Warranty Work & Dealers

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Hi All:

Have a question for net wisdom.

When I was at the dealer the other day (MY BMW in Seaside, CA) getting
warranty work done (the alternator had bad bearings- made a lot of noise
when warm and/or driven at highway speeds for an extended amount of time) a
thought crossed my mind...

Why aren't dealers doing any work on your car they can? I mean it would
seem that they would want to take care of any complant you had since they
are getting paid by BMW to perform the warranty work.

I've read of several people on the list that had to pratically BEG the
dealer to repair something on their cars, and even MY BMW was not "jumping"
at the chance to replace my alternator. Why?

My guesses:

1)BMW pays a substantally LOWER labor rate.
2)No part markup

Also, list members might find it interesting to note that the mechanic said
that the 99 BMWs have switched to a water-cooled alternator bearing setup
rather than the air-cooled setup I have. Wow!

Finally, has anyone had the glovebox latch FLY OUT of the dash? Happened to
me! I closed the glovebox, and the button lauched itself out the window and
out of my car! All I have remaining is the spring and it almost popped my
eye out! (Okay, kidding about the eyeball part, but the plastic button did
fly out the window!)

BTW, the "factory-trained" technician told the service advisor that you
cannot open the glovebox without the button. When I told him that all you
had to do was stick a key in the hole he turned red. He said that the guy
spent two hours trying to open the glovebox. No wonder. When I drove my car
away, the glovebox was locked! (It wasn't when I dropped it off.) Makes you
wonder.

Anyway, happy turkey day....

- -Ed

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