TC96

One year ago - bought a 2007 550i, $29k, 36k miles, sapphire black, has most every option - no nav, no heated steering wheel. I'm not sure about sports package, no sport button, but it does have 18" staggard wheels, can you have one without the other? 10 months left on warranty, I'm rolling the dice, opt out on the extended warranty. This car was bought at a local used car dealer. One year later, been to BMW in Seattle -

Once - came back from vacation, car had a one foot oil leak under the trans. Mechatronic tube, pan gasket changed. 38k. FREE

Twice - Front brakes squeaking. All four wheels get new brake pads and sensors, did not turn rotors? Full brake flush. Trans shift from 1-2-3 pretty harsh. "We know of this and will install SIB". They did. Some times it will shift better, most times it does not, but it is much better. I have done the 25 second hold the throttle to the floor trick as well. Full vehicle inspection. 41k. FREE

Third - Every cold start engine shakes for a few minutes then seems alright, every cold start without fail for two weeks straight. It will do it for the tech. Filled the car with fuel and head for the dealership. They have to keep the car for a cold start so they give me a 3 series. Next morning get a phone call from SA, "could not duplicate concern" we will try again tomorrow. Same result. Make sure you are using the right brand of fuel. Put the right fuel in when I took it to them, so they could not duplicate the shake. Turns out my wife was not. 43k FREE

Fourth - Sunroof wind noise. Thought I would get this done just before warranty is over. Warranty ended two weeks ago. But wait, there is more, there is a recall on the brake system. Bring it in and we will fix that and see about a courtesy from BMW on the sunroof. Can't call BMW, they are closed for Thanksgiving. But they did the recall. 48k FREE

Fifth - Sunroof noise continued. "We are just going to take care of this for you. There was an SIB on this." No more wind noise. 47k FREE They gave me a 2011 335i xdrive for a loaner - VERY nice.

Sorry for the long post. We are still pretty excited about this car, and hope to now have many years of driving. I am saving up for a battery ??

jay bimma

everything should have been fixed for free since you are under the 4yr/50k factory warranty. if you really want to learn why the dealers are referred to as "stealerships", then i suggest you take your car back there around 60k miles and i'm almost certain you will get a phone call with a long list of recommended services and/or repairs that they suggest your vehicle needs!

550nyc

Nice, i just sent mine for the break recall but they gave me a 2011 328xi.. ur lucky u got the 335

kajin99

If you really want to know why it's referred to as a "stealership", try comparing out-of-warranty repair costs between the dealer and an independent mechanic.

eojj

wait until u run out of warranty

vern

My Dealer, JMK BMW will match any Indy shops cost as long as they are using OEM parts. You can't beat that. Good luck
cheers
vern

south87

yep -- it's amazing. i just brought in my new-to-me e60 with cpo and maintenence to bmw for inspection.. and what do you know, the car is perfect! needs nothing. even apparant problems, like low idle vibration, are not really a problem when the car is under warranty.

krzyschicago

My 545 is out of warranty. I recently had the brake's recall performed in Fields Bmw, Northfield, IL. Before they started, I asked the rep, if they could look for any leaks under my car since they had to lift it anyway. Told rep that I suspected steptronic leak due to some jerky operation. After a while of sitting there (btw they refused to give me a free loaner), I was informed that I do have some leak, but they dont know what that was, and if I wanted to know if this was a transmission fluid, I had to pay for at least half an hour of labor -$75. That's a stealership...

VTCMart

They are not doing all that work out of the kindness of their heart. Under the factory warranty, BMW reimburses the dealership for warranty work so they should be thanking YOU for the cashflow.

My local experience is definitely a STEALERSHIP after 50k warranty is up. My car has 60k and mine charged me $125 to re-issue the ID number to my BMW assist so it would communicate properly (why couldn't BMW assist do this for me when i spoke with them multiple times?). I had my car less than 2 months and the BMW assist didn't work from day one, even though it was touted by the salesperson repeatedly to close the sale and I signed up the same day I purchased it. Service also had the car 4 days to figure this out.

Last time I take it to that particular dealer (I have another one closer to my house but I was trying to be loyal to who I bought it from).

PilotAce

My 545 is also out of warranty and I avoid Fields in Northfield like the plague. I'll drive all the way to Patrick BMW or an Indy in Chicago for work on my E60.
Fields and BMWNA were no help to me when my SZL unit failed.