[dereksM3]

It's about time to take in my 2016 340i for it's first oil change and get a few small things fixed. I'm hoping to get some feedback on the three main BMW dealers:

BMW of Bellevue
BMW of Seattle
BMW Northwest

I'm currently leaning to BMW Northwest as both times I've been to Bellevue they had poor customer service and only wanted to help you if you were draped in Louis Vuitton and Prada. BMW of Seattle took forever and 4 months to do insurance work on my M3. That leaves BMW of Northwest but I thought I would gather everybodies opinion before making a final decision.

[floydarogers]

Haven't been to Seattle for 30 years, don't know how they are now.
I've heard that Northwest is the best, but haven't been there.
I've been to BMW Bellevue a lot (it's where I've bought our cars), and they're quite expensive, but I haven't had to complain about bad service, only price. Cliff Newton there is pretty sympatico; my wife uses Jan Rene' . There's something to be said for free shuttle service (I live in downtown Bellevue.)

[Rick Hunter]

I second Cliff Newton @ Bellevue. He's sorted me out before without giving any hassles.

Alex Long @ Seattle has also been good to me and my vehicles, esp. regarding warranty requests.

[dereksM3]

Thank you guys for the recommendations, this gives me some names to contact. I appreciate the responses!

[fourdirtyfive]

Mark Harrington at BMW Northwest, sure he can direct you to a good service advisor. Family chose to purchase through them, rather than through local dealerships in Portland. Highly recommend.

[HapkidoNinja]

It's interesting. I work for a "small" software company based in Redmond that has a vibrant BMW enthusiasts club. Almost unanimously everyone has had some major beef with BMW of Bellevue and avidly advocates against doing any business with them.

The service horror stories have been so bad that the club wrote a letter which was sent to BMW of USA, complaining about the dealership's service and begging them to get engaged. They range from simple things like oily footprints in the interior floor mat, to misdiagnosed and expense unnecessary repairs for older vehicles, to simple sloppiness on repairs.

My experience during purchase was so negative that I walked out and looked for hand sanitizer. It started with being thoroughly ignored in the showroom for 15 minutes, with the receptionist continually answering different phone calls and leaving me waiting. None of the sales personnel raised an eyebrow.
I waited patiently and then walked over to a desk with someone who looked senior and politely asked if someone could help me buy a car today. The person called over another flunky to take care of me. He sat me down, took down all my info, showed me what they had that was close to what I was looking for, and then proceeded to quote me a price at MSRP. When I asked about discounts or paying closer to invoice, he brusquely dismissed any notion of it. This in spite of the fact that my company has a deep discount for employees on ALL new BMWs.

BMW of Seattle has been stellar. They understood what I wanted, suggested an order, raised the corporate discount available before I did, and even tossed in a few extras for free. Their service has been stellar - on time, pleasant, high quality, and super thorough followup to ensure that they delivered.

I was considering buying a new X5 for my wife, but given how poor service is in Bellevue I am far more likely to end up with an Audi Q7 or Acura MDX, which have phenomenal service departments in Bellevue.

[dereksM3]

Originally Posted by HapkidoNinja

It's interesting. I work for a "small" software company based in Redmond that has a vibrant BMW enthusiasts club. Almost unanimously everyone has had some major beef with BMW of Bellevue and avidly advocates against doing any business with them.

The service horror stories have been so bad that the club wrote a letter which was sent to BMW of USA, complaining about the dealership's service and begging them to get engaged. They range from simple things like oily footprints in the interior floor mat, to misdiagnosed and expense unnecessary repairs for older vehicles, to simple sloppiness on repairs.

My experience during purchase was so negative that I walked out and looked for hand sanitizer. It started with being thoroughly ignored in the showroom for 15 minutes, with the receptionist continually answering different phone calls and leaving me waiting. None of the sales personnel raised an eyebrow.
I waited patiently and then walked over to a desk with someone who looked senior and politely asked if someone could help me buy a car today. The person called over another flunky to take care of me. He sat me down, took down all my info, showed me what they had that was close to what I was looking for, and then proceeded to quote me a price at MSRP. When I asked about discounts or paying closer to invoice, he brusquely dismissed any notion of it. This in spite of the fact that my company has a deep discount for employees on ALL new BMWs.

BMW of Seattle has been stellar. They understood what I wanted, suggested an order, raised the corporate discount available before I did, and even tossed in a few extras for free. Their service has been stellar - on time, pleasant, high quality, and super thorough followup to ensure that they delivered.

I was considering buying a new X5 for my wife, but given how poor service is in Bellevue I am far more likely to end up with an Audi Q7 or Acura MDX, which have phenomenal service departments in Bellevue.

I ended up with the EXACT same treatment. I walked around in the parking lot for 10-15min to no avail when usually your beating off salesman to even look at a car. I went inside and nobody even acknowledged I existed until I asked multiple people to look at a new 340i they had. They then tried to sell me a left over 2015 at a mediocre discount from the showroom which they told me is the same as a 340i, same engine, same specs...I politely nodded and realized that salesman was for lack of better terms a moron. I finally got somebody to open up a 340i I was interested in and then they walked off!?! At which point I even tried to engage in any discount and they basically laughed at me implying MSRP for such a limited model. 2 days later I found a great deal on a lease assumption in CA and never looked back. I won't ever step foot in such a rude and pretentious dealership again.

Now I have heard great things about the BMW Northwest service department however I had a not so positive encounter with the sales guys years ago trying to purchase a used 335i and later on a E92 M3. The M3 they wouldn't even let me test drive without a deposit or proof of funding. Weeks later I again flew to CA to buy my M3 with no trouble.

I did have work done at BMW Seattle on my E92 and although it took a lot longer than was anticipated the work was done very well. I have heard getting in for service and having small warranty items done can take awhile as they are a much larger dealership than the other two. This was a couple years ago so I will give them a shot here in the next 1-2 months and follow up with what a see. Do you happen to have a SA you recommend there?