I've been fairly happy with the dealer I've used for the last 10 years and 4 cars. Recently, though, I feel like their service department is on an aggressive upsell mission:
- I brought my wife's 328i in for a front-end vibration issue. Dealer diagnosed three out of the four wheels as very slightly bent, likely due to the horrible road conditions here in the Northeast lately. They recommended wheel straightening at $150 a piece, plus a four wheel alignment since "it's probably out of alignment since it hit impacts hard enough to bend the wheels." $450 for reparing 3 wheels, plus $295! for an alignment. $800+ with tax total.
Aside from the outrageously priced alignment, what else was wrong with this suggested service? The damaged wheels on the car were, very obviously, not OEM. They were cheapo Rial Salerno winter alloys from Tire Rack, $139 a piece new. $150 to straighten a $139 wheel? No thanks.
- I brought my car in today for an in-between/out-of-pocket oil and filter change. The SA's suggestion: "We're also recommending an induction system cleaning on M cars and 335s/535s with your mileage (around 23,000) to clean up the injectors and valves." $195. I told him I'd pass for now and think about it. I'm strict about using only Shell, or Sunoco in a pinch, so hopefully my valves aren't that gunked up already. I went to their parts dept instead and bought a $13 bottle of BMW/Techron fuel system cleaner.
- As I was sitting in the service area today, the SA speaking to the lady next to me was trying to sell her on a four-wheel alignment, tire rotation and balancing for $400. She was there for an unrelated issue.
Is this just an aberration, or are other people noticing it more often as well?