[Up4speed]

Originally Posted by ROBM2C

I reviewed more camera footage and it gets worse … the parts guy was bringing over the parts and dropped 2 spark plugs on the ground . 🤦

They just picked them up and put them with the rest .

UGHHH....was it in the box at least? If so, it should be fine.
Hopefully the ceramic didn't break. I assume that the car would get a misfire if it did though. This is why I like to do my own work.

[ROBM2C]

@Up4speed

Bud this video is half scary as hell and half comical .

I won't post it unless they don't take care of me .


It's clear as day too …the tech in the next bay yells " ooooooohhh he dropped the spark plugs"

Yes they were in the box but still …

[Up4speed]

Originally Posted by ROBM2C

@Up4speed

Bud this video is half scary as hell and half comical .

I won't post it unless they don't take care of me .


It's clear as day too …the tech in the next bay yells " ooooooohhh he dropped the spark plugs"

Yes they were in the box but still …

OMG! Sorry you had to deal with this. Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like your car was in good hands.

[ROBM2C]

It wasn't , the gm was trying to defend this tech by saying he's in his 40s , he's been there a long time , our technicians are proud to work at Bmw …blah blah blah .

Meanwhile I got clear as day video of

- tech breaking the law in my car and winding it out through 3 gears while cold .

- dropped spark plugs.

- pulling up on my fender to get the car on the lift arms .

- the "experienced tech" asking the tech in the next bay how does he gain access to the spark plugs .

- hand prints grease marks all over the intake and engine cover , oil cap and filter cap.

- and I had to finish putting it back together for him as he left a hose loose and sitting under the bracket it actually sits in .

It's quite the video display of BMW incompetence at its finest lol

[Oliv]

Given the cover-up tentative of the gm I would straight out escalate this to BMW Canada corporate...

On top of that I would obviously never go back to this dealer - but if this is correctly treated by the HQ probably half of the people there will be fired anyway

[Tag]

Originally Posted by ROBM2C

It wasn't , the gm was trying to defend this tech by saying he's in his 40s , he's been there a long time , our technicians are proud to work at Bmw …blah blah blah .

Meanwhile I got clear as day video of

- tech breaking the law in my car and winding it out through 3 gears while cold .

- dropped spark plugs.

- pulling up on my fender to get the car on the lift arms .

- the "experienced tech" asking the tech in the next bay how does he gain access to the spark plugs .

- hand prints grease marks all over the intake and engine cover , oil cap and filter cap.

- and I had to finish putting it back together for him as he left a hose loose and sitting under the bracket it actually sits in .

It's quite the video display of BMW incompetence at its finest lol

The GM is trying to sweep this under the rug which is completely unacceptable. The good thing is you gave them a chance and they blew it. Time to turn up the heat, start a complaint with BMW CA.

[Up4speed]

Originally Posted by ROBM2C

It wasn't , the gm was trying to defend this tech by saying he's in his 40s , he's been there a long time , our technicians are proud to work at Bmw …blah blah blah .

Meanwhile I got clear as day video of

- tech breaking the law in my car and winding it out through 3 gears while cold .

- dropped spark plugs.

- pulling up on my fender to get the car on the lift arms .

- the "experienced tech" asking the tech in the next bay how does he gain access to the spark plugs .

- hand prints grease marks all over the intake and engine cover , oil cap and filter cap.

- and I had to finish putting it back together for him as he left a hose loose and sitting under the bracket it actually sits in .

It's quite the video display of BMW incompetence at its finest lol

Wow, that REALLY IS bad. Especially pulling up on the fender. I would be so pissed at that!

[chris719]

This is exactly why I don't use a camera for dealer visits, lol. I don't want to know what they do, because there's 0 chance they do it to the standard I would expect. I'm half joking, but yeah, there's a lot of shitty mechanics out there.

[ROBM2C]

Here is under the hood after service … I wiped it all but the engine cover still has a slight mark . Hose left under its mount . It may be not a big deal too most but to me it's a pet peeve .

[Poochie]

Originally Posted by Up4speed

Before you guys jump down the mechanic's throat so fast, there is a VERY valid reason for him to drive the car.
Sometimes, if the spark plugs, or coils are stuck, a great technique to free them is to get the cylinders hot. It's also better to bring the temp up quickly (hence, the 1st & 2nd gear pulls) because ideally, you would want the head temperature to come up quickly and keep the spark plug as cool as possible. I'm willing to bet that a lot of mechanics do this without even checking if they are in fact stuck.
As far as the use of an impact wrench, that seems overly aggressive to me, and probably something I wouldn't want to do.
All that said, I am not a mechanic, however, I have worked on my own cars for the past 37 years.
Also, note that I am not one that is comfortable with leaving my car with mechanics. That's why I do most of the stuff myself. I do it out of fear, not because I'm trying to save money.

I won't comment on removing spark plugs on a hot engine.. Everyone has their own opinion on this route and either is not too detrimental but I would go with only removing plugs on a cold over a hot engine..

However, the plugs from the factory are only torqued at 23NM, practically hand-tighten, so they really shouldn't be stuck on a fairly new vehicle for the need of heat or power tools..

As far as using a torque/electric ratchet to remove spark plugs, this is a total overkill and just plain asinine, with an emphasis on asS.. Because the engine of this vehicle pushed all the way deep into the firewall, you have to use a swivel socket extension to reach into the spark plug opening, in order to loosen the last two plugs. To use a power tool to complete this task, at an angle, could easily round out the spark plug threading. This move was beyond reckless and is worthy of rebuke, IMHO, using a hand ratchet wouldn't of killed him and would take about the same amount of time, if done properly.

I would be just as upset as the OP if this was my car and I wittiness this nonsense..

Don't for a second believe that just because he was a BMW tech he would have the knowledge or foresight to not do dump shit such as this. These guys are not scientist with doctorate degrees in lab coats; they are pretty much the same grease monkeys you meet at the mom and pops repair shops, with a bigger pay check. All you need to become a dealer tech is a ASE certification and a pulse. Brains are nice but optional..

[Up4speed]

Originally Posted by Poochie

I won't comment on removing spark plugs on a hot engine.. Everyone has their own opinion on this route and either is not too detrimental but I would go with only removing plugs on a cold over a hot engine..

However, the plugs from the factory are only torqued at 23NH, practically hand-tighten, so they really shouldn't be stuck on a fairly new vehicles for the need of power tools..

As far as using a torque/electric ratchet to remove spark plugs, this is a total overkill and just plain asinine, with an emphasis on asS.. Because the engine of this vehicle pushed all the way deep into the firewall, you have to use a swivel socket extension to reach into the spark plug opening, to loosen the last two plugs. To use a power tool to compete this task, at an angle, could easily round out the spark plug threading. This move was beyond reckless and is worthy of rebuke, IMHO, using a hand ratchet wouldn't of killed him and would take about the same amount of time, if done properly.

I would just as upset at the OP if this was my car and I wittiness this nonsense..

Don't for a second believe that just because he was a BMW tech he would have the knowledge or foresight to not do dump shit such as this. These guys are not scientist with doctorate degrees in lab coats; they are pretty much the same grease monkeys you meet at the mom and pops repair shop, with a bigger check. All you need to become a dealer tech is a ASC certification and a pulse. Brains are nice but optional..

I have to agree with you on cold vs hot removal of coil packs/plugs. I've always done them on a cool engine myself. I was just pointing out that I know that mechanics will sometimes use the hot engine technique and swear by it. So I was not shocked when the OP mentioned that they took his car for what seemed to be a joy ride.
Of course everything else he did is just plain screwed up! especially using an air ratchet and lifting the car from the fender.

[gmhl10]

Originally Posted by Poochie

All you need to become a dealer tech is a ASE certification and a pulse.

Well......... about that. lol

Many of the BMW dealers I've seen do not require an ASE certification to become a dealer tech. BMW has their own certification levels. When a dealer tells someone their technicians are certified, their own BMW certifications are what they are talking about. Most BMW technicians I knew (including myself) let their ASE certs expire (unless they were planning to move on elsewhere outside of BMW). This was mainly because the dealer did not pay for you to keep an ASE certification up-to-date. Not that an ASE certification really means anything in the world of auto technicians. It's really for the customer to "feel better" about bringing their vehicle in to a shop.

[Tag]

Originally Posted by gmhl10

Well......... about that. lol

Many of the BMW dealers I've seen do not require an ASE certification to become a dealer tech. BMW has their own certification levels. When a dealer tells someone their technicians are certified, their own BMW certifications are what they are talking about. Most BMW technicians I knew (including myself) let their ASE certs expire (unless they were planning to move on elsewhere outside of BMW). This was mainly because the dealer did not pay for you to keep an ASE certification up-to-date. Not that an ASE certification really means anything in the world of auto technicians. It's really for the customer to "feel better" about bringing their vehicle in to a shop.

I get the feeling they use their least experienced techs for oil changes, because they almost always spill some or get it all over the engine bay. It's so bad that when I pick up the car the first thing I do is pop open the hood and look. I would think the guys doing spark plug are pretty low on experience and/or trust to be doing far more technical work, but that's just conjecture on my part.

[ROBM2C]

Well I emailed BMW Canada Tuesday , I will let you guys know if they get back .

[ROBM2C]

Here is Bmw Canada response …

[F87source]

Imo This dealer sounds like it is run by a bunch of idiots....

1) Some dealers will use electric ratchets that are extremely low torque to remove things, and these things have a locking mech built in so you can hand crank it to break bolts loose then press the button so it slowly unthreads a bolt. But the thing to note is they are NOT impact devices and deliver very low torques as to not damage threads. This way the technicians avoid repetitive strain injuries from doing thousands of fasteners a day. This is fine and totally normal, so long as they hand break the bolt and hand thread the bolt in and do the final torquing with a torque wrench.

2) The issue is dropping the spark plugs and joy riding the car. That should not have been done.

3) It is extremely unlikely that the plugs would ever be seized because of the special coating bosch puts onto the spark plug threads. And if it was slightly stuck it would never need as much torque as an impact will provide, that would obliterate the threads.

[ROBM2C]

Hey guys , at this point the dealer and bmw Canada don't care .

So I have 2 x 10 minute videos I would love for everybody's opinion on .

I tried to add the videos as an attachment , but was taking forever to load .

Will adding it as an attachment eventually download all videos ?

Thanks

[F87source]

Originally Posted by ROBM2C

Hey guys , at this point the dealer and bmw Canada don't care .

So I have 2 x 10 minute videos I would love for everybody's opinion on .

I tried to add the videos as an attachment , but was taking forever to load .

Will adding it as an attachment eventually download all videos ?

Thanks

No if it's too big it won't upload, you'll need to use a hosting site like YouTube.

[Wolfman’s Brother]

Originally Posted by ROBM2C

Hey guys , at this point the dealer and bmw Canada don't care .

So I have 2 x 10 minute videos I would love for everybody's opinion on .

I tried to add the videos as an attachment , but was taking forever to load .

Will adding it as an attachment eventually download all videos ?

Thanks

Not shocked. Customer service is dead.

Use Vimeo or YouTube and then just post a link. Email link to Jalopnik and every other hacky car media outlet in need of a post to harvest clicks with.

Share their idiocy with the world for all to mock.

[ROBM2C]

Haha idk if I am that evil , I suck with videos and im trying to at least blur the techs faces .