Craig:

Sorry to hear about the problems. I would let them refinish the wheels, and if I couldn't see the repair afterwards it would be fine. If it still showed, I would ask for new wheels. Just my opinion.

If I understand correctly, you purchased your car from a dealer 2 hours away because they had a lower price, while a dealer close to you wanted more for the initial sale. Is that right? Do you have any relationship with the selling dealer? I think that there is a correlation between dealers who make a fair profit and can reinvest that in customer service, vs dealers who are just moving cars out the door at very low margins, and don't reinvest in customer service. The concept of buying at less than list is at odds with reinvestment in the business. I am not excusing bad service, and the worst situation is to pay a higher price and still get bad service, but there are a couple of different business models out there, and I choose to buy from a dealer that has a fair price (not the lowest) but provides a better overall experience. I think that is very criticial to have that dealer relationship when dealing with a new car model and potential teething problems, and to argue your case in front of BMWNA if there are problems.

I have worked for dealers, and for a distributor that has sub-dealers, with other brands than BMW. Just my $0.02.

Yes, I purchased the car out of town for a lower price. I did ask BMW to replace the wheels. It took them 1.5 months to let me know they will only refinish them. My local dealer said not to refinish the wheels. The service manager said it could peel later and wouldn't be as good as the factory finish. I talked to the local dealer and will take my car there for service. I do have a relationship with the local dealer. I've known the service manager and owner for several years. I don't trust BMW to have some after market wheel person come and refinish my wheels. If they screw up my wheels worse than they are now, I'm stuck. I don't trust BMW to step up and replace the wheels if they don't turn out good. This is the first and last car I will purchase from Plaza Motors St. Louis. All my other BMW's were purchased at West County BMW St. Louis and never had a problem with service. When I take my Lexus to the Lexus dealer, I don't have to worry about my car being damaged. They also would have replaced the wheels if there was a problem. I'm on my 5th Lexus now all from the same dealer. There is no excuse for BMW, or the dealer...

Regards,

Craig