Took the X5 to dealer for service, came back with damaged paint

[originalgoods13]

So a fair warning to put as much "NO WASH" signs on your vehicle before you take it in for service

Thursday:
I noted not to wash my vehicle for my annual service (oil change and other recalls) and they washed the vehicle anyways causing swirls and marring on my Black Sapphire Metallic paint

My paint has seen nothing but two-bucket method and Menzerna Power Lock, took them 5 minutes to ruin my paint work

Monday:
They offered the fix the issue by performing paint correction

Tuesday:
I made sure they did not take any shortcuts by bringing a third-party professional detailer to meet me at the dealer and the assessment is

-Heavy glaze to hide imperfections
-Orbital polisher caused holograms all over the vehicle
-Swirls and scratches about 50% better

I am looking into printing some 8 1/2 x 11" sheets that says "NO WASH" and stick in on the window the next time I take it in for service

Really frustrating

Here are the work that were done (2 business days):

1.Condition Based Engine Oil Service
Oil change

2.F15 Program Control Units (DSC OBD ERROR) BULLETIN 34 80 14 0034120200
Reprogram the ECU from what the SA said

3.RECALL 12 87 0300 REPLACE INTEGRATED SUPPLY
apparently this is causing starting issues with X5's

[opasha]

That's really annoying. I'm sorry for the problems you had to go through . Dealers really need to get their act together .

[barcelona]

Really sad to hear. Lots of time invested in the 2 bucket, glad that they will work with you. Good idea with the signage. I make the car jockey do a walk around to mark off the scratches. I had the 1st recall done. The 2nd one only done on x3, as no recall for my x5 (ISM is quite recent).

[batmanken]

my car before the F15 was a black mercedes C350 and in the beginning, I always hand washed and waxed for a long time and all it took to ruin all that was a simple run through a car wash. it caused extreme swirl marks everywhere and even some light scratches. black paint is very hard to maintain but yea, dealers I've worked with "always" wash my car after service so it's pretty annoying.

[originalgoods13]

So the x5 is back home and I am fighting to have a professional detailer other then their low quality in-house detailer fix the issue

I don't understand the concept of horrible car washing methods on all dealerships but I guess I am the 1% that cares about my personal property appearance and the time I invested so far this year equates to at least 120 hours of hand wash and hand wax or sealant method

[Armen383]

Sad to hear... My dealer knows I'm OCD with the car in general so they never wash it (most of the time I give it to them clean anyway). Even the personnel on the car wash I visit know that I have separate bucket, sponge and chamois prepared for them.

[Ashot12]

I am not letting them wash my car again, it is a good idea to wash it before taking it to the dealer, I guess.

[Wing Co]

Hope it works out. It is also my worse nightmare that they ignore my no wash instructions.

[ramsal]

Originally Posted by originalgoods13

So a fair warning to put as much "NO WASH" signs on your vehicle before you take it in for service

Thursday:
I noted not to wash my vehicle for my annual service (oil change and other recalls) and they washed the vehicle anyways causing swirls and marring on my Black Sapphire Metallic paint

My paint has seen nothing but two-bucket method and Menzerna Power Lock, took them 5 minutes to ruin my paint work

Monday:
They offered the fix the issue by performing paint correction

Tuesday:
I made sure they did not take any shortcuts by bringing a third-party professional detailer to meet me at the dealer and the assessment is

-Heavy glaze to hide imperfections
-Orbital polisher caused holograms all over the vehicle
-Swirls and scratches about 50% better

I am looking into printing some 8 1/2 x 11" sheets that says "NO WASH" and stick in on the window the next time I take it in for service

Really frustrating

Here are the work that were done (2 business days):

1.Condition Based Engine Oil Service
Oil change

2.F15 Program Control Units (DSC OBD ERROR) BULLETIN 34 80 14 0034120200
Reprogram the ECU from what the SA said

3.RECALL 12 87 0300 REPLACE INTEGRATED SUPPLY
apparently this is causing starting issues with X5's

I just had servicing done yesterday here in Vancouver. Oil change, filter change and the ISM replacement. The SA also said something resetting the lights but I'm not sure what he meant. Took 2.5h. 2 days seem excessive, even with the ECU programming.

[originalgoods13]

I found some new damages last night from the rotary they used (aside from the holograms) on their polish service last Monday. There were paint scraped off from the trim pieces, swelling and burn on the paint, and taillight, possibly from the corner of the spinning rotary touching the paint work.

BMW dealer is denying responsibility stating "It was like that before service, obviously it was polished prior to service."

Dealing with the detail manager is proven to be difficult so we will need to go there again to the dealer and state our case

Word of caution for everyone with a new vehicle:
-Don't let them wash your vehicle
-Don't give them a second chance
-Don't let them "detail" your vehicle
-Avoid dealer at all cost

[42pilot]

Originally Posted by originalgoods13

So the x5 is back home and I am fighting to have a professional detailer other then their low quality in-house detailer fix the issue

I don't understand the concept of horrible car washing methods on all dealerships but I guess I am the 1% that cares about my personal property appearance and the time I invested so far this year equates to at least 120 hours of hand wash and hand wax or sealant method

For me, it's a matter of expecting my vehicle back in the same condition it was tendered. My Merc had a scratch and I kept their loaner until they repainted the fender. They used a good painter I knew and it worked out OK.

[Barbja]

I wash mine with the 2-bucket method myself, but I've never had problems with the dealer washing it untillll....

I got my deep sea blue X6 back from service last spring and the entire car had light left-to-right (or vice versa and sometimes wavy) scratches. I've never seen a car scratched up like that before. Even the tail lights were scratched (how do you do that?!). I didn't notice it until I was going back to the car after a grocery run on the way back from the dealer; the tail light scratchiness is what drew my attention first.

I called my SA right away and he had me bring it back in. Although my lazy self doesn't wash the car very often, he knew darned well that my car looked like a liquid pool of blue when it was clean. Said their detailer would fix it and gave me a loaner.

Two days later, I go to pick it up and it doesn't appear much better. Urg. Then they kept it for almost a week the next time and it was liquid blue again. Detailed the interior too. Sweet!

They blamed it on Oak pollen. Sure.

[originalgoods13]

Update, I found more defects on the vehicle (door handle paint scrape, tail light scruff, and rear bumper paint welt/burn), all from careless rotary buffing technique by the dealer.

Dealer has agreed to take the X5 to a known reputable auto body shop to correct the issues.

Here is a picture of the "detail work" the dealer performed, I removed the heavy glaze/wax using the dish soap + water method:

[Xeno]

Incredible. Now I don't know where to go for a proper car wash.

[RayZ535]

This is very frustrating. I can understand your pain. I have a Carbon Black X5 and dropped it off for service and despite telling my service advisor to make a note about "No Wash" they still washed it and I have some swirl marks now. This only happens to the darker paints though - light colors don't show anything.
I think the idea of a big laminated sign is good. The dealers don't give a $hit. They're all about servicing more and more cars and billing back BMW

[inagua]

happened to me with my M3.
They repaired the damage but it will never be original paint. Sometimes dealers use a special device to determine if a car has been damaged or repainted by measuring the thickness and uniformity of the paint. This may be an issue for you when you turn in vehicle or sell it to another dealership. They will "adjust" the price down.
What i did was go to the general manager of the dealership and had him agree to take vehicle in without issues when the time came. also made him agree to a ridiculous deal on my next vehicle. This in exchange for not ripping them a new one in the BMW review of the service dept and or yelp ads.
So when the time came for me to turn in vehicle he was true to his word and did make me a great deal on the next vehicle M4, and the next one m235 and the next as well x5 35i . So I guess it worked in my favor.
This is the least that the dealership should do to keep your business.
Good luck

[originalgoods13]

Originally Posted by RayZ535

This is very frustrating. I can understand your pain. I have a Carbon Black X5 and dropped it off for service and despite telling my service advisor to make a note about "No Wash" they still washed it and I have some swirl marks now. This only happens to the darker paints though - light colors don't show anything.
I think the idea of a big laminated sign is good. The dealers don't give a $hit. They're all about servicing more and more cars and billing back BMW

Yes, it hurts because I spent a whole lot of time over a year on taking care of the finish by using the recommended two-bucket method wash and air-dry after.

I did notice that the "detail" is charged to BMW Canada as well.

They actually scraped some paint off my door handle from their rotary buffer so my X5 ended up at an auto body shop to correct these defects.

[originalgoods13]

Originally Posted by Xeno

Incredible. Now I don't know where to go for a proper car wash.

I would suggest Doing It Yourself with the proper two-bucket method and air-dry

I have been successful with this method

Alternatively, you can take it to a touch-less automatic wash, but note that the vehicle won't be 100% clean after, or some risk or oxidization (from what I heard) because of the strong detergents they use for pre-soaking (this could be a myth as there has not been any long-term study I have seen)

[Xeno]

Originally Posted by originalgoods13

I would suggest Doing It Yourself with the proper two-bucket method and air-dry

I have been successful with this method

Alternatively, you can take it to a touch-less automatic wash, but note that the vehicle won't be 100% clean after, or some risk or oxidization (from what I heard) because of the strong detergents they use for pre-soaking (this could be a myth as there has not been any long-term study I have seen)

I lack the energy to do a proper wash myself so I have been using Red Carpet in OKC (http://www.redcarpetokc.com/). I usually do the drive through version, but this week after a month on the road I did a complete wash inside and out. The vehicle only encounters one set of brushes that whirl on the sides of the vehicle.

I did notice that the supreme wash includes RainX and noticed a negative note about RainX in a thread somewhere - maybe about windshield solution - but hope using RainX is not a problem in this scenario as it does make a difference with at least light rain.