***** And *******ion, Faulty Repairs and Second Hand Spare Parts

BMW Fourways Cedar Isle has provided the absolute worst service I've ever received from any business. I wish I had never taken my car into this cesspit of appalling mechanical work, sub-standard, second hand spare parts and abominably massive overcharging.

I took my BMW 3 series sedan in to BMW Fourways Cedar Isle with a drive train warning in September 2023. They charged me R 1 400 for a full diagnostic. Then they kept changing the story after diagnostics. They eventually asked for over R 10 000 just to do more diagnostics. That was just for more diagnostics, not for repairs! I have never had a workshop, BMW or otherwise, ask for more money after running full diagnostics before. They’re supposed to find out what is wrong, explain what is wrong and then send me a quote for the repairs, not ask for an exorbitant amount for more diagnostics!

In retrospect, I think the reason they did not give me the diagnostic results and wanted to charge me more was because the diagnostic had showed that they had stuffed up the earlier service and another repair I had taken it in for afterwards at the same despicable BMW Fourways Cedar Isle. More on that later. They did not want to implicate themselves of the malpractice they were guilty of and demanded that exorbitant amount for more diagnostics hoping I’d go away, instead of fixing their own mistake at their own cost as they were supposed to do.

Sensing a red flag, I paid for this wasted, useless, inconclusive diagnostic, took my car out and booked it in at a Bosch workshop. After a full diagnostic at the normal price, with no escalation, Bosch informed me that BMW Fourways Cedar Isle had put in what looked like second hand Champion spark plugs at the last service which was done earlier this year at BMW Fourways Cedar Isle in January 2023. They put 3 Champion spark plugs in during this last service and the fourth one was some other brand.

From the research I’ve done and after having spoken to people with mechanical experience, it was clear that Champion spark plugs are wrong for BMW cars. Bosch and NGK spark plugs are the recommended brands for BMW cars. In addition they put in 3 spark plugs of a certain brand and then a fourth one which was another brand. This is also wrong. All spark plugs need to be the same brand when they do a full service. As if that wasn’t enough, the spark plugs appeared to be second hand. The last service was done at BMW Fourways Cedar Isle in January 2023. The Bosch mechanic removed the spark plugs and showed them to me while I was there. According to him, the age of the spark plugs looked older than the time and mileage which had elapsed since the last service at this disgusting BMW Fourways Cedar Isle. I had not taken the car in for any service or repairs anywhere else during this time.

As the Bosch mechanic explained after he showed me the defective spark plugs, this abhorrent and dangerous spark plug malpractice then forced a **********ly damaging mechanical chain reaction. Over time, this act of malicious sabotage by BMW Fourways Cedar Isle damaged the fuel injectors, the ignition coils and the DME/ECU, stiffing me with a massive R 30 000 repair bill.

I had no option but to then take this up with BMW Group South Africa Customer Services. After taking well over a week to investigate this and blaming the delay on their inability to get the “job cards”, their “technical department” concluded that “its unlikely that the spark plugs are the cause of the injector issues and highly unlikely to have caused any hassles with the DME”. No explanation then on what could indeed have caused this problem despite BMW Fourways Cedar Isle having done a full diagnostic and charging me full price for that.

This so called “technical department” from BMW Group South Africa then “further advised that the CHAMPION spark plugs are the correct plugs for this vehicle”, despite all evidence to the contrary. I went back and checked the invoice from the service earlier and saw that they charged me R 316.25 per spark plug. No offense meant to Champion spark plugs, but it appears BMW Fourways Cedar Isle charged me the higher price for the correct Bosch or NGK spark plugs, and then fitted three of the incorrect AND second hand Champion spark plugs. I searched online and could not find any Champion spark plugs selling at that price in South Africa. Who knows where they got the fourth spark plug from? Probably some other second hand spark plug they had lying around.

To heap insult onto injury, this venerable “technical team” states that “this vehicle had a number of instances where the engine showed overheat (red) warning”. This so called “Customer Service consultant” then goes on to reveal that “It is more likely that this may have damaged the engine internally resulting in poor compression and so forth”. He conveniently chose to entirely ignore the fact that I immediately took it in to BMW Fourways Cedar Isle when this overheating first happened in April 2023, three months after the aforementioned faulty and *****ulent service. I had specifically discussed this with him when I first contacted him.

This overheating had never occurred before with my car until I took it in for service to BMW Fourways Cedar Isle in January 2023. They blamed it on a damaged crankshaft and fan belt and charged me over R 10 500 for those replacement parts and labour. Who knows whether they actually fixed it or even used legitimate spare parts? While I was waiting to pick up the car after this repair, I started chatting to another customer who was also waiting for his car. He mentioned how he had been overcharged for his repair when he compared prices with other BMW workshops, especially the labour component, which appeared to have been randomly loaded up to the max. This crankshaft and fan belt labour cost for my car was the bulk of the bill at R 5 080. I suppose it’s easier for them to inflate costs *******ly in the labour section when dealing with people who are not mechanical experts.

To make matters worse, the exact same overheating warning flashed up again a couple of weeks later in May 2023. This was after a repair which they themselves had done. I took it in immediately again to BMW Fourways Cedar Isle and they blamed the fan belt again. Bear in mind that this was the same brand new fan belt which they supposedly fitted! This is why I think they are using counterfeit or second hand parts. In addition, it took them three days to replace a fan belt! That also did not add up. They said they had difficulty sourcing a fan belt. This is a branded BMW dealership workshop in a large suburb in the biggest city in the country! How on earth does it take them three days to source the fan belt for their biggest selling model, a BMW 3 series sedan??? Definitely *****!

Incidentally, the courtesy car they sent to pick me up in to collect my car after the second overheating (alleged) repair was also picking up a lady from the complex next door. We started talking and she also complained about having to book her car in for multiple repairs at BMW Fourways Cedar Isle for the same problem after it was supposedly fixed. So these are recurring problems with other customers as well due to their consistently faulty repairs, ***** and *******ion.

I now have no doubt that they have been damaging my car and making it worse every time I took it in for a service or repairs to the hellhole that is BMW Fourways Cedar Isle.

I was hoping that BMW Group South Africa would at least take some accountability, but clearly they’re in on this cover up of the gross negligence, misconduct, ***** and *******ion being perpetrated by BMW Fourways Cedar Isle.

It is a real pity because the cars are comfortable and a pleasure to drive. People pay a premium for a luxury brand name like BMW because the cars are well designed and manufactured, which mine was; and also because we expect excellent and professional after sales service, which I certainly did not receive. My previous car was also a BMW 3 Series and I have been a loyal BMW customer for over 16 years now. I will never again buy another BMW vehicle due to the execrable treatment I was subjected to and the ensuing traumatic experience.

My consumer rights as a long term, loyal BMW customer have been atrociously violated and BMW Group South Africa, the supposed national head office of the company, refuses to even acknowledge the problem, choosing instead to sweep this disgraceful misconduct under the rug and conspiring to cover up this blatant act of corporate *****. They appear to be on self-destruct mode and clearly don’t care about these acts of repugnant malfeasance at their company which will undoubtedly lead to massive brand erosion and value destruction. It now seems clear to me that BMW Group South Africa is more like a clown comrade run, banana republic government rather than a top tier, private, Frankfurt stock exchange listed, German premium luxury car manufacturer.

Even more seriously, in addition to the financial damage, inconvenience, frustration and trauma wrought upon me by BMW Fourways Cedar Isle and BMW Group South Africa; there is the undisputable fact that their shoddy work and repairs, usage of sub-standard/second hand spare parts for services and repairs, and all other acts of misconduct listed above, may have indeed endangered my life and that of others travelling in the car with me! This obviously also applies to many other BMW motorists, no doubt, who have been abused and mistreated in such a similarly odious fashion.

I would like to encourage all others reading this to speak up if they have indeed received such reprehensible treatment from BMW Fourways Cedar Isle and BMW Group South Africa. Let your voice be heard and make them understand that they’re part of a premium German company, not some banana republic government which can’t even keep the lights on, trains running, planes flying or harbours operating.

If anyone reading this has the relevant information, I would really appreciate it if they would kindly send me the contact details of the global BMW Germany head office in Munich so that I can escalate this matter to them.

To everyone reading this, please avoid taking your car in for service or repairs to BMW Fourways Cedar Isle and also think twice about purchasing a BMW car at all. BMW Group South Africa, the South African subsidiary of this large and reputable global company clearly does not see itself as a premium car manufacturer and service provider, so you may just end up like me; stuck with a malfunctioning car and stiffed with a colossal repair bill due to their *******ion and malpractise.

Clearly the rot has spread and taken over at BMW Group South Africa, just like at BMW Fourways Cedar Isle and possibly other BMW branded dealership workshops as well. BMW owners, in South Africa anyway, are no longer guaranteed the excellent after sales service which this company was once renowned for.