[Duncan Hare]

I've always generally had little time for main dealers, based both on my own experience and my brother's, who runs a motorcycle workshop and sees the corner-cutting and bodging they do.

My K13S HP had had a £350 main dealer service just before I bought it (6 weeks ago, 2016, 5,500 miles, 1-owner, mint condition) . This was meant to include a brake bleed (as well as oil, filter, bevel box oil etc. I could see the engine oil was new but didn't trust the rest of the work, esp the brakes as they weren't as good as on my GT, so re-did much of it after a couple of 1000 (I was also going to the TT (1200miles of hard riding) so wanted everything to be sorted).

The brake fluid came out like coca cola - the f**kers had clearly syringed it out of the reservoirs and just replaced that! Believe it or not, its quite common for main dealers to do that. That was just a standard bleed, I then did the full bleed using my GS911 to activateg the ABS, and more dirty fluid and air came out. The brakes are way better (e.g. I can tie-wrap them to the bars and they hold pressure for days, like on my GT - where before, it dissipated overnight) (I also fitted EBC EPFA pads which have serious amounts of bite). Then there are the jobs the dealer should have known needed to be done but didn't recommend, presumably through inexperience or because they can't short cut them. The calipers weren't freeing off properly so I had to give them a thorough service. I changed the air filters and performance improved noticeably. Age degrades their performance as well as mileage, so the dealer should have known this and recommended they be changed.

I now don't trust that they'd changed the bevel box oil, so will be doing that this weekend.

My brother tells me of other cheats dealers do - e.g. he says its not uncommon for him to get a new customer with a 4 cylinder bike that has been dealer serviced from new and he finds the outer 2 spark plugs have been replaced but the inner 2 not as they take more work to get at and the customer won't notice!

Caveat emptor (or Do it yourself)

 

[Capt howdy]

I well remember working for a bmw agent in NZ. We worked on cars, not bikes, and when time was running short to service the amount of vehicles booked in, the service guys would get under the car with a rag in one hand and a dab of grease on the other. Instead of lubing the driveshaft uni joints and suspension they would wipe the grease nipple clean and dab a bit of grease on the nipple to make it look as though it it had been greased. It seems nothing’s changed.

 

[botus]

I worked out how the service plan works when purchased with a new vehicle

you charge the customer upfront - then never do any of the work - its ok most as most on a lease deal so the customer doesn't know (or really care) - next owner bold enough to pay and or got approved used warranty mandates the fake serciving revenue stream rolls in - all of which is irrelevant as the bikes die following the engineered in designed to fail timeline - and any failures land on next owner / an insurance scheme, money isn't coming from BMW - all in all the bike's die faster and BMW sell more bikes / part parts = one way revenue stream

 

[Duncan Hare]

I well remember working for a bmw agent in NZ. We worked on cars, not bikes, and when time was running short to service the amount of vehicles booked in, the service guys would get under the car with a rag in one hand and a dab of grease on the other. Instead of lubing the driveshaft uni joints and suspension they would wipe the grease nipple clean and dab a bit of grease on the nipple to make it look as though it it had been greased. It seems nothing’s changed.

Yeah, I can't understand how anyone can bring themselves to do that.

 

[Duncan Hare]

I worked out how the service plan works when purchased with a new vehicle

you charge the customer upfront - then never do any of the work - its ok most as most on a lease deal so the customer doesn't know (or really care) - next owner bold enough to pay and or got approved used warranty mandates the fake serciving revenue stream rolls in - all of which is irrelevant as the bikes die following the engineered in designed to fail timeline - and any failures land on next owner / an insurance scheme, money isn't coming from BMW - all in all the bike's die faster and BMW sell more bikes / part parts = one way revenue stream

Yeah, once the money's been handed over there's no incentive to actually do the work and, on finance deals no one's properly checking it has been.

It can occasionally work to an owners benefit - independent dealers like to rinse the mother ship and keep revenue coming in so occasionally do actually do work that isn't strictly necessary. My GT came with a BMW insured warranty and the dealer would occasionally "find" major issues requiring warranty work. Both ESA shocks were replaced that way - I don't think anything was wrong with them but they were inspected and found to be leaking. I bought an ex-lease Audi which had had 2 new brake discs at 47,000. No way the old ones had gone (and those ones are still going strong at 270,000).