What do you guys think...?

[the1andonly]

Hey all, we'll took the car into the dealer to fix a rattle in the wheel and got it back with a dented back bumper. They offered to respray but that doesn't seem like fair compensation...its a 2012 basically new...how is ending up with a resprayed bumper good for me?

I asked them to also respray the front as i have some chips and slight damage from someone slightly backing into me...they said they would think about it. ;/

So then i was wondering do i take the opportunity to but the 135 rear bumper on? anybody know what the bumper itself would cost? and if the car is leased, would they even notice when i returned it, something tells me they won't.

Also the damage is slight but went through the paint in two places...it might be 95% fixable without having to take off bumper and respray, instead just do a fix as best they can with bumper on, would any of you opt for that? i HATE taking off anything factory, its never the same afterwards...and who knows if they will screw up a total respray...

thoughts?

[doublevanosrc]

Ugh that sucks on a car so new!!

Let them respray it, let them get it right.

[b1aze]

Why do you think that they owe you a front bumper spray also?

[Adam135]

The proper way is to take the bumper off the car and paint it. You DO NOT want them painting it with the car on, they'll probably get over spray everywhere.

[the1andonly]

Originally Posted by b1aze

Why do you think that they owe you a front bumper spray also?

I left my new car in their care...they damaged it. A resprayed bumper is not a factory painted bumper, its worse any way you look at it.

if you had two new cars sitting in the showroom...one had a resprayed bumper and one factory, which would you prefer? i dropped off one with a factory bumper, i want compensation.

[b1aze]

Originally Posted by the1andonly

I left my new car in their care...they damaged it. A resprayed bumper is not a factory painted bumper, its worse any way you look at it.

if you had two new cars sitting in the showroom...one had a resprayed bumper and one factory, which would you prefer? i dropped off one with a factory bumper, i want compensation.

So because the rear was damaged, the front should also be fixed? They made a mistake and I would expect them to fix it, but I would not expect them to do the bumper too.

For example, i just picked my car up from my dealership yesterday. When they washed it, they completely bent the R-Ho plate relocation kit as well as my front licence plate and plate frame. Even though it was aftermarket, they promptly offered to reimburse me for the cost to replace it, no questions asked. Now, does that mean i should ask for 50% more than the actual cost to replace the setup? Absolutely not. Just because you got some rock chips from DRIVING THE CAR and the dealer made a very minor (and from your description could easily buff out without having to respray the whole thing) mistake, you want to try to take advantage of them. I think that screams "entitlement" and youre trying to stomp your feet and get them to do it for you, which i think is wrong.

But hey, not my morals.

[pinmagic]

Originally Posted by b1aze

For example, i just picked my car up from my dealership yesterday. When they washed it, they completely bent the R-Ho plate relocation kit as well as my front licence plate and plate frame. Even though it was aftermarket, they promptly offered to reimburse me for the cost to replace it, no questions asked.

That's very different. Once that's replaced, it's BETTER than when you brought it in - you have a brand new kit/frame. In the case of a bumper, a re-sprayed bumper is never as good as a factory one. Plus, there's the inconvenience of having to drop the car off again, and perhaps be without a car for a few days. I don't see anything wrong with ASKING them to do the front bumper as a goodwill gesture. The OP hardly sounded like he was demanding or being strident. I don't see him "stomping [his] feet", and nothing there "screams entitlement."

But, other than a skewed comparison, and attributing an attitude to the OP that he didn't exhibit, your argument was right on point.

[thehalcyon]

Originally Posted by the1andonly

Hey all, we'll took the car into the dealer to fix a rattle in the wheel and got it back with a dented back bumper. They offered to respray but that doesn't seem like fair compensation...its a 2012 basically new...how is ending up with a resprayed bumper good for me?

I asked them to also respray the front as i have some chips and slight damage from someone slightly backing into me...they said they would think about it. ;/

So then i was wondering do i take the opportunity to but the 135 rear bumper on? anybody know what the bumper itself would cost? and if the car is leased, would they even notice when i returned it, something tells me they won't.

Also the damage is slight but went through the paint in two places...it might be 95% fixable without having to take off bumper and respray, instead just do a fix as best they can with bumper on, would any of you opt for that? i HATE taking off anything factory, its never the same afterwards...and who knows if they will screw up a total respray...

thoughts?

Ughh!! That sucks man! I can't believe the crap that dealers get away with. From joyrides to damaging customer cars and not giving a Sh*T. I recently went through something similar ( more minor but still). Ended up getting contacted by the General Manager of the dealership who still wouldn't own up to the fact they screwed up or offer any sort of apology. In fact, mid phone conversation he interrupted me mid sentence and said "we'll note your complaint thank you" and hung up on me. I really wish I recorded it.

I wouldn't count on BMW North America to help much either, all they did for me was log a complaint and say they will look at it when they do an internal review.

If you can take some pics of the damage maybe the forum can help, If its down to the paint perhaps a pro detailer could get about 90% of the surface stuff off and use bmw touchup paint / wetsand to fix the remainder. I would try to at least get a pro's opinion on the best thing to do.

Respray will never be the same, and might show up on your cars history which would lower the value.

[b1aze]

Originally Posted by pinmagic

That's very different. Once that's replaced, it's BETTER than when you brought it in - you have a brand new kit/frame. In the case of a bumper, a re-sprayed bumper is never as good as a factory one. Plus, there's the inconvenience of having to drop the car off again, and perhaps be without a car for a few days. I don't see anything wrong with ASKING them to do the front bumper as a goodwill gesture. The OP hardly sounded like he was demanding or being strident. I don't see him "stomping [his] feet", and nothing there "screams entitlement."

But, other than a skewed comparison, and attributing an attitude to the OP that he didn't exhibit, your argument was right on point.

Fair enough. I took his original post as EXPECTING the dealership to spray the front also.

It really comes down to the fact that people make mistakes and as long as they are willing to fix the mistake they made, there shouldn't be a need for more than that just because a mistake was made.

[tpg22]

When the mistake that was made will cause the customer to return to the dealership, and be without the car for several days, they should offer to do something nice. If they are a professional dealership they will remove the bumper to spray it. This will be a 2 day process if done correctly.

I understand your concern about the repaint. A week after taking delivery of my 2009 135 tiny specks appeared in the paint. They were the size of dust but there were 15-20 of them all over the car. Tiny black specs. They offered to repaint the entire car. It was going to take them weeks they said. I did not want this. In the end they offered me a new car and let me use the one I had for 2 months while I waited for delivery. I returned it with 4000 miles on it and got a new car with a new warranty. I always wonder if they repainted it then or sold as is.

The bigger question for me is how do they damage a bumper when they are working on a tire?

[golf_234]

Originally Posted by pinmagic

That's very different. Once that's replaced, it's BETTER than when you brought it in - you have a brand new kit/frame. In the case of a bumper, a re-sprayed bumper is never as good as a factory one. Plus, there's the inconvenience of having to drop the car off again, and perhaps be without a car for a few days. I don't see anything wrong with ASKING them to do the front bumper as a goodwill gesture. The OP hardly sounded like he was demanding or being strident. I don't see him "stomping [his] feet", and nothing there "screams entitlement."

But, other than a skewed comparison, and attributing an attitude to the OP that he didn't exhibit, your argument was right on point.

Not true, there are some insanely good body shops in the country. (Albeit incredibly expensive) Alpine auto body without a doubt beats out almost any factory finish i have ever seen. They really do not make mistakes, at all.

[BenDiem]

Originally Posted by the1andonly
13799360

Hey all, we'll took the car into the dealer the car is leased, would they even notice when i returned it, something tells me they won't.

thoughts?

^^^ OP, my thoughts... The car is leased, so I would not put on a more costly 135i bumper. If you owned the car, and had to have the 135i rear bumper, I'd entertain it, and offer to pay the price premium btw painting the rear damage and getting a very good discount on the 135i bumper...

Conversely, if I was the dealer, I'd repair the rear bumper and touch up some of the front damage as a good jesture to their mistake.

Cheers/BB

[JimD]

I've had body work done after the car was damaged a few times. It always looked great when I got it back but not after a few years. The clearcoat peeled after 4-5 years in one instance I am recalling. I had some body work done due to getting hit in a parking lot on my non-bimmer SUV. I am hoping their painting doesn't fail before I get rid of the vehicle but I am trying to keep track of the warranty. I agree with the OP's point that a repaired vehicle is not as good as a vehicle without paint repair.

Factory painting is done under ideal conditions. At least part of the BMW painting is done by robots. Even though lots of body shops have good painters and even when they use equivalent paint (not always the case), the difference in environment may still result in a less durable paint finish.

Jim

[LinkA8A0A]

Pain and suffering!

You seem really worried for nothing. It's not like the dealer is going to send your car to Maaco or something, they're going to send it to a reputable body shop and they'll do a good job. Chances are a month after you get the car back there's going to be another scratch, chip or imperfection so worrying about the bumper being taken off (really?) and painted seems obscure to me...especially on a 1 series. We're not talking about some super rare car where the original paint is a selling point.

[rking117]

everyone it talking about the OP but noone is talking about how the dealer see this so let me fill in that info:

First let me say this. I am very sorry that you had a problem like this and I totally understand your frustration here. Regardless if this vehicle is leased or not it is still your baby and I respect that. BUT... The dealers job in this case is to make you whole again. Think of it like this... let's treat the paint as if it were money. You came into the dealer with a $4895 and when you went to pick up the money they only gave you back $4500. Of course they didnt realize they dropped the other $395 into the furnace. OK with me so far?

You count your money and realize that, "hey I only have $4500 here", so you notify the shop manager and he says well yes you are right, "we are sorry we must have lost the other $385. Here let us fix that for you, we will give you the $385 dollars back is that acceptable to you?" Then you say, "nope I want the original $5000 dollars that I had from the factory and wont take a penny less." Now the shop is like, "serously?" <thought>He came in with $4895 and now he wants us to give him back $5000 not the original $4895 he came in with.</thought> That is called profiting off of their mistake and not really fair in my opinion. So let me break it down for those that don't want to read this whole post.

factory paint = $5000
Condition you brought it into the shop in = $4895
Damage they did on the vehicle = $395
Left you with $4500
You asked for new paint on front bumper as well as rear = $500
Totalling factory paint not roginal condition paint $5000 <> $4895

Not a real fair deal I suppose. But hey who am I to say you can't get it. Recently I took my car to get new tires on them. When I got the car back I noticed that two of the four rims had deep gouges on them. I spoke to the manager and they agreed to repainting all four rims. (powdercoated totalled $260) Still there is a major difference in my situation. No one could get the powdercoating to match the original color of the wheels and besides I was going to have them painted anyway. Actually my mistake in this venture was that I didnt take the car into the shop i just brought the sanded wheels so they had no idea what kind of vehicle they were off of even though I left careful instructions with them that they need to take very special care of them since they were about to be repainted. At first they argued with me until finally he saw the BMW stamp on the back of the wheel and promptly asked me what kind of car it was off of. When I told him that it was a $60000 BMW Z4 he about fainted I swear and quickly offered me compensation. I just received my check last week.

Now on final thing and I will shut up... That did not allow me to profit on the situation. See I paid to have the tires mounted at the original place. Then I had to have them dismounted and remounted again after powdercoating.

Total cost was about $100 for 4 tires at the shop that did the damage.
At a different shop dismounting was $50 for four tires
Remounting after new paint was $71 for four tires.

Moral of this story is. The money I paid to dismount and remount I would have paid to have the front two tires painted to match. So this isnt free by any means. I was made whole but i did not profit off of the issue. And also one final thing. Dont take your car to gets tires at a place that doesnt have a touchesless tire mounting machine. that is bad for your rims.

[Freon]

Considering how new the car is, they should take steps so the repair is virtually undetectable.

You should feel free to get independent estimates on repairs and note the steps the independent shops are taking. You can also call your insurance company. They may at least offer you advice.

I would not expect the whole car to be resprayed. I doubt this should require more than removing, prepping, and respraying the entire rear bumper.

[doublevanosrc]

The dealer should respray the bumper properly and put the OP in a loaner while his car is out, I agree with others nothing more should be asked from the dealer except to make it whole again. The OP needs to insure that the work is done right and comes with some kind of warranty and documentation.

[the1andonly]

Originally Posted by rking117

everyone it talking about the OP but noone is talking about how the dealer see this so let me fill in that info:

First let me say this. I am very sorry that you had a problem like this and I totally understand your frustration here. Regardless if this vehicle is leased or not it is still your baby and I respect that. BUT... The dealers job in this case is to make you whole again. Think of it like this... let's treat the paint as if it were money. You came into the dealer with a $4895 and when you went to pick up the money they only gave you back $4500. Of course they didnt realize they dropped the other $395 into the furnace. OK with me so far?

You count your money and realize that, "hey I only have $4500 here", so you notify the shop manager and he says well yes you are right, "we are sorry we must have lost the other $385. Here let us fix that for you, we will give you the $385 dollars back is that acceptable to you?" Then you say, "nope I want the original $5000 dollars that I had from the factory and wont take a penny less." Now the shop is like, "serously?" <thought>He came in with $4895 and now he wants us to give him back $5000 not the original $4895 he came in with.</thought> That is called profiting off of their mistake and not really fair in my opinion. So let me break it down for those that don't want to read this whole post.

factory paint = $5000
Condition you brought it into the shop in = $4895
Damage they did on the vehicle = $395
Left you with $4500
You asked for new paint on front bumper as well as rear = $500
Totalling factory paint not roginal condition paint $5000 <> $4895

Not a real fair deal I suppose. But hey who am I to say you can't get it. Recently I took my car to get new tires on them. When I got the car back I noticed that two of the four rims had deep gouges on them. I spoke to the manager and they agreed to repainting all four rims. (powdercoated totalled $260) Still there is a major difference in my situation. No one could get the powdercoating to match the original color of the wheels and besides I was going to have them painted anyway. Actually my mistake in this venture was that I didnt take the car into the shop i just brought the sanded wheels so they had no idea what kind of vehicle they were off of even though I left careful instructions with them that they need to take very special care of them since they were about to be repainted. At first they argued with me until finally he saw the BMW stamp on the back of the wheel and promptly asked me what kind of car it was off of. When I told him that it was a $60000 BMW Z4 he about fainted I swear and quickly offered me compensation. I just received my check last week.

Now on final thing and I will shut up... That did not allow me to profit on the situation. See I paid to have the tires mounted at the original place. Then I had to have them dismounted and remounted again after powdercoating.

Total cost was about $100 for 4 tires at the shop that did the damage.
At a different shop dismounting was $50 for four tires
Remounting after new paint was $71 for four tires.

Moral of this story is. The money I paid to dismount and remount I would have paid to have the front two tires painted to match. So this isnt free by any means. I was made whole but i did not profit off of the issue. And also one final thing. Dont take your car to gets tires at a place that doesnt have a touchesless tire mounting machine. that is bad for your rims.

Thank you for your post...and I agree with you except one point. Damaging and repainting my otherwise perfect bumper is not giving me back my $395 as you put it. Its like giving me back $300. A repainted bumper is not of the same value as a factory painted bumper I dropped the car off with. So to balance out that difference in value I asked that they do the front as a courtesy for their error. To be honest I gain nothing...Id rather it not have happened at all. instead best case now I end up with two resprayed bumpers on a year old BMW...I lose either way on their error...

Thats where the the thinking of the dealer is flawed...losing my $395 and thinking respraying equals that value

Im ready to take out some touch up paint and a brush and say F-it!

[Isdaako]

I've failed to notice any mention as to the size of the damage. Hinted in the last post where the damage could be self-repaired with a paint touch up pen.

Most of the rants I've seen posted here are centered around minute nearly imperceptible nicks,

Post some photos of your damage so we might be able to objectively evaluate your rant.

[IDBMW]

I would push them to fix the front bumper as well for free. They screwed up your car and the re-paint of the back bumper will never be like the factory. Plus you can’t drive your car when it is being fixed so you are out there a little.

Perhaps it’s the way I roll but I own and manage some vacation condos at a ski resort. A few weeks ago somehow communication got crossed with my housekeeper and she did not clean one of the places and the new guests arrived to an un-cleaned condo. I had the housekeeper go over and clean the place while they were out skiing so it was not much of a big deal. I did take $100 their rent and did not charge them the $75 cleaning fee without them asking. They were very happy, said I treated more than fairly and they made reservations for another stay. Basically $75 out of my pocket and they will be repeat customers which I will make back on the next stay.

Same sort of situation with the dealer. They screwed up just like me! All they have to do is buy a little extra paint and a little labor to remove the front bumper to paint it along with the back bumper and they have one happy customer.

[Nixolas]

I agree, obviously the dealer is obligated to fix your rear bumper. Keyword here is "fix" as in they broke it under their supervision. Compensation is justified and if you will settle for a front bumper spray then business is settled. I'm saying this because spraying your back bumper does not suffice for the damage that was done. If they really wanted to be fair, they would REPLACE our back bumper. Enough said.

I've had my small experience with my BMW dealership too. I took it in for a scheduled oil change and when I went to pick it up, but when they took me to it, they noticed that the car had not been washed as promised. Otherwise, the car looked perfect. Sitting on all 4's and I had to take a picture of my baby since I missed it so much. They said that they couldn't wash it until the next day. So since I already made other arrangements for the weekend I paid my bill and let them keep the car for another day.

They called me up a few days later and told me the car is washed and ready to go, however one of my tires were flat. Surprised I asked how this had happened, they said that it was noticed when they were doing the regular check of the car. I told them that this is impossible because it was no where in the bill that i already had paid, and when I went to look at the car and took pictures (evidence) it was perfectly sitting on all 4 tires full of air. They said that the puncture was released when it was lifted as a nail was lodged in it the hole time, now it will only retain the air for 12 hours which is why it was sitting on all 4 tires at the time when I saw the car.

I didn't buy it. It didn't add up. Interesting enough, the person who was assisting me in finding my car that day told me to hop in a 3-series and ride around all of their parking lots to look for my car. He was driving so fast, incredibly ignorant through the speed bumps. Later I found out that this car belonged to another customer. So what makes me think that they didn't give my car the same justice they've treated other customer's cars. I felt as if my car was mistreated and my consumer rights were taken advantage of.

Ultimately, after a lot of back-and-forths with the supervisor, I had to purchase a new wheel, however they offered the work and balance for free, and threw in a 200$ detail interior/exterior clean. I thought this was fair giving them the chance that the flat tire was due to a nail I may have run over days before bringing the car in.

[SteveAZ]

Stuff happens....

I'm guessing if the situation were reversed the thread would be something like this.

Title
"Accidentally backed in to my neighbors rear bumper...now he wants me to pay for a respray of the front bumper too!"

Post
"So I was backing out of my driveway and didn't see my neighbors car and ended up scratching it. It was totally my fault and I immediately notified him of what had happened and offered to get his bumper fixed....I felt really bad. However, he is now demanding I get his front bumper repainted too.
I believe he is now taking advantage of the situation and is trying to get me to pay for something that I had nothing to do with. What do you guys think?"


As I said...stuff happens.

We had a new car with 4000 miles on it when a cement truck pulled on to the freeway in front of us and douched the front with rocks. The gravel company replaced the windshield and had everything repaired factory. Nothing more, nothing less...I was okay with that and the thought never occurred to me to make any additional demands. They accepted responsibility and did the right thing, why would I sour that and ruin it for the next person. That said, I did have a problem a year or two later with the clear coat...the body shop stood behind their work and repaired it...all I asked for.