Originally Posted by Octo' post='499358' date='Nov 26 2007, 11:10 PM

I recently had a low oil level warning. I called my local dealership and the service advisor said just bring it down and we'll top it off. I went down there and the guy who checks you in said I needed to go to the parts counter. I went there thinking they would just give me a quart of oil. I come to find out I had to pay for the oil. I told the parts counter employee that my car was still under warranty. He said topping off the oil was not covered. He did say oil changes were. I told him I wanted an oil change. He said your car will let you know when you need an oil change and they wouldn't cover it under warranty otherwise.

I went home and emailed BMW North America. They responded a few days later and told me oil changes were covered after 15000 miles. If I had the car for over a year, but did not drive enough to get 15000, they would cover a oil change that way too. But, they said if I wanted an oil change before 15000 or before one year, they would not cover that. They also said they did not cover topping off the oil. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but BMW advertises their maintenace program like it was a gift from God. Worry free they say. I'm mean they'll replace your wiper blades, but a quart of oil, No Sir. What if I knew nothing about a car. Would I then have to pay for the oil, but also pay someone to add it for me. How ridiculous is that.

Perhaps I didn't read the fine print, but it seems to me that they could afford to cover a customer for one quart of oil. I guess BMW Maintenance Program isn't so worry free after all. I'm curious if anyone else has had a similiar problem. If so, perhaps BMW should be sued for false advertising.

Originally Posted by Octo' post='499358' date='Nov 27 2007, 12:10 AM

I recently had a low oil level warning. I called my local dealership and the service advisor said just bring it down and we'll top it off. I went down there and the guy who checks you in said I needed to go to the parts counter. I went there thinking they would just give me a quart of oil. I come to find out I had to pay for the oil. I told the parts counter employee that my car was still under warranty. He said topping off the oil was not covered. He did say oil changes were. I told him I wanted an oil change. He said your car will let you know when you need an oil change and they wouldn't cover it under warranty otherwise.

I went home and emailed BMW North America. They responded a few days later and told me oil changes were covered after 15000 miles. If I had the car for over a year, but did not drive enough to get 15000, they would cover a oil change that way too. But, they said if I wanted an oil change before 15000 or before one year, they would not cover that. They also said they did not cover topping off the oil. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but BMW advertises their maintenace program like it was a gift from God. Worry free they say. I'm mean they'll replace your wiper blades, but a quart of oil, No Sir. What if I knew nothing about a car. Would I then have to pay for the oil, but also pay someone to add it for me. How ridiculous is that.

Perhaps I didn't read the fine print, but it seems to me that they could afford to cover a customer for one quart of oil. I guess BMW Maintenance Program isn't so worry free after all. I'm curious if anyone else has had a similiar problem. If so, perhaps BMW should be sued for false advertising.

Originally Posted by BMWSTROKE' post='499477' date='Nov 27 2007, 07:00 AM

Perhaps you would like to purchase any other vehicle and have to pay for everything, including oil top offs and washer solvent. Topping off the oil is just like checking your tire pressures, which should be done on a regular basis, and if you don't know how to do it then why would you expect it for free?? If I don't know how to maintain something myself then I have to pay for it. If a quart of oil is too much for you to pay for then maybe you shouldn't be driving a BMW.

Originally Posted by pinguhk' post='499383' date='Nov 27 2007, 12:12 AM

now you know why I never join there Maintenance Program.
It just a rip off and sucks.

Originally Posted by Russ1974' post='499485' date='Nov 27 2007, 09:43 AM

Drain the oil. Drive the car until the engine siezes and blows up. Have it towed back to the dealer. Say "You know how I told you the oil was low but you wouldn't top it up....?". Have a free new engine, and a lovely smug feeling in side.

Note, make sure it's not obvious the oil has been drained

Originally Posted by MDT' post='499506' date='Nov 27 2007, 10:29 AM

It is really dumb on the dealers part to not take care of you. When my low coolant light came on, I went to the dealer, said I had a warning light on the cooling system, and they added coolant to make the light go away. It could have been a leaking hose that made the coolant low and the light come on, but it wasn't - just needed a little top off. Maybe you should have asked them how they were going to make the low oil warning light go away. You wouldn't know if you had an oil leak or just a little oil burn off on a newer engine breaking in. If the only way to make the oil light go off was to add oil, I think that would be on them under warranty. I think they should respond to warning lights and take corrective action to fix whatever caused the light to come on. If the light hadn't come on, and you just discovered that you were a little low on oil, that might be a different story. But, you had a warning light indicating something was wrong.

I think I agree with everyone else - find another dealer.

Originally Posted by JSpira' post='499491' date='Nov 27 2007, 10:18 PM

Not a question of joining. It?s included for four years at no charge. The OP is just disappointed in the extent of its coverage.

I echo others?sentiments in that the dealer sounds like it was not terribly interested in good customer service as a top-off is something most would do.

Originally Posted by redondoman' post='499509' date='Nov 27 2007, 11:44 PM

I agree you need to find another dealer. However, I would still recommend sending an email to the General Manager letting him know what happened. Sometimes someone just needs to be fired. It is the whole employee mentality vs owner mentality thing. I recently had a problem at a BMW authorized collision center. An employee was being a real jerk to me. I let the owner of the company know and he rolled out the red carpet and went above and beyond the call of duty.