I'm cutting a good 30 minutes of typing and ranting down to the chase: A recent tire swap visit to Perillo BMW in downtown Chicago (had to go there for insurance reasons--long story) yielded the following wheel damage. The wheels went in clean and were indicated as such on the pre-existing damage signoff sheet but came out as shown in the attached pictures. The shop foreman, Darren (sp?) claims this is pothole damage and that he sees it all the time. He's never seen damage like this from wheel/tire service in his XX years of car service. Of particular note is how intelligent potholes in Chicago are getting. I have multiple degrees in hard biological science and think people should be aware of how quickly these potholes are evolving. One pothole in particular nearly unscrewed the lug nuts on one of my wheels. Pretty soon they'll want the right to vote. Am I crazy, or is this utter BS? I already have a call into BMW NA and was told that my complaint would be forwarded to the appropriate channels, but they didn't want the pictures when I offered. Rick For those who frequent Bimmerfest, yes, I posted there as well.
Looks like scuffs and nicks to me, as best I can tell from the pics. Was your tire swap a removal of one set of tires and install of another, as opposed to just pulling one set of wheels/tires and installing another? If so, looks like whoever did the install was careless and in too much of a hurry. In my case, most of what I've experienced that I call pothole damage results in the edges of the wheels with a noticeable deformation (dent) in the wheel lip. I don't see that in your pics. I could see catching scuffs on the side from potholes, but again, for me, I have that from parking too close to the curb rather than potholes. I don't think I've ever had the center of the wheel and lug bolt holes damaged from potholes (that would have to be one deep pothole). I guess I'd go back to the dealer and start with the service manager and start going up the chain from there.
Old tires came off, and new ones went on. Yeah, the service manager knows about the whole situation, but the best they did was offer me repairs at a discount (i.e. buff and paint, not actually welding). No thanks. I'm done there. What really gets me is when the shop foreman lied through his teeth to my face. I know what potholes do, and this isn't it. Rick
I agree with MGarrison; looks like shoddy work to me. I would elevate it past the service manager up the chain of command at the dealer. Once you get a new wheel THEN take it another dealer in the future. Good luck.
This might be a situation for the ombudsman, possibly - not sure though, Zahn would have to ask the ombudsman. I'm not a lawyer, but I would think that the only possible entity to seek any restitution from is the dealership, unless BMW NA is amenable for some reason. The service manager made an offer; I suppose if you don't want to move up their internal chain of command, the next 'up-the-stakes' move is to have a lawyer sue for the amount it would cost to repair the wheels. Fixing, or reimbursing you the cost, would seem less expensive than a lawsuit. Good luck w/ it, however it works out.
Yeah, in my <cough> copious amount of free time... It would be a small claims ordeal, but honestly, I'm so sick of that place, I'm just done. I know I was wronged, and they know it. They also know how busy I am and how I don't have time to deal with BS like this. I'll eventually send the wheels out for a real repair in the summer when things calm down for me, but until then all I can really do is make this post and vow never to return. I learned my lesson. We'll see if BMW NA gets back to me. Rick
Let us know what happens. Just curious, what number (1 through 5) did you rate the service when you got the phone call/email? If you gave them a 1, they would have called you back asking why. Then tell them to give you a new wheel so you could THEN give them a 5 and like you said, "I'm just done".
If they did the pre-inspection sign off and didn't note the defect... you DO have them by the proverbial short hairs! That's what the forms are for.... Matt
You know that television stations live for this kind of stuff ("On your Side" kind of reporting). I wonder how they would like a TV sat truck in their lot shoving microphones in their face? Remember the great line from 'Animal House'. "Don't get mad, get even...."
That is a good idea. Here in New York, they have "Shame shame shaaaaaaaame, shame on you"!!!!!!! I could picture the service manager dropping F bombs like there is no tomorrow.....Lets hope that they will get you a new wheel. If not, I am sure every BMWCCA member will chip in for ya
Wheel repair Today you spend so much on a car and service shops rush the cars out the door, hence your scratched wheel! FYI----All the dealer has to do is call a local or mobile wheel repair person and they will make it look new all for 75.00, Max. I just had all 4 of mine taken off my Z and had them refinished and they look new again! Cost to do all 4 was 250.00 The workmanship was awesome, just got it back yesterday! Good luck! B-
I am not surprised the dealership is keeping you in limbo on this.....I hope they will get you a new one at no charge to you....
This is a cut and dry situation. The car came in and was checked over by a lot attendent for damage. The walk-around sheet did not indicate the damage was there when you dropped it off, therefore the dealer cannot say it was there prior to drop off. That's the whole reason dealers do walk-around reports as soon as the car comes in. Call the manager, tell him that if it is curb damage then one of his employees obviously is responsible since the damage was not there when the car was dropped. Even his own people indicated it was not there when dropped off. End of issue.
Those are obviously tire mounting scars. Low profile tires are a real pain to mount and require a lot more care and sometimes it takes two techs to get them on without damage. We (dealership) use a lot of wheel/tire mounting goop to avoid chipping or scratching the wheels. Slap that stuff on nice and thick then proceed to mount the tires. Once everythings mounted and balanced the detail shop pressure washes the wheels. Now that doesn't mean we've never scratched a customer wheel either. As long as there's a human element involved this stuff will still happen. As someone else mentioned, we do have a wheel touch-up service that comes by when needed (Wheelmasters). They do a decent job of repairing any damaged wheels on site. As for pot hole damaged wheels, my experience is 90% of the time both front and back wheels are usually damaged by pot holes. Most drivers are going too fast to hit the front wheel and not hit the back on the same side. So, when I find a front wheel bent I check the back on the same side and, guess what, it's usally bent too. Paul
An update. After two weeks of back and forth, a message was left on my voicemail from BMW NA indicating the service manager and shop foreman at Perillo BMW were contacted and that the damage on the wheels was determined to have been caused by road hazards and not the tire-mounting process and was therefore not the responsibility of the dealership. BMW NA considered the case closed, as there was no longer anything they could do form their perspective. This of course contradicts the pre-service car inspection sheet that was filled out by the service adviser and signed by me. I since called the representative I worked with at BMW NA and convinced him to allow me to e-mail him the pictures of the damage and a link to this thread for review, and that's where I am now. (He continues to be very polite and professional.) I also encouraged him to request the pre-service vehicle sheet from the dealership. I hope they can't find the same pen used to fill it out originally. We'll see what happens. Rick
Great, it will be another two weeks for them to get back to you now. You know darn well the dealership will mark the wheel damaged so they can kiss BMW NA behind. We all feel for you. This is downright discraceful for what Perillo BMW did to you. Just like what gtopaul said, they could have that fixed for you at thier cost (which is really cheap compared to us doing it on our own) and both parties would be happy.......
