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Anyway to get this far the dealers that I’ve worked with throughout the process have subjected me to untold pain and humiliation. To begin with I had to deal with the cynicism that most service advisors display when they don’t know or understand what the M60 problem is all about. Then there’s the other service advisor who gets called over to clarify and looks at me and talks to me sneeringly with a “This guy just wants something for free” look.
Anyway I don’t expect everyone to agree with my view but I think BMW made a little design flaw and stepped up to the plate by extending the warranty and replacing all the blocks that they’ve done. BMW’s commitment to its customers seems to completely lost to most dealers and sometime even BMWNA representatives. I think BMW is a world-class company (Judging from their products) but their ambassadors seem to fall short of these ideals. The M60 issue is one that requires a straight forward test after which a determination is made based on the results but most dealer here in Houston have immediately pulled out the ten foot pole on me and shown so much reluctance to even run the tests even when I offered to pay for them myself. I had the tests ran two times each at a different dealer and each time I had to educate service advisors to some extent as to what I needed and this has been a tough and sometimes humiliating experience especially because most have acted as though they would lose a great deal if I BMW replaced my engine. I’ve been treated even worse after BMW agreed to replace my engine. My service advisor seemed to feel like he was doing me a BIG favor and refused to give me a loaner car for the week or so that the job will take so I decided to have the block replacement done at another dealership. The service manager told me it was ok and that he’d provide the other dealership all the info they needed including confirming BMW’s approval to replace the block. Everything was settled yesterday and the service advisor at the next dealership told me he had gotten the approval documentation from dealership 1 and asked me to just drop off my car and they’d do the replacement. I drove there during my lunch break (45 min drive each way). He sat me down took my keys then I asked him if we could just talk about what would actually be done. He then enumerated a bunch of things that I’d have to pay for that were not covered by the M60 warranty according to him. He listed Gaskets, any damaged pistons and piston rings, spark plugs and was building on the list when I informed them that I had previously talked to the Houston BMWNA representative who was based at the other dealership and he has told me that the block did not come in pieces and was already fully assembled with all pistons, crank shaft and even spark plugs already in place and that all gaskets required for the job were provided for under the warranty. He then excused himself and consulted with another advisor and then the whole story changed. They now told me that they’d have to run all the tests again and would only do the replacement if it failed. (On a car that we all know passed a few days earlier) the other advisor made a point of adding that “Alex even if your car fails the test it’s already out of warranty because it’s over 100k miles.”
It’s kind of hard to believe or understand what happened here but it did and they both sat there waiting for me to make a decision. A lot of this might have to do with the fact that I’m not blonde and blue eye (no offense to anyone who is) and I’ve been come to expect this kind of treatment from some people while living in Texas. At that point I realized that I was definitely in for a nasty ride all the way. I excused myself asked for my keys back and left. I guess I’m stuck with the first dealer who didn’t treat me any much better. At this point I don’t even want loaner car or anything. I’ll ride the bus or do whatever while my car gets fixed. I actually don’t care any more what they do or how they do it. I just want my car back when they’re done with it. I’ve been humiliated so much that it’s hard to understand. The worst part is seeing other customers getting red carpet treatment while I get dirty rag treatment.
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