beken

My initial vow was never to buy a BMW. There are too many of them in the area where I live and many BMW drivers (not all) are total idiots on the street. Then I bought a MINI. I was so impressed by the MINI service, that when it came time to replace our family car, BMW fell on our look at list. The 3 series did not make it, but the BMW dealer found me a great deal on an E60.

So far, I have been so impressed with the car (not so much the dealer service) that I would consider another BMW.

However, the dealer needs to have another look at their business processes. Sometimes one department has no idea what another is doing. I feel I get passed around like a hot potato when I already know who I want to see and why I am there. The dealer is so busy they need to limit the scope of duties for their people, but come on. I go in, I have to see a greeter, then a service write-up person, then a mechanic, then a separate department to get a courtesy or rental car, then back to the write-up person, then wait, then to another write-up person BEFORE the car even gets looked at. Afterwards, another service write-up person, cashier, and finally somebody else who gives me back my car. If in any of the sequence you are passed on to the wrong person, you start all over again. Absolutely stupid from a customer's point of view.

The good thing about my e60 is, I've only had to bring it back for anything twice in the time I've owned it. It's been the epitome of reliability so far.

TexaZ3

I think I'm starting to see a trend here. Most you displeased with their dealers rather than a car.
I guess I'm lucky - my dealer is awesome, my SA is very helpful and knowledgeable, and I get top notch service from my them.
Autobahn BMW in Fort Worth.

But then dealer has very little to do with a car itself, or BMW for that matter. Dealers are private companies, and some are good, some are bad.
You need to take different approach here. Say, you only have two restaurants in your area and one got burned down and second one closed. It is not practical to drive 50 miles to eat - what do you do? You go to a grocery store, buy some food, and cook it at home. Same with cars - learn how to do at least basic stuff yourself - be less dependent on your dealer if your dealer sucks.

Phantom Mark

The cars are becoming shonky if your honest with yourself, take a look around at all the problems, E39's onwards things started going bad for BMW in terms of engine quality (nikasil anyone ?) and transmission etc, then add in the pile of electronics which have a habbit of packing up these days and you have a recipe for unhappy customers, the E34 was the last decent built BMW which is why I still got that one.

But yer, your right, most people like myself are more annoyed at the dealers and customer support more than anything else, they for the most part treat you like crap once they have your money.

paulmc

I bought mine from a BMW dealer, would I do it again Never ever ever ever

I only bought it because it was the fastest diesel that would fit up the back of my house. I really wanted an A8 4.2tdi on saying that I love my BM. Now it has mental power I really cant ever ( well 2 or 3 years ) see me selling it. what would i buy?

360ish bhp 760nm torque and 30mpg How can you buy better?

sdg1871

I agree with you but a car manufacturer has a duty to stay on its dealers to ensure that they treat customers well and maintain minimum standards. This is no different than a restaurant franchisor's obligations to ensure that its restaurant franchisees maintain brand minimum standards.

This is one area where I believe that Lexus has BMW beat -- Lexus dealers seen to be more uniform in quality and treatment of customer. With BMW, some dealerships are terrific and some are horrific.

Don't get me wrong. It will be a cold day in hell before I buy a Lexus (at least based on current offerings by Lexus) over a BMW but BMW should do a better job of ensuring uniformly high quality and customer satisfaction than it does IMHO. This, to me, is a chink in BMW's armor.

swajames

Dead right, Scott. The dealers (or at least some dealers) are indeed the problem. They're far more focused on telling you to give them a "5" on the survey than giving you the kind of service that would actually prompt you to want to voluntarily want to give them good scores. More to the point, as you noted, BMW needs to do a better job at managing the quality of its dealerships and take more responsibility when the dealers disappoint. It's disingenuous of them to hide behind the "dealers are independently owned and operated" smokescreen when it is them who authorize all franchises (and let's not forget that, in a few cases, the dealerships are actually operated directly by BMWNA). They need to remember that like it or not, and rightly or wrongly, the dealer is perceived by customer to the public face of BMW. It should come as no surprise that the manufacturers who tend to score well on satisfaction surveys are those whose dealers put additional effort into the customer experience.

javelin73

You are completely right, what very bad cars they are - my next car can be every brand this world has to offer, there is only one thing that is a must:

It have to be a BMW!

bighersh

Beautiful Car... Even the big ol' wing/spoiler looks good on it.

I'm pretty sure this is the same car the Pontiac G8 (Another awesome car) is based upon.

BMW.Thailand

Hi
My Buddha look what i started, well West is not like East for sure. got some news, BMW will look again and then send the outcome to BBMW germany, i still think a gearbox should last more than 60.000km, i have also had many care, but none come close to BMW when it comes to electrical problems, just look at all the treads here, they say it all, i still think BMW is a nice car, why did i buy it if i did not like it, but i dont NEED al the problems there comes with a BMW, dont you guys think you should have the best for that kind of money a BMW cost, i know they are not expensive in US but they sure is here, i bought a very expensive car and i want the best for my money, sory if you guys dont see it that way.
but please take it easy now, just because i might not buy a BMW again everybody can do what they like.
120.000US$ for a car and it need a new gearbox cost more than 8000 US$ after 60.000km, what would you do???????

stavros

Both the HSV Clubsport in those photos and Pontiac G8 are based on the Holden Commodore made and sourced from Holden which is the GM Australian arm. HSV is Holden's performance division, like M is for BMW but the Pontiac G8 is based on the Holden Commodore SS, and is not a HSV, but more a sports version of the Holden Commodore V8. The Holden Commodore is Australia's best selling car, it actually has been for the last 12 years at least and its main competitor is the Ford Falcon, Australia's equivalent of the American Ford Taurus.

A brand new HSV R8 Clubsport in Australia retails for about AUD$68K, this compares to the retail price of a brand new BMW M5 in Australia of about AUD$250K, even a brand new 550i retails for about AUD$170K, making the HSV an attractive proposition for Australian buyers.

Holden Commodores and Ford Falcons are very popular in Australia amongst companies that use them as fleet cars, taxis and police cars, particularly the base models with 6 cylinder engines. They are generally reliable and fairly cheap to maintain when it comes to parts and servicing. But this hasn't stopped me from owning BMW's for the past 9.5 years, and I cop the flack from friends and colleagues as a result, as they don't see sense in it. But I just love the way they feel and drive, from the steering feel, handling, interior ergonomics (yes iDrive too) including the driving position and solidity, whether it's a 6 cylinder or V8. And I love the styling, no question. I know the E60's have their problems and common issues and it can be an expensive exercise, I have been lucky so far that mine's been trouble free, (apart from an alternator which was under warranty last year), although it's also done low kms but I guess that us as consumers, are not asking too much for a reliable car when we pay a premium price for a premium brand and I can understand the frustration of having a problematic car, especially a brand new one. In hindsight though, I think that I will still buy a BMW again, the 5-series especially is the perfect fit for me and my needs, although I use mine more as a weekend car. I hope one day I will be able to afford the M5.