[JoeyBimX5din]

Originally Posted by jandref321

I didn't mean to offend anyone; perhaps it's my lack of life experience and some confirmation bias in both cases.

Nurse always brings me in, gets my vitals, tells me to wait for the doc. When the doc leaves the nurse comes back in, types stuff up, gets me the prescription, sends me on my way. Same experience in the ER, but that could be me mistaking med students for nurses.

I went to get an alignment after lowering my car in GA and the SA said they couldn't get the car in spec. The "mechanic" came out to speak with me and give me the alignment sheet. Only one adjustment had been made on the whole car. I asked why and to show me why. He said I'd have to speak with the actual shop mechanic. They took me in the back and the "shop mechanic" showed me how corroded everything was (northern car) and said he will get the SA to find out how much to replace all the control arms. I said no, I'll get it done elsewhere. I went to leave and another "mechanic" came out to BS with me about my M3 and everything I'd done to it. He was young and I asked how long he'd been a mechanic. He said that he used to be a car porter there and just recently began training to be a mechanic. He said his uncle was the only certified BMW mechanic at the dealership and everyone else was either a general certified mechanic or just a normal guy trying to learn. I took the car to a Porsche Indy 5 min down the road and had the car aligned properly within an hour. Live and learn.

The second time was in FLA when my fuel pump went out. The SA took me into the back to speak with the "mechanic" and that guy told me he had just started disassembling it (The car was up on a lift, IDK why, the fuel pump was under the rear seat) and he would get the "head mechanic" to test the pump when he comes around. I made the assumption that the "mechanic" I was speaking to wasn't a mechanic at all.

Perhaps in both cases the people I was speaking with didn't have complete knowledge and they were only referring to normal BMW mechanics vs "Master BMW Mechanics." It definitely is stupid to think that BMW Mechanics don't need to use a manual. You can't know every car and the torque of every bolt. I did, however, lose some confidence in dealers.

the current world of vehicle and vehicle repair is in need of improvement to say the least. If you find a good shop, find a way to marry said good shop. I found a local shop that is super high quality that ran a tailpipe on my X.