Sanity Check Please

[Spaceme1117]

I need a sanity check please.

I took my new-to-me 2013 E70 X5 M-Sport to BMW of Cincinnati for a 4-wheel alignment. The vehicle's steering wheel was not quite centered and felt to pull slightly to the left. Everything else is tight. No play in the steering wheel. No vibration. Handles great.

While I am waiting for the alignment to be done, I get a text message with a link to a very short video shot by the technician working on my car. Says the vehicle is in good condition, states the thickness of the brakes, and also says that the passenger front forward control arm thrust bushing is bad and should be replaced. Says there will be an estimate for the work presented after the alignment is done.

I immediately think that it is weird that they didn't come talk to me about this (they did not). Because if control arm bushings need to be replaced, why would they still proceed with the alignment? Proper and honest thing to do would be to not do an alignment until after the bushings or control arms are replaced otherwise I would be charged for a completely unnecessary alignment. Shouldn't they have stopped right there, come speak to me and ask me how to proceed?

Well of course they did not. They did the alignment which seems fine. And gave me a $1500 repair estimate that has a charge for an alignment. And it is a full alignment charge.

And I got under my X5 and checked both control arms. No looseness, no slop, rubber looks intact, no clunking, no vibrations, nothing that would indicate that they need to be replaced. And the car drives perfect and is tight.

Am I being reasonable? I'm about to post an extensive bad review for them but first wanted to check myself.

Opinions?

[StradaRedlands]

Ask if they will do a new alignment if they change out the control arm? Maybe it's included, which would be nice. But poor communication either way.

[Spaceme1117]

Originally Posted by StradaRedlands

Ask if they will do a new alignment if they change out the control arm? Maybe it's included, which would be nice. But poor communication either way.

An alignment after the arm change out was part of the work quote. It was a separate charge.

Also, I just found a post here that shows a video of changing out these exact arms. It is probably the easiest part of the suspension to change out. I'm sure a BMW tech could change these both out in an hour or less. That's a nice profit for minimal work.

But the main thing is that the arms and bushing aren't bad or worn out.

I think they count on the fact that most BMW drivers don't know anything about cars or what needs and doesn't need to be fixed.

It's just so dishonest and shady.

[CarFan]

I got a similar video sent to me while waiting at the dealer. I was supposed to have a loaner but the service advisor says there was a glitch and you only get a loaner if you set up the appointment by phone.

So I'm sitting in the waiting area when I get the video. The service advisor comes over almost immediately and says that a front control arm bushing is loose and that they recommend replacing.

I ask him to tell me exactly what this part does. He looks at me and then says he's not sure. I ask him how long it will take and he says 3-5 hours.

I tell him that I wasn't willing to stay an extra 3 -5 hours and that if they had wanted to recommend additional services to my vehicle they should have given me a loaner like their website had indicated.

They did the oil change and I left about 30 mins later.

Here's the kicker. I take the vehicle 4 days later to a non-BMW center that works on german vehicles and have them look at my X5. They put it up on the lift and tell me that the vehicle is in great condition and they would never have recommended new bushings.

I sent an email to the service manager and the service advisor and received a tepid response and a non-apology apology.

[ryansbmw]

I had my car towed to a dealer in VA beach because it died while I was traveling down there. Holidays were coming up so all the Indy’s were booked or closed. After a day and half of diagnostics they told me the DME was dead and needed to be replaced to the tune of $3k+. My DME has been unlocked and tuned so I thought I’ll at least make things more efficient and have my shop do the replacement so they can unlock and tune it right away instead of having to do the install 2x. I had the car towed from VA to NJ only to find out my entire issue was the ground strap. $80 and 1 hr of my time and I was good to go. Dealer called me a few days later to find out if I had solved the issue. Let’s just say they were less than pleased to find out it was just a strap. Had the balls to tell me I should take it to he dealer up here just to make sure the DME is ok…lol

So yes, don’t just take the dealers word for it. I’m sure there are good dealers out there but in in my experience with 3 dealers in 3 separate states, the odds aren’t good.

[Spaceme1117]

Originally Posted by CarFan

I got a similar video sent to me while waiting at the dealer. I was supposed to have a loaner but the service advisor says there was a glitch and you only get a loaner if you set up the appointment by phone.

So I'm sitting in the waiting area when I get the video. The service advisor comes over almost immediately and says that a front control arm bushing is loose and that they recommend replacing.

I ask him to tell me exactly what this part does. He looks at me and then says he's not sure. I ask him how long it will take and he says 3-5 hours.

I tell him that I wasn't willing to stay an extra 3 -5 hours and that if they had wanted to recommend additional services to my vehicle they should have given me a loaner like their website had indicated.

They did the oil change and I left about 30 mins later.

Here's the kicker. I take the vehicle 4 days later to a non-BMW center that works on german vehicles and have them look at my X5. They put it up on the lift and tell me that the vehicle is in great condition and they would never have recommended new bushings.

I sent an email to the service manager and the service advisor and received a tepid response and a non-apology apology.

Most people don't know anything about cars and will take the dealership at their (dishonest) word and then spend $$$ for BS repairs.

[Spaceme1117]

Originally Posted by ryansbmw

I had my car towed to a dealer in VA beach because it died while I was traveling down there. Holidays were coming up so all the Indy’s were booked or closed. After a day and half of diagnostics they told me the DME was dead and needed to be replaced to the tune of $3k+. My DME has been unlocked and tuned so I thought I’ll at least make things more efficient and have my shop do the replacement so they can unlock and tune it right away instead of having to do the install 2x. I had the car towed from VA to NJ only to find out my entire issue was the ground strap. $80 and 1 hr of my time and I was good to go. Dealer called me a few days later to find out if I had solved the issue. Let’s just say they were less than pleased to find out it was just a strap. Had the balls to tell me I should take it to he dealer up here just to make sure the DME is ok…lol

So yes, don’t just take the dealers word for it. I’m sure there are good dealers out there but in in my experience with 3 dealers in 3 separate states, the odds aren’t good.

There are a few good dealerships and mechanics shops out there. But seems to be not too many.

A few years ago, I had a 2006 GTO that I took to get an alignment. About 10 minutes after they had the car on the rack, they came and asked me to come to the shop. They showed me that my outer tie rods were bad and could not to the alignment. Charged me nothing at all. I changed the parts myself and then happily went back for the alignment. That was an honest shop.