[Mani59]

Originally Posted by Mikeyscott

Any comments re Stephen James Bromley these days as they've had a 335i land, although I'm interested one at Rybrook too.

I have dealt with Stephen James dealerships (service department only) in the past and have to say that they are the one of the most incompetent and unhelpful dealers I have had to deal with (cant comment on sales side though).

Rybrook (particularly Warwick) on the other hand is an excellent dealership and has had good reviews from members on here.

[Mikeyscott]

Originally Posted by Raj59

I have dealt with Stephen James dealerships (service department only) in the past and have to say that they are the one of the most incompetent and unhelpful dealers I have had to deal with (cant comment on sales side though).

Rybrook (particularly Warwick) on the other hand is an excellent dealership and has had good reviews from members on here.

Rybrook Shrewsbury have the nice 335, mmm not a good start re Stephen James..

My local dealers are Snows and Partridge, but hate Snows. Wouldn't let me test drive a 123d without a sale, my response was sod off. They mucked me around loads.

The phone call though was priceless when they called to say they had the perfect car - "sorry bought one the other week". Click

[Tonyblade]

I bought mine from cooper Durham and have to say they've been excellent with me , I'm really pleased with the staff and overall service is spot on

[MHO]

My car was an ex-demo car from a North London dealership.
My cousin bought the car from them when it was still very much new and last summer I bought the car from my cousin.
Car has full service history and has been maintained regardless of cost and has had extended warranty and it still has it now.

Earlier this winter the car started to through faults with the gearbox (auto), there was an oil leak from the engine rocker cover, the Bluetooth & iDrive started to play up etc... the list goes on!

Coopers Thames Ditton is my local dealer; took the car to them for service and repair and here is what I think of them:

Pros:
They've cleaned the car every time I've left it with them

Cons:
My car now has swirl marks all over. They scratched my bonnet last time my car went in.
Arrogant, High Service Charge, and half ar$ed workmanship.
They forgot to refit the undertray when I collected my car after last service.
They updated the software for the gearbox and forgot to match it to the rest of the system and as a result the car was pretty much undriveable and the dash resembled a christmas tree I had so many warning light on!
Since they fixed a faulty seat membrane, the whole thing squeaks like a box of mice!
They refused to change my brake pads unless I changed my discs despite the discs being perfectly within bmw guidelines!
The issue with the stereo and bluetooth still there!
The oil leak from the rocker cover is 10 times worse and now there is an air leak so the car doesn't even idle properly!
Issue with the gearbox still there!
They forgot to change my cabin filter despite it being a part of the deal they were offering as a part of the oil service!

To summarize, I've booked the car in with them again to be fixed up and if they fail to fix even one thing; I will be moving to the Cobham branch to give them a try.

Rant on the soapbox now over!

Update:

So after another couple of visits: My cabin air filter has been changed. Most of the issues have been rectified and after a meeting with the workshop manager, it has been decided that my bonnet will need a respray and they will cover the costs.

I must admit, this is one branch that its front of the house put an amazing effort in helping and generally being good to the customers but some of the people working behind the wheels are not as good as they should be as BMW mechanics.

[old grey steve]

The above 19 odd pages of comments/views only go to fuel the success of us indy's thing is a lot of the don't BMW techs and general service personal seem to of migrated to other circles as BMW have become more commercialised thus IMHO tarnishing the brand.

BMW now are purely retailing cars like any other car dealership, they've got big targets/profit lines to maintain and it's showing. We've just taken on a seasoned BMW tech who's been with the main dealer network for years and said it's changed beyond recognition he's going to be working with an open time frame carrying out non time pressing work on customers cars to ensure quality is delivered at all times not carrying out an oil service in 25 minutes and if your wondering how that takes place they suck oil out pump oil in and stick the filler cap back on - and that just isn't right especially when they get the junior to do the task as is often the case and the junior is often the tech from the tyre/exhaust depot who's been employed as they now can get in to the network easier than they could before.

Oh and after that your cars given the standard swirl impregnated service wash using the same old dirt infested sponge/leather as they've used on countless other cars.

As for the front of house I sold cars for over 15 years I went for jobs 3 times first time I was blown away by people with more prestige experience(which I'd expected) second time I was offered a job(2007) but turned it down as I felt that they were too much up themselves, third time I fit the call(2009)had the interview felt a Iberia again and said no since then 4people who I know have left sales due to pressure and more crap being piled in their plates to deal with. Again the elite status that the badge once was has been lost.

Scared.

[jimborae]

Anyone got expirience of BMW Ridgeway in Hook?? Tried Coopers Reading (twats) and not heard good things of Dick Lovett in Hungerford. these are my closest stealers.

[BGM]

Bought my F21 from ridgeway no complaints... Tbh the best local (ish) place I've had service wise is sytner in sunningdale. Brilliant service

[jimborae]

Originally Posted by MHO

..............
I must admit, this is one branch that its front of the house put an amazing effort in helping and generally being good to the customers but some of the people working behind the wheels are not as good as they should be as BMW mechanics.

Originally Posted by old grey steve

......
BMW now are purely retailing cars like any other car dealership, they've got big targets/profit lines to maintain and it's showing. We've just taken on a seasoned BMW tech who's been with the main dealer network for years and said it's changed beyond recognition he's going to be working with an open time frame carrying out non time pressing work on customers cars to ensure quality is delivered at all times not carrying out an oil service in 25 minutes and if your wondering how that takes place they suck oil out pump oil in and stick the filler cap back on - and that just isn't right especially when they get the junior to do the task as is often the case and the junior is often the tech from the tyre/exhaust depot who's been employed as they now can get in to the network easier than they could before.

Oh and after that your cars given the standard swirl impregnated service wash using the same old dirt infested sponge/leather as they've used on countless other cars.

.............Again the elite status that the badge once was has been lost.

Scared.

Couldn't agree more with your conclusions. Backroom staff do not appear to match the concern, respect & care shown by the front of house staff.

[Ibz82]

Just had my car back from cooper Thames ditton, after they done a warranty repair on the car.
Took them 4 weeks to do it, had a gasket on rocket cover replaced and two new turbos.
I must say it is the worst service I have ever received in my life.
Then came out to drive the car away and found two fat chips in the paintwork.
Had a chat with the manager who said they will repair anytime I would like. As I wasn't gonna leave it with them after not having it for 4weeks anyway how un professional and poor for BMW.
During the time I had to make numerous calls to find out what was going on.
I would give them a phat 1/10

[jimborae]

Originally Posted by Ibz82

Just had my car back from cooper Thames ditton, after they done a warranty repair on the car.
Took them 4 weeks to do it, had a gasket on rocket cover replaced and two new turbos.
I must say it is the worst service I have ever received in my life.
Then came out to drive the car away and found two fat chips in the paintwork.
Had a chat with the manager who said they will repair anytime I would like. As I wasn't gonna leave it with them after not having it for 4weeks anyway how un professional and poor for BMW.
During the time I had to make numerous calls to find out what was going on.
I would give them a phat 1/10

Seems like another Cooper's franchise that doesn't care about it's customers then. I had a bad experience (though not as bad as yours) with Cooper's Reading with my old E46.

[Ibz82]

Originally Posted by jimborae

Seems like another Cooper's franchise that doesn't care about it's customers then. I had a bad experience (though not as bad as yours) with Cooper's Reading with my old E46.

It's crazy they literally don't know what's going on, the service team were very courteous but just did not have a clue what was happening.
They said a member of staff left so basically my car was forgotten about wtf!
Usually if someone leaves a place of work any open jobs should get sorted right? Lol it's ridiculous

[depulp]

Can recommend Spire Ruislip service. Always found and fixed problems Ive had with my car even if a little extra time was required.

[CTR_Paul]

*Edit: Buying experience, from Warrington Halliwell Jones, 10/10. Very professional and polite, agreed the price over the phone and on seeing/driving the car the deal was done. The only hesitation in using Warrington HJ again would be because I'd have to get the car serviced, and my local dealer is HJ Chester. Such is the poor quality of service I'll probably look away from BMW for my next car, details below!

Servicing:
I feel it only fair that I add my experiences about visits to Halliwell Jones in Chester.

The good:
- The service centre is very nice inside.
- They did pay for a taxi to work for me.
- Having the local dealer pick the car up from work is helpful.
- Replaced a rear left window regulator without issue.
- Good repair on minor scuff on alloy wheel.
- Fairly decent repair on rear bumper.

The bad:
- Took 3 visits to refit a rear weather seal. Rang me saying they needed the car overnight to take the entire rear window out to refit it. On inspection this clearly didn't happen, and they just restuck it on the bottom (thank god they didn't take it out given the quality of workmanship!).
- They keep washing the car even when I ask for that not to happen.
- Forgot to close the bonnet last time it was in for some work, I inspected the rear and sides and drove off. Only on hitting a bump in the road did I get the warning alarm.
- Didn't reset the MOT date as promised (I did it instead).
- When replacing the rear bumper they didn't align the rear lights properly ( I sorted that out)
- Service advisors are always running round like crazy, obviously got way too much on, plus they're the ones who've fed me the lies.

The bad ptII (Still outstanding):
- Can't diagnose an issue I have with the car making a grinding noise, reported at ~18k, still present at 24k (8 months on).
- Rear tail light in the boot/trunk has a loose connection, it's been in 3 times with this. Last time I was told the entire unit was replaced. Why it's got green mossy type stuff on the side then I don't know! Looks like it's not been removed, and I can only conclude they've lied about that as well as the rear windscreen.
- Asked to speak with the Service Centre manager, left my details and was told he'd ring back. Didn't hear a word, and still haven't.


So all in all I'd say, yes it's a nice dealership and convenient for me, but ultimately they fail at the most basic of tasks - fixing the car. What seem like small minor jobs seem to take two, three and sometimes four visits to be fixed.

[Marshall878]

Stratstone Doncaster

Good Points

-Friendly
-Prompt with contact (prior to sale)
-Carried out the majority of the work id asked for

Bad Points

-Tracking not carried out when specified.
-Service book not stamped. Sent away for a month, comes through the post still not stamped....has the service been done or not?!
-Poor refurb on the wheels....paint flaking after a month.
-Poor damage repair on rear quarter. (hard to notice upon quick look over)
-Damage on rear bumper, all wavey from small creases (again hard to notice on quick look over)
-Shit at getting back to you!

[Svothe]

Anyone used Elms BMW Bedford? They want £150 per hour to fit an alpine stereo kit seems a little steep and some of there pricing seems pretty far out considering what I've heard people picking up bmw parts from other genuine dealers for. Anyone recommend a decent bmw specialist in Bedford/St Neots/Luton area?

[Shaun69]

Need a good dealer in west/North London, not happy with spire Ruislip

[Mani59]

Originally Posted by Shaun69

Need a good dealer in west/North London, not happy with spire Ruislip

I had dealings with a few Stephen James dealers a few years ago (service department), and they were terrible.

[Mani59]

Had a great experience at BMW Sandal Wakefield recently (sales)...excellent customer service and highly recommend them!

[Mani59]

Originally Posted by Broken_Gearbox

I'm heading up to Warwick BMW for some warranty work at the end of the month. The guy seemed really helpful on the phone which makes a change. Everyone starts out good but then messes up so let's see if it is the same old this time. Berry Chiswick wasted my time big time when it came to my warranty work. Spire Ruislip always used to do the job right but they had a new guy on the service desk and he is a cock weasel. The other two were on leave at the time.

Any reviews of Warwick? Let me trawl through the thread in the mean time.

Quite a few reviews in this topic on Rybrook Warwick and all are very positive
I've also dealt with them myself in the past and found them excellent!

[cfc67]

I would avoid Harry Fairbairn in Irvine South west Scotland.

Needed EGR stat and main thermostat replaced.

Parts came to £90 and they wanted £415 all in to fit them

Thats without them running a diagnostic as well...

[un1eash]

for BMW Marshall Scunthorpe. Sale was good with decent price and things thrown in without question. Car unexpectantly broke a couple weeks later and everything was sorted asap and given a replacement car while fixed. Service manager was very helpful and explained everything well.

[Shaun69]

Would be nice to have a dealer thread that just list good dealers, I bet it wouldn't have half as many pages a this one