Time to change brands? Maintenance woes and rude rep at BMW NA

lay3r3 · #1 02-26-2010, 06:21 PM

I'm steaming mad today and was hoping to seek the collective input from the group. Talk me off the ledge...

I've been a very vocal supporter of my X5... LOVE it, even through all its quirks

I drive low mileage... like 7k a year, so it goes in once a year for the maintenance and that's about it. The little e46 328i I had before the X was great also. And the old Beamer cycle I had years ago... same story, awesome. So when my wife was due for a new car, it only made sense to continue the love affair. She liked the e90's so we picked up a CPO 330i. Loved driving it, not as powerful obviously as the X5 but it's like buzzing around in a go-cart. Tons of fun. BUT... the damn maintenance light seems to pop on ALL THE TIME. I'm probably over sensitive b/c I'm used to just one visit a year but damn, this has independent maintenance systems now, all on their own schedule. So we're learning to deal with it but I hit the wall today. The damn oil change light came on after like 2k miles and 4 months from the last one. So I call the dealer and ask WTF is going on here. He told me that the September change was "low mileage oil change" as recommended by BMW - once per year minimum change. I ask why they don't reset the counter on the oil at that time and he said they can't... aren't allowed by BMW. Well, I can't beat the guy up too much if he's operating within parameters he doesn't set. So he gives me BMW NA's number... I talk to a nice guy named David who says I need to talk to a case manager. I get transferred to Brian. Brian... let’s just say Brian must have been having a bad day. I am asking Brian to help me understand why you wouldn't reset the mileage counter when you put new oil/filter/gasket etc. No answer, just says it's the policy. I keep asking different ways, keep getting the policy recited to me. He told me they do NOT recommend the annual low mileage change and b/c I did that it's not on BMW that I now am supposed to change the oil again. Said I shouldn't have changed it in September. We debated the "finer" points of their maintenance program but really after just being told over and over again it's policy and, quite frankly, being talked down to I asked him to forward me an official position from BMW NA on the policy so I could address it with the dealer. I've forwarded the response to the dealer but damn, is this what I should expect from BMW NA? This was my first time calling them. A serious attitude and two oil changes a year and he-said-she-said dealer/manufacturer relationship? He actually told me that dealers are independent and they do not stand behind the dealer recommendations as they can recommend anything they'd like.

Sad that after so much good loving with my BMW's over a 15 year spread I'm now thinking strongly of changing to a different brand. I feel... sad.