[sbce90]

After having my car for just over a week, and even calling in a BMW rep, the cause of my audio system problem has not been diagnosed. Now I play the waiting game for a little longer as BMW orders in another Alpine kit... who knows how long this will take. "Current status of the kit is back-order in Germany" is what I am expecting to hear when they call me up next week to let me know whats happening. Should I keep going with this now or just get my money back and go aftermarket? Personally I don't want to give up after so long and give BMW the easy way out too.

[Ninjaoz]

are you still lending you the 325i loaner? if so, keep it until your audio system has been fixed.

[sbce90]

Originally Posted by Ninja333

are you still lending you the 325i loaner? if so, keep it until your audio system has been fixed.

na i gave it back. theres something better about driving your own car (with my ghetto black wheels). plus the 325i seemed to use HEAPS of fuel. i had to put like $60 worth of fuel in for one week, whereas I normally fill up like once every two weeks with my car for ~$70. trust me, I had fun in the 325 though

you know what the say about rental cars....

[Brissie]

You are a very patient man. After waiting for seven months, and numerous trips to the dealer just for a simple stereo upgrade, I would've just asked for my money back and gone after market long time ago. The Alpine upgrade is a simple system that any decent shops should be able to perform. Even an amateur like me managed to fit an aftermarket system in my car, and it certainly didn't take seven months.

[suff]

I'd be asking for your money back and a free service (as compensation) (Services are always a good bargaining tool as there is minimal costs involved with a minor service other than labour, so dealers tend to be a bit more willing to use them as bargaining chips (in my experience)

[E90 QLD]

Originally Posted by SBC

you know what the say about rental cars....

Originally Posted by SBC

Should I keep going with this now or just get my money back and go aftermarket?

I would have kept chasing them, got it done somewhere else and told them no thanks whenever it finally turned up.

Free stuff/service(s) would be nice though... and will maintain some positive relationship if you both come to an agreement. May help in the long run.

[John_01]

It really bizarre this is taking so long. Hopefully there is some logical explaination like a faulty amp or a dodgey ground connection. I think the OEM solution is still worthwhile, so I'd persist with them. Hopefully BMW will come good and do something to compensate you for your trouble.

[sbce90]

It may indeed be that the whole kit is simply faulty. My PDC volume has been insanely low ever since alpine was put in and basically inaudible unless music is on mute. On the business nav idrive I have not found a way to increase the volume. The front left door speaker seems to be playing up a bit now too.

I was told that I will be "compensated in some form or another" but seeing as the issue is not resolved yet I still don't know what it will be. My first year is about to come up so a service will come in handy..

My SA said he would call again this week to let me know what will be happening. I plan to tell them to have a back up plan ready just in case it still isn't fixed. Going into BMW last week I was hopeful (but not confident) that it would be my last visit in a while. I'm not sure how many more let downs I can take. The only thing keeping me going back is getting a free loan car

[RuuDV]

BMW Sydney cannot fix anything. There are the worse in fixing stuff. The more you visited them, the more damage to your car. They are hopeless in terms of servicing customers car. Their after sales service are appaling bad. Trust me.

[Ninjaoz]

Originally Posted by RuuDV

BMW Sydney cannot fix anything. There are the worse in fixing stuff. The more you visited them, the more damage to your car. They are hopeless in terms of servicing customers car. Their after sales service are appaling bad. Trust me.

please do share your experience

[sbce90]

Originally Posted by RuuDV

BMW Sydney cannot fix anything. There are the worse in fixing stuff. The more you visited them, the more damage to your car. They are hopeless in terms of servicing customers car. Their after sales service are appaling bad. Trust me.

I hear ya. I think you posted some of your story along with the other guy who had like a ridiculous engine rebuild basically? please fill in on your experience though. thread jack permitted :P


I called yesterday to tell them that the left door speaker is now playing up too and received another call today asking me to come back in on Friday to drop the car off yet again. Interestingly, my SA told me that they were going to have a "good car ready for you." 335i perhaps they can keep my car in that case

[RuuDV]

Lots of things happen. For eg:
1. BMW 335i Wheel Squealing when accelerate slowly or low speed, its embarassing and i went to see them and talk to the head mechanic. He said " This thing its normal on all the BMW vehicles, we cant do anything about it". Its ridicoulous. Basically he suggest me to live with it and turn on the radio so i cant hear it.
2. BMW 335i door trim rattle, complain and leave the car for 2 days/nights and got the car back and its still not fix. So return to them and complain the problem have not been solved. The SA doesnt even have the decency to remember you and told me i have to rebook the vehicles in 2 weeks time. I mean its an unfinished job and i have to rebook my car in 2 weeks time, its ridicolous.
3. BMW M3, bought this car brand new and love it. Break the car in carefully or with care for first 2k. Time for first 2k service and here come the problem again. They damage the driver door and glass was smashed. The reason the people who drive the car forgot to put on the handbrake when going up the ramp and its a manual car and he open the door, so basically the door was dragged along the wall and hit the card poll where usually they go up the roof to park the car.
4. Talk to the MD of the dealer, he said " If you know our service its so bad, why you still keep coming back? Why dont you go to other dealer?" WOW this is the most rubbish i ever heard and this is called customer service ? Haha you joking right. They never heard a thing call LOYALTY is it ?
5. BMW z4 wheel squeal, I have to argue with them for 1 month to get this fix and have to visit the dealer daily. The head mechanic blame it on my apartment parking because of the circular motion. I said come on even my for eg: corolla or other car doesnt even have this noise. Its embarassing. Leave the car there, the alloy got chipped and bumper got scrapped little bit but as usual they denied it.
6. The people who move the car there around the dealer, they drive the customer car as it was their own car, turn on loud music and stuff. Basically without care.
7. Talk to the after sales service manager, he suggested he could swap the door of my BMW m3 for me with another new one from other car. How can they do this, dont you thing its a bit dirty and unfair to the other customer who will purchase the other m3 in the future.

So there you go, all the rubbish i got from them and lots more. They have the worse customer service ever, probably not to some of you out there. I guess I am the unlucky one. I will not purchase another BMW anymore, might as well take my money somewhere and buy other brand.

[WOPALX]

Fair enough to point out the bad experiences you had.

However, and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, after they damaged your door they did offer to fix it 100% for you. After a dummy spit and some haggling they gave you a brand new replacement M3, so I don't think you came out of it that bad really. Upsetting maybe, happy outcome certainly IMHO.

Personally I've never had a bad experience with BMW Sydney, IMHO it comes down to how you treat the people your dealing with and having a level of expectation that is suitable for what is being done i.e. realizing things such as rattles can take a few attempts to fix.

If your so pissed off with BMW go to MB, Lexus or Audi and see how different they are. I think you'll find overall BMW are on a par with most other luxury car brands in terms of vehicle quality and after sales service.

Just my 0.02c worth.

Originally Posted by RuuDV

Lots of things happen. For eg:

3. BMW M3, bought this car brand new and love it. Break the car in carefully or with care for first 2k. Time for first 2k service and here come the problem again. They damage the driver door and glass was smashed. The reason the people who drive the car forgot to put on the handbrake when going up the ramp and its a manual car and he open the door, so basically the door was dragged along the wall and hit the card poll where usually they go up the roof to park the car.
4. Talk to the MD of the dealer, he said " If you know our service its so bad, why you still keep coming back? Why dont you go to other dealer?" WOW this is the most rubbish i ever heard and this is called customer service ? Haha you joking right. They never heard a thing call LOYALTY is it ?
6. The people who move the car there around the dealer, they drive the customer car as it was their own car, turn on loud music and stuff. Basically without care.
7. Talk to the after sales service manager, he suggested he could swap the door of my BMW m3 for me with another new one from other car. How can they do this, dont you thing its a bit dirty and unfair to the other customer who will purchase the other m3 in the future.

[sbce90]

Wish me luck guys, I go back into BMW tomorrow for another installment in my Alpine saga.

[Ninjaoz]

let us know what loaner u get? perhaps a 335i?

[V1_R]

Originally Posted by SBC

I hear ya. I think you posted some of your story along with the other guy who had like a ridiculous engine rebuild basically? please fill in on your experience though. thread jack permitted :P


I called yesterday to tell them that the left door speaker is now playing up too and received another call today asking me to come back in on Friday to drop the car off yet again. Interestingly, my SA told me that they were going to have a "good car ready for you." 335i perhaps they can keep my car in that case

335i has issues of its own... trust me!!!

Squeeky wheel
Rattly Muffler
Rattly rear centre console
Diesel sounding engine on idle

These seem to be the common querks anyway

[sbce90]

Originally Posted by Ninja333

let us know what loaner u get? perhaps a 335i?

lol probably a 118d or something

im..uh.. not allowed to drive a 335i..

Originally Posted by perth335i

335i has issues of its own... trust me!!!

Squeeky wheel
Rattly Muffler
Rattly rear centre console
Diesel sounding engine on idle

These seem to be the common querks anyway

yes. but. still twice as fast as a 320i.

[sbce90]

well I got a 320i w/ innovations and pronav but small screen. car is as expected.

Frustratingly, my SA has left again. So now I am on my 5th SA. He understands that this "has been going on for a while.." by simply looking at the file, but has no idea about other crap and how pissed off I am. I don't even know what is happening this time... and neither does BMW.

Me - "so, I'm not exactly sure what is happening this time. Could you explain what is going on? Is anything being fixed today or is it just 'more testing'?"

SA - "um, I don't know, the file doesn't say. We're waiting for information from techies at BMW Australia to tell us what to do."


Also, the car is having a 'vehicle check' done as it has been one year. Is there any way to get this for free?


ARGH and as I was waiting to be served, this woman (who arrived after me) was standing next to me. An SA asked 'so what are you in for today..?' and she just jumped in front of me. EFFING cow i could've kicked her head off. i am filled with so much rage atm its not funny.




edit - is it possible to take the car to another dealership? will bmw sydney give me a copy of the file and reports?

[bcoz]

Originally Posted by SBC

Also, the car is having a 'vehicle check' done as it has been one year. Is there any way to get this for free?
...
edit - is it possible to take the car to another dealership? will bmw sydney give me a copy of the file and reports?

I just paid $258 for a vehicle check from another dealer. Given the hassles they've put you through and the elapsed time involved, I think the least they can do is to do the service check on the house. But you will have to ask for such a "gesture of goodwill".

I think it's better to stick with BMW Sydney until the audio problems are either resolved or you decide to get a refund. From then on, you can take your business elsewhere. The same techies at BMW Australia will probably be involved whether you fix the problem at Sydney or another dealer, but at the very least you already have a relationship with Sydney and should be able to extract some additional goodwill/freebies.

If the problems are not resolved this time, I would suggest that you write a formal complaint to BMW Australia detailing the saga and making them aware of your dissatisfaction with the dealer's handling of the problem. Once it gets to their complaints department they may be able to exert pressure on both the dealer and their own resources to finally diagnose and resolve the issues.

Good Luck!

[sbce90]

Originally Posted by bcoz

I just paid $258 for a vehicle check from another dealer. Given the hassles they've put you through and the elapsed time involved, I think the least they can do is to do the service check on the house. But you will have to ask for such a "gesture of goodwill".

I think it's better to stick with BMW Sydney until the audio problems are either resolved or you decide to get a refund. From then on, you can take your business elsewhere. The same techies at BMW Australia will probably be involved whether you fix the problem at Sydney or another dealer, but at the very least you already have a relationship with Sydney and should be able to extract some additional goodwill/freebies.

If the problems are not resolved this time, I would suggest that you write a formal complaint to BMW Australia detailing the saga and making them aware of your dissatisfaction with the dealer's handling of the problem. Once it gets to their complaints department they may be able to exert pressure on both the dealer and their own resources to finally diagnose and resolve the issues.

Good Luck!

Don't worry, a letter is certainly in the making.

I have been told $180 for my check and that is with 'goodwill gesture' and 'loyalty programme'

[sbce90]

forgot to mention, funny thing about my 320i loaner - it has full chrome front grilles, so from the front i could look like a 6cylinder lol.

[RuuDV]

Haha BMW Sydney. As always Hopeless.