[anowlan]

Global Imports BMW in Atlanta is a wonderful dealer. I have leased 2 cars from CA Garland Helton over the past 4 years. Each transaction was painless, respectful, pleasant and the prices quoted/agreed upon match at the final paperwork signing to the penny. To the penny. I can't say enough good things about this dealer. You definitely should end your shopping there.

[Digitalinkartist]

I also purchased my e92 @ Global. It was a simple, pleasant and competitive transaction. Garland is tops in my book as well.

With that said, IMO Global has the worst service dept in the greater Atlanta area. In my experience erroneous/inflated repair claims as well as poor "good faith" warranty exceptions. I will never bring either one of my BMW's to Global service again

I have also heard very good things in regard to BMW of South Atlanta and their European delivery accommodations. Many of the first E9x's in the area were purchased there.

[FlyAA757]

I've purchased 3 BMW's in the ATL area, two at Global(both NEW), and one at BMW South(CPO).

My experience is that GI has the best offers for new cars/leases, and that Nalley and/or BMW South are the places to go for CPO.

[Alexander]

My family has purchased loads of BMWs from Global and I bought mine from them. Global is a pretty good dealership, and they are good warrenting (is that the right word?) service.

[RON1X]

I bought my 335 and an x3 (for the wife) there, it was great. I haven't had any issues with either car, so can't comment on the service. However, the salesman I bought the cars from is now head of the service department so I better not have any issues! Very professional dealership and are willing to work with you on prices... always good in this economy when buying a German car!

[NiVeDh]

Didn't buy my car there but I take it there for servicing. Frank Bifulco is my SA and has taken care of me very well so far. I have no complaints.

[droptop335]

Well, have never been to Global, but after I moved here from San Fran last year with my leased 335, I wanted to find a reputable dealer to do my warranty and repair work. Unfortunately, Global has a strict policy of not providing loaner cars unless you bought or leased your car from them. That's just bullshit...so I went to United in Roswell. They will charge a one-time $25 fee for a loaner, but are very good about letting you keep it until you can get back to return it and pick up your car. In fact, they had my 335 for about 5 days, then they had my wife's 330 for the next 5 days, and they let us keep the loaner for the full time, and just charged the $25 fee once. In my book, that separates them from Global for sure...

[RON1X]

if they wouldn't give you a loaner for not buying from them, that is BS! I am not happy to hear that...

[NiVeDh]

I didn't buy my car from Global either. They gave me a crappy loaner the first time but after befriending the SA, he hooks me up with nice loaners everytime.

[droptop335]

Originally Posted by NiVeDh

I didn't buy my car from Global either. They gave me a crappy loaner the first time but after befriending the SA, he hooks me up with nice loaners everytime.

Good to know. United gave me a 335 convertible as my loaner, almost identical to my own car, except no Nav. Was very nice to have such a nice car as a loaner.

[JJB]

Originally Posted by droptop335

Unfortunately, Global has a strict policy of not providing loaner cars unless you bought or leased your car from them. That's just bullshit...so I went to United in Roswell. They will charge a one-time $25 fee for a loaner, but are very good about letting you keep it until you can get back to return it and pick up your car. In fact, they had my 335 for about 5 days, then they had my wife's 330 for the next 5 days, and they let us keep the loaner for the full time, and just charged the $25 fee once. In my book, that separates them from Global for sure...

Say whaaa? I bought my 335 used from one of those shady little street corner lots in a dirty part of town... and both Global and United have provided BMW loaners to me, free of charge when I've been in for warranty work. Was yours out of warranty when they pulled this on you?

[TU335Y]

Newbie question: I've had my 335 for about 4 or 5 months now. So you can just take your car to any dealership to have serviced? The only reason I ask is that I'm hearing a rattling noise when sitting at idle. When I step on the clutch, the noise goes away. I just want to have this checked out to make sure nothing is wrong.

[JJB]

Originally Posted by TU335Y

Newbie question: I've had my 335 for about 4 or 5 months now. So you can just take your car to any dealership to have serviced? The only reason I ask is that I'm hearing a rattling noise when sitting at idle. When I step on the clutch, the noise goes away. I just want to have this checked out to make sure nothing is wrong.

Yes - you can take it to any BMW dealer for warranty. The repair is paid for by corporate - not by the dealer. They should be happy to have your business, regardless of where you bought the car.

[Paolino]

They gave me a Chevrolet Aveo the first time and a Chevrolet Malibu the second time i took the car there for some repairs under warranty...

[FLA 335]

Originally Posted by Digitalinkartist

I also purchased my e92 @ Global. It was a simple, pleasant and competitive transaction. Garland is tops in my book as well.

With that said, IMO Global has the worst service dept in the greater Atlanta area. In my experience erroneous/inflated repair claims as well as poor "good faith" warranty exceptions. I will never bring either one of my BMW's to Global service again

I have also heard very good things in regard to BMW of South Atlanta and their European delivery accommodations. Many of the first E9x's in the area were purchased there.

Def BMW of South Altanta.... if you need a CA talk to Adrian Avila, he's been there for YEARSSSS and is capable of handling ANY type of transaction, in state, out of state and is a Euro Delivery Specialist...!!!

[enzo65]

I've never bought a car from Global and I never will. I have, however, serviced my BMW and MINI there for years.

To sum up Global's response to any problem: Sorry can't duplicate the problem. They may only be good for oil changes but I don't even know if they actually do those because they don't have the attention to detail to even reset the service indicator. In fact, I got a call 2 weeks after my oil change where they wanted to schedule an appointment to change my oil. What???

The techs just plug in their computer and if it reads no faults then the customers must be mistaken. My last visit I simply wanted my iDrive updated because I have the shopping cart (and other) bug on my 2009 135 iDrive. It is well documented on this forum as well as the TSB that was released on this specific problem in April 2009. Global reported to me the computer says no faults and therefore nothing is wrong. I dropped the car off at 8am and they call at 5:30 before they leave and tell me they can't find the problem but come pick up the car.

The service manager, Chuck Armstrong, refuses to call me back even after BMW USA requested him to do so.

This dealership is an embarrassment to the BMW and MINI brands.

[Jean-Claude]

Originally Posted by enzo65

I've never bought a car from Global and I never will. I have, however, serviced my BMW and MINI there for years.

To sum up Global's response to any problem: Sorry can't duplicate the problem. They may only be good for oil changes but I don't even know if they actually do those because they don't have the attention to detail to even reset the service indicator. In fact, I got a call 2 weeks after my oil change where they wanted to schedule an appointment to change my oil. What???

The techs just plug in their computer and if it reads no faults then the customers must be mistaken. My last visit I simply wanted my iDrive updated because I have the shopping cart (and other) bug on my 2009 135 iDrive. It is well documented on this forum as well as the TSB that was released on this specific problem in April 2009. Global reported to me the computer says no faults and therefore nothing is wrong. I dropped the car off at 8am and they call at 5:30 before they leave and tell me they can't find the problem but come pick up the car.

The service manager, Chuck Armstrong, refuses to call me back even after BMW USA requested him to do so.

This dealership is an embarrassment to the BMW and MINI brands.

I concur. I won't say they all are, but there are some real dummies there.

When I was first getting into the BMW scene it was 2004 and I just purchased a cherry 1999 m3 with 47k miles on it. I had everything done by Global. One day the red oil light came on. At the time I had no idea what it meant(I didn't know anything about cars). I pulled over and called my service adviser. She told me I was low on oil and to top it off when I could.

1 mile later my car was knocking and rattling. I knew something was up and stopped. I called Global and was told to have it towed. That's what I did.

The red oil light meant there was NO OIL PRESSURE. My engine was running without lubricant. Because I didn't know, I pulled over and asked the person who should know. Instead of getting the right advice to just tow it, I was told to keep driving. Shoot, when I called back they wanted me to drive it to them 15 miles away....I had to insist that something was terribly wrong before they said to tow it. It screwed the engine up. One cam broke, head needed to be completely rebuilt, one piston rammed into a stuck valve, the block needed to be overbored to be used and the crank shaft was scored to hell and back.

What was Global's take? We will pay for up to $1k in labor if I purchased a $14k engine from them. I just left and told them I would have my car towed somewhere else.

As a business owner, I understand when you screw up, you man up and take your medicine and do your client right. Apparently, the supervisor never learned that lesson. I will NEVER do business with Global and I will bring up what they did to me when I get the chance.

[E92_atl]

Originally Posted by Jean-Claude

I concur. I won't say they all are, but there are some real dummies there.

When I was first getting into the BMW scene it was 2004 and I just purchased a cherry 1999 m3 with 47k miles on it. I had everything done by Global. One day the red oil light came on. At the time I had no idea what it meant(I didn't know anything about cars). I pulled over and called my service adviser. She told me I was low on oil and to top it off when I could.

1 mile later my car was knocking and rattling. I knew something was up and stopped. I called Global and was told to have it towed. That's what I did.

The red oil light meant there was NO OIL PRESSURE. My engine was running without lubricant. Because I didn't know, I pulled over and asked the person who should know. Instead of getting the right advice to just tow it, I was told to keep driving. Shoot, when I called back they wanted me to drive it to them 15 miles away....I had to insist that something was terribly wrong before they said to tow it. It screwed the engine up. One cam broke, head needed to be completely rebuilt, one piston rammed into a stuck valve, the block needed to be overbored to be used and the crank shaft was scored to hell and back.

What was Global's take? We will pay for up to $1k in labor if I purchased a $14k engine from them. I just left and told them I would have my car towed somewhere else.

As a business owner, I understand when you screw up, you man up and take your medicine and do your client right. Apparently, the supervisor never learned that lesson. I will NEVER do business with Global and I will bring up what they did to me when I get the chance.

DAMN THATS SO FUCKING WRONG OF THEM!!!
SORRY TO HEAR THAT BRO

[silkshocker]

they suck! Took them over 1 week to order a defective part on my car and still haven't heard from them. I called and emailed several times and each response was either none or we are looking into it. I would never bring my car back there. Going to Nalley this weekend. I hope it will be better experience but I'm not digging BMW customer service.

[NiVeDh]

Global has really gone downhill in the past 2 years. I've had a good experience at United Roswell.

[RON1X]

My wife's car had a sensor malfunction earlier this year. They "fixed it," then it broke again 10 days later, allowing the engine to overheat. I took it back (after having to buy coolant for $18) and they wanted to charge me for bringing it in again (CPO warranty requires $50 to service the vehicle after 50k miles). I lost it with the SA and told him it was their fault that we had to bring it back and he actually tried to argue with me!

I bought my 335 and my wife's X3 there, but after the crap they have pulled and the issues I had with my 335 I didn't want to give them anymore business, so I gladly purchased my M3 from BMW of Macon (too bad they are an hour away; really nice people). They literally have a management NIGHTMARE over there, every time I go to Global they have changed everything around, so they hopefully are beginning to be cognizant of their service quality going down...hopefully. My rant for the day

[unfortunately it is by far the most convenient location for me in Atlanta...]

[MrFargo13]

I spoke to a lady last week who bought her BMW X3 at another dealer (better price). Then she took it to Global for service (more convenient) and was told the same thing...They would not give her a loaner because she didn't buy it there.