The World of BMW Service (recommended dealers)

What's happening in the wider BMW scene? Gossip and news about forthcoming models. Plus off-topic chat.
X958
Joined: Tue 25 Jan, 2005 10:43
Posts: 184

  Z3 roadster 3.0i
Location: Manchester

Post by X958 »

Well worth ringing around for quotes for servicing...

Have had good experiences with Halliwell Jones, Warrington ... they were quoting ?322 for an Inspection II on my 2001 3.0.
Similar price from Williams Manchester, ?10 more at BlueBell Wilmslow.
But Benhams Stockport quoted ?285 .... we'll see how good they are next week.

(All prices include VAT BTW).
________
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Last edited by X958 on Mon 14 Feb, 2011 13:54, edited 1 time in total.
Bogey
Joined: Mon 05 Dec, 2005 15:43
Posts: 12

  Z4 roadster 3.0i

Cooper full stop!

Post by Bogey »

Hi Mojo,

Beginning to get same problems with Cooper 7oaks! they are part of larger Inchcape group. Seems like its not just an isolated dealer problem within this group? And, still a problem 1 year after your post-as I am now finding out-only had car-brand new Z4 3.0-for 2.5 months! :roll:

Hope all ok now for you tho? :shock:
derek
Joined: Tue 31 May, 2005 08:50
Posts: 96

  Z3 roadster 2.0
Location: Glasgow, scotland

Post by derek »

Glasgow Independants

Not much experience with main dealers, but I'll have to get myself organised for the bubbling/rusting around the bootlid (covered under 6 year paintwork warranty)

Glasgow Independants:

Niddrie Motor Company in Hampden

Great buying experience here, quality geniune used cars, warranty's provided for up to 4 years!! friendly knowledgable staff. and personally id go back.

Autosolutions in Rutherglen.

Avoid like the plague, clocked cars, no service history, lies deciet and pish from the salesmen. AT ALL COSTS DO NOT BUY A CAR OFF THESE CLOWNS!! You will regret it!!

Ronnie Weaver in cathcart.

Great guy really helpful, reasonable rates and OEM parts. BMW enthusiast through and through

Good luck
///M_aniac
Z Register member
Joined: Sat 30 Jul, 2005 19:34
Posts: 4054

  M roadster S50
Location: Belfast

Post by ///M_aniac »

Oxford_gruen_II wrote:There are just 5 BMW dealerships in N. Ireland. :shock:

Here is my top 3 for different services :nerd: -

For Sales - David Prentice, Portadown :D

For Service - The Country Garage, Kells :wink:

For Parts, Coffee & Pie - Bavarian Garages, Belfast :D :mrgreen: :roll:
Would just like to add to my previous post re bodywork warranty work and my recent experience -

Bavarian Garages in Belfast has it hands down.
BMW Z3, the only way to build a true roadster

Image - The most powerful letter in the world.
Cloz wrote:There is something that will never change is my love for Z3
smartypants wrote:Conor?

With an M??


The World's gone mad :D
smartypants wrote:The Z3 rear is a great thing to behold ;)
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Robert T
Site Admin
Joined: Mon 12 Jun, 2006 10:35
Posts: 10170

  Z3 roadster 1.9
Location: Cheshire

Post by Robert T »

I would thoroughly recommend Bateman BMW, Grange-over-sands, Cumbria. I bought my Z3 from them new and take it to them for all major servicing. I live 90 miles away, but my dad has been a loyal customer for about the last 25 years and they have always been good.

Compared to what I have read on here they are reasonably priced (better than some Indi's), reliable and only charge the things they have actually done. They are always helpful and have some very knowledgeable technicians - one of whom I had a nice chat with about my car whilst he had it on the lift. I have also used them for parts supply, some of which they had to order and I got them just 2 days later - they have even sent one part out to me by post!

I also use my local BMW Specialist (was BMW Autotechnic) to get my car MOT'd and for anything urgent (so far just an intake camshaft sensor) if I can't manage to get the car up to Cumbria.
Last edited by Robert T on Thu 26 Oct, 2006 14:55, edited 1 time in total.
Arctic Silver '99 Z3 1.9 & Black '59 Frogeye 1275cc
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board
Joined: Wed 14 Jun, 2006 17:29
Posts: 44

  M roadster S52
Contact:

Sytner Nottingham

Post by board »

My Latest Dealings with Sytner Nottingham:

One of the first signs of problems was last year when I couldn't find the locking nut for my 323. It had just been serviced and they claimed I must have put it somewhere as it would be in the car when they finished with it. They asked me to go back over so they could work out which type it needed. The engineer came out to test which one was needed. Silly me, I only looked in the toolkit, not in the wheel nuts as that's where they had left it - nice if that had come off at 70mph and hit someone!

My latest trials have been noted in the M Roadster section. I have a '98 M which I bought from the dealership (along with my 323) and have been a customer of theirs for the best part of 9 years (customer loyalty means nothing it would seem).

The ///M had and oil service in April (Just after an MOT where I go under the vehicle also and check everything out) locked away for a month or so and then on an outing i noticed a scuffing sound. Inspected underneath and couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Then on the next outing i pulled out to overtake and was met with a huge bang as the undertray hit the cats eye.

I got the BMW emergency services out who cable tied it in place to get me to sytners. I had to wait a week before i could actually get the M in as they had my 323 at that point and had ordered the wrong parts for it so was taking an age to return. I made a few trips to london and added a couple of hundred miles to the clock of the M in the meantime.

Before calling the E.S. i had a peak underneath the M and it appeared there were no fixing bolts on the front of the under tray (splash guard as they like to call it). it appeared they hadn't been refitted as there is no damage to the holes where they should be fixed in place (what you would expect if i had hid something)

I took the M in and asked them to replace the undertray and actually bolt it on to stop a re occurrence. ( i also had some warranty work carried out at this time). I got a call the following day saying that i would have to pay for the new undertray and the labor to attach it. Cost wasn't the issue here, more of the principal as they couldn't explain to me why the bolts were missing from the subframe and the undertray was in tact where it should have been affixed.

The next statement from them was that the bolts had corroded away and so it was still my fault.

then they suggested i had hit something - my response, yes when it had sufficient air pressure on it to make it hit the ground.

then they decided as a "good will gesture" they would pay for half. Again principals at stake here i refused.

I then went in and spoke to the service manager who finally agreed that i would pay half, get a credit note, and then be credited on my next service.

two more days go by and by this time the M has been with them for a week. I get fed up and want the car back. I go in on the Sat morning and find the M is still on the ramp with only half the work done (noting here that there were no signs of corrosion on the sub frame and also took the old under tray away with me, which i still have). They were unable to find the parts for fixing the tray back to the M and had to order them in. On the following Monday (i deliver a letter to the MD of the Sytner Group) and get a call saying the vehicle is ready fr collection (after agreeing on sat that it would be delivered back to me). i did manage to get in that the car was supposed to be delivered back to me before the service guy hung the phone up on me.

He then calls back later on the monday asking for payment before they will return my M. I, not trusting them anymore, request they deliver the credit note before I pay. the response from the service adviser was "well if i post it out to you now, i doubt you'll get it until thursday or friday" my response "your postal system isn't very good" his response "well i don't deal with that" and promptly hung the phone up on me for the second time.

My letter obviously had some effect as I get a call from the MD. I go through the whole story again with him so he can investigate. He looks into everything and then i'm told that they do not know what the parts are to affix the tray and can't find them on the parts list. They said they had put a request into BMW but i wasn't to hold my breath as it wasn't high priority.

A few more calls later, some more days pass and eventually they put some self expanding nuts in the subframe and bolt it on. returning the M back to me 2 weeks after it went in.

I have requested all the documentation relating to any work done on the M for my time of ownership (over 6 years) and also pointed out that they have never followed the service schedule properly as certain items haven't been replaced. eg. the M Mobility system - i have never been asked if i wanted it changed etc. since buying the car.

Sorry for the long one but I thought i would share it. (it's still ongoing as the MD is still investigating)

Does anyone have the extended warranty and get their car serviced away from the dealers?

I'm also considering Sycamore in Peterborough as a new location - any thoughts on them ?
Rags
Joined: Mon 26 Jun, 2006 20:02
Posts: 92

  M coupe S50

Post by Rags »

Main dealers- they wriggle and wriggle!
bern
Joined: Mon 24 Jul, 2006 18:39
Posts: 7

  Z3 roadster 1.9
Location: East Grinstead

Independent servicing

Post by bern »

GCS Engineering Nr Horsham Sussex (German Car Specialists)
Friendly, thorough and reasonably priced. Lots of know how - they drop porsche 911 engines into VW Combis and kit them out with snakesskin upholstery etc :D :D
tuxman
Joined: Sun 01 Apr, 2007 11:02
Posts: 58

  M roadster S50

Post by tuxman »

Does anyone know what Sycamore bmw is like in peterborough they have quoted us £640 for a inspection 1 with our plus four discount still to come ...don't know a ind near us anyone advise ?
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namatjira
Z Register member
Joined: Mon 19 Feb, 2007 00:29
Posts: 129

  M roadster S50
Location: Brookmans Park

Sycamore's Peterborough

Post by namatjira »

Only used them for a few things. Service Dept seems reasonable. Parts Dept very helpful but sometimes forget to call back if they have to research something.

They can't service my ///M cos it is modified (well they could service the non-mod bits but whats the point) so cannot comment there.
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stu
Joined: Fri 10 Oct, 2003 17:49
Posts: 3540

  Z3 roadster 2.8 supe
Location: On the edge!

Post by stu »

tuxman wrote:Does anyone know what Sycamore bmw is like in peterborough they have quoted us £640 for a inspection 1 with our plus four discount still to come ...don't know a ind near us anyone advise ?
£640 for inspection 1 is scandalous. Nick Whale Warwick do good M prices and 4+ discount and I've used them twice in the past week for 2 different cars and was happy. Gotta be a few £ you could save.
someone in a minority once wrote:I know I'm in a minority
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bmwboi2004
Joined: Wed 05 Sep, 2007 18:33
Posts: 7

  BMW other
Location: London

Scott Hall are CROOKS!

Post by bmwboi2004 »

Bloke wrote:I am 31, bought the car from them 3.5 yrs ago, about 2 yrs ago they changed their policy and now you have to get your insurance to cover the loan car, and Admiral charge £15.75 admin fee to cover other car!!

Still doenst make me a happier man!

Bloke
I agree. Scott Hall Stanmore a a bunch of crooks. Here's a draft letter to BMW UK Chairman Jim O'Donnell.

Dear Mr. O’Donnell,

I am both saddened and elated to varying degrees by the fact that this will hopefully be the last letter I shall be writing to you in respect of the defective vehicle sold to me by BMW Scott Hall Stanmore.

Over the past few months, I have repeatedly been forced to endure the inconvenience of my vehicle not starting and having to constantly drive to the dealership only to be told there’s no fault, when clearly, there is a fault.

After a two month battle, I thought that I had finally persuaded Scott Hall to honour its contractual obligations under the sale agreement. However, it appears that I would have been better off spending that time searching for another vehicle.

This afternoon, I received a telephone call from Dan McCarthy at Scott Hall stating that although they had not corrected the problem with the non-starting of the vehicle, I must nevertheless retrieve my vehicle by Friday, September 7, 2007, because they need the loan car they’ve provided me with for “other customers.”

I must say, this came as somewhat of a shock because on July 20, 2007, when the vehicle yet again failed to start, I was seen by Mr. McCarthy at Scott Hall. In fact, it was Mr. McCarthy who noticed that there “was indeed a fault” because it did fault when he tried to start it on that day. Furthermore, Mr. McCarthy sated that it could be a number of causes including an ignition problem, but that it would necessitate taking apart the front of the vehicle to diagnose. At which point, Mr. McCarthy stated that the only way to identify and cure the defect would be to leave the vehicle with the dealership “for as long as it takes to find and fix the fault.” It is precisely this that I have now done, yet Scott Hall’s attitude has suddenly changed.

It should also be noted that Mr. McCarthy informed me that the dealership has been “test-driving” my vehicle “every two to three hours” yet handling has never been the problem; starting is! If the vehicle starts once, it will start again within a short space of time. What Scott Hall should have done is leave the vehicle to go “cold” and then attempt to duplicate the fault. It’s no use Scott Hall stating that they are “unable to duplicate the fault” when they fail to test the vehicle under the very conditions giving rise to the fault in the first place! Naturally, under these circumstances, the absence of a fault seems a virtual certainty.

Still, I think I have had enough of this game playing. Because Scott Hall is clearly more concerned about its loan car, it can have it back on Friday, as requested. However, because they have by their own admission not repaired my defective vehicle, the very next time the vehicle fails to start, I will return it to the dealership for a full refund of the purchase price. Moreover, if Scott Hall fails to refund me my purchase price, I will file suit against them and recover all of my costs, including, but not limited to attorney’s fees.

Finally, on a personal note, I am disappointed that throughout this incident, you have refused to speak with me personally, or even acknowledge the chronic problems I have experience at the hand of the Company which you are paid to represent. I think that inaction on your part speaks volumes about BMW’s attitude towards its customers.
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Bloke
Joined: Mon 27 Oct, 2003 22:09
Posts: 1111

  Other roadster
Location: London

Post by Bloke »

Dont get me started....They never call you back, you have to chase them.... they are useless.... Once they have your money, they dont care, after sales..... pah.... they dont know the meaning of the word.....

Go to Specialist Cars in Stevenage, they are very good...

I Will never go there again, not if you paid me... Stear well clear......

Bloke
bmwboi2004
Joined: Wed 05 Sep, 2007 18:33
Posts: 7

  BMW other
Location: London

Scotthall BMW --Bad Service

Post by bmwboi2004 »

Bloke wrote:Dont get me started....They never call you back, you have to chase them.... they are useless.... Once they have your money, they dont care, after sales..... pah.... they dont know the meaning of the word.....

Go to Specialist Cars in Stevenage, they are very good...

I Will never go there again, not if you paid me... Stear well clear......

Bloke

You are so right, but it's a little late now. I wish I'd found forums like these sooner so I would have known better.

Still, I'm not past my 6 months statutory presumption period so I think I'll just return the car and let them try to prove why it wasn't defective when they sold it.

BMWBoi2004@yahoo.com
The Colonel
Joined: Sat 16 Jun, 2007 17:53
Posts: 166

  Z4 M roadster
Location: London

Post by The Colonel »

Can I recommend Sytner Harold Wood (Romford)?

I've never had any problem with these, even when they were, previously, Bates or Cooper. I've been using them, with BMW ownership that is, for well over 10 years, and I think the key is that the important people there, mostly Service, are very long-standing members of staff, to the extent that some of the technicians know me by name, even though I had a break in ownership!

Whenever I've had the car in I've been kept-up-to-date with progress (or lack thereof), and always been given the opportunity to make use of the "added value" services they offer, even if it is just a lift to/from the station.

The downside? They are exceptionally busy, so you have to be patient and organised in terms of booking in, and sometimes not getting the car back in the time frame orignally hoped for.

edit: loan cars have been free too...but always subject to availablity.
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Alfie
Z Register member
Joined: Thu 29 Apr, 2004 14:28
Posts: 3312

  M roadster S54
Location: Broadchurch....

Star dealer of the week award.

Post by Alfie »

I bought my 330Ci cabrio from Stephen James of Enfield in March 08. It had less than 10k miles on a 3 year old motor. It is now out of warranty and has approx 16k on the clock. (Yeah, I know...)
It's been a brilliant car and has never let me down in any way, but a few weeks ago the roof mechanism started getting noisy and eventually stopped working altogether.

I took the car back to SJ, which is a bit of a trek from Pinner, but there's NO WAY I'll take a car to those clowns at Scotthall ever again! But that's another story....

I explained that since the car is seriously low mileage, things like this shouldn't go wrong and I would hope for a good will contribution from BMW towards the cost of fixing the problem.

They kept the car for just a day, replaced the hydraulic fluid and reset all the sensors. They didn't charge me for this work, but unfortunately, it didn't fix the problem and we had to spend our West Country driving holiday with the roof up....As you can imagine, I wasn't best pleased.

They took the car again late last week and I collected it yesterday complete with a fully functioning and quiet roof!

They have replaced the hydraulic pump (£900+), replaced a leaking braided hose that only comes as part of a very expensive kit (£1000+) and given the inside a damn good clean!

They successfully applied for 'goodwill' from BMW and although the bill would've been in excess of £2200, they charged me just £133.

I was chuffed to get my fully functioning car back and I was over the moon with the price!

The purchase of the car was really smooth and although nothing has gone wrong with it except the roof trouble, it looks like Stephen James of Enfield really do deserve a gold star for aftersales as well.

Oh, and you can drop off / collect your car 24 hours from a very secure canine protected area!

So if you're in North London, don't hesitate to vist them.

Cheers!
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z4lover
Joined: Fri 29 Aug, 2008 12:27
Posts: 31

  Z4 roadster 2.5i

Oil service south east london

Post by z4lover »

Anyone have any good recommendations for an oil service in south east london?
mooney
Joined: Fri 19 Nov, 2010 17:55
Posts: 160

  Z3 roadster 3.0i
Location: thame

Post by mooney »

Sytner High Wycombe have always been excellent with service and repair.

A few years back we had a 'T' plate 323CI E46 with a cracked sub-frame.
The car was 9 or so years old, and had been out of warranty for over 5 years. We took it in and they photographed the underside and sent off the images to BMW who approved the whole job to be carried out free of charge.
The car was only worth about £4k at the time, and it was being repaired for about 2 weeks.
The bill would have come to quite a bit over £2k we were told.
We were given a free courtesy car for the 2 weeks it was in.

They also serviced both my previous Mini and my mums Mini's and we felt that they were always very honest, and never came back with big bills for things that didnt need doing (like what used to happen a lot at North Oxford)
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SpaceMonkey
Joined: Tue 08 Dec, 2009 15:24
Posts: 174

  blank.gif
Location: Wallington

Post by SpaceMonkey »

Well I popped into Coopers BMW in Banstead on the A217 last week.
I was looking for a replacement tax disk holder & liked the idea of keeping the appearance of a OEM dealership one.
I asked the nice young lass behind the reception where the parts dept were, so popped round & asked the guys if they had any. They told me the sales guys hold them. So off I went back into the showroom.
A sales guy was sitting at his desk not doing very much. I polite asked him if they had any, he looked me up & down & said "Have you asked the parts guys?" I replied saying they'd told me they hold them & then came back with "We only have one per car". I said I was quite happy to pay for one & he just they don't have any :head:
I thanked the young lass at reception again & left.

A friend of mine popped into Coopers of Croydon & asked for me & the parts guy there said "How many would you like?". She only asked for one & he said it was his pleasure.

Now Coopers @ Banstead will never see a penny of my money whether it be for parts, service or even purchasing a vehicle. How ever I will not hesitate to go to Coopers @ Croydon from now on.
Estoril Blue S50 Z3M Roadster
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GazHyde
Joined: Fri 26 Feb, 2010 21:27
Posts: 1347

  Z3 roadster 2.0
Location: Royal Wootton Bassett

Post by GazHyde »

SpaceMonkey,

Sometimes it's the little things with customer service that mean the most - and that's what most companies miss out on!
Guest

  

Post by Guest »

I can recommend Scotthalls in Chandlers Ford. Have had 2 cars from them and sales and after sales has been consistently excellent and polite. With my first BMW (a 3 series cab), I had a few niggles which they sorted out under warranty without a quibble.

Only had one service with them so far (at 12000ish miles on the 3 series) and it was very reasonably priced - £150 cheaper than my Audi A4 Avant which had its first service at the same time! Still can't get my head around that - cheaper to service a 2.5 litre cab than a 1.8 estate? And Scotthalls re-greased the roof mechanism free of charge at the same time because it was a bit squeaky... Not hard to guess which dealer I left feeling a bit conned!
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Mike
Joined: Wed 14 Apr, 2004 10:53
Posts: 288

  Z3 roadster 2.8
Location: la Gacilly, France
Contact:

Post by Mike »

Service Plus in redhill is worth a try. They just did a great job of sorting out my 2.8 blown head gasket. Very pleasant to work with and Gary who worked on my car knows his business.
Pierrick
Joined: Fri 31 Aug, 2012 22:47
Posts: 484

  Z3 roadster 1.9

Re: The World of BMW Service (recommended dealers)

Post by Pierrick »

I can recommand Brystone in Totton (Southampton).
http://www.brystone.co.uk/index.html

I bought a few spares from them and asked for advice while doing the job myself. Thay have been a good help. Thay never had to do any job on my car so far as I do most of it myself.

They are very friendly, I've never seen a garage as clean as this, you could eat on the floor!! And the only guyI know who own a BMW (bought a few month ago) as been advice to service it there by an other garage....

And there is a Ferrari/Mazerati garage just near by and also a garage where they are doing some proper tuning (BMW and others) so plenty of nice cars to look at while your car is beeing serviced!
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