[karan561]

Originally Posted by nakul0888

Whats the big deal in selling a MT M3/M4? They are all full imports, right? All they need to do is take the order and ship a RHD car specced with a stick, isn't it? We have manual e90 m3's here on our roads.

True, the previous gen had the stick shift on offer. But there is a further cost to get ARAI certification/ Homologation process done for a different variant. Hence BMW is avoiding that as major chunk of people want automatic at this price point.

So i wont blame BMW i will blame the Indian customers / the rich who just buy ///M cars, because they can.

Sad but true !

[Turbanator]

I don't think M Cars needs to be homologated due to value , this is required for vehicles costing less than US$ 40,000. At least this was the rule in past if there are any new changes I am not aware. This might have to do with lower/nil production for M models in RHD market. As elsewhere pointed demand for the manual is at lowest.

http://articles.economictimes.indiat...ation-new-cars

[RSUDARSANAN]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

He was one of the key guys involved in getting all BMW's to come with space saver tyre for India. If you see now all BMW's have space saver tyre in the boot.

Oops ! 6 years & 100k+ kms on, I'm fine with runflats.

Wasn't kicked when I saw a space saver in the F30LCI.

Actually asked the dealer if they would trade it in for accessories like mats etc were I to buy.

IMO, certainly not "space saving", without a "stepney well" in the boot.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by RSUDARSANAN

Oops ! 6 years & 100k+ kms on, I'm fine with runflats.

Ravi sir, runflats are still there, just that they provide a space saver spare tyre.

This was the single biggest complaint they received from existing and potential customer.

This was not something which BMW did on their own, they were force to do it by the customers.

[RSUDARSANAN]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

This was not something which BMW did on their own, they were force to do it by the customers.

Originally Posted by karan561

So i wont blame BMW i will blame the Indian customers

QED (Quite Easily Done)

Originally Posted by Vid6639

From the long interaction I had with him, he seems to understand the Indian market pretty well.

If so, may I take the liberty here, of requesting your good offices, to escalate the issue of restriction of BMW's RSA (Road Side Assistance) package to cars upto 5 years of age, only.

Mr. Schloeder should ensure RSA be extended to all BMW cars, irrespective of age of the car.
(PS: I have Ford RSA, pan India, for my 10 year old car)

Thanks

Have raised the matter with Customer Care BMW, thus:
What is the rationale behind BMW India restricting RSA up to 5 years of vehicle age !
What has age of the car got to do with RSA ?
The whole intent of RSA is to get the immobilsed car back to the authorized workshop for prompt repair.

Feel free to delete this post if not appropriate here.

Cheers

[quickdraw]

I'm sorry but I don't see anything much changing anytime soon, I have had the most horrid experience with my BMW dealer, and contacting BMW just seems to start a email thread with the dealership people in cc. I have lost my insurance claim because of the dealership forgetting to replace my tyre which had a bubble, only for them to counter with saying that we don't do tire claims with bodywork claim anyways, and the ICICI people rejected the claim saying no external damage and rejected the bent rims claim and now BMW India has very nicely washed their hands off the problem and I am left to fend for my own.

I urge people to be extremely wary of BMW Dealerships, and DO NOT hold them at a high level of service, hell they are worse than a roadside mechanic (see attached picture) As long as they going is good they are your best friends but as soon as something goes wrong they will just pull your hands up and make you pay! Will be sharing detailed report of my experience in ownership thread soon.

BMW mechanics have literally destroyed my door handle because of the constant cleaning and greasing up the leather has been ruined and the handle has opened up!

[Turbanator]

I urge people to be extremely wary of BMW Dealerships, and DO NOT hold them at a high level of service, hell they are worse than a roadside mechanic (see attached picture) As long as they going is good they are your best friends but as soon as something goes wrong they will just pull your hands up and make you pay

I will agree with you , I used exact same words with their Chandigarh Dealership recently , they replaced some Airconditioning components during warranty and as usual, I took my car without even opening bonnet, couple of days back,to add washer fluid I open my bonnet and I see this shit work done someone had glued this apron which is essentially a two piece rubber component which must have got damaged when they opened A/C pipes , when I escalated complaint with their services General Manager - he was like - sorry we should have used black adhesive

If any ancillary part gets damaged during a warranty replacement are they not supposed to replace that ? at least they could have conveyed and taken my permission to order a new one at costs rather than doing this roadside quick fix.

[RSUDARSANAN]

Originally Posted by rishi_kapoor

Frank is good friend and I just congratulated him and had a brief discussion. I know Frank since last 4 years, apart from being a great human being, he is also very passionate about the brand and truly lives by BMW values. He is a forward thinker and I am sure BMW India will see better days under his leadership.

Bro, you are just what the doctor ordered.

Mr Schloeder is your good friend, passionate about brand and BMW values.
IMO, you owe it to him to send this thread link to him for his information and remedial action.

He needs to clean up the Augean dealership stables, so that BMW can regain the no.1 position when I purchased my e90 in 2010.

Cheers

[Turbanator]

sorry for going again

Looks someone read this

I got a call from the dealership today and was offered replacement without charge , parts were received a day before against my back order.

Got these 3 parts replaced on FOC basis.

[RSUDARSANAN]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

sorry for going again

Looks someone read this

I got a call from the dealership today and was offered replacement without charge , parts were received a day before against my back order.

Got these 3 parts replaced on FOC basis.

Wunderbar !

Every cloud has a silver lining.

Cheers

[HKap]

They should get the 320i back. It's a brilliant choice for someone like me who doesn't do a whole lot of kms a year. It would be a nice, fun, fast (relatively) sedan which can rev beyond 5k rpm. Besides, no matter what, its hard for a diesel engine to match the refinement of a petrol engine.

[nikhil_pon]

Originally Posted by HKap

They should get the 320i back. It's a brilliant choice for someone like me who doesn't do a whole lot of kms a year. It would be a nice, fun, fast (relatively) sedan which can rev beyond 5k rpm. Besides, no matter what, its hard for a diesel engine to match the refinement of a petrol engine.

HKap, It would be still better if they relaunced the 328i. This engine does justice to the BMW chasis and handling in terms of great performance and driveability.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

sorry for going again

Looks someone read this

I got a call from the dealership today and was offered replacement without charge , parts were received a day before against my back order.

Got these 3 parts replaced on FOC basis.

Kudos to BMW and I feel this is the reason many still believe BMW is relatively better from a service front than its competitors. Imagine the same situation with Audi - they may well have sent you an additional bill claiming we forgot to charge the adhesive.

And this is exactly what the incoming chief needs to ensure. That they build on their strengths, keep customer satisfaction paramount, price cars independently & realistically and not necessarily chasing the competition. There's no reason an up to date BMW lineup should be inferior to Audi at the very least, lets keep Mercedes aside for a moment.

[rishi_kapoor]

Petrol line-up is part of strategy this year (source: discussion with few folks at BMW India). Let's wait and watch for surprises from BMW india this year.

[HKap]

Originally Posted by nikhil_pon

HKap, It would be still better if they relaunced the 328i. This engine does justice to the BMW chasis and handling in terms of great performance and driveability.

Of course the 328i is a much better option but its also ridiculously priced.

The 320i is a better option than the 320d IMHO.