Good Bay Area BMW Dealer: Claridges BMW, Fremont, CA.

[nitya@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Nitya Ramchandani)]

Hi,
I have been testing the customer support regarding service at various BMW
dealers around the Bay Area and have decided IMHO that Claridges BMW in
Fremont, CA. is the best.  Go there with a box of a dozen donuts and that
should really hook you in.  They digged the BL/SS conversion, happily changed
my tranny fluid to Redline, thought the SuperSprint exhaust sounded cool,
digged the JC chip responsiveness, and thought that the X-brace was a brilliant
idea.  They put my M3 first in line for the service (got their at 8am and it
was on the rack getting the oil changed at 8:15am) and there were about 10
other M3s there for different kind of services. They had one mechanic work on
the car the whole time instead of changing mechanics.
Here's what they did:
- --Squeaky Clutch:  Changed out bushings and lubed.
- --Squeaky Brakes:  Replaced all pads, drained and replaced brake fluid, checked
                    rotors for warpage.
- --A/C Check:  Topped off refrigerant(sp), checked relay fuse, and checked for
                 leaks.
- --Changed Oil:  Changed oil to Mobil 1 Synthetic (mine) and filter.
- --Tranny Fluid:  Changed existing fluid to Red Line (mine).
- --Alignment Check:  Re-aligned car.
- --Upgraded Camber:  Is your '96-'98 M3 pulling slightly to the right while
                          driving?  The dealer fixes this with a more
adjustable front                     right camber bolt.  BMW is meant to know
about this and fix                      it for free.
- --Car Wash (Hand)

No charge, very responsive, will give you a ride anywhere in the area, love to
talk about preformance upgrades, love BMW CCA members, will pick-up and/or drop
off your car, got to test drive the new 3-series and M-roadster while waiting.
 Ended up spending the whole day there so they made me punch a time-card. ;-)

Very cool guys:  Mike, Ken, Rafael (mechanic), and Jason.

Regards,

Nitya ('98 M3/2)

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