[Mdkcrf250r]

Ok I gotta chime in here. I’m a service advisor at one of the biggest and busiest BMW dealerships in CA. The in mileage is indeed taken from the key read which is not updated every time the car is driven. So these discrepancies happen occasionally when the customer notices. I assure you every one of the technicians wants to get your car done as quickly as possible so they can move on to the next car and make more money. Besides that we see everything from 1M’s to Alpina B7’s to i8’s regularly, nobody cares much about an M2. Half the employees have employee lease M3’s. In some instances they aren’t doing a test drive at all. It’s also company procedure to test drive the cars and you’re giving permission when you sign the repair order. Hope that clears some things up.

[DSTR]

Originally Posted by Mdkcrf250r

Ok I gotta chime in here. I’m a service advisor at one of the biggest and busiest BMW dealerships in CA. The in mileage is indeed taken from the key read which is not updated every time the car is driven. So these discrepancies happen occasionally when the customer notices. I assure you every one of the technicians wants to get your car done as quickly as possible so they can move on to the next car and make more money. Besides that we see everything from 1M’s to Alpina B7’s to i8’s regularly, nobody cares much about an M2. Half the employees have employee lease M3’s. In some instances they aren’t doing a test drive at all. It’s also company procedure to test drive the cars and you’re giving permission when you sign the repair order. Hope that clears some things up.

Thats nice to know - you work for a large operation.

Key reads are meaning-less. My dealer in Germany takes the reading from the car reflecting actual kilometers driven. Its called accuracy

Im glad technicians wish to be efficient and swift. Precision is good as well as actually doing the job right as well??

Its not at all impressive that you work on various BMW's. Every owner matters, every model matters and no one is impressed half the employee's have an M car. Wow.....world turns.

My service advisor and the mechanic inform me before any driving is done....even on my not leased M3 low life M235i. Thats called good manners permission on paper or not. '

Your post was about as helpful as a pile of sand. Enjoy that M3 as the rest of us drive our M2's fully knowing If I was in California I would avoid you and your dealership quite easily.

[doug_999]

Originally Posted by DSTR

Thats nice to know - you work for a large operation.

Key reads are meaning-less. My dealer in Germany takes the reading from the car reflecting actual kilometers driven. Its called accuracy

Im glad technicians wish to be efficient and swift. Precision is good as well as actually doing the job right as well??

Its not at all impressive that you work on various BMW's. Every owner matters, every model matters and no one is impressed half the employee's have an M car. Wow.....world turns.

My service advisor and the mechanic inform me before any driving is done....even on my not leased M3 low life M235i. Thats called good manners permission on paper or not. '

Your post was about as helpful as a pile of sand. Enjoy that M3 as the rest of us drive our M2's fully knowing If I was in California I would avoid you and your dealership quite easily.

I didn't read his reply this way....

I read
I work for a large organization - and we play by BMW USA rules which is
A) The key is how we get the mileage (my dealer does the same thing)
B) The techs are paid per Job - and if not done correctly, they fix it free - so doing it fast and correct is their goal
C) Many of the techs are able to lease high end BMWs due to great plans offered by BMW - and that means that they (the techs) rarely go joyriding - they know what the car can do (now the porters... well..)
D) Part of fixing a car, often involves a test drive - BMW requires it - I think if is assumed (yes, I know bad word) that they will always be test driving my car for regular work.

I personally would have no issue going to his dealership - except he is 2,000 miles away from me...

[Mdkcrf250r]

Originally Posted by DSTR

Thats nice to know - you work for a large operation.

Key reads are meaning-less. My dealer in Germany takes the reading from the car reflecting actual kilometers driven. Its called accuracy

Im glad technicians wish to be efficient and swift. Precision is good as well as actually doing the job right as well??

Its not at all impressive that you work on various BMW's. Every owner matters, every model matters and no one is impressed half the employee's have an M car. Wow.....world turns.

My service advisor and the mechanic inform me before any driving is done....even on my not leased M3 low life M235i. Thats called good manners permission on paper or not. '

Your post was about as helpful as a pile of sand. Enjoy that M3 as the rest of us drive our M2's fully knowing If I was in California I would avoid you and your dealership quite easily.

Wow I’m not sure how you could possibly have gotten such a negative impression from my post. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and say you just woke up on the wrong side of the bed. You should have a nap cause you seem a little cranky. And when you wake up, re-read my post as I answered all the questions and concerns in the original post as was pointed out by Doug.

[champignon]

Originally Posted by Mdkcrf250r

Ok I gotta chime in here. I’m a service advisor at one of the biggest and busiest BMW dealerships in CA. The in mileage is indeed taken from the key read which is not updated every time the car is driven. So these discrepancies happen occasionally when the customer notices. I assure you every one of the technicians wants to get your car done as quickly as possible so they can move on to the next car and make more money. Besides that we see everything from 1M’s to Alpina B7’s to i8’s regularly, nobody cares much about an M2. Half the employees have employee lease M3’s. In some instances they aren’t doing a test drive at all. It’s also company procedure to test drive the cars and you’re giving permission when you sign the repair order. Hope that clears some things up.

Thank you for your response. Have a great day!

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by Mdkcrf250r

Ok I gotta chime in here. I’m a service advisor at one of the biggest and busiest BMW dealerships in CA. The in mileage is indeed taken from the key read which is not updated every time the car is driven. So these discrepancies happen occasionally when the customer notices. I assure you every one of the technicians wants to get your car done as quickly as possible so they can move on to the next car and make more money. Besides that we see everything from 1M’s to Alpina B7’s to i8’s regularly, nobody cares much about an M2. Half the employees have employee lease M3’s. In some instances they aren’t doing a test drive at all. It’s also company procedure to test drive the cars and you’re giving permission when you sign the repair order. Hope that clears some things up.

This is spot on. Techs are paid to fix cars, not to test drive them. Especially true when it's warranty work as I think was the case here with the OP. OEMs give precious little "book time" to complete warranty work so the tech is incentivized to work fast. A 23 mile test drive just to confirm a software change "took" would be out of the question for just about any tech. At most they are going to fire up the car, pull it out of the shop, and look for a CEL on the dash. If it didn't "take" you'll bring it back and some other tech will deal with it.

What you really need to watch out for are the shops were a $10/hr lot attendant runs the cars back and forth from the holding pen to the technician bay, out to the car wash, up front for customer delivery, etc. Not sure if any BMW dealers use this model but we did at Nissan and Lincoln where I was a lot attendant for a few summers in highschool. The techs were too highly paid and too busy to take extended test drives but as a lot attendant, I was not. I was often handed the keys and asked to go drive a car to see if a noise came back or if a CEL comes on. Test drives would frequently include trips for lunch, to get coffee, or visit my GF. I was always respectful of the cars (no burnouts or aggressive driving) because I've always been a car guy and have total respect for someone else's ride, but not all lot attendants shared that outlook. 23 miles on a sunny summer day while on a test ride in a convertible 300ZX as a highschool lot attendant kid? Yeah, I absolutely have done that.

[M2guru]

Originally Posted by DETRoadster

What you really need to watch out for are the shops were a $10/hr lot attendant runs the cars back and forth from the holding pen to the technician bay, out to the car wash, up front for customer delivery, etc.

What this tells me as a customer is that despite all of the defensive responses on behalf of the techs, there are others that may drive the car and treat it in a way I would not appreciate. I like the plan of taking photos of the mileage and/or perhaps getting details about the test drive next time I take it in.

And in anticipation of comments saying I don't have a unicorn, so don't worry about it...it's a unicorn in my eyes and that's what matters to me.

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by M2guru

What this tells me as a customer is that despite all of the defensive responses on behalf of the techs, there are others that may drive the car and treat it in a way I would not appreciate. I like the plan of taking photos of the mileage and/or perhaps getting details about the test drive next time I take it in.

And in anticipation of comments saying I don't have a unicorn, so don't worry about it...it's a unicorn in my eyes and that's what matters to me.

Hey I'm right there with you man. We may not be driving $130k M4 GTS's but the M2 is still the nicest car I've ever owned and I sure intend to keep it that way. There's just no way around it that SOMEONE at the dealer has to drive your car. The more you can limit that, the better. Some thoughts:

1) Ask your SA to put in your file "DO NOT WASH". This is important for a number of reasons. First, you dont want your baby scrubbed down with the scratch inducing brushes that most automated dealership washes uses. Second, it eliminates the need for a lot attendant to jump in your car and drive it to and from the wash, which sometimes is blocks away.

2) Talk to your SA up front when you drop the car off. Convo should go something like this: "So I'm dropping my car off for an oil change to to inspect for a rattle in the dash. Current mileage as shown on this photo I took with my phone is 2,550 miles. What do you think is a reasonable amount of miles your tech will need to put on the car to diagnose the rattle, then confirm it's fixed? 10 Miles? OK, Great. I'll expect it to have no more than 2,560 miles on it when I pick it up. Also, I'd appreciate it if either you or the tech drives it and no one else. No wash. No lot attendants. Thanks!"

[horsepower_and_hounds]

Remember when they do software updates they usually turn off all accessories and unplug anything external using power

[Tag]

This should freak you out.

Guy Leaves His Mercedes' Dash Cam On During Service Check, Finds Out What Technicians Are Actually Doing

[KevM2]

Originally Posted by Tag

This should freak you out.

Guy Leaves His Mercedes' Dash Cam On During Service Check, Finds Out What Technicians Are Actually Doing

It was this video that got me freaked out to the point of wondering if they will change my differential fluid as they say they will during the break in service... I might leave a painted mark on my differential drain plug to make sure it's been removed and placed back

[Tag]

Originally Posted by KevM2

It was this video that got me freaked out to the point of wondering if they will change my differential fluid as they say they will during the break in service... I might leave a painted mark on my differential drain plug to make sure it's been removed and placed back

The real tragedy here is that's it's come down to not trusting the service department to the point of using dash cams, marking things, etc. That really breaks the spirit.