240SXFAN

Any recommendations/feedback on BMW dealerships in the Bay Area (CA) for service? I purchased mine at Stevens Creek and will avoid going all the way if I can find something closer to the Peninsula. I have heard bad stories about Peter Pan. Not sure if anything has changed now that they have opened a new facility for service.

I am still within the factory warranty at this point on my 550i. Suggestions are greatly appreciated.

response_surface

+1

i would like to know as well. have you heard anything about stevens creek? i have a 545i, so far it has had 0 problems, but spend enough time reading this forum, you'll know that can't last for long.

ViperBoy

I just bought a 535xi from out of state and took it to Stevens Creek - probably the best service I've ever had in 20 years or so. The looked at and gave a written response to every issue I had, including upgrading the firmware to cure a hesitation from stop, verifying two different check engine codes (one I didn't know about) and a couple other concerns. I was able to get an appointment within 2 days and everything completed same day. They also did two different fluid changes based on time that were right on the mileage line but didn't try to pawn off others for profit like I've had to deal with at other dealers (namely the horrible Infiniti dealer next door). Even better I think than than the Acura dealer down the street which had been the best so worth the effort to drive if not a serious hassle

BMWRINO

I bought my 530i CPO from Peter Pan BMW, but I've only had it serviced at Mountain View BMW and have been very happy with my SA Gary Wilson.

E1142860

I bought mine at Weatherford BMW in Berkeley, but I've had all my warranty service performed at East Bay BMW in Pleasanton. Early on they replaced my szl module and later replaced my battery with no hassle even though I only had averaged less than 2,000 miles/year at the time (they strongly urged getting a Battery Tender, which I did). I've since bought their extended warranty for another three years. When you drop off the car, I like how they do a complete walk around of the car notating any scratches or dings.

EuroCarFan

Another plus for Stevens Creek. Took my old 545 there as well as my current M5 and have always liked their service. My SA is Steve Bertolacci.

lilazngrl4o8

Can't say I had the same luck with Steve. I took my car in for an oil change once and the guy nickel and dimed me for everything. Even charged me like 8 bucks to "reset" the maintenance light. I called and complained and the GM of SCBMW emailed me back and told me to come back to them to get a refund. I didn't have time to get back there within the next couple of weeks so I chalked it up as a lost and avoid that guy at all cost.

I went to John DePalma afterwards and had good luck with him. Told him about my last incident and he rolled his eyes. There's a little tension there with that Steve guy and seems like some of the SA don't really like him. John told me that I shouldn't have been charged for it. More recently I have been using Aaron Ginn who is a good guy too. I've tried Claude Luu before and he's a good SA too. Anyone but Steve really. LOL.

John use to be a BMW Service foreman so he knows his stuff. Really nice and stand up guy who won't nickel and dime you for every little thing and he'll be honest about whether or not you need to do certain things and if it's a waste of money or not.

EuroCarFan

Sorry to hear your bad experiences with Steve Kristine. Guess I've always had my car serviced under warranty and Steven hasn't charged me for anything yet. They even replaced my clutch recently as a goodwill on my old OEM warranty which had recently expired although I did buy an extended warranty from Easy Care through them.

lilazngrl4o8

No worries. I figure everyone has different experiences with different SA and sometimes it could just be if the prunes were working for that particular SA that AM. LOL.

I just go to other SA now and I'm fine. I like the service department as a whole, but have my preference of certain SA I'll go to. YMMV.

olskooldj

I've had good experiences at both SCBMW & Mt. View BMW.

Tyler @ SCBMW is good and I prefer to go to him (I just had my car serviced their this past weekend).
I think Tyler started out as a valet in the service drive and now is a SA.

The only gripe I do have with SCBMW is that they always try to commit me to a specific time to drop my car off, then when I get there, I end up waiting for 20-30 mins just to get my service written up.
Other than that, service is pretty good.