Are they really that bad? BMW Main Dealer Service (Part 1)

[@JerryWalker001]

I just took my F30 in to the local dealership for an MOT. I scanned for error codes and service due before taking it in (but did not tell the dealer I had done it). The car was running perfectly when I took it in and did not have any errors. 2 hours later they called me saying that the engine warning light was on but they did not know what error codes were causing it and wanted £180.00 per hour to investigate. Two days later they came back with a list of erroneous error codes and told me it would cost over £3000.00 for all the work and that additional work may be needed. I told them Not to do any work and went to get the car back. I refused to pay their bill. When I got home I scanned the car again and found that EVERY service item interval was now red and saying 'overdue'. I then went to a specialist BMW repair shop and they could not find anything wrong and only charged me £90.00. I will NEVER go back to a BMW dealership.

[@Rambo9700]

I currently have an X5 which I purchased a year ago, it’s just had its first service and not with BMW. I did have a 6 series before. BMW said it needed new brake discs and pads, over a £1k to do. Just under a year later they offer a free complementary car check, I book it in. I get the video and told I need new discs and pads, most of my milage is 95% motorway with little braking going on. I said they’re less than a year old but they tell me they need changing. I took it to my independent who I have been going to for 20yrs and ask him to check, he says there is plenty of life in them. They were changed again 2yrs after BMW said they needed doing. They just want to rip you off.

[@JoeLamOfficial]

That’s terrible and annoying when they blatantly lie. To be fair. I have asked my dealer before about my brakes as they don’t feel like they are stopping that well and look rusty. Which surely means the disc or pad isn’t working? Anyhow. I kept asking if I should do something or something but they kept recommended against it since they said thrrrs plenty of life left on the disc and pad. But they would if I insist but they don’t recommend it. But doenst make sense to me if the rust isn’t coming off and I feel like the brake isn’t as efficient. But yeah I have had other experience where they insist on changing pollen filter for like £150 even though I’ve done less than 200 miles between the one year service. Of course I said no.

[@AyamShrek]

quality content mate

[@JoeLamOfficial]

Thanks mate. Appreciate the feedback. Good to know if I'm on the right track or not.

[@PradoPlacesOz]

Good video Joe

[@trikki69]

As with all BMW M cars, they cost a fair amount every year to maintain and the older they get (E92) the more they will cost to keep them in good working order. But this is what you sign up for when you buy one, you know that road tax is going to cost a lot and that insurance will be too as well as dealer servicing (I believe it's call the "M Car tax") I estimate that my car costs me about 2.5K per year to keep on the road. I run my M4 Comp on shell vPower as higher octane fuel is all ways better for the engine, used to do the same with my E46 M3 too, this is yet another example of additional costs. Totally agree that this BMW main dealer has dropped the ball here - thankfully, I'm no where near Dick Lovett.

[@JoeLamOfficial]

Hi there. That’s very true. Well I’ve had 2xE92 M3s for long enough to know all the cost. But rather terrifying if I add the costs up. Haha. I’m not sure if I will return to this particular dealer for the next service. Did you skip the E9x from?

[@trikki69]

Joe Lam yep, didn’t bother with e92. The performance was there but I felt the tech in the e92 wasn’t a big enough upgrade to warrant the purchase. I adore the engine in the e92 m3 and it still looks awesome but I love my tech so waited for turbos, cameras and DCT.

[@JoeLamOfficial]

Fair point. I recently had my first experience but I felt like the tech was starting to detract from the experience. Even though I do like gadgets.

[@LukeWeb1992]

I took my bmw in for a seasonal health check and fluid top up tyre pressure check etc and cam cover gasket. They did not provide any video or inspection sheet except tell me I had an oil leak... as soon as I left I checked the tyres they were all odd pressures some lower some higher and the fluids had not been topped up. They are all liars and ill be making a video soon.

[@JoeLamOfficial]

That's not good, they have done the video thing for quite a few years now, surprised you didn't get one? Maybe it's dependant on dealer?

[@LukeWeb1992]

This was with Williams bmw

[@MrEchoNov]

Oil service is due, would people recommend i do it at dick lovett bristol or at a local garage with a bmw specialist?

[@Mafr0]

2:34 'Dick Lovett' - What a name! Worthy of large format sigage for sure!

[@JoeLamOfficial]

I still find the name strange even though I've been here for many years.

[@anthonyhudson431]

Is a bmw ok for a daily driver? For long distance I’m getting a 330 2019 but I’m coming form a 2016 accord so idk

[@JoeLamOfficial]

If you can afford it (fuel, running cost, maintenance etc) then yes. Cars are meant to be driven. Usually do more damage by driving it so little as I have experienced many times. Things will leak, rust or break from parked up too long. Drive it 😉

[@mohammedalrugaib4344]

You cant conpare BMW to Japanese cars. Its not Apple to Apple.

[@MatthewChapmanYT]

Hope your enjoying your loan payments

[@ianmorgan4899]

8:06 (00:14 on the technicians time) is that a broken earth strap?

[@JoeLamOfficial]

Well spotted. Yes the exhaust earth strap is broken. :( Needs replacing.

[@timbitzzz]

2:28 - Don't I know it 🤣🤣🤣

[@JoeLamOfficial]

😆 always unfortunately.

[@bestariel._.yuh029]

I’m due for a spark plug change at my next oil change. But then again a low mile interval. I may just skip it. In the future, do you plan to invest in the tools and do a DIY? We can use your KZbin tutorials. As always great video content! Long live the ///M3 E92 🏁🇩🇪👍🏼

[@JoeLamOfficial]

Hey bud. I've done about 2000 miles since last year. I will take a look at the filters at some point, probably just need a pat to get rid of some dust (I imagine lol). Two reasons why I've resisted doing some bigger tasks myself, a) I don't really have the tools, or the skill is the bigger issue haha and secondly I want the stamps. Not really sure how much it matters if I sell it one day, but somehow went down that route. I'll think about it! Thanks for the support bro'. Appreciate it. Another one coming soon hopefully.

[@bestariel._.yuh029]

Noooooo..... don’t u ever sell the last true M3!😆 I can’t think of any car out there that has this level of performance, comfort, reliability, gorgeous body style, driving characteristics, intoxicating sound etc. Ordered mine to spec and I have no reason to sell mine; it’s a keeper for sure. Looking forward to part 2 😊

[@pistonpoweruk]

nice vid. they didnt tell you that you have broken exhaust earthing strap.

[@pistonpoweruk]

sorry just saw the end of the video ha

[@JoeLamOfficial]

@@pistonpoweruk Haha no worries, the video didn't mention it, but to be fair. Closer look at the documents, it did mention it. I just missed the paperwork and spotted the video myself. Thanks for making it to the end of the video!!

[@liv2ska8]

Man that sucks that they found problems with the car and it wasn't even showing up on the computer.

[@JoeLamOfficial]

Could have been so easy for them to check in this case with just a loose cable!

[@armanmaaba600]

Why they didn't recommend about your deferential leaked. Well maybe that's BMW. We at Mazda if it has a leaked recommend it for further inspection so that the affected parts can be replaced and no additional damage will happen in the future.

[@JoeLamOfficial]

They did previously. But trouble is that they tried to blame the noise from the small leak in the diff which is definitely not the case. That small leak wouldn't suddenly make such a noise. But it only started when they changed the oil. Which we suspect was the wrong grade of oil. Since most BMW are rear wheel drives, but a normal BMW and a M car uses different type of oil. And low and behold, as soon as they used the correct oil - it didn't make any more noise. I don't think it's coincident.

[@ScottSummerhayes]

Does Carley tell you which Cam Sensor is acting up? There is four of them, one for each bank of cams! Its not often (but not unheard of) that they fail so considering they would of been messing around the back of the engine on bank 4&8 to get the plugs out (which is a BITCH in the car) then it's likely they have caused the issue if it wasn't present before (or at least thats what i'd be demanding!). Double check the wiring going to them, although you'd hope a BMW -Tech would have checked all the obvious things!

[@JoeLamOfficial]

Hey bud. Yeah it says bank 1 outlet. That narrows it down a lot. Don’t want to jump to conclusion but I am sceptical that it would go bad precisely now. Although possible. I’ll give them a benefit of doubt and take a look asap. Need to get the cover off to see if there’s any damage or if the connection is secure. Hopefully simple fix either way.

[@LARRYLEMUZIK]

At 8:06 check it out. Bad ground wire

[@JoeLamOfficial]

Great spot! Yeah - the strap is broken. Need to replace it at some point. 😕

[@JJ-jx9up]

Why didn’t they give you a loaner car?

[@JoeLamOfficial]

They don’t have that many. If you want to wait for an appointment with loaner car usually takes like a month or more sometimes. Didn’t have time to wait because of my scheduled track day. :/

[@willielarsson9651]

If you love terrible customer service, and love £60k EVs that have charging faults, if you love that you can't speak to a technical person about the fault and love that you'll need to wait more than a month to get it seen at a dealership ..if you love all this, you'll love a BMW. If you dont love this.. Buy an Kia EVO 6

[@JoeLamOfficial]

Ouch. That sucks. I thought Kia is okay with their service as a experienced car manufacturer. I thought they had super long warranties etc? Would have expected them to be more proficient when it comes to things like this?

[@charlottebetsworth8797]

Wow, wow , wow . Madness . Non of that stuff needed doing . You must have deep pockets Jim: I reckon u earn one million quids a week to pay that . I have a 5 series that is 20; years old and done 2490000 miles. It’s never had the diff oil changed or that other nonsense . I know because I bought it new and it has never been to BMW for a service . You are throwing your money away on nonsense

[@JoeLamOfficial]

Hi there. Thanks for checking out my video. Maybe they don’t make them like they use to anymore as people say. I highly doubt these modern high revving engine would survive that long without service. With the DCT and whatnot. Considering I already have a small leak in the gearbox and output shaft. Mines less 40k miles. But yet again, maybe it wouldn’t leak as much if it’s driven more and not let to dry out with the seals etc ? Not sure. Lol PS. Don’t have deep pocket. Hence I don’t drive it much at all

[@Medea007]

@@JoeLamOfficial DIY is the way to go.

[@JoeLamOfficial]

I don’t trust my own skill yet to work on the car for the proper mechanical bits 🥲

[@MrZekToR]

Truly rip off pricing.

[@JoeLamOfficial]

Agree. Some stuff I get has a cost to it material or labour. But things like air filter. Literally takes 5 mins and they charge like an hour labour. 😒 whaaaat

[@steffydog]

Man, bugger.

[@JoeLamOfficial]

Definitely was an experience.

[@mcmechanic8910]

Youre in Bristol 👌👌👌

[@JoeLamOfficial]

Haha well spotted. xD

[@mcmechanic8910]

@@JoeLamOfficial repping haha, I'm a mechanic myself, got offered a job at that dealer

[@JoeLamOfficial]

Really? That’s cool man. If I go back, will you look at my car haha? 😜

[@michaelmakdissi]

First