Frustrated with BMW privacy rules

I recently bought my car, the car fax shows it was serviced by a BMW dealer in Kansas City, 3 hours away from me. I called them asking if they could tell me what service and repairs had been done to the car as the report only shows the miles it was in and a meaninless comment of "service". When I asked the service department, they told me that they are not allowed to give out that information because I am not the owner that they have in their records. The car was traded to one dealer, then sold at auction, and bought by the dealer I got it from. Youd think I was wanting to know how much the previous owner paid and their credit card numbers, I cant imagine there are random people out there calling dealers with vin numbers trying to get service records. What kinda crap is this! Sorry just venting here.

The previous Owner's Name and Address is going to be all over the Service Records, and to protect themselves they're not going to just give you a print of the Service Record.

I would be willing to bet that you could get them to produce a list of the Services Performed and the mileage......talk to the Service Manager at the Original Dealer. Or maybe get the Dealer you bought it from to ask them for it.

It is not about the previous owners name. It is the service transaction itself that is none of your business as far as BMW is concerned.

Logic is... I take my car for service, what is done to the car is my business. BMW has no right to tell a 3rd party what I had done to my car, only I can decide if I want to tell you what I did to my car. It's privacy rights.

I would dispute that. When I bought my 1999, I stopped into the big local Dealer here in Monmouth county and asked the Service Rep if he had ever serviced this VIN number. Sure enough, it was serviced there since new and he read me the major items that had been replaced recently. Very helpful in charting out my Maintenance Plan. He wouldn't tell me the previous owner's name, but I had that already. The Service Rep may have been phishing for some of my business, and I did nothing to make him think otherwise.

The previous Owner has no right to privacy in this situation, once he traded the car in......what ever I could find out was a matter of public record.

dealer can give you all records
you need to ask him right

Interesting. I had something similar happen last month when I bought my E39 from the local BMW dealer here in New Mexico. The carfax showed only registration events with no mileage references, except when the car was traded in. The car is a local one owner vehicle originally sold by the same dealer. I prodded the salesman for service records and he finally produced a list from which he read the service performed. He would not let me see the list. He said the forms are not allowed to be read by any third party person. That made me very suspicious they were hiding something, but my PPI came back clean so I went ahead with the purchase. It has bothered me ever since though.

The dealer did give me all the original docs that came with the car. That included the service book, so I have some written service info.

Does anyone here no for sure what the official BMW policy is regarding service records ?

I'm the 2nd owner of our Porsche and the local dealer service dept manager pulled out the service records for me, it doesn't have the previous owner's name nor nothing other than the dates and what type of services have been performed on this vehicle from Porsche dealer service dept.

You just need to talk to the right person in person not over the phone as they don't know who they are dealing with.

Originally Posted by 6spdonly

Interesting. I had something similar happen last month when I bought my E39 from the local BMW dealer here in New Mexico. The carfax showed only registration events with no mileage references, except when the car was traded in. The car is a local one owner vehicle originally sold by the same dealer. I prodded the salesman for service records and he finally produced a list from which he read the service performed. He would not let me see the list. He said the forms are not allowed to be read by any third party person. That made me very suspicious they were hiding something, but my PPI came back clean so I went ahead with the purchase. It has bothered me ever since though.

The dealer did give me all the original docs that came with the car. That included the service book, so I have some written service info.

Does anyone here no for sure what the official BMW policy is regarding service records ?

Yes, read my post above. That is the official BMW NA position.

Since each dealer operates independently, BMW NA claims to have no control over what a given dealer does. This is the same excuse NA gives for parts price gouging.

Here's a suggestion, while not optimal, may get you some info.

When I bought my car, I ran a Carfax, and found that the car had been registered in VA. I wrote to the VA DMV and requested the records on the car. From the certificate of registration, I got the original owner's name and address. I wrote him, and he was kind enough to engage in email correspondence with me, and gave me a rough sketch of the service history. Since he bought the car before the BMW NA "free maintenance" foolishness, he maintained it properly from his own pocket - even the drive train was serviced at 1500 miles! He turned out to be a car nut.

This may not work too well after the car passes through several hands, but I was satisfied, having become the second owner at 58k.

After some more discussing with the dealer in question, they have agreed to let me see the records, after I fill out a form and prove current ownership of the vehicle. I also think that once a person no longer owns the vehicle, the past service history of the vehicle should be accessable to someone who asks, in reality is it any different than what car fax provides regarding accidents or other information?

Picked up a 1999 528i last year with only 23,000 miles. I called the dealer where the car was purchased from and he gave me some info on the cars history. He did not tell me who the original owner was but I found that in the glove box. I think if you talk with the right person , you could get the info you are looking for.

My dealer was quick to show me the records. All I did was pull into the service bay and ask... they put my key into a little key reader they have, and all the service history comes up on a computer screen. It was pretty neat, actually (i was used to other automakers & dealers requiring a 17 digit VIN number)!!!

Originally Posted by FiveDriver

what ever I could find out was a matter of public record.

public record??? your hopeless. theres nothing public about a previuos owner's service record which is PRIVATE information. its somewat harmless so service reps may unofficially pass it on to you but im sorry but you are privileged to get it. no dealer OWES you that info.

KSUTJH, i think its good they arent telling you anything. they cant even verify you are the current owner over the phone. i think if you need this information that badly risk driving there and meet with service rep. maybe you can talk to service rep over phone and verify he will release info if you show proof it is your car.

You dont have to go to the same dealer where the work was performed. ANY dealer can tell you all the service hist (they are connected with a network).


When I checked mine, it had work done at two different dealers in it's life...

Look at mifesto all up on his hind legs !! "Hopeless" ? I'll alert CarFax and AutoCheck and tell them that their business models are Hopeless.

If this Private Info was so Secret......why did the Dealer release it so easily ?
And why did the previous owner leave his name and address in the Books he left in the glove box ??

It's a issue of National Security.
Only CIA or FBI will get the info. Kindly write a letter to those organizations and ask them to get you the car's record. Much easier than asking the dealer

I went through that as well, the service mgr had to change the PO's name to my name in their system and then printed me the records.