[BillyDix]

I find this intersting. I have bought a few cars from Russel BMW and never had a problem. I do have one question? Who was the service manager? The current one has not been with Russel for seven years and neither was the one before him. As far as service goes, these guys are top notch. They are accessable, friendly and they listen your concerns. I don't think I am any different than any one else.

[Bulldog 6]

Has anyone sent this to Russel BMW?

[THE JEDI]

Thats what I always thought I remember when they where a Toyota dealer....but I can't see why my buddy would lie he's a up standing guy.....ole well...I soon find out for myself I'll be home soon and I'll stop by the dealer and we will see..I'll let you guys know.

[hunt55]

I purchased the 06 325i from Russel in Oct. 05. They do have a lot of turn over is sales. My CA left one week after my purchase and he was only there about one year. Service was spotty at first but they have a new service manager and he is trying. Their service customer service has improved dramatically in the last six months. Seems like I am there about every three months so I see them too much for my pleasure.

Cindy Hahn is my service advisor and honestly if she wasn't there I probably would not deal with them. She came over from VW (Russel) and is very helpful. She will do whatever she can but will not go the extra mile like some dealers do. They do seem to try to get you too pay for what you should not and are not helpful if you have an issue that makes them deal with BMWNA. Ex. I had to fight the Bridgestone runflat problem with no help from them with Bridgestone and BMWNA; I had the BT issue and made several repeat visits to the dealership until I saw the fix here on the forum and let them know what to do; and they ordered me a new fob (BMW logo fell off) , they programmed the key but deactivated comfort access which I discovered when leaving the dealership, then they could not find the old key so I had to come back the next day with both fobs so they could figure out which one to activate (the car is programmed so only two fobs can have comfort access working at a time-BMW evidently assigns several fobs as replacements to a car).


My take.

[japac1]

I just took delivery of my 335xi. Russel completely made me feel like I was an idiot. They took my trade, wanted me to sign the contract, all before the car hit the center. I had a new CA. I mean like I may have been her first sale. And, EVERYONE, kept telling me to fill out the survery, "her job depends on it." F-her, I hope she gets fired. They forgot my Ipod adapter, saying the USB cable all i get, and even prior to this, told me "I don't think you have that option." The kicker - they let me drive off the lot with no paperwork, no regristration and no insurance. I had to remember when I got home to take care of all this and of course I have to keep going back to the dealer for the crap they forgot. Note that my wife just ordered an E92 coupe from Tischer.

[RUSSEL1]

This is very disturbing. We at Russel BMW are very supportive of our community and the Military. Our Business Manager is a retired Marine and several other veterans employed throughout our Company. We have done a number of Military deliveries, as recent as yesterday (5/18/2007) and enjoy them as well as consider it a true honor to be able to meet the people that serve for our country and represent our freedom. My name is Mitchell Heyman and I am a Sales Manager at Russel BMW and would love the opportunity to be able to help any person, military or otherwise purchase a vehicle and help with any vehicle concern.

-Mitchell Heyman
MHeyman@RusselBMW.Com
Russel BMW
410-744-2000

[bmw0perat0r]

Originally Posted by japac1

I just took delivery of my 335xi. Russel completely made me feel like I was an idiot. They took my trade, wanted me to sign the contract, all before the car hit the center. I had a new CA. I mean like I may have been her first sale. And, EVERYONE, kept telling me to fill out the survery, "her job depends on it." F-her, I hope she gets fired. They forgot my Ipod adapter, saying the USB cable all i get, and even prior to this, told me "I don't think you have that option." The kicker - they let me drive off the lot with no paperwork, no regristration and no insurance. I had to remember when I got home to take care of all this and of course I have to keep going back to the dealer for the crap they forgot. Note that my wife just ordered an E92 coupe from Tischer.

Some years ago, I had a m3 serviced at Russel regularly. Their service department was just fine I thought. Their sales deptartment wasn't any good imo. Sales people were rather arrogant and would only talk to certain people when they walked through the door, just an observation. I went back to Russel to see what they had when I was looking to buy a 335xi. They had very few 335's or none at all, i forget. The salesman I talked to was new and was really nice, even showed me his 335. In the end I didn't trust Russel to handle the transaction. My view of their sales team is poor and i'm starting to question their service department.

The first time I had my m3 serviced there one of the techs dropped a wrench on the front quarter panel leaving a huge chip of paint missing - didn't tell me...thankfully i noticed it before I left the lot, they took care of it. Now i'm hearing stories of joy riding by service people...techs or the kids - don't know who.

I feel bad for the current management, I can't imagine they had anything to do with this and are trying to correct the problems Russel has...but in the end I went with BMW of Towson for the purchase and I must say I was impressed with the salesman Dave Kelbaugh who I worked with. Very helpful, didn't bs me, treated me like his own...not something I expected and was pleasently surprised by.

My BMWNA survey was all 5's and I made sure to leave a little extra +'s for Dave K. Most pleasent buying experience to date.

I'll say that when I enter a bmw service center and I see kids walk in with keys to a customers car ...its clear they aren't techs, but assistant...i begin to worry about my car. These days the only person you can fully trust to take care of your car is you.

Russel is sort of in the ghetto anyway, hope they find a new area to move to and can upgrade their showroom/service center - BMW of Towson and others all have very nice facilities.

[M3 Piotr]

Originally Posted by Bulldog 6

Has anyone sent this to Russel BMW?

I forwarded it to them...they were in shock.

[M3 Piotr]

I got my car at Russel. Very good buying experience. I went back and forth for few days deciding if I want E46 M3 or E90 335i. On the purchase day, even though they stay open only until 9pm, they were waiting around until 11pm until I made my decision while driving M3 and 335i back to back to decide. :rocks: My salesman was Korey Matthews, great CA (also served in the Navy) and the finance guy, Rich I think is retired Marine LtCol. I've also been getting regular car washes there and never had a problem, hand washed. I had to take the car in couple of times for service (oil sensor-and even got a free oil change with that at 7.5K miles, and door light), and Scott is the SA I always talk to. Always got a loaner. Even when I just come in for car wash, Scott, Korey or Rich they always have time to talk to me, if I have any questions. So far it's the best BMW dealer I dealt with. My previous one was Northwest BMW ( I think that was the name)in Tacoma,WA and I didn't have good experience there. Salesman were stock up, only talked to you if they felt like it, and their Service dept customer service was marginal too.

So far Russel BMW has been good experience to me, and no complaints. I guess I'm not that picky maybe, but I have nothing to complain about. I always have someone ask me if I need help with anything. If you want to buy a car Korey Matthews is the one to go to..... One thing I wish is that their parts department offered the same discounts like Tischer BMW (25-35% on most parts), like the blacklines or the OEM spoiler that are offered at 25% off.

[fucema]

I recently ordered a new 08 335xi coupe from Russel also. Chris Lee is my POC and CA at Russel. He worked hard to get my business; he didn't try to pressure me or push me around. I negotiated everything over the phone, email and finally with faxes. He maintained good contact with me and followed up on my concerns and questions. In the end, between 2 other dealerships I decided Chris was the one to go with (price is secondary to customer service and integrity). I believe we both got a fair price on the order. Russel BMW is also 1 hour away from my home, so it was not a trivial decision.

Threads like these scare, I must admit. The car I ordered should be arriving within the next 2 weeks and I will be definitely updating this thread til the end in regards to my POV of Russel BMW.

Joyriding customer vehicles and other blatant forms of disregard and disrespect are really discouraging. I hope they are not true of Russel.

[gqmd]

Originally Posted by BillyDix

I find this intersting. I have bought a few cars from Russel BMW and never had a problem. I do have one question? Who was the service manager? The current one has not been with Russel for seven years and neither was the one before him. As far as service goes, these guys are top notch. They are accessable, friendly and they listen your concerns. I don't think I am any different than any one else.

Moving to MD and was lookign for a dealer for service...this guy who supported Russel BMW seems to obvioulsy work for them. He has a post count of "1"...LOL

[gqmd]

How is the service dept at Northwest?

Originally Posted by Prowess Symphony

Definitely report them to bmw. And I got mine from northwest and thought that they did an excellent job. They bent over backwards to get me everything I wanted.

edit: oh I just realized how old this thread was, lol.

[gqmd]

Originally Posted by Prowess Symphony

Haven't been there yet for anything. I only know the salesman, manager, and finance manager who were all awesome to me. I looked in the service area and it seemed well organized and will be taking my car there for my maintenance and any other situations that arise.

My parents live about 2 miles from Russel...so I was planning on taking my car there when I go visit them once in a while...two things in one trip...but after hearing all the bad rep, why should I take that risk....esp since I no longer have a leased car...its my OWN car now...

[1N54E92]

Originally Posted by THE JEDI

Friend of mine who's in the Military purchased a BMW from the Military Sales outlet of BMW....So he's going to be stationed back in MD, this guy is a Veteran of Both Gulf Wars..as you know our Military people are not the best payed and BMW offers the cars at a discounted price as a way to say "THANK YOU".....but heres the kicker..he went to Russel to introduce himself and to say hey, my car is going to be delivered here, I'd like to make contact with you, I want you guys to handle my service..and by the way I want to purchase some after market options....All of a sudden the manger of the dealer is like..excuse me sir, I have been here for 7 years..we don't want Military Sales cars here, and we don't want them delivered to the dealer ship...so go else where..........THAT IS FUCKED UP period..it not like the car is sent there for free...and the fracking dealer gets about $300 for just taking delivery of the car..I think this is really a messed up way to show our troops how we take care of them..Being from Baltimore, and knowing Russel when it was just a Toyota dealer, and before that it was called Jerrys Chevrolet..is fucked up, and to all buyers this is what this guy and his dealerships thinks of our fine Military members current and former...he's saying go %^&* ya-self. I hope you all read this and let them know you can't treat our troops like crap.
JEDI

Russel has done something like this before. If you do search in 1addicts forum, there is a story where the CA (Korey Mathews) sold a car that was ordered by one of the forum members !!

I sent few e-mail to them asking if they treated their customers that way and they never replied.

Few months ago, my tire pressure sensor went off due to the extreme cold. Since I didn't want to drive on it all the way home and I was only few miles from Russell, I called and drove over there. I arrived at the dealership at 5:45PM. It was a mad house, I barely had enough space to get in the service area. There was female SA that was yelling at the customer that pulled up too close to the automatic garage door opener sensor. She didn't want the door opened due to the cold. When I was finally approached by SA, he says you don't have a flat. So I told him I was concerned about driving with low air pressure so I brought it in to have it looked at . He says "Well, I don't have anyone to take a look at your car now. can you come back tomorrow ?" . I said "OK" and left . I have never gone back. I now take my car to other BMW dealership that are farther away from me. And Yes I bought my first BMW from these guys when they had the Toyota and BMW dealership in same tiny lot.

[1N54E92]

Originally Posted by bmw0perat0r

Some years ago, I had a m3 serviced at Russel regularly. Their service department was just fine I thought. Their sales deptartment wasn't any good imo. Sales people were rather arrogant and would only talk to certain people when they walked through the door, just an observation. I went back to Russel to see what they had when I was looking to buy a 335xi. They had very few 335's or none at all, i forget. The salesman I talked to was new and was really nice, even showed me his 335. In the end I didn't trust Russel to handle the transaction. My view of their sales team is poor and i'm starting to question their service department.

The first time I had my m3 serviced there one of the techs dropped a wrench on the front quarter panel leaving a huge chip of paint missing - didn't tell me...thankfully i noticed it before I left the lot, they took care of it. Now i'm hearing stories of joy riding by service people...techs or the kids - don't know who.

I feel bad for the current management, I can't imagine they had anything to do with this and are trying to correct the problems Russel has...but in the end I went with BMW of Towson for the purchase and I must say I was impressed with the salesman Dave Kelbaugh who I worked with. Very helpful, didn't bs me, treated me like his own...not something I expected and was pleasently surprised by.

My BMWNA survey was all 5's and I made sure to leave a little extra +'s for Dave K. Most pleasent buying experience to date.

I'll say that when I enter a bmw service center and I see kids walk in with keys to a customers car ...its clear they aren't techs, but assistant...i begin to worry about my car. These days the only person you can fully trust to take care of your car is you.

Russel is sort of in the ghetto anyway, hope they find a new area to move to and can upgrade their showroom/service center - BMW of Towson and others all have very nice facilities.

My concern with BMW of Towson is the parking lot beyond the service area. I had an opportunity to drive my car into the lot with a mechanic. He wanted to hear the brakes squeaking. I noticed that there is a section where the pavements don't match up evenly. They put a orange cone there but you can see the cone has been ran over few times. The uneven pavement is huge. You can see the scrapes where the cars just bottomed out going over it. Just check you underside out when you get your car back. maybe i can see it on google map. FYI

[gqmd]

Originally Posted by 1ntense135i

My concern with BMW of Towson is the parking lot beyond the service area. I had an opportunity to drive my car into the lot with a mechanic. He wanted to hear the brakes squeaking. I noticed that there is a section where the pavements don't match up evenly. They put a orange cone there but you can see the cone has been ran over few times. The uneven pavement is huge. You can see the scrapes where the cars just bottomed out going over it. Just check you underside out when you get your car back. maybe i can see it on google map. FYI

BMW of Towson are a lot more professional from what I hear, but I did have a friend who had a warranty claim on an M5 denied there with the reply "you must have downshifted too hard." But then again he did drive his manual without finnesse...

But from what I hear they are definitely better than Russel...

[bdraper99]

My car is currently in the service shop at Russel. I have had mixed results in the past and gave them another chance. Trying to find out the status of my car has been an exercise in frustration. I've been put on hold for the service department only to be disconnected. Upon calling back I finally gave up after almost 10 minutes on hold. I finally asked to speak to an advisor directly from the operator and was told my advisor would call "in 5 minutes". A day later and still no call. Earlier I had left a message with my advisor and also received no call. I have not heard from anyone or been able to contact anyone in two days.

When paying for premium service one should expect premium service. Russel is just not providing the level of service I expect. I have to recommend against Russel for service.