anyway in hindsight so maybe I must thank them for the delay/disinterest?

Very first time I can say I was a bit annoyed by the sales process at BMW (I had to even chase to get the trade value)... especially when it has been so seamless in the past. I get that it is difficult to find stock, but one of the ways to get stock of 'faster moving' cars would be to trade them in, no? Especially if a customer wants to buy a new/demo car sitting on the floor. I suppose there are just way too many people waiting to spend R2.2M on a car that still has blank button spots and thin spec...