Oil Change

[FSETH]

Originally Posted by JCL

FSETH: I guess if you really wanted to be old school you would find a supplier for the API SH oil that was current when many of these vehicles were produced. Bias ply tires are old school too.

Just poking at you, I think owners should do what feels right for them. It is just that there is all this talk of a conspiracy to make our engines fail sooner. I would like to see evidence of engine damage by following the manufacturer's recommendations, thats all.

I agree that everyone should do what makes them happy and what is right for their specific situation. I happen to like the old school plan, because it is very modern technically and changes with the times and advancements. The biggest difference between what they say and what BMW says, imo, is that they are leaning towards wanting to do what is right to properly maintain their car for long term use as opposed to BMW, which is trying to do what is best for their cars and maintain the lowest cost possible to do so. I do keep my cars for extended periods of time (310k miles +/- on my e36 and 111k miles on the X5), so I can't see it hurting to lean towards the aggressive maintenance side over the cost saving side.

[autoque]

If the oil change recommendation is based on mileage or 1-year which ever is closer by BMW, why won't they change the oil on my 08 3.0 which has never had an oil change. The mileage hasn't even reached half of the recommended distance, but it's almost been 2 years since I bought the vehicle. So when I told the dealer I needed one since it's been almost 2 years, they said the maintenance system has both the mileage AND the time tracked so they won't be able to change oil free of charge even though it's way over a year since purchase. The next oil change, according to the computer is sometime in 2010, which is coming closer, but I would've liked an oil change at least once in between.

[Thunder22]

Because service at that dealer sucks.

[Quicksilver]

Maybe that's the way it is with the 08 models but I won that argument
with the dealer by drawing their attention to the written one year
condition which is clearly stated in my 05 manual.
If yours says the same thing then I agree with Thunder 22.

Originally Posted by autoque

If the oil change recommendation is based on mileage or 1-year which ever is closer by BMW, why won't they change the oil on my 08 3.0 which has never had an oil change. The mileage hasn't even reached half of the recommended distance, but it's almost been 2 years since I bought the vehicle. So when I told the dealer I needed one since it's been almost 2 years, they said the maintenance system has both the mileage AND the time tracked so they won't be able to change oil free of charge even though it's way over a year since purchase. The next oil change, according to the computer is sometime in 2010, which is coming closer, but I would've liked an oil change at least once in between.

[nynd]

Originally Posted by autoque

If the oil change recommendation is based on mileage or 1-year which ever is closer by BMW, why won't they change the oil on my 08 3.0 which has never had an oil change. The mileage hasn't even reached half of the recommended distance, but it's almost been 2 years since I bought the vehicle. So when I told the dealer I needed one since it's been almost 2 years, they said the maintenance system has both the mileage AND the time tracked so they won't be able to change oil free of charge even though it's way over a year since purchase. The next oil change, according to the computer is sometime in 2010, which is coming closer, but I would've liked an oil change at least once in between.

You dealer is full of it. They can do it earlier based on time. They code it "early maintenance" I had it done.

[RedRockin]

It makes no sense to me for a dealer to avoid doing this maintenance. don't the dealers get paid by BMW for this work? And, if the maint plan says mileage or yearly (whichever first), what possible motivation is there for a dealer to say "no"?

My sister used to work for BMW corporate. She told me, going into this (my 1st bmw) that the sales experience would be like any other but after it would all be about "The BMW Experience" and customer retention for repeat business and gaining referrals. Frankly, after going thru MY "sales experience" (which was not really "like any other" - much more trying), my experiences with the dealer since then (few) have done nothing to make me want to refer anyone (so far) and I have been following 3 bmw forums for over 2 months and have yet to read much of anything that confirms my sister's claims. All of this completely perplexes me. It takes so little to make owners happy (a few "yes" maint/warr answers, buying advice that covers the options more thoroughly addressing the buyers needs, and some simple accommodations like appointment scheduling to accommodate the customer's needs rather than "be here first thing and leave it all day"). But, instead, I read posts like this where an oil change is denied two years into a new vehicle when maintenance is "included", warranty issues being declined when there are SIDs on the issues, etc. What is wrong with this picture (especially when BMW is taking major ratings hits for "reliability")? I would think bmw would be going the extra mile to make owners happy, improving the "reliability" factor, and using the "driver profile" excuse almost never!

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by RedRockin

My sister used to work for BMW corporate. She told me, going into this (my 1st bmw) that the sales experience would be like any other but after it would all be about "The BMW Experience" and customer retention for repeat business and gaining referrals. Frankly, after going thru MY "sales experience" (which was not really "like any other" - much more trying), my experiences with the dealer since then (few) have done nothing to make me want to refer anyone (so far) and I have been following 3 bmw forums for over 2 months and have yet to read much of anything that confirms my sister's claims.

The simple answer is that BMW Corporate is detached form reality. This often happens to large organizations, particularly when their representatives are franchisees, rather than employees of the corporation.

Many years ago I worked for a major auto manufacturer that provided lease cars to Management as a perk. In addition, the larger locations actually had garages that did all the service work required for these lease cars on-site... people just dropped the car off in the morning to get service or problems solved, and picked it up after work. As a result, they had no idea whatsoever of the experience customers went through with dealers.

One idea at the time was to make the employees with lease cars have it serviced at dealers instead of on-site, so they would get the "real experience." Well, that idea went over like a lead balloon!

I don't know how corporate BMW works, but I would not be surprised if they had some similar "hassle-free" set-up as a perk.

Here's an example of how disconnected BMW is from the real world:

The IRS published advance fuel tax credit for the 2010 X5 Diesel is $1,800. The BMW web site under "build your own" is showing $900. I have written three e-mails to BMW pointing out this error, and others have said the have also informed BMW NA. Yet, they are still understating the tax benefit to potential customers by half.

Now how dysfunctional is that?

Someday BMW NA will be an MBA case study of how corporate isolates themselves from the real world.

[RedRockin]

While I can CERTAINLY accept all you say Penguin (having worked in large corporate environments), in this particular case my sister worked as Assistant Manager of the Service department at a BMW dealership for 2 years prior to working for corporate. Granted, that dealership could have been an exception but if BMW corporate isn't aware of these dealership practices, and taking steps to rectify... I would be very surprised in corporate does not have people monitoring these forums to monitor customers' points of view. if they aren't, it would be another HUGE mistake. I know if I were an exec at corporate, I would be monitoring these forums!

PS. It has been about 8 years (+) since my sister stopped working at BMW. Things change.

[motordavid]

Some non de plume named "Vastek" occasionally puts up a canned response to a serious complaint,
over on the B'Fest board; it is the usual "we want to help, call us" bs, imo.

I don't recall ever seeing a help offering post, by the BMW Suits, here on this board.
Yes, I hope they monitor it, but I suspect it is very occasional and, from experience,
ineffectual, in terms of the excellent give and take info here.
GL, mD

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by RedRockin

I would be very surprised in corporate does not have people monitoring these forums to monitor customers' points of view. if they aren't, it would be another HUGE mistake. I know if I were an exec at corporate, I would be monitoring these forums!

I know they use to monitor the forums, but I thinkBMW is now is a big cost-reduction mode, e.g., taking speakers out of the audio system, removing the life cylinder for the rear access cover, etc. And they continue to understate the tax credit for the X35d by half, despite lots of conversation on the forums about it, and links posted to the IRS information.

So I can only conclude that BMW NA has cut back drastically on their monitoring of the forums, and probably other activities they routinely did in the past.