ohhhhh, how I hate BMW sometimes

gavan

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2005
Location
Houston, TX
/rant on

Especially Performance BMW of Chapel Hill.

Assholes.

I bought a 325i for a daily driver because I wanted something rear wheel drive, manual transmission, fun, and comfortable for four people.

So far, I love the car. Gets decentish mileage, fun to drive. Comfortable.

I have always hated the dealer. I usually go in dressed in work clothes, and cant get the time of day from anyone in the dealership. Not even the parts guy.

Not a big deal.

BMW actually has some really good deals on stuff, like synthetic oil at 5.98 a quart, cheaper than wallie world, and wiper blade refills that work great and only cost 5 bucks apiece.

So I needed a key. Didnt reeeeeeaaaaalllllyyyyyyyy need a key, just wanted one. Car only came with 1 key, and wanted a second for just in case.

It was $190.

Not a huge deal, I was prepared for it. It is the wireless key fob, it has a rechargeable battery that recharges when the key is in the ignition, and has a microchip coded to the ignition so you can only start the car with the microchip key.

They send for it from New Jersey. It comes overnight delivery. They re-program it for me.

And they don't complete the job.

Old key locks the doors when you go over 5 miles an hour.

New key does not.

It is a software setting that takes 5 mins (or less) to program.

I could care less, wifey liked the feature. We go back to BMW.



$200 bucks. You have to make an appointment.



I calmly tell them that after paying $190 for a key, I expect the key to do exactly what the old key did.

They get all huffy and say they have to re-program the computer, and that takes time, and I need to pay $200.

They said that it takes an hour minimum to re-program the car.

I told them a competent mechanic can use the software and get it done in 5 minutes.

They look at me with a deer in the headlights look (What? A customer that understands BMW software?) and tell me it is $200.



$200 for 5 mins of work works out to $2400 an hour. I am in the wrong business.



Back to ordering everything online and doing my own work. I hate dealerships, and especially now BMW dealers.

/rant off

Cliff notes:

-Paid $190 for a new BMW key
-New key does not do what old key does
-Performance BMW wants $200 to make it correct
-Performance BMW are a bunch of assholes.


Disclaimer: I know proper diagnostic tools cost money, and I know that the proper BMW diagnostic tool with all the BMW programming is at least $17,500 bucks, last I checked.

I know the dealership has to make its money back on the equipment.

You cant tell me that the cut they get on selling a $190 key wont more than pay for the the programming time, especially making a happy customer out of the mix.

Ah well.
 
I agree with what you're saying. Some companies just don't understand that making customers happy is one of the most important aspects of running a successful business. For one, it costs more to get new customers than it does to keep them. And if you do screw a customer over, guess how many people they're gonna refer to you? Zero. I had a conversation about customer service today with my dad comparing Dish Network's service to Time Warner Cable's service.

They were customers of Time Warner for 20 plus years, but got fed up with their crappy service and switched to Dish Network a few years ago. They love Dish Network. They're easy to get on the phone and hire competent people from he says. A TWC salesman called my dad one day recently and my dad told him there was nothing he could do to get him to switch back to TWC.
 
Yeah, the truck keys cost a buck (or a buck fifty of I spring for the black top key...)

Jeep keys are free, because it doesn't need one (unless I accidently lock the column...)

Eh, I still like the car, at least.
 
I would make a call to BMW corporate or sales or osmething (some bigger regional office) and just ask, "Hey, I'm curious, I need to get a key. If I buy one, does that include having it programmed?" My bet is they'll say, yes, of course.
Take their response back to the dealer and ask WTF they're doing.
 
I realize it's a matter of principle, but I can't believe you would want them to turn on the auto door lock feature. I can't stand that.

Otherwise, stick with it. They didn't do the job you paid for, simple as that. You don't have a radio replaced and expect it to only work on one speaker, how is this any different.
 
gavan said:
/rant on
I usually go in dressed in work clothes, and cant get the time of day from anyone in the dealership. Not even the parts guy.
Not a big deal..
Click to expand...
I walked into the local apartment complex in uptown Charlotte with jeans and a t-shirt wanting to rent an apart./condo for a year....wow. you would have thought i had a 4th eye on my nose or something. Needless to say I moved on to something mroe outside the snotty district of Alpha Mil.:wheel:
Yankee accents that strange to you guys??
 
Just a fyi the wife's Toyota (2007) only came with one key, and we had to get another made at the dealer - it was around $200 with the cutting & programming also.
however, I saved another $200, bought the remote control fob on ebay for $20, which came with programming instructions, which I did in the back yard over about 15 min...I felt a small moral victory for that...
 
BMWs are expensive all around, my mom drives one, and just to replace the freaking headlight is some astronomical amount of money... and half the mechanics in her town don't want to mess with the maintainence, so she has to go to a "import specialist" I like my good 'ole American cars (well the Honda is a pretty good car as well :D)
 
I got a key made for my Jeep cause I locked myself out. It was free. But it didnt unlock the doors but it started the car?!? These are the OE doors.. Seems kinda useless to me.
 
I got a push button in my jeep.;)
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& a cut off switch for the fuel pump:flipoff2:
 
performance bmw is full of a bunch of pricks, so is the reast of the little place ex. chevy subaru acura just a bunch of chapel hill dicks that won't give you the time of day if you're not in a suit and tie my buddy used to work there and said everyone there except for the guys in the body shop were complete d bags
 
they already got the big bucks from you with the car..... 200 bucks... Blah

I know a guy that use to work there..... he turned me away from buying a BMW back when I was looking for a car
 
This really isn't anything unique to BMW. Ford, Chevy, and Dodge do the exact same thing. The only difference is that BMW often turns a profit.
 
Next time you deal with anything BMW go to shade tree garage in raleigh, literally half the price or Jon (Metto) who works at East Coast with chase knows BMWs really well. Both shops have treated me right and work at a great price. I highly recommend both shops.
 
It actually takes a bit longer to program that system. BMW has fast cars, but not fast computers. I did one last week and it took me 1/2 hour. You have to use a PC that was pretty slow 5 years ago when it was new. You have to hook up the head to the car, a battery charger, wait to hook up the head to the computer, wait for it to start the programming session, wait for it to determine what control units are in the car, wait for it to figure out what car/key memory setting are in the car, then actually change what you want to change,then wait for it to tell the car what to do and then check to make sure it did what it was supposed to. Did you just go to the parts dept and order a key? Cause the car is what has to be coded to turn on and off the auto door locks, (Which I hate as well). Not defending the dealer in question, but they are there to make money. They have to pay a technician to do that job, at least a half hour, if not an hour. They didn't make enough money off the sale of the key to do that for sure. That being said, $200 seems a bit steep even for an hours labor.
 
When you get tired of BMW selling keys and assgrease send me a pm...we work on nothing but BMW and Mercedes at a fraction of the stealership...and I have the $13,000.00 factory scan tools.
 
And in 2 weeks you will no longer be able to get updates for them.
 
I feel your pain! I have an M3 - $165.00 for an oil change hurt the purse. I was really confused when the tech told us that BMW recommends changing the oil approx. every 20,000 miles but he personally recommends every 5,000 miles.
 
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