[Sharif]

Hi Everyone,
I took my car in for the inspection 2 service last Thursday.

Yesterday I noticed the engine cover was never touched because some nuts were loose before and after the service.... Long story short, I decided to check if the spark plugs were changed. Here were my results

I am positive they didn't do the valve job also. They keep stating they did the work. LIARS

STAY AS FAR AS POSSIBLE FROM THOSE LOSERS grrrrrrr
They have been reported to the various consumer organizations.

 

[Mvious]

I am speechless, Do you know what tech worked on your car. I normally have a good experince.
I am sorry about your car, but thanks for the info. I was using Hassle BMW and they jerked me 1 time to many, so I started going to Habberstad.

Are there any good Dealers out there in our area.


Regards,

Marion

 

[mricorp]

I already knew about them.

I had an incident last year where my car got swallowed by a pothole on the Cross Bronx. Two blown tires, two bent rims, an alignment disaster, and a broken air intake.

I always used World Wide where I bought the car but since I live on LI now I figured I would give Habberstad a shot. When I called the dealer and told them that I was going to have roadside assistance tow the car there they said fine but they did not have an appointment available for three weeks. When I told them the car was disabled they pretty much told me they didn't care and I could have it towed there but they still would not even look at it for three weeks. Then came the famous question "Did you buy it here?" When I explained no but I recently moved nearby they told me that they didn't know when they would get to it but it wouldn't be for a "long time".

Funny I thought BMW's were BMW's no matter where they were purchased. When I met one of their salesman a few months later he asked if I purchased my cars from them and I told him the story. He told me they only do that to "weed out the rif-raf". Can you believe that crap!! $80K for a car and I'm "rif-raf"!!!

One quick note however, immediatly after the incident I contacted World Wide and they took me right in, replaced all broken parts and repaired the car within two days. Kudos to World Wide and Joe in their service dept.

If you can get up to Spring Valley give them a shot. I have had nothing but positive experience with them.

 

[Sharif]

Marion,
If I'm not mistaken the tech was "Tommy" tech #541. BMWNA was billed 7.5 hours of labour.


On one occasion I couldn't get there on time to get my car so I asked for a "late pick-up". They flat out told me they don't offer that. So I told them to leave the car unlocked with the keys hidden; they did that. When I went to pick up the car the SES light was still on. I went into the show room and to the receptionist and let her know the light was still on.
While talking to her, a guy came to pick up his X5 from service. Someone pulled his car out and he was given all of his paper work. Take that for what it's worth......

I have come to the realization that these NY dealers have far too much business and they just don't care. I'm going to try Park Ave BMW in NJ next....

 

[toolape]

All-

I live in NYC and own a 2001 M5. I bought it a few months ago and love it. You may have seen my thread recommending my mechanic to others. It's entitled "NY/CT Mechanic Recommendation."

Long story short, he's done great aftermarket work, been fair, picks up my car and takes it to the dealer for any warranty work (much of which I couldn't get on my own), etc. If you're looking for a good guy who can get things done for you, zap me a PM. I don't want to blast his name/number on the board - I'm not sure how he'd take it.

He's in Stratford, CT. But again, he picks up my car and drops it off and has other clients in NYC.

Pete

 

[FAST 5]

I already knew about them.

I had an incident last year where my car got swallowed by a pothole on the Cross Bronx. Two blown tires, two bent rims, an alignment disaster, and a broken air intake.

I always used World Wide where I bought the car but since I live on LI now I figured I would give Habberstad a shot. When I called the dealer and told them that I was going to have roadside assistance tow the car there they said fine but they did not have an appointment available for three weeks. When I told them the car was disabled they pretty much told me they didn't care and I could have it towed there but they still would not even look at it for three weeks. Then came the famous question "Did you buy it here?" When I explained no but I recently moved nearby they told me that they didn't know when they would get to it but it wouldn't be for a "long time".

Funny I thought BMW's were BMW's no matter where they were purchased. When I met one of their salesman a few months later he asked if I purchased my cars from them and I told him the story. He told me they only do that to "weed out the rif-raf". Can you believe that crap!! $80K for a car and I'm "rif-raf"!!!

One quick note however, immediatly after the incident I contacted World Wide and they took me right in, replaced all broken parts and repaired the car within two days. Kudos to World Wide and Joe in their service dept.

If you can get up to Spring Valley give them a shot. I have had nothing but positive experience with them.

Wow.... Rob, THANK YOU !
I've tried to say what you've just stated in a suttle way about other BMW dealers in the NY/NJ region but sometimes ones words falls on deaf ears. The techs at Wide World of Cars/BMW take apart, work on and then reassemble Ferrari cars, Maseratti cars and BMWs all day long ! One person actually questioned me about whether my Dinan techs have the capability/know how, to do work on his car (M5), which made me just about fall of my chair! My Dinan techs could do the Dinan mods in their sleep, that's how well they know the M5 and M3 cars. Servicing any ///M car is a walk in the park for my BMW Dinan techs. This is just one of many reasons why I chose Wide World BMW, when starting the Dinan program at the dealership. You think BMW customers are anal, well you haven't seen anything until you've delt with a Ferrari customer, who happens to be buying a BMW for his wife, girlfriend or mistress. If anything goes wrong or the slightest thing is not to their expectation, look out!
Wide World BMW is obviously doing something right, when it comes to catering to Ferrari, Maseratti and BMW patrons.
So our newest clientel are Dinan BMW owners.
If any of you NY/NY boys need something done, call me.
Robert :M5thumbs:

 

[FAST 5]

Here's another opinion, which simply backs up my words......

Hey Guys,
If you check out the latest edition (April 2005) of Roundel Magazine, you can flip to page 8 and take a look at the the second article at the bottom of the page titled, " I didn't want to diddle, so I bought a Porsche." The writer goes on to say, Wide World of Cars/BMW has the finest service dept. in the country! Read it and see or should I say, draw your own conclusions.
Last but not least, you guys have me here to oversee any and all of your Dinan/service needs.
Robert :cheers:

 

[nlk10010]

Hi Everyone,
I took my car in for the inspection 2 service last Thursday.

Yesterday I noticed the engine cover was never touched because some nuts were loose before and after the service.... Long story short, I decided to check if the spark plugs were changed. Here were my results

-snip-

I am positive they didn't do the valve job also. They keep stating they did the work. LIARS

STAY AS FAR AS POSSIBLE FROM THOSE LOSERS grrrrrrr
They have been reported to the various consumer organizations.

Well, that doesn't surprise me a whole heck of a lot. When I was in the process of buying my car I tried a number of LI dealers and Habberstad was about the most inflexible one I encountered; no discounts and like they were doing me a favor selling an M5 to me. So I figured: if they treat me this way BEFORE I buy the car what are they going to do afterwards? I ended up near where I live (won't name the dealer but suffice it to say I wish I lived in a house that looked as good as their showroom complex ) because the salesman was VERY GOOD (meaning he LISTENED and LEARNED). They've treated me well although my impression is they don't sell many M5s.

Thanks for giving us all a warning and sorry about your experience: I guess we can look on the bright side and be glad they didn't ruin your car and BMW is on the hook for the money.

=NLK=

 

[DavidS]

Well, Sir... The spark plugs need to be run in for a special vehicle like the good ol´ M5. As a courtesey to our patrons we always have one of the tech boys spend very many hours running the new spark plugs in. This is very, very improtant to get absolutely consistent performance before and after Inspection II. If you were to use non run in spark plugs, ther would be a performance glitch, and you would definitely not want the performance of your fine M5 to be different just because you had the Inspection II done, would you Sir? No, Sir! You would most definitely not. It would be dangerous in a high performance automobile like yours.

If you were to have Inspection II performed at another dealer´s service department you would notice how they might use non-run-in spark plugs. You can directly see if a sprk plug hasn´t been run-in - it is all shiny and doesn´t look like at all like a properly run in spark-plug.

Here at our fine establishment we always use extremely well run-in spark-plugs, as a courtesy to you, our valued customer. We value your business. That is why we on the house provide you with absolutely guaranteed identical performance before and after Inspection II. Very few other dealers do this as consistently as we do.

David

 

[DrJimM5]

I've bought a couple of cars from them over the years and found the service to be somewhat inconsistant. That is to say, they try hard, but sometimes just don't get the job done. No excuses why since they should have well trained techs. Tony, now AM, is a good guy. My advice is speak to the service manager first, may still be Fred and then beyond if necessary. Let us know.

 

[x703jko]

...I am positive they didn't do the valve job also...

There's a valve job on an Inspection II? It's not listed as a such by BMW.

Jeff :cheers:

 

[Sharif]

I've bought a couple of cars from them over the years and found the service to be somewhat inconsistant. That is to say, they try hard, but sometimes just don't get the job done. No excuses why since they should have well trained techs. Tony, now AM, is a good guy. My advice is speak to the service manager first, may still be Fred and then beyond if necessary. Let us know.

Dr. Jim,
great to see you online !! :byebye: How's the "red devil" ?

I talked to Tony today, they said they didn't know they were suppose to be changed... I asked my SA a couple times and he guaranteed it was done. He even went to the tech and verified it was done... I absolutely don't trust these guys at all!
Now in order to get this work done BMWNA is making me take it back to these guys... :sad2: Great huh ?

Regards,
Sharif

Robert, I would love to come up to WW of Cars. It's just quite far and I won't have any way of getting back home :flag: I will definately keep you guys in mind for the next car I get.

Thanks everyone for the support, I really appreciate it :cheers:

 

[FAST 5]

To Sharif & all other NJ/NYers................

When you bring your car to Wide World BMW, you'll get a free BMW loaner car! So, there's no such thing as being stuck!!!

 

[jjc1843]

Sharif:

So sorry to hear about your experience. Those plugs definetley look like they haven't been out of the engine for a long time.

As far as running in a new set of plugs...bullgrrrrrrr .

I went from Competition to Habberstad when I got my M5. Time to reconsider. To get an appointment for some standard service was quite a long time. Although I did not buy my car from them, the SA, forget his name, was helpful. Still, the place does seem quite overworked.

Sharif, if you are looking for an independent shop on LI, let me know, I got a great set of guys over at RPM racing in Huntington.

 

[jjc1843]

Re: To Sharif & all other NJ/NYers................

When you bring your car to Wide World BMW, you'll get a free BMW loaner car! So, there's no such thing as being stuck!!!

Does that include CPO service?hmmm

Joe

 

[kosmo]

I would get a lawyer!

I always had good experience at BMW of Darien

 

[DavidS]

As far as running in a new set of plugs...bullgrrrrrrr .
.

Good heavens! Where is the sense of humor?

I tried to be funny. I was being sarcastic! I just wrote a "service advisor monologue", like that kind of person would speak to convince a car owner that everything is ok (when it is not).

I thought I was so obviously sarcastic, that there was no room for misintrepretation what-so-ever.

Of course there is no such thing as mounting pre-run-in spark plugs. It is an expression I came up with as a metaphore for not replacing the plugs at all.

David

 

[ard]

Good heavens! Where is the sense of humor?

I tried to be funny. I was being sarcastic! I just wrote a "service advisor monologue", like that kind of person would speak to convince a car owner that everything is ok (when it is not).

I thought I was so obviously sarcastic, that there was no room for misintrepretation what-so-ever.

Of course there is no such thing as mounting pre-run-in spark plugs. It is an expression I came up with as a metaphore for not replacing the plugs at all.

David

Of course! I got a real chuckle out of that. Well done.

And the important part is that this strikes at the heart of how consumers are managed. The more expensive the car the more deft the lies...

A

 

[ard]

D... I absolutely don't trust these guys at all!
Now in order to get this work done BMWNA is making me take it back to these guys..

:

nah- not happening here. Tell BMWNA that you'll go to the BBB, and consider legal action- but the dealership will NOT be Habber

 

[jjc1843]

Good heavens! Where is the sense of humor?

I tried to be funny. I was being sarcastic! I just wrote a "service advisor monologue", like that kind of person would speak to convince a car owner that everything is ok (when it is not).

I thought I was so obviously sarcastic, that there was no room for misintrepretation what-so-ever.

Of course there is no such thing as mounting pre-run-in spark plugs. It is an expression I came up with as a metaphore for not replacing the plugs at all.

David

David:

You got me good on this. I am excitable on this topic, as I was at one time (up until about a 1/2 hour ago) thinking highly of Habberstad.

Humor is now seen...