[CptSL0W]

So I recently completed the break in service on the M2C. I took the car to a local dealership in the city, instead of the dealer I purchased the car from. When I picked up the car in the afternoon, I noticed some oil smudges on the driver's side door panel and on the steering wheel. The car also had some paper/trash on the floor. I realized this as I got in the car and was leaving the dealership. I honestly did not want to go back, since I was in a hurry and did not want them to touch it further. I went into the garage after work to clean the interior and wipe off the oil smudges and I noticed a deep gash at the bottom of the steering wheel leather. I know this gash was not on the steering wheel when I dropped off the car, since I do not wear any jewelry or have any exposed buttons for this very reason. I am pretty bummed, since this thing is my garage queen and this is the first blemish on the car. I reached out to the dealership that night and they took a while to get back to me. The service manager reached out and said they are only willing to have their leather specialist repair the wheel, but they cannot justify replacing it. I have spoken with BMW NA and they are saying I need to work this out with the dealer. This specific dealership apparently has a reputation for damaging cars and has a lot of dealership complaints. Anyone have any solid advice on having the dealership replace the wheel.

[Foggins]

Sorry to see this…I cringe every time I get my car back from the dealership for reasons just like this. I don’t have any great advice for you but i hope it gets worked out.

[RobTile]

I would insist that it gets replaced

[IcewaterPete]

That stinks. In my experience going in person and sitting down with the GM, service manager and sales manager is the way to get the best results. Persistence.

[swampfox94]

Dealer left scratches on my dash. Didn't notice til later that afternoon. Super frustrating since there's nothing they could even do short of replacing the dash

[CptSL0W]

Originally Posted by IcewaterPete

That stinks. In my experience going in person and sitting down with the GM, service manager and sales manager is the way to get the best results. Persistence.

I really hate how you can't hold these idiots responsible! Maybe by taking them to small claims court, but probably not worth the time and money. They had a kid that was a porter who stopped me from moving the car and said he needed to move it outside of the garage for me, when he hoped in he got right back out and said he can't drive a stick. so I ended up moving it out of the garage. I wonder if posting a review on Yelp and fb would help? I spoke to the service manager and if I try to escalate it above him, they say that the SM should be able to handle my concerns

[KevinM]

Sorry to see this. Two basic options:

1. See how the "repair" turns out. the damage is not in a high use part of the wheel, so it might last...

2. Ask to meet with the SM in person and tell him/her that you find it unacceptable and want it replaced. The dealer may or may not care that if the wheel is not replaced you will never give them your business again and leave negative (but factual and fair) online reviews, etc., but at least you will have your say.

I'd personally go with #2. If you have no other options for service and the SM refuses, revert to #1. If the SM refuses and you have other options, stick with #2.

GL.

[MarlboroM2C]

Originally Posted by KevinM

Sorry to see this. Two basic options:

1. See how the "repair" turns out. the damage is not in a high use part of the wheel, so it might last...

2. Ask to meet with the SM in person and tell him/her that you find it unacceptable and want it replaced. The dealer may or may not care that if the wheel is not replaced you will never give them your business again and leave negative (but factual and fair) online reviews, etc., but at least you will have your say.

I'd personally go with #2. If you have no other options for service and the SM refuses, revert to #1. If the SM refuses and you have other options, stick with #2.

GL.

Originally Posted by Foggins

Sorry to see this…I cringe every time I get my car back from the dealership for reasons just like this. I don't have any great advice for you but i hope it gets worked out.

which dealer?

[CSBM5]

I'd go with Kevin's suggestion and stand firm on a new wheel. Before the meeting with the service manager have your cards in order -- the MSRP on a new wheel is $1098.10. It is available for $735 from bmwpartsworldwide with their 33% discount. Dealer cost is somewhere south of that price of course likely in the $600 area. Herein lies the problem at some dealerships -- you don't know what the dealership charges the service dept; you'd think it was all the same place, but you never know how they are internally measuring the service manager's P&L.

Let's assume at the dealer level they'd be out about $200 for hiring out the leather repair. That leaves $400 roughly at parts cost and the labor of an experienced tech perhaps 30-40 minutes (not book rate) to actually do the job -- that's what you're fighting over with the service manager (assuming the car isn't further damaged of course while it's back there).

If the SM rejects this path completely, take this to the general manager -- that job position will have the overall financial view, and you can lay out the story once again from a financial point of view and doing what you feel is the right thing to do on an essentially new car. Be prepared with an optional fall back plan -- if the GM stands firm on repair or nothing, have the option in your back pocket to now change gears and negotiate the wheel cost. If the true dealer cost is say $600, repair is $200, offer to split that $400 difference and they pay the tech...something like that. The net is asking oneself in this case if it's worth $200 to have a brand new wheel (versus settling for a repaired wheel) irregardless of what one might feel is truly "right" under the circumstances.

[Bumpinjeep]

Completely unacceptable. I had a small scratch on my shift knob after a recall on my Grand Cherokee. I found out about it the same day or the next day, called the dealer, they replaced the thing free of charge. This is totally and completely unacceptable. The dealer damaged your car, you want to replace the part that was damaged as the fix wont make the part look the way it did when you took it into the dealer in the first place. Zero tolerance for stuff like this. Put the dealership on blast too.

[Mullins]

I would strongly caution you about the repair option. Safelite scratched my wheel on my 235i pretty bad, and they would only offer a repair option. They did a full wheel resurface and then dyed the wheel with something. It looked great when they left, but only lasted about 1-2 months. Then the dye started to come off and I ended up trying to clean it all off, you could see how worn/damaged it was, looked even worse than the scratch. Either replace or just try and let it naturally wear down.

[ASAP]

Man i'd be livid... the real question here is how do you do something like this? Some people are just completely careless morons.

[Dylanm240]

Perillo I assume? They are the worst.

[tkl]

This is a total bummer. I would strongly recommend escalating it to get it replaced. If they refuse just hang their dealer survey over their head. You can fill out those surveys negatively and it will hurt their service department as well.

[MMMBRAP]

I stopped going to the dealer this year and found a dedicated M car specialist to handle maintenance and other needs.

The main issue I had was that even though the oil changes are free - I kept getting the distinct impression that they weren't actually performing the oil changes when I bring the car in.

The last time I went in for a simple oil change, they were "done" in 10 minutes.

In what universe can an oil change be done PROPERLY in 10 minutes? I'm guessing they parked my car, ate a sandwich, then drove it right back to hand it off to me again.

When I went to my now default BMW specialist (even though the car is still under warranty) and he checked, he was like "yeaaaah they didn't do shit. This oil is not fresh."

[ROASTM]

I would be furious, and only accept a new wheel. Good luck OP.

[Rick4345]

That's why I always look my cars over really well before I leave the dealership.

I know people that take pictures of their cars before they go in. Especially the interiors.

I've only had one incident with my E46 and it was taken care of with no problems.

I know it's a pain to do. That being said, a few extra minutes can mean the difference to an immediate solution and a fight over whose fault it was.

Things happen for sure. If you're dealing with a place that has a reputation for damaging cars it's time to be extra careful.

Just out of curiosity, where did you buy the car??

[CptSL0W]

Originally Posted by KevinM

Sorry to see this. Two basic options:

1. See how the "repair" turns out. the damage is not in a high use part of the wheel, so it might last...

2. Ask to meet with the SM in person and tell him/her that you find it unacceptable and want it replaced. The dealer may or may not care that if the wheel is not replaced you will never give them your business again and leave negative (but factual and fair) online reviews, etc., but at least you will have your say.

I'd personally go with #2. If you have no other options for service and the SM refuses, revert to #1. If the SM refuses and you have other options, stick with #2.

GL.

This is a great suggestion! I'm going to e-mail the SM to ensure he's there, otherwise they'll just say he's busy and will have me waiting there. I'll continue to push for a replacement.

Originally Posted by MarlboroM2C

which dealer?

Perillo

Originally Posted by CSBM5

I'd go with Kevin's suggestion and stand firm on a new wheel. Before the meeting with the service manager have your cards in order -- the MSRP on a new wheel is $1098.10. It is available for $735 from bmwpartsworldwide with their 33% discount. Dealer cost is somewhere south of that price of course likely in the $600 area. Herein lies the problem at some dealerships -- you don't know what the dealership charges the service dept; you'd think it was all the same place, but you never know how they are internally measuring the service manager's P&L.

Let's assume at the dealer level they'd be out about $200 for hiring out the leather repair. That leaves $400 roughly at parts cost and the labor of an experienced tech perhaps 30-40 minutes (not book rate) to actually do the job -- that's what you're fighting over with the service manager (assuming the car isn't further damaged of course while it's back there).

If the SM rejects this path completely, take this to the general manager -- that job position will have the overall financial view, and you can lay out the story once again from a financial point of view and doing what you feel is the right thing to do on an essentially new car. Be prepared with an optional fall back plan -- if the GM stands firm on repair or nothing, have the option in your back pocket to now change gears and negotiate the wheel cost. If the true dealer cost is say $600, repair is $200, offer to split that $400 difference and they pay the tech...something like that. The net is asking oneself in this case if it's worth $200 to have a brand new wheel (versus settling for a repaired wheel) irregardless of what one might feel is truly "right" under the circumstances.

Thanks, this is good data that will help with bargaining. At this point, I would settle for contributing towards the cost of a new wheel.

Originally Posted by Mullins

I would strongly caution you about the repair option. Safelite scratched my wheel on my 235i pretty bad, and they would only offer a repair option. They did a full wheel resurface and then dyed the wheel with something. It looked great when they left, but only lasted about 1-2 months. Then the dye started to come off and I ended up trying to clean it all off, you could see how worn/damaged it was, looked even worse than the scratch. Either replace or just try and let it naturally wear down.

Agreed, if this was an older car, I would be open to it, but it's the first blemish on the car and it's also my first new car.

[CptSL0W]

Originally Posted by Rick4345

That's why I always look my cars over really well before I leave the dealership.

I know people that take pictures of their cars before they go in. Especially the interiors.

I've only had one incident with my E46 and it was taken care of with no problems.

I know it's a pain to do. That being said, a few extra minutes can mean the difference to an immediate solution and a fight over whose fault it was.

Things happen for sure. If you're dealing with a place that has a reputation for damaging cars it's time to be extra careful.

Just out of curiosity, where did you buy the car??

Yeah, definitely lesson learned here. I will take lots of pictures of the inside and outside before handing the keys over. Even though I'm about 6 ft, i sit close to the wheel and have the steering wheel sitting below the odometer, I'm going to just back the seat out and move the steering wheel up when it's in for service next time. I just feel like these guys are amateurs and I shouldn't have to go to this extent to ensure the car does not get damaged. I also understand, most of the cars they service are x3's and suv's for soccer moms that come in with cars that are already beat up. They're a churn and burn in service and probably don't work on too many enthusiast oriented cars.

[CptSL0W]

Originally Posted by Rick4345

That's why I always look my cars over really well before I leave the dealership.

I know people that take pictures of their cars before they go in. Especially the interiors.

I've only had one incident with my E46 and it was taken care of with no problems.

I know it's a pain to do. That being said, a few extra minutes can mean the difference to an immediate solution and a fight over whose fault it was.

Things happen for sure. If you're dealing with a place that has a reputation for damaging cars it's time to be extra careful.

Just out of curiosity, where did you buy the car??

Elmhurst Bmw, they are better to work with. I see you're in IL, where do you go?

[Rick4345]

Originally Posted by CptSL0W

Elmhurst Bmw, they are better to work with. I see you're in IL, where do you go?

I live in central Illinois.

I use Isringhausen in Springfield.

I have bought four cars from them and worked there for three years after I retired from the ISP.

Really awesome people all around.

[Ftech1]

I'm in the Chicago suburbs. Bought at Motorwerks but go to Laurel in Westmont.