A Positive Review of BMW of FFX

Ok my flame suit is on for this.

I know there have been several bad posts about BMW of FFX as a service center. Be that as it may, I wanted to share a great experience.

First, I have been going to BMW of FFX since the Fall of 2009. They have serviced both my ///M cars.

This past Saturday, I went in for a routine oil change, as I normally do every ~7500 miles or so. When I arrived, my M5 experienced the dreaded Transmission Fault on the idrive screen, but then went away.

I mentioned the error to the SA (Matthew Juliar - great SA by the way), and how it had left and he said no problem, they would run a diagnostic test while they did the oil change.

After about 20 minutes, the SA came back and said they found a fault and said they had to open up a PUMA case with BMW NA. He quickly put me in a loaner car, a brand new '11 328i and I was on my way.

I have heard horror stories about the M5 SMG transmission, and how dealerships would deny the warranty claim b/c of "abuse" etc. NOT in this case. My SA kept me in formed all the way through, and said that the release bearing had failed and that the clutch was worn. I also provided some avenues to diagnose the car which he promptly let the techs know, such as parts of the clutch to look at, and to even ensure to lubricate the release bearing when re-installed. BMW NA approved the warranty claim through FFX and provided me with a whole new "clutch kit" with new release bearing, clutch assemblies, and a new clutch. They even had their most senior and experienced tech (Rich) work on my car. I've known Rich at FFX for a while and he is probably the best mechanic there is at FFX and the most seasoned when it comes to BMWs. I've always been happy with his work. He is also experienced working on my car as well. From what I understand, he deals with cars that have the more technical issues or odd problems, and perhaps ///M cars too.

In the end, My car went in Saturday, and I had it back this past Monday. So just over a week to diagnose, open a PUMA case, order parts, install, test, and get my car back to me.

Since the service, the car has been shifting so smoothly and it feels like a brand new transmission!

I'm very happy and pleased with BMW of FFX and I will still continue to use them as I have been. It probably helps that the Service manager, some of the SAs, and techs know me and my car (not saying I'm there on a frequent basis for issues)

So for all the nay-sayers - like I said in the beginning, my flame suit is on

As a side note, not saying anyone on here does this, but I find it helps not to walk into a service center with an attitude, a sense of entitlement, or a holier than thou attitude. Politeness and mutual respect go a long way. Just an observation i've made from watching other a few customers at the service center.

Well, glad they fixed your issue.

Expand on the Virginia review section?

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=560411

I have to agree. When I lived in Falls Church, I used to take my E46 M3 in for service. I haven't had one bad experience at that dealership. My SA's were always prompt and informative.

Same goes here, its really depends who you get as your CA. Been fortunate enough to get good ones, plus seem like they know my car is BMWFFX purchased so seems like it helps.

after my little mishap i went back to get my tail lamp malfunction error fixed and ffx did take care of me.

of course some ppl will have good experience. but overall they are one of the worst places to get your car serviced at.

I will never set foot in that joint again.

i've been using them for about 3 years
never had any issues
they even replaced my stock steering wheel with the non-electric performance wheel when they scratched the leather on my stock one when they were replacing the peeling steering wheel trim

DisGuy wrote

of course some ppl will have good experience. but overall they are one of the worst places to get your car serviced at.

And the controversy begins

While I'm not defending the dealer, I think your opinion of "the worst place" is subjective to your experiences and probably grumblings you have read or heard about from your fellow enthusiast. Of course your opinion is welcome, and I'm not trying to put you off. That is what these forums are for.

I have heard Arlington (now Alexandria), and even Sterling are "the worst". This from the same enthusiast crowd of BMW owners in the DMV region. It appears the mantra is Dealers are stealers and all bad

I left Arlington (now Alexandria) out of my frustrating experiences with them.

But you are right. People have good experiences, and people have bad.

I've been going to FFX since 2009. I will continue to do so until I deem them no better than Arlington/Alexandria, or until they do something like this:

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e60-m5-e61-m5-touring-discussion/162450-autobahn-bmw-fort-worth-ragged-my-car-wrecked-totaled-test-drive.html