[bmwak]

Hi All,

I need to take my car in to a dealer to sort a few things under warranty. However, I’ve read mixed stories on dealers within London. I’ve already had a bad experience from one (so no way am I taking it back to them).

Can anyone recommend a dealer in Herts or London areas please. I’m surrounded by Sytner’s, Scotthall’s, Specialist Car’s, Stephen James' and Berry’s.

Any advice or experiences would be appreciated.

[Carjack]

Try BMW Battersea which is part of BMW Park Lane and I believe the only dealership owned by BMW UK.

[av_guy]

Personal experience of Scothall (when they were in Stanmore and now in Borehamwood) over 12 years since 1999 and all but one were great. I have also used the Watford branch and again great service underpinning a great product.

All brand new cars bought including an E46 M3, E70 top end diesel X5 and the latest being an E90 335D M Sport. Some were sold prior to the first service but for those that were serviced, I had a great customer experience.

My father just bought a new car from Specialist Cars in Tring (after a trying experience with Coopers Tonbridge in Kent) and they were excellent (and very honest) from a sales viewpoint.

All the best

Caveat: these are personal experiences and these do differ from person to person as you may find whilst searching on this and many other forums. Ultimately, the decision and responsibility to purchase lays with you.

[zltm089]

BMW Battersea stewarts road for servicing....

I bought my car from specialist cars in Tring...they were ok...after i complained and let them know that i'm on many forums ;-)

[Carjack]

BMW Park Lane for a new motor!
They gave a larger discount than what my local dealer proposed and they were on the ball!

[bmwak]

Thanks chaps I'm more looking for the servicing side of things. Scotthall Watford or BMW Battersea it is. I've used Scotthall Watford before and they were great then but this was a while back. Glad to hear they are still good.

[Mud]

Sytner Chigwell have been excellent to me.

[T9Gjn]

Battersea stewarts road have very good service.

[MERLIN335i]

Originally Posted by Carjack

Try BMW Battersea which is part of BMW Park Lane and I believe the only dealership owned by BMW UK.

AGREE 110% !!!!!!

[ed335d]

Originally Posted by MERLIN335i

AGREE 110% !!!!!!

+1

[toxicnerve]

Despite having rectified the issues I have encountered (to a fashion) I'm going to go ahead and give Sytner (specifically Chigwell and Harold Wood) a .

Their attention to details is (IMO) lacking and quality control is virtually non-existent.

My car has been in for cosmetic issues a few times and they've fucked it up every time.

1. Bumper respray - poor finish/debris dried into paint etc and needed redoing. The car went back and forth 3 or 4 times for this IIRC and I never did feel it was up to scratch but it just became far too much hard work to get this resolved and I gave up.

2. In rectifying number #1 they handed the car back to me with both N/S wheels scuffed. No one pointed this out and I was left to discover the damage myself, luckily BEFORE I drove the car off the lot. They accepted responsibility and sorted it. Question is, what would have happened if I had driven off and only discovered the damage at a later time/date? Would they have accepted it was their fault or simply said "Well Sir, that could have happened after you left us" ??

3. Completely separate wheel refurb to the above issue, they let me driving off with only 2.0Bar in the refurbed wheel. TPMS warning went off about 1.5miles away from their site. As compensation they offered me a free KDS and let me watch. Sadly while I was there having this done my house got burgled (obviously this is not Sytner's fault but it was just a kick in the nuts at the time).

4. Most recently, in replacing a high-gloss trim they scuffed my paint-work and the trim itself was badly scratched before they even fitted it. Eventually sorted but should never have happened. Someone actually had the audacity to say "Not all customers would have spotted that" or something along those lines. WTF? So if you could have gotten away with it/I hadn't pointed it out they would have just let it slide?

Oh they also said "Yeah, those high gloss trims sometimes come damaged out of the box". So you acknowledge it's a known issue yet no one inspected the trim prior to fitting? Once the trim was fitted no one took the time to inspect the work or they did and deemed it acceptable?

Every step of the way Anneka was the only one that seemed to care/give a toss. I've had some warranty work carried out there (replacement seat bolster and boost hose) and had the car serviced by them without issue but the above items really detract from the "good". Now I feel like if I take my car in to Sytner for work I have to worry about what they're going to screw up this time around. It's not a healthy state of affairs/relationship for a service provider to have with any customer.

These are all "minor" issues and I'm sure some will say they are/I am being petty but it's all added hassle that I could do without. My car is not a white-good to me and I don't expect it to be treated as if it were.

As it happens I've just had a customer satisfaction survey drop through my letterbox from BMW and I will be detailing the above issues to them.

[zltm089]

Surprised you gave them so much work TN!....Definitely only Anneka gives a toss...

called a few sytner dealerships for quotes ages ago...they 're very arrogant...

and Audi (Sytner) service centre in Victoria is packed with a bunch of arrogant c*cks.....

[SO8]

Maybe a bit far but Vines near Guildford have been excellent to me ... always helpful.

[Mani59]

Stephen James BMW in Bromley (and Ruxley and Enfield), are the most useless, rudest, slowest and unhelpful people I have ever come across.
Avoid at all costs!

I have been waiting and still am waiting since February of this year for my replacement service book