nickolas_g

I am writing this to see how everyone's perception on BWM customer experience after the sale. To give somer perspective from my vatage or bias, I love my car. It is a great ride. I love my 530 as much as my Boxster. With that being said I must admit that I spend most my time on th e60 forum and almost zero time on any Porsche forum. I am also a salesman in my own profession and value sales before and after the purchase.

The purpose of my post is this: Do you feel as though you are in touch with BMW after the sale as much as if you were a Porsche, Mercedes, Caddy, Lexus, or any Luxury class car owner?

The reason I ask this is because although my Porsche salesman does not call me often but I do receive a personal brochure from the dealership every so often. I receive a monthly magazine from Porsche and feel as though I am in a little more touch with Porsche overall.

I must say that after a number of months of owning my 530 I do no feel as though there has been any contact or any attempt to make me feel 'special' by BMW. The Owner Circle is nice but provides me little value after the sale. Also my dealer was very good. Although I have not heard boo from them since picking up my car.

Overall I feel as though Porsche has done a better job after the sale over BMW because of the above mentioned items. Am I wrong?

thirty6chambers

i agree. i get something from bmw maybe three times a year. kind of like the friends who only say hello during the holidays. the company that really impresses me is lexus. they've still been sending me their lifestyle magazines consistently, among a few other occasional items after all these years.

Rudy

Have you received BMW Magazine? I think it comes out 4 times per year. Not sure how much information Porsche can put in a monthly magazine -- is it mostly ads or is there really substance to it?

One thing I remember noticing a while back was the difference between the Mercedes magazine and the BMW magazine -- the M-B magazine was pretty much a magazine full of wristwatch ads and articles about travelling to exotic places and the BMW magazine was about BMW's technology, future, etc. Clearly the BMW magazine was much more BMW centric and the M-B magazine was all about status and class.

If you haven't already done so, join the BMW CCA -- not only will you get a decent monthly magazine but you'll qualify for a rebate on your next car (as long as you've belonged to the club over 12 months...)

tomv

Interesting post, I'm also in sales and I think about this kind of stuff too. I have owned my 530 for one month and it's my first BMW. Only other "near" luxury ownership experience was Acura. In my first month of BMW ownership, they have reaced out to "touch" me four times. Everything at this point is just about as I expected for a car of this caliber.

The first contact was from the CA about one week after my purchase inviting me to come by the dealership so we could show me more on setting up IDrive, climate settings, my wifes cell phone in bluetooth etc. He has always called me back within a few hours with the few follow up questions I had on the car. Terrific CA.

The second touch was a letter from the GM of the dealership stating that he appreciated my business and he hoped I could grade them a 5 in all catagories when I get the call from the company that does the BMW purchase satisfaction survery. He wanted me to contact him if I had any issues at all.

The third touch was the call from the survey company asking several questions about the purchase experience and again thanking me for the BMW purchase. Graded 5 on all catagories, they deserved it.

The fourth touch was the BMW invoice for the first lease payment......... ... thankfully I can write some of this off.

As Rudy posted, several of my friends recommended joining BMWCCA to stay closer to the brand, so I did that. I received the ownership packet but not the first Roundel yet. We'll see what the future holds, but based on your post, sounds like not much happens after the initial purchase period.

jrsamps

They touch me every month with my payment. All kidding aside, the BMW magazine is an interesting read.

525iSE

Yup, I got served a lot better with MB, they care more and are willing to do almost anything to feel like you're special to have this car and they help you maintain the car very well. On the CLK, the glovebox don't close well, you have to slam it pretty hard, after I told the dealer, they call several times and even offer to send someone over to check on it. If i told my BMW dealer about any problems, they'll be like, let me check and get back to you, and after 2 days, then they call back. Thats just how I feel, BMW dealers (in thailand) do not treat their customers well at all, whether its me or some of my older friends.

kmslo530i

Well, I have to say, that for the most part, I have been very happy with my post-sales relationship. Perhaps it has something to do with buying 2 E60s within a 24 month period, but I feel like I have a great relationship with my salesman, and when I need someone to run interference for me with service he's right there to take care of it. I live in a small town, and it's probably a relatively small dealership, so I know that my SA is very concerned about that word of mouth thing. I would recommend him to anyone without reservation. I guess it's not really a BMW thing, so much as an individual dealership thing. I bought an 05 Jeep Grand Cherokee.....ordered it, and it took almost 3 months to arrive. I took delivery on a day that may salesman was off.....and you know.....18 months later....I've still never heard a word from the SOB.....now there's someone I will NEVER do business with again.....even a simple, single phone call would have done the trick. I've never owned an MB, so who know's what their post-sales service is like...but then...I would never want to own an MB....regardless of how they treated me after the sale!!

ImolaRedM

I've been very happy with BMW after sales. But on the topic of swag, along with the BMW magazine (and in the old days the ///M publication too), I get the occasional DVD, map and assorted swag or brochure as well.

ccmun

I love my BMW, but frankly, BMW's post-sales service is mediocre. I get better treatment from my Toyota dealer. My first sales rep left before my car was delivered. They never told me. When I called his cell phone asking for an update, he modestly told me he was out of town. I never knew he had left until the day I took delivery. His replacement was terrible. I got a 20 intro on the entire car including idrive and then it took 3 sales reps another 20 minutes to synch my phone. That pretty much wore them out, and it was off you go...Good luck! I called back a few days later with a question and found out the sales rep had left or was fired, and no one could answer my questions on idrive. I have not received any BMW magazines. although I have gotten a few calls for surveys about the dealer. My current SA is clueless, and does not return my calls. The two times I have visited the dealer, they don't even have me in their system as buying my car there, both times initially elling me I don't qualify for a loaner.

Anyway, I really don't care as my car works fine, and I get everything I need to know on this forum. As long as the dealer provides adequate service when I need it, thats all I care about.

BMWNA

I'm with BMW of North America, LLC. I've passed this message on to a BMW NA Customer Relations Representative who will be in touch with you soon.