Problems. Poll: Keep or sell?

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by bcredliner

Were you given a reason why you were not their clientele? Did you unload on them or were you polite and professional? BMW NA always refers you back to the dealer until all efforts to resolve the problem have been exhausted there. Did the dealer say the head was not that way when they sold it?

I would seek out a source that specializes in rebuilding BMW heads or sells high performance BMW heads and see what they suggest. There is source in MN I believe that is very reasonable. It was mentioned in a thread but I don't remember which one.

BMW NA is looking for NEW car buyers for their clientele, not use car buyers.

Life to short dump the car and get something else.

[bcredliner]

Originally Posted by upallnight

BMW NA is looking for NEW car buyers for their clientele, not use car buyers.

Life to short dump the car and get something else.

Sure they like to sell new cars.

On the other hand, used cars need more parts and parts are very a very profitable sale for the dealer.

Regardless, the brand is far too important that BMW anywhere would ever approve of someone telling a customer they are not BMW clientele. I am interested in the rest of the story.

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by bcredliner

Sure they like to sell new cars.

On the other hand, used cars need more parts and parts are very a very profitable sale for the dealer.

Regardless, the brand is far too important that BMW anywhere would ever approve of someone telling a customer they are not BMW clientele. I am interested in the rest of the story.

Unless the car is still under warranty, most X owners will take it to an Indy or perform the work themselves and most owners/Indy will use aftermarket parts.

[bcredliner]

Originally Posted by upallnight

Unless the car is still under warranty, most X owners will take it to an Indy or perform the work themselves and most owners/Indy will use aftermarket parts.

I acknowledge I am basing my opinion on personal business experience with little documentation.

Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex has pop. of around 6 million. I know it is a significant BMW market. There are 8 'BMW' Indy shops that come up on Google. I know a little about each. All 8 do work on other imports. 7 of 8 are not impressive at all, quite small and not pretty. 2 are focused on BMWs but primarily mods. It doesn't appear the BMW Indy business is booming here.

I think that unless a customer requests aftermarket parts the Indy shop would purchase parts that generate the most profit dollars. It seems logical that one of the reasons BMW parts are so expensive is that BMW builds in an attractive wholesale discount that still leaves a nice profit for BMW and the dealer. I know that in general that is very widely used model in any parts business.

There are 3 HUGE BMW dealers in DFW. Service is by appointment that is always 3 to 7 days out. My service advisor guesses 25-30% of the service business is out of warranty owners that are exclusive to the dealer and another 5-7% have some of their work done by the dealer.

It would be interesting to know the total number of members of all BMW forums. I think we are a major representation of a very exclusive, unique and shrinking minority of those that DIY.