Problems with a new BMW

The story continues here

Got my brand new beemer 3 weeks ago and no trouble yet (I say that before I've dug it out of the snow). No squeeks, no rattles, just quality. Much better than my old Golf gti.

The dealership on Frankfurter Ring were great with the handover done in English, friendly and helpful, they even gave me a free beer while I was waiting for the final paperwork to be sorted out - and the receptionist there is fit too which is a bonus!

I guess this guy got a bit unlucky.

No squeaks and rattles should now be the norm unless you are buying a French car. All manufacturers focus on this. It does not mean the car is good quality.

The rule is never buy a car that has been in production for less than 1 year (they are full of reworks and bodges) and don't buy them at the end of life either as the manufacturers reduce the quality content to save money.

Check out JD power of some more objective quality measures. The German manufactures have been sitting with their fingers up their arses for years and have slipped competitively over the years. Especially when it comes to dealers, Mercedes Benz dealers have a legendary bad rep in the UK as well as a reputation for poor quality.

The big winners in the EU soon will be the Japanese manufacturers who have their sights on the VW empire of identical cars with oddball brands. They are super reliable and now are bring out cars competitive in terms of design to EU cars. Look out for further manufacturer consolidation as the market share squeeze hits the EU manufacturers.

BMW will march on though...they have a technical advantage, despite the 1 series.

I've got a fully loaded 130i and it's great - the press reviews are completely off the mark. Plenty of room (4 guys, plus skis - no probs), goes like lightening, and is awesome to drive. Recommended.

Buy something from http://www.auto-koenig.de/html/contact.htm

They are superb and there customer service is excellent. Most of them speak English very well, are very laid back (unusual over here) and you get free coffee, tea, saft, biscuits, chocolates etc.

?

So your 130 is bigger than my mates 330? I ask only because any more than 3 lads with skis and gear in a 3er is pushing it.

Was watching Top Gear yesterday, they loved the 130 as a sporty hatch, but bagged it for price and the tiny rear leg room and small boot. They reckoned the better buy is a 5 door R32 Golf, loads of boot and rear leg space as well as 4wd, better snowboard-mission-mobile.

130i isn't a bad motor at all - great engine, but it's too expensive for what it is, isn't big enough in the back (more boot, more legspace in a Golf), and let's face it, it's a bit funny looking.

Here's my take on the BMW story.
I have lived here almost 5 years and have been dating a BMW designer for 6 years. I have driven them all (except a Z8) at least once. My boyfriend has a 3 year old 525. So far it has only had 2 problems - squeaky seals around the doors (repaired by BMW) and a battery that kept draining because a headlight was defective (later it was recalled for this reason).

He says 1) the electrical parts of the BMWs are the weakest part. The engines are fabulous and the bodies too. Most problems are electrical. I had a Z4 and the window would go up and down whenever you opened the door, the seatbelt buzzer would buzz even when you had the seat belt on and the roof sometimes would not go up - all electrical. 2) BMW Niederlassung on the Frankfurter Ring has the worst customer service known to man. My boyfriend was so incensed because they had the audacity to tell him that the reason his battery was draining on his 525 was because he wasn't driving it enough. They told him he needs to drive it at least 25K kilometers per year so the battery has time to recharge itself. He said 'well, guess I am not the perfect BMW customer and I should drive a Toyota or a Honda' and then he compained formally to the internal people.

3) BMW is well aware of their problems with reliability and are trying to improve and they are also aware that the Japanese are kicking their asses when it comes to reliability.

Seriously. Me driving, one in the front, 2 in the back, 2 pair skis in the inbuilt ski sack, 2 pair on the roof, bags in the boot. All passengers around 6ft. It was fine.

Roof bars made a horrendous racket over 100kmh though!

And yes it is a bit funny looking, but given the main difference between the 130i and 120i is two exhaust pipes instead of one you can shock plents of people off the lights.

yeah but they reserve their absolute worst customer service for employees

OG - I brought my old Z4 in there once with two different problems. I scheduled the first to be fixed on the following Thursday, but the rep then told me that he 'doesn't have time today' to fix my other very small problem (the handle on the glove box came off - known problem, BTW) and could I come back tomorrow. You should have seen the look on his face when I said 'no, I will absolutely NOT come back tomorrow when I am here today and my car will be back again next week!' You WILL fix it next Thursday when you fix the other problem'. He could see that I was not joking and I meant business. His mouth just hung open. I'm sure he wasn't expecting a woman to tell him what to do. Nor does he (or any other German) know the meaning of customer service.

Geez!

I found the customer service at Mercedes in Moosburg superb (but the CLK was hopeless as it continually went to the dealership for various faults that were repaired under warranty) I have also found Auto Koening as per my previous post to be excellent.
I agree that the customer service standards here is abysmal in the most part, but there are some companies that are very good and a lot are improving. (A long way to go before it rivals the UK or USA though)
A trick I use is that I often take a big bag of donuts in for the technicians and this seems to work the world over. (Auto technicians can smell a bag of donuts from 20 kilometres)

hmm, I usually take my Z4 into the one on Landsbergerstrasse (right on the 19 Tram) and have been pretty pleased with the service. the last time (last week) they were so friendly and helpful (explaining what was wrong, how they fixed it, etc. in English no less) that it almost freaked me out.

that would be Automag Buchne & Linde (i think). They also have a service cnetre out near the A94 on the way to the Messe and also a Dealership in Fürstenfeldbrück. I know the Aftersales Manager in charge of all of Automag's locations and I find him to be quite professional and one of the better ones in the BMW net.

Yes, it's probably hit or miss. Some Germans 'get it' (customer service = happy customers) but a lot of others just don't. Even my colleagues who are, because they are working as BMW IT suppliers, really in the customer service business. They very much have a 'it's not my problem and I'm not gonna help you find out whose problem it is' attitude.

It sucks.

Hit and miss, very true. I think the whole of the German customer service industry should go on some sort of customer appreciation course.
Mind you, having worked in the customer service industry, a lot of customers dont help themselves.

I find customers here to be fairly rude and aggressive compared to some other countries. Maybe the people on the recieving end have just adjusted their outlook to counter this.

Or the other way around?

Poor lad!

Love it!!! Pick up your new car sloshed! Only in Germany ...
(Nah, I know you drank responsibly.)
We are on our 2nd car from BMW/Frankfurter Ring, and our only complaint was that it took them 8 weeks to give us the English manual. The service center at Riesenfeldstrasse is great as well. We had our winter tires mounted beginning of November but got the special offer price for October because that's when I called to make the appointment. You just have to persuade them that they want to treat you as something special.