BMW of Bridgeport (CT)

I recently went to BMW of Bridgeport to get a taillight recall done. I have been to this dealership before, just a month or so after I bought my ZHP (it was under CPO warranty at the time). The experience then was similar to the experience this time around.

Upon arriving on site, I was quickly greeted by the person at the service desk. She was kind, polite, and professional. I was immediately introduced to my Service Manager (I don't know the person's official title), who told me to move my car into the covered bay where they take over your vehicle. She had me on record and immediately got my car in for service.

I chose to wait for the vehicle while being serviced. There was a fridge with free beverages inside (water, sodas, etc.) and free coffee available, as well as a nice waiting area with iconic BMW pictures in frames on the walls surrounding the area. There was a couch, reading materials, and a nice TV to watch while waiting.

I spent a few minutes in the showroom, looking at the new F30's. I look young, which is a reason why I would think nobody would pay any attention to me, but that was not the case. Almost immediately upon browing, I was asked if I needed any assistance or had questions, as though I was a potential buyer. I was very impressed by that.

Overall, I was done in about an hour. This is one bit that I wasn't very happy with, not because an hour is a long time, but because it's a long time for them to do nothing to my car but give it an inspection it didn't need. I already had the taillight ground fix performed by the previous owner, and the only reason I took it to the dealer was because I wanted to have the connector replaced, as it had clearly burned a wide hole where the ground used to be. Upon taking delivery of the vehicle, I checked out the "repair" job and found that it was in exactly the same state as I had brought it. I questioned the service manager and the technician that performed the fix and was told that the connector doesn't get replaced unless it is affecting the wires around it, which it wasn't. I was very disappointed in this, but they told me that is what the "new" service bulletin said, so I accepted it and moved on.

Overall, the staff was very courteous and willing to help, so I cannot knock them on that. If anything, I can only knock BMW NA (not in any extreme way, though) for issuing a recall and not replacing clearly defective components, instead issuing a small stupid fix that could've been done by a monkey in a garage. Replacing the harness connector takes more know-how than an average Joe such as myself can do, so this is what I was expecting under a recall. No dice. Oh well. At least my vehicle is in no worse shape than it was before, which was 'perfectly functioning'.

It turns out that the time that I waited was the time they took to do a 'complimentary' inspection. Overall, this inspection consisted of them looking over the vehicle for things they feel the car needs attention on. This is the part where they try to sell you services, some of which you don't need. Overall, they came up with about $200~ of repairs that I am going to ignore. I do find this a nice feature though, going through the car and inspecting for issues. For the average driver, this service could be of value if they find something that the unsuspecting driver wouldn't have known about. Overall I am impressed with their initiative, despite the 'business' intentions behind it.

Overall, I am pleased with my experience with the service and sales staff at BMW of Bridgeport. They are very willing to help, no matter who you are. I give them a score of 8.8/10. Things that would have upper their score:

* Asking me upfront if I wanted the "complimentary" inspection. This could have saved me an hour of my time by declining.
* Advising me of what the recall consists of precisely, to the letter, before the work gets done. This would have prevented me from even bringing my car in, once again, saving me time.
* Told me that they haven't done anything with the recall because the fix was already performed. They never mentioned it, and it would have been nice to have the pre-existing fix acknowledged instead of making the customer assume that something was done.