ÜberMpower

About 5 weeks ago I started to ring about to get inspection 2 quotes from various dealers in the area, the cheapest quote I received was £669 from BMW Swansea.

So I phoned my local dealer who originally quoted me £1030 to see if they could do anything to price match, and they said they would have to contact BMW swansea to find out what the quote I had obtained included. So an hour or so later I get a phone call to say that they have had a word with the manager and that they would price match swansea bmw..... which was great.

The car was due to go in on the 29/07 - 30/07 . Today (28/07) I get a phone call asking me if I can bring the car in today for the car to be done tomorrow (earlier than what was originally booked). Whilst on the phone I asked the guy to confirm the price, and he confirmed £669.

10 minutes later he phones back asking if I was aware that my service would not include tappet adjustment. He said that a number of dealers are making lower price offers on insp 2 as they are just not checking the tappets????

Anyway at this point I erupted, as he has left it a few hours before I was due to take the car in to tell me I would only get half a service. The service guy kept going on about that the Swansea BMW service not including the tappet adjustment. But I argued that when making the booking I was not advised of any exclusions. He said "no, the best price I can do is £900 if you want tappets to be measured". After another 10 minutes of heated debate he said he would listen to the original phone calls to see what was said at the point of me making the booking. He phoned an hour later to say I would get a full service for the £669 inc tappet measuring.

When I dropped the car off to them tonight the guy I was talking to was hiding, so i asked another service advisor to get him, and finally he came out to confirm that i would receive the full service, which he said I would get for £669. But I am not convinced I am going to get the full service, even though I have been given assurances.

sorry for the rant, but I was so angry earlier today. Any of you guys come across this reduced price servicing which includes a lower level of service too??

p.s. sorry if none of the above makes any sense i am still in a cooling off period

That sounds a can of worms Aled. I haven't heard that a stealer will offer a reduced content service for a lower figure - although a lot of us suspect they don't check valve clearances even though it is on the sheet. I have heard of other garages offering this.

I don't know if your car is under warranty but , if it is, then you would clearly need tohave the full service. Out of interest if I were you I would ring BMW GB and ask if it is officially sanctioned that their dealer network is offering to do an inspection withoiut checking clearances, and then ask how that may or may not affect cars with warranty. I doubt that they will say it is official as, if it is, who can judge what a service stamp from a dealer actually represents.

Your other, and more pressing issue I would say, is to determine whether your car will have the clearances checked. As you probably know these are supposed t obe done whrn the engine is stone cold - i.e. first thing in the morning before the car has been started and hence why the gave the car for two days. You will need to mark the fixings for the rocker cover to determine if it has been lifted - even then that is not conclusive - or either be there at opening time on the 2nd day to physically watch this is done or ask them to film it for you and say no film no money.

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Remember....idiots are only alive because it's illegal to shoot them

It doesn't surprise me one bit tbh, not that i've heard of it before but these dealers will do anything to get your custom and the majority of people wouldn't be any the wiser and end up thinking they got a "good deal" but end up with a incomplete service, maybe this is the norm and its only because the other dealers dropped Swansea in the shiet did you find out!

At the end of the day an Inspection II is just that and it states quite clearly in the owners handbook whats incl. in that service, tappets are also incl. in the inspection I service, it should come under the Trade Descriptions Act which incl. people/companies providing a service not just when selling a product, so you have them by the bollox imo.

I would contact BMW:

Managing Director: Tim Abbott (tim.abbott@bmw.co.uk)
BMW (UK) Limited
Ellesfield Avenue
Bracknell RG12 8TA, United Kingdom
Tel. +44-1344-426-565
Fax +44-1344-480-203

I'm sure he would be interested to know a Dealer is selling inspection II services and not incl. the tappet check/adjustment, could be worth your while mate!

I would be well pissed to buddy, the fcuking cheek!

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"M Abteilung Über Alles", Translates "M Division above all."

What a load of Shite, I think that you were quite right to be pissed off.

BMW GB, not some dealer set the service schedules and specification of works.

The dealers think that they can manipulate the service system to suit themselves and it amazes me that they can.

BMW say that inspection 2 includes tappet check and adjustment if required, this is why good dealerships asks for the car the night before because the tappets must be checked cold.

So I wonder what would happen if an AUC car in warranty was serviced by a dealer at inspection 2 with the tappet adjustment omitted and subsequently there was head related mechanical failure, would BMW pay for any such repair works if they were aware that the tappets had not been checked ?

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Theres No Replacement For Displacement - Eight Is Great - It's an Uber M3

Why oh why oh why oh why cant dealers do what is required at a fair price without these hassles.
Trouble is unless you sit there and watch them doing it, you never going to know whether they have done all the work, it right narks me, so it does

give cotswold bmw a shout, cheltenham, i think they are doing a 25% off E46 M3 labour and 10% off parts at the moment

"BMW nearly 4 years or older?
Then it’s time to join Cotswold Motor Group’s BMW-four for lower priced servicing by genuine BMW Technicians, discounted genuine BMW Parts, plus special offers on genuine BMW Accessories and Lifestyle.
Discounts are tailored to BMW model with up to 50% off labour rates and up to 15% off parts*.
Membership is free, to join online simply visit BMW-four and click on your BMW model to see how much you can save.
Don’t forget to download your Customer Reward Card and MOTs Offer Card (includes complimentary MOTs).

**Discounts and descriptions are subject to change without prior notice. These offers cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Service loan car, delivery and collection are not included."

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lesen Sie das verdammt Handbuch

Thanks for the support chaps, the car is with them today, I just hope the full service gets done! I will certainly write to BMW about this, as I am sure a number of people are getting caught out by this. I just hope mine do get checked, should ask for measurements when I turn up to collect the car? Although they could just make it up but it would be re-assuring to see some paper with this information on it

Simon - my dealer named Cotswold BMW as one of the offenders of this cut price servicing with the tappets not being checked along with Swansea! What truth is in that I don't know!

well i have got my car back, and its seems to be all ok. I guess I just to have to take the dealers word for it that the valves were checked, and none of them needed adjusting.

anyway back to some happy driving

Thats just it unless you stand there and watch them you don't know, one thing is they very rarely need any adjustment so you should be fine either way, i would of thought with all the fuss and whats gone on they did check them m8!

The 4 years and older offer is the same with all the dealers i've had quotes off, i had it on mine with Sytner group and then another 15% on labour / 10% on parts off coz i was a BMW Car Club GB member,

iirc the 4 years and older is detailed on BMW UK so i guess its all dealers

Anyway nice to have the car back m8 and the service done out the way for a good few 1000 miles hey

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"M Abteilung Über Alles", Translates "M Division above all."

Nothing is just simple where dealers are concerned, I know it's not on the same scale but I phoned up Cotswold to give me their best quote for OEM pads which the nice parts man quoted me £88 inc VAT. So today after work I popped down to pick a set up where I was told the best they could do was £92 inc VAT!

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Everyone has photographic memory, some just don't have the film..

Ask to see the completed checklist and job card for the Inspection. This should give you some sort of idea of the work carried out.

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Cheers Chris, I did get a checklist confirming that it had been done.