[SteveAus]

Earlier this week, I took my car into BMW for its first service.

Prior to the service I had installed a BlackVue DR550GW-2CH which has front and rear cameras.

The attached 3 minute video shows what the two mechanics did with the car and what they said about it. Speeding is one thing, but bad-mouthing a paying customer’s car was not appreciated.

If BMW mechanics think that the F30 335i is “shit” compared to its predecessor, how much confidence in the BMW marque does that instil on us, the paying public?


Sorry, I can't get the video file uploaded. Can anyone walk me through this? The file is .MP4 and is 140 MB.

[HFW003]

Welcome home mate, sorry I can't help you upload the vid.

I know it wouldn't do an ounce of good but I would certainly be sending it the dealer principal and the numb nuts at BMW Australia.

Personally I couldn't give a flying fig what they thought of my car, I like it age that's all that matters!

[SteveAus]

Thanks H.

Yep it's good to finally make it home......it was a long and problematic hitch this time.

I certainly gave the person from BMW the full two barrels when BMW called to ask me how my service went!! Definitely not what they were expecting from me!! Hahaha.

But I know nothing good will happen.

What was interesting is that the service was completed by 10:15 am and I didn't get a call to tell me that the car was ready until almost 1:00 pm. The car had just been sitting in a compound for 2-1/2 hrs. What is that all about?

Are they trying to make us think they are working on the car all morning instead of just one hour to do the service? Is this something that they think justifies the high prices that BMW charges for working on a car?

The other really annoying thing was that I had some marks in the paint on the bumper immediately underneath the boot lid. This had been a problem with the boot alignment that was supposed to have been fixed in September. When I picked up the car these marks had not been polished out. They could easily have done the polishing in the 2-1/2 hours my car was staring at a wall.

They said they couldn't do the polishing there and then, instead, I had to make another appointment to have the car fixed 2 days later. The job took no longer than 30 minutes!

BMW servicing used to be so much better than it is nowadays.

[SteveAus]

Hopefully, this video upload works.
if not, this is the link to YouTube

[u2b]http://youtu.be/WEEx5U1FPus[/u2b]

[MikeVictor]

The speeding is certainly not on, but surely you can't get upset at someone voicing their own opinion.

[jctg]

I wouldn't worry about what a mechanic thinks about my car. Speeding is ridiculous though. I would demand a reply on why that was necessary (and then not go back to the dealer for any further service).

BMW's problem is not that they occasionally do a poor job and stuff things up, their issue is that they think their customers should just suck it up and move on. They just flat out don't care. I am lucky that I know a very good senior service advisor at my dealer and I do everything through him, even down to booking for services (otherwise good luck getting a courtesy vehicle).

[adge7]

I enjoy that the passenger points out the camera nearer the end of the video. There's a lot wrong with this situation but none of it is even remotely surprising.

[David328M-Sport]

Originally Posted by SteveAus

I had installed a BlackVue DR550GW-2CH which has front and rear cameras.

I checked out Webcams Australia website. Looks like a great dynamic duo of cameras. Where did and how did you mount the cameras? Quality in HD is very good indeed.

Never mind what the mechanics say. It's us here on the forum who really know and understand our cars.

Another reason why the independent BMW service centres are gaining in popularity. They are all huge BMW fans, like us.

Cheers

[SteveAus]

Originally Posted by David328M-Sport

I checked out Webcams Australia website. Looks like a great dynamic duo of cameras. Where did and how did you mount the cameras? Quality in HD is very good indeed.

Never mind what the mechanics say. It's us here on the forum who really know and understand our cars.

Another reason why the independent BMW service centres are gaining in popularity. They are all huge BMW fans, like us.

Cheers

David,

I bought these cameras on the InterWeb, after a bit of research, and they seemed to fit my need. I bought them from MotorCycle Race Gear at:

Motorcycle Race Gear
Tel: (03) 9764 1670
Mob: 0403 697 472 (Alex)
Email: store@motorcycleracegear.com.au
Web: http://www.motorcycleracegear.com.au/

A motorcycle shop seems like a strange place to buy car stuff from, but the service has been very good.

Cost: $ 529 (32GB) + $60 for the Power Magic Pro.

I fitted the front camera on the windscreen immediately beneath the rear view mirror. It's a little lower than I had hoped but the black dotted section on the windscreen around the mirror in my car does not allow installation there.

The rear camera is not quite central (but near as dammit) and is located high on the rear windscreen, just to the left of the rear stop light. I put it there so that it would not foul the rear window blind.

In general, the cameras are well out of view. The front one is effectively hidden behind the rear view mirror. And the rear camera is much smaller and hardly noticeable.

Wiring is simple to hide in the headlining, and rubber window mouldings.

All the electrical connections are located in the boot, as these cameras, that record while parked and while using a battery saver module, cannot be wired to the fuse box in a BMW. They HAVE to be connected directly to the battery.

The Power Magic Pro allows you to set the lower battery limit to 11.8 or 12.0 volts and has timer settings ranging from 6 hrs to infinity. This ensures that your battery does not go flat while recording in park mode. The camera will shut down if the battery falls below 11.8 or 12.0 volts. Park mode is useful if someone hits your car and drives off. Chances are that you will be able to get the licence plate number from the video.

If you like, I'll take some photos of the cameras in the car tomorrow and post them.

Almost had to use the footage in anger today when a Mazda 4WD pulled right across my bows on the freeway. I was passing slower cars doing 100 kph, he was doing 80 kph. Still don't know how I managed to avoid hitting him.

As for personal opinions, I agree with you that we are all entitled to have them. I guess I just didn't expect derogatory ones from a BMW dealership, especially after shelling out more than $100,000 on one of their products.

[SteveAus]

Originally Posted by jctg

I wouldn't worry about what a mechanic thinks about my car. Speeding is ridiculous though. I would demand a reply on why that was necessary (and then not go back to the dealer for any further service).

jctg,
Agreed, speeding is not necessary on a test drive where the mechanic is supposed to be assessing or listening for faults.
Unfortunately, we have only one dealership in Adelaide - I really wish there was competition.
The problem is that, having purchased the 5 year servicing plan, I am stuck with having to take the car to the only dealer in town.

[SteveAus]

Originally Posted by adge7

I enjoy that the passenger points out the camera nearer the end of the video. There's a lot wrong with this situation but none of it is even remotely surprising.

Yep, it's quite noticeable how the driving changed when they realised their was a camera in the car. Makes you wonder what happens when people take there M3, M4, M5, or M6 in for servicing with no cameras fitted.

[Aapparition90]

Seems more of a joyride instead of one for diagnostic purposes, thanks for putting up the video.Bit surprising they prefer the E90 335i, I will look up some threads to point out the difference in the power delivery but I am guessing there's more usable torque available.

[David328M-Sport]

Originally Posted by SteveAus

David,

I bought these cameras on the InterWeb, after a bit of research, and they seemed to fit my need. I bought them from MotorCycle Race Gear at:


If you like, I'll take some photos of the cameras in the car tomorrow and post them.

Thanks for your detailed response, Steve.
It would be great if you could post some photos of the cameras setups, although I understand where they are mounted and why.

Cheers
David

[seamasters]

Originally Posted by SteveAus

Earlier this week, I took my car into BMW for its first service.

Prior to the service I had installed a BlackVue DR550GW-2CH which has front and rear cameras.

The attached 3 minute video shows what the two mechanics did with the car and what they said about it. Speeding is one thing, but bad-mouthing a paying customer’s car was not appreciated.

If BMW mechanics think that the F30 335i is “shit” compared to its predecessor, how much confidence in the BMW marque does that instil on us, the paying public?


Sorry, I can't get the video file uploaded. Can anyone walk me through this? The file is .MP4 and is 140 MB.

they sound like they have never driven a F30 335i before??, i reckon you should send it to the dealer so next time they should just do there job instead of speeding/ speed testing a customers car.

[SteveAus]

Originally Posted by David328M-Sport

Thanks for your detailed response, Steve.
It would be great if you could post some photos of the cameras setups, although I understand where they are mounted and why.

Cheers
David

Hi David,

I took some video with my iPhone today. The quality is crap but you'll get the general idea of what the camera setup is.

[u2b]http://youtu.be/rJknwJfu4Rw[/u2b]

[pmunger]

Thank you very much for the info. I am very interested in doing this myself.

My last car was wiped out when a driver drove off without indicating and I hit him whilst turning right. I could not prove that, so accident was my fault. If I had camera footage that may have been a different.

May have also got the details of the car that scraped my front bumper!

[ilovewagons]

The speeding was certainly naughty, but they didn't abuse your car, at least not physically. They were well under the limit pretty much the whole time (before and after they noticed the camera). Who cares what the service guys think? It's your car, if you like it, who gives a crap what anyone else thinks?

Is a test drive part of normal service procedure? I assumed it was, but if it wasn't, and they were just joyriding, that's a huge no no.

Also, thanks for the dash cam recommendation. I've been looking for ages and your setup looks pretty sweet.

[MikeVictor]

Nice set-up, Steve. Thanks for sharing.

[SteveAus]

Originally Posted by Dabaitu

Nice set-up, Steve. Thanks for sharing.

My pleasure. Hope it was helpful to anyone considering getting dashcams.

[IndividualF30]

Hi, great videos.

Just some food for thought. When running cables in the cavity above the doors, remember the side airbag lives up there. The airbag will actually pop out from between the roof liner and the rubber seal. So just be aware, that it may interfere with the operation of the airbags, and/or rip the cable out over occupants of the vehicle if the airbags are triggered.

EDIT: Added Image. This is the front left A pillar of my F30, you can see the airbag in the top left sticking out.

[x5mad]

I laughed when i saw this post.

I have a blackvue dashcam wired up and it seems universal the service guys have lead feet. Didn't wait for engine to warm up on mine just heavy acceleration from beginning.

On my video there was just so much swearing.

He noticed my cam too, " what's this shiit?"

After yours was noticed he seemed to be driving much more docile. Lol

[RAM_AU]

Nice dashcam setup! Thxs