How Far Do You Ride For Official BMW Service

[Guest24]

How far to you have to ride or trailer your BMW motorcycle to an authorized BMW dealership for service/ maintenance repairs.

[shreddr]

the closest dealer is an hour and a half away, i am not sure how close a competent one is, but I think it's quite a bit more, 3+ hours

[Guest24]

Shreddr, I didn't have the poll up but as you can see it's up now. Let's just error on the side of closest.

[cageyar]

The closest authorized dealer is 35 miles away.
It might as well be 35,000,000 miles away since I don't take my bike to any dealer. I have no confidence in any of them.
I don't think shreddr would mind me sharing this small story, but when he took his bike to the dealer to have the EWS ring antenna replaced, the service department damaged his BMW emblem on the triple clamp.
You let these young "technicians" touch your bike, it's at best 50/50 damage or worse occurs. It's sad and I think a little worse in our area than some, but that's the reality.

[OwenM]

There should be an option for zero miles, no way I will let some junior mechanic who does not give a ***** do what I can do at least as well or better. If you want something done properly do it your self.

[TandemGeek]

From home..

14mi to Atlanta BMW in Marietta, about 3mi from work (First Choice, no Jr. mechanics here)
34mi to Blue Moon in Roswell, about 22mi from work (Haven't been there but our RT has)
10mi to the DucShop in Marietta, about 5mi from work (Not BMW shop, but a speed shop & Zack knows the R1100S inside and out)

[NakedRider]

My dealer is only 6 miles from my house.

I was doing a lot of my own work, however. Just to get to know the bike and save $$.

[Guest24]

Originally Posted by OwenM

There should be an option for zero miles, no way I will let some junior mechanic who does not give a ***** do what I can do at least as well or better. If you want something done properly do it your self.

That's fine Owen. But, hope you entered how far away the nearest dealership is.

[turboflyer]

My life experience at near 60 has taught me it is easier to buy the tools and manuals you need, learn the task, and even if you screw it up three times you will still break even. Plus you will know exactly who to blame, which ass to kick and how to do it right next time. I trust the dealers so much that I even made a deal with the service writer on warranty work. They gave me the parts and I signed the work order and did the job myself. Right on about the young tech who could give a crap less, close enough is the standard dealer motto. Good thread nailer. Everyone can start out on small stuff and work there way into shredders world for sure.

[windy]

My K1200GT is at Atlanta BMW right now. Very hard to downshift,and extended warranty. Sweet bike but a little porky,but so am I. R1100S is waiting for 6,000 mi. service.Oh well its raining anyway.

[Deans BMW]

The closest authorized BMW dealer that I would consider using if and when I need a dealer is Iron Horse in Tuscon at 210 miles away, but my perfered dealer which does most of my work is San Jose BMW, 950 miles away.

[geothepencil]

We like our dealer, Twin City. They have gone out of their way numerous times to service our bikes and assist with repair and warranty issues. That 260 mile round trip is inconvenient, but we are prepared for things like that. We do what we can.

geo

[cageyar]

I might take my bike to SJ BMW. It"s only 2,936.9 miles away.
Are they planning to open a NY metropolitan area store?

[shreddr]

Originally Posted by cageyar

I don't think shreddr would mind me sharing this small story, but when he took his bike to the dealer to have the EWS ring antenna replaced, the service department damaged his BMW emblem on the triple clamp.
.

you got part of the story

they damaged the roundel (chipped it) because they thought they had to remove it to take off the top clamp, which you DON'T, the top clamp comes off with a nut on the underside. then to make matters worse, when i noticed it and called them on it, they said they didn't do it, and I would have to bring the bike back to let them decide whether they had damaged it or not. I shook my head, and made a mental note to write a letter to BMW. the head service guy called me back, and said yes they had damaged it, and they had ordered a new roundel, and i could come over and have it installed when it came in. i asked them to mail it to me.

these are the same rocket scientists that couldn't detect the pulse in my front end on braking. i'm not sure what the deal is, but to reiterate what has been mentioned here before, I trust one mechanic: ME

I hope I never have to get too deep into the electronics....

[signit98]

...My service station is right here in my garage... for anything I can't fix there, I'll visit SDBMWMC, abut 12 miles away...

[Guest24]

Shreddr you just broke the code. The electronic equipment (Canbus programming) is the one issue that we can't deal with in the garage no matter how many tools you can afford.

My RT fuel strip error cannot be corrected with a remove and replace option. There are many other squawks that can't be fixed by the remove and replace approach either.

The next poll will be on whether or not you care about the warranty and do your own maintenance from the get-go.

[AndrewA]

I've got three within 25 milles, and a total of nine within 60 miles.
Two will provide pick-up and delivery.

There are 16 dealers within 250 miles of my house.

Although I want them all to thrive, I hope never to need their services.

[EZ-RIDER]

Originally Posted by shreddr

you got part of the story

These are the same rocket scientists that couldn't detect the pulse in my front end on braking. i'm not sure what the deal is, but to reiterate what has been mentioned here before, I trust one mechanic: ME

I hope I never have to get too deep into the electronics....

So Shreddr what did you find, a WARPED ROTOR ?

[shreddr]

Originally Posted by EZ-RIDER

So Shreddr what did you find, a WARPED ROTOR ?

im gonna replace the pads and see if it goes away, in the meantime i'm gonna lightly sand the stock pads and see if that helps at all.

[throttlemeister]

I don't... My bikes never see another dealer unless I have sold the bike. All I do at a dealer is order parts.