4 years ago
Calgary BWM will not stand behind the service work...
Calgary BWM will not stand behind the service work they perform.
At 75,000 km took my X1 in due to a brake warning light. I was told the rear brakes needed to be completely done to which I agree and they completed the work.
A month later the warning light went on again, so I took the X1 back in, and told them it must be the front brakes because the rear ones were just done. Later they called me and told me that the problem was a broken sensor in the rear brake (the ones they had just worked on a month earlier) however they proceeded to replace the front brakes anyway (really without my authorization) even though that was not the source of the warning light, they explained that the front brakes would ve needed to be done soon anyway, so I was OK with that. What I was not OK with is that they were charging the replacement of the sensor (that they had just replaced a month earlier) because somehow, according to them, I broke it driving over a rock (blame the customer first). Not true, the car was driving exclusively on Calgary roads (I use it to commute only). So I asked them to show me the sensor (I m a mechanical engineer and routinely perform failure analysis). It was very obvious to anyone technically inclined that the failure was due to something rubbing against the cable, so a month of rubbing chewed up the cable, no signs of impact from a rock, the sensor was not properly attached. They finally agreed to pay for the sensor but it was not easy, they never gave me the chance to speak to a service technician, they let you only communicate with customer service (not a technical person) so the experience is frustrating.
Right after the front brakes were done, I took the X1 back because of extremely loud squealing noise. They told me is was normal for high performance brakes (why didn t the original brakes squeal?). At about 15000 km after the front brakes were done I started to feel the steering wheel vibrating when braking, so I took the car in (at about 20000 km after the brake work) and to my surprise they simply told me that I had to do ALL the brakes again, front and rear at my cost, because of signs of overheating due to my driving (the advisor told me I must drive very fast. Not true, and besides BMW cannot be driven fast?). Once again, blame the customer first. The original brakes had lasted 75000 km (the front actually 85000 and it was not yet totally worn). Once again impossible to talk to a service manager or technician, only a non-technical customer service person. I briefly spoke to the general manager who told me he was going to call me back but never did. So I m now faced with re-doing brakes that should ve normally lasted approx. 70000 km, only after 20,000+ km (needless to say, I pay more to have the brakes done at the dealership). Having brakes done is trivial mechanical work so this experience speaks poorly about Calgary BMW competence.