Consensus on good LA dealers for service?

[pkts]

Hi guys,

Like mostly all of us, I have had mostly poor experiences with Los Angeles service depts. Crevier was great, Long Beach was good, Center = barely ok and Santa Monica = awful. How about South Bay or any other suggestions? Crevier is a trek for me, I'm in West LA.

Specifically, I am trying to fix/diagnose a tricky clinking noise at slow speeds (start and stop) that comes from the rear of the car. Based on searching the boards, it sounds like bad rear upper shock mounts or possibly rear strut links. Is there a consensus on a LA dealer that actually cares about and tries to fix the somewhat common E46 suspension (control arm bushings, rear shock mounts etc) problems or any other difficult probs. Any personal experiences?

I bought my car from Cutter/Santa Barbara. How's there service department? Perhaps they would try harder due to that fact?


Thanks for any advice!

Toby.

[Centurion]

Is Center BMW the one on Van Nuys Blvd, in Sherman Oaks?

I'm going to try the Valencia BMW for the first time in a couple of weeks. I'll let you know how that goes.

[1Dreamer]

North of OC, I've heard Long Beach is very good (which I guess you agree with) and believe it or not . . . also Beverly Hills BMW. You're never going to get a consensus and everyone has a bad experience somewhere, but those are the two dealerships I've consistently heard more good things about than not in terms of service.

[nektir]

Is Center BMW the one on Van Nuys Blvd, in Sherman Oaks?

I'm going to try the Valencia BMW for the first time in a couple of weeks. I'll let you know how that goes.


How was Valencia BMW? I recently moved up to Valencia and I've been trying to make a service appointment since 8am this morning and i have left 2 voice mails, but no one has called me back.. it's now 2pm.. I tried filling out the service appointment form online as well, but still no response..

[gotrojan]

yeah Valencia is hopeless I think in terms of customer service.

They never returned my fax reply ...:bareass:

Nick Alexander is poor in ED dealings......but I have no clue about their service.

Anyone has any comments on South Bay and Crevier??

[JohnS54Coupe]

For every dealership there is, you will find good and bad stories. You say Crevier is great, I say Crevier is overrated and horrible. But that was just my experience. Here's what I woud recommend. Go to South Bay BMW in Torrance, and ask for Frank Perri as your Service Advisor. He's been there longer than probably anybody else. And more importantly, ask for Tech #471, Hiep Nbuyen, to work on your car exclusively. Hiep's brother Hoa owns South Bay Independent BMW in Gardena, a highly respected independent shop in the E30 M3 community.

John

[calicoupe]

It's Hiep Nguyen. I agree SBI is very well respected with e30.

[Robert A]

I'm in WLA too, and I use Beverly Hills BMW. They're not stellar, but they do a decent job and I haven't had any problems. They're often too busy and they don't give loaners, but at least they're right near an MTA Rapid stop.

If you're out of warranty, or facing a service bill that you've got to pay yourself, try GT International on Colby (near Olympic and the 405).

By all means, stay away from Santa Monica!

Hi guys,

Like mostly all of us, I have had mostly poor experiences with Los Angeles service depts. Crevier was great, Long Beach was good, Center = barely ok and Santa Monica = awful. How about South Bay or any other suggestions? Crevier is a trek for me, I'm in West LA.

Specifically, I am trying to fix/diagnose a tricky clinking noise at slow speeds (start and stop) that comes from the rear of the car. Based on searching the boards, it sounds like bad rear upper shock mounts or possibly rear strut links. Is there a consensus on a LA dealer that actually cares about and tries to fix the somewhat common E46 suspension (control arm bushings, rear shock mounts etc) problems or any other difficult probs. Any personal experiences?

I bought my car from Cutter/Santa Barbara. How's there service department? Perhaps they would try harder due to that fact?


Thanks for any advice!

Toby.