X5 reliability. and doctors/HMOs. (archive)

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In Reply to: X5 reliability posted by maybe X5er on December 17, 2000 at 11:19:04:

I am a physician, and no HMO has ever stopped me from treating a patient. Being a surgeon, I have never EVER been unable to do what is medically INDICATED or NECESSARY. It may take a phone call or brow-beating some idiot at the HMO, but I've never had to deal with anyone past that. It's a very easy situation to fix.... I don't think that statement is fair to ALL physicians.

About the X5. I am very sorry, and apalled, that a significant number of people have had terrible problems with their X5s.

I received my X5 in July, and I have not had ANY of the above mentioned problems EVER. In fact, I have added many aftermarket hardwired electrical products, and was happy to find that for the most part, the X5 was built to BMW specs despite being built by US autoworkers as my last BMW, a german built E36 M3.

No car, or marque, is perfect, except for a specialty car like a Ferrari.... hand built, hand tested, and very very expensive.

Get off the "BMW Sucks" high-horse. If you are having problems with your dealership/service department, go to another. Everybody knows there is usually only ONE dealership in an area that is superior in all aspects.

Avoid dealerships that sell more than one marque per location... that usually means they are not high volume enough to support a completely independent BMW operation... they are therefore NOT experts in the service and diagnostic dilemmas sometimes involved.

I had an episode here in NH where I took delivery of my X5 originally bought in Chicago.. I was shocked. It took 3 attempts to get the correct mirror housing for the X5 that I dinged backing our of my garage. They sell BMW/Pontiac/Buick/Volkswagen, and could not read the parts specs in GERMAN, so they kept ordering the wrong COLOR. They apologized each time saying "we don't know much about the X5... it is new".. Bullshit. I called my Chicago dealership (Perillo), and in 30 secs over the phone, had the exact correct P/N and color piece needed.. it was a perfect match. They only sell and service BMWs at their location...... I now will have my X5 serviced in Boston when the time comes, as I contacted the Boston CCA and found out WHERE exactly to take the X5. In response to the dealership in NH, all it took was ONE threat to call BMW NA and tell them of my parts saga, and they comp'd the part, and next day air to my house for their screw ups. I did not trust their department "we don't have enough experience to fix the mirror housing".... so I changed it myself, and cursed myself for moving to such a BMW dealership-less area...... competition BREEDs excellence in a dealership, you just have to FIND the right one..

In fact, ask around several BMW dealerships and shops, or more importantly, join your local BMW CCA group, and ask them WHO and WHERE to take and service your car. You may be surprised what they say about where you are at.

Moreover, use the OWNER's CIRCLE at the BMW NA site.... you can email BMW directly, and they respond within 2 working days. I was shocked. I received a phone call from them regarding the CPT7000/8000 phone issue some months back immediately. the gentleman left his direct 800 number with my office, and called my cell, and sent an email.. I was shocked to have such a timely and personal response.

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