Service Appointment Rides

[Stevens21234]

Any of you guys avoided drives during the service appointment? I'm being told all inspections of the vehicle will require a drive by the tech, even for installation of cosmetic parts. Not too thrilled with this.

[Drizz]

I've heard the same, but I'm taking my car to a different dealer this time b/c I've personally witnessed the techs at my current dealer drive the hell out of the cars. Every time I've brought my last cars in I get them back with 6mpg showing as the average on the computer (which is as low as it goes) and a good 1/8th of a tank of gas missing but only a few miles added. They practically race the cars they get, and I don't want some 17 year old kid doing that to my new M.

On 2 separate occasions I was in their parking lot and would hear a car being absolutely floored down the road coming way up the hill to the dealership, would see a car come up to their entrance and slam on the brakes, then would see it's a tech driving the car and they would drive right into the back.

[JS919]

I just had my 1200 mile service. They drove it 4 miles and burned .5 gallons of fuel according to the BMW Connected app. I was a little disappointed and plan to tell the GM and sales manager.

[SakhirM4]

Originally Posted by JS919

I just had my 1200 mile service. They drove it 4 miles and burned .5 gallons of fuel according to the BMW Connected app. I was a little disappointed and plan to tell the GM and sales manager.

That doesn't seem excessive to me. Only .5 gallons and how much of that was at idle in the stall?

[JS919]

Originally Posted by gmcconn535

That doesn't seem excessive to me. Only .5 gallons and how much of that was at idle in the stall?

.5 gallon in 4 miles equals 8 MPG. I really hope they didn't leave it idling for too long while changing the oil.

I don't believe there is any reason to drive the car after doing an oil and diff fluid replacement. I'm pretty sure that since this was the first M4 that has been there for service someone decided to take it for ride and see what it will do. I'm not too worried about it. I drive the car aggressively myself. I don't think they hurt it, it's made be driven hard. I just want to let the management know that I don't appreciate their employees joy riding in my car.

[04RC51]

I always request the same Technician to do my work and always tell him to make sure he enjoys himself during the drive and lets it eat. That's why these cars were built.

Lets all remember the technicians have all driven nicer and more expensive cars than ours quite often. And they are all insured and bonded by the dealership. While we all love our cars, they aren't Bugattis and we aren't watching them depreciate over those 4 painful miles they put on after service. I'm sure some maniac will be along shortly to protest to BMW to have them reimburse him the 4 miles on his lease.

[Lups]

Originally Posted by 04RC51

I always request the same Technician to do my work and always tell him to make sure he enjoys himself during the drive and lets it eat. That's why these cars where built.

Lets all remember the technicians have all driven nicer and more expensive cars than ours quite often. And they are all insured and bonded by the dealership. While we all love our cars, they aren't Bugattis and we aren't watching them depreciate over those 4 painful miles they put on after service. I'm sure some maniac will be along shortly to protest to BMW to have them reimburse him the 4 miles on his lease.

Nah, I don't think you are insane. More of us should be like you, and maybe then also the the technicians would enjoy their work more, and we would be compensated with a quality jobs done. As an attitude, you sir have the right one. This is getting out of hand, oil can be changed at ones own garage if the fear gets too much to some.

[ZGM3]

My current car (have a deposit for ED on my M3) has spent over 20 days on the track and hardly think that a service tech can drive it harder in a couple miles than I have in a single lap.
Do I like it when a stranger drives my car: NO, but it isn't a big deal.
Theese are cars that are meant to be driven hard.
My concern would be over damage, parking tickets, or service techs using my car to get some fastfood from the drive through window!!!

[IB M]

If you are really that concerned with this issue simply request that you ride along. I did that on my 1200 mile service and the tech asked me if I wanted to drive. I said no you go ahead and we did a lap out behind the dealer then switched drivers and I ran a lap. The car was driven fast and at WOT but I didn't mind because I was right there the whole time.

For me the car is a keeper so I am not going to let anyone I don't know and trust drive it unsupervised. If it was a lease or I planned a new one every three years I would not care.

[jewels]

Originally Posted by IB M

If you are really that concerned with this issue simply request that you ride along. I did that on my 1200 mile service and the tech asked me if I wanted to drive. I said no you go ahead and we did a lap out behind the dealer then switched drivers and I ran a lap. The car was driven fast and at WOT but I didn't mind because I was right there the whole time.

For me the car is a keeper so I am not going to let anyone I don't know and trust drive it unsupervised. If it was a lease or I planned a new one every three years I would not care.

PLUS 1

[chiplee]

Having recently had our X5 repurchased in large part due to the Technicians not test driving it after they "repaired" it, I can completely understand this policy. In our case the CEL popped up as the car was being brought around for me to take it home. Then again the next day a CEL a mile from the dealer. Test drives are part of the deal.

[Needsdecaf]

There is no reason to test drive a car for something like, say, an oil change.

For trim parts, I can understand. They need to understand if the parts are secured at speed.

[milpar34]

Originally Posted by Needsdecaf

There is no reason to test drive a car for something like, say, an oil change.

For trim parts, I can understand. They need to understand if the parts are secured at speed.

The 1200 mile inspection is just that. It's an inspection. That's what I was told at the performance center. I can see how a test drive is part of an inspection. Also I was told that changing the diff fluid, for example, is at the service tech's discretion IF they feel it's necessary. That's why it's an inspection and not a service.

[chiplee]

Originally Posted by Needsdecaf

There is no reason to test drive a car for something like, say, an oil change.

For trim parts, I can understand. They need to understand if the parts are secured at speed.

Again, when you're dealing with modern lemon law you get to a point where you just cover your bases. I don't know who is setting the policy, but what if they fill oil from a 50 gallon drum and the filler line for the oil had a measurement device failure on this oil change. They think they put in enough but it's a quart low. Out X5 can't provide an accurate oil level until after you drive the car. What If the auto torquing socket the tech replaced the drain plug with failed to apply any torque and the drain plug falls out in a mile? What about other potential human error? With humans in the equation anything can go wrong. One system of checks and balances is to test drive everything. I get the ridiculousness of it but I understand the policy.

[04RC51]

The ridiculousness of the situation is that people think the Techs are joyriding our cars and beating on them all day long. There is no way they are going to do anything you haven't already done to it yourself. It's just a car, it's under warranty and as much as this pains all of you to hear.........it's only a BMW M3/4. We all love our cars but they aren't Bugattis.

I really wonder how alot of you get through a single day of life if this is the type of stuff that chews up your mental energy.

[ES_TRADER]

So the techs are going to take your car and mash it down a public road, risk getting a ticket and losing their jobs? You hit the lockdown in this car and you're already doing 70mph+ on local roads.

[SakhirM4]

Originally Posted by 04RC51

The ridiculousness of the situation is that people think the Techs are joyriding our cars and beating on them all day long. There is no way they are going to do anything you haven't already done to it yourself. It's just a car, it's under warranty and as much as this pains all of you to hear.........it's only a BMW M3/4. We all love our cars but they aren't Bugattis.

I really wonder how alot of you get through a single day of life if this is the type of stuff that chews up your mental energy.

[ando]

I'm not concerned. My dealer is very professional. They gave me a new fully optioned i3 for the day. I treated it with respect but tons of confusion.