Originally Posted by David.X5

I get dealer abuse vicariously from my neighbor. No chance I would take my car to a BMW dealer for service.

Anyway, the top two stories are: (I helped Him out). He has a 2009 528. Nothing fancy.

1) it wouldn't start one cold morning. He had it towed to the dealer. They wanted $1000 to replace the battery. About $400 for the actual battery; but then they told him it was standard practice to replace the battery cables every time they change the battery! Another $300 in parts and $300 in labor... Needless to say I sent him to buy a good quality battery for $150 and we installed it coded it to the car together.

2) just recently got a call from him from the dealer. Car was running rough and he got the CEL light. Dealer wanted $1400 for 6 spark plugs and coils. Wasn't sure he really needed new coils, but sent him links to the usual online vendors and he bought the parts for $250 and we swapped it all out in under an hour.

I am curious if this happens to other people - About once a week I start talking to someone about BMW's and they will ask something along the lines of "I like them, but I heard they aren't reliable" or "I sold mine - how can you afford to maintain it".