Bimmerchop69

Just wanted to do a quick write-up on my experience at Bloomfield BMW.

So I brought my car 2004 545i in for the following:

1. To fix the passenger headlight b/c the green malfunction indicator light was blinking at switch. Adaptive Headlight sometimes points all the way right or too high straight head, blinding cars in front of me.

2. My rear passenger door is filling up with water after any rain event. This was due to a break in a few months ago that was repaired by a local shop that didn't do the job right.

3. Install Aux retrofit.

After bringing the car there and the service checking it out, the headlight apparently needed a new stepper motor control module and 2 led bulbs. The door they said needed some new seals that were damaged because of the break-in and the repair shop damaged them.
Total Cost:
1. Headlight repair cost with computer reprogram - $700
2. Door Repair new seals and labor - $600
3. Aux retrofit parts, labor, program - $400

Total spent $1,700.

I waited for 4 hours on this day to receive a courtesy car from BMW in order to leave the facility. The loaner car was a Nissan Altima 4 cyl automatic, Nothing compared to my V8 545i. After making me wait 4 hours they could of at least given me a 3 series or something.

My observations.

1. After yesterday's rain event. I opened the door and guess what... after removing the rubber plug, water poured out just like it used to before. Also the window makes noise going up and down.

2. When I picked up the car the indicator switch was still blinking/malfunctioning and after spending the $700 BMW responded saying I need a new headlight the stepper motor is getting stuck. <---- so I'm shit out of luck.

3. Auxiliary retrofit works however, in order to hear any bass I need to turn the bass up all the way using the tone function of the i drive screen and have bass turned up all the way on the audio device I am playing.


Basically. They are going have hell on their hands when I go there today to complain. Basically other than the Aux retrofit that works poorly, all repairs done at this dealership turned out to be a waste of time and money. BMW of Bloomfield you should be embarrassed to service your customers that way you do.And BMW of North America, It's dealer like this that bring bad business to your corporation.

Wish me luck, I am leaving to go there now!

melimel

update?

Bimmerchop69

Ok so I went to the dealer earlier today. The tech looked at it again and found some glass in the drain tube. Removed it and vuala Fixed! Basically they charged me for $600 for some seals and to remove glass from some tube.

So, on the 1st post I forgot to mention that I asked BMW to look over my car while I was there for any issues with the driverside steering because I heard a click noise when I turn the wheel.

Guess what they found.. They said I had a bad tie rod that was bent. Also they said I needed a new wishbone because bushing was worn and left tension strut because bushing was worn.
so..
Tie rod PN. 32106777479 and cost of part $169
Wishbone PN: 31126760181 and cost of part $330
Left Tension strut PN: 31126774825 and cost $260
Also he said I would need an alignment and only BMW can do the alignment because I have dynamic drive $225
I am not including labor because I can do this work myself.

I told the service adviser to hold off on doing the work or ordering any parts. This is because I wanted to investigate myself before buy any of these parts and replacing them.
So. Today, actually 1 hour ago, I inspected all of the parts. Guess what. The wishbone and the left tension rod are fine and have no cracking or signs of wear. Of course, my car only has 91k miles. The tie rod assembly is straight and did not find anything wrong with it initially. After, further investigation I noticed the Outer tie rod end / ball joint, PN 32106776646 has some play in the ball joint. This part is worn and I need to replace it.

So, total cost of parts. $101 and if bought on ebay as cheap as $50 for 2 tie rod ends.

What did I learn, The dealership was a scam. They basically tried to capitalize on the fact that I asked for them to look the car over and this was their opportunity to scam me and produce false repairs on my car.

This dealership absolutely sucks. I will never go there again. I will be contacting BMW North America complaining about them.

I recommend for anyone who goes to a dealer and has no idea about cars to please get a second opinion. BMW has completely lost my trust.

melimel

Maybe its THAT dealership.. You should try another one and get a different oninion.

theXman

Sorry to hear about your experience with BMW Bloomfield. I've actually gone there and had services done before and each time was quite pleasant. I even purchased and got my mtech kit installed by them. My contact there is Craig Hacker who is now the director for both parts and service. If you haven't spoken to him, then you should make him aware of your experience and issues with his people. I also have an indy mechanic that knows and does good work for BMW. That's where I take my car to most of time.

JeffNNJ

Sorry about your experience. Whenever something like that happens it makes it difficult for all of us dealers.