Starting a new job as an apprentice BMW technician

I’m new to this site but figured it might be the right place to go for a bit of advice or just general thoughts on the state of the industry at the moment. The vast majority of what I read about being a technician, especially at your main dealerships, is overwhelmingly negative but I’m still pretty determined to try this out as a new career. I’ve found myself drawn towards the job despite having no prior experience working on cars so it’s safe to say I’m going in very green.

What I’m wondering is realistically how much can a technician working at a dealership, and with a brand like BMW, look at earning? I understand there’s a lot to learn and it’s incredibly hard, back-breaking work but after say, 5 years or so are the wages still as poor as I’m led to believe? I’ve seen lots of techs mentioning how poor the wage is and how difficult bonuses are to meet, whilst others have quoted earning £50K+ on a base salary of £28K for example. I’m struggling to understand how there’s such a massive contrast in those two narratives.

Similarly, how much do you really need to spend on tools? I’ve seen tens of thousands mentioned, is that through being suckered by the likes of Snap On or even just your budget brands like Halfords? I’ve got my eye on a decent looking kit for a few hundred that I’ll inevitably need to invest in at some point.

Lastly, how viable is it as a career? Do people with no automotive experience have much of a chance in the industry? How readily available is progression? Despite having little to no formal experience I’d say I’m relatively switched on and fully intend to see this apprenticeship through regardless and try and make a decent career out of it. I’ve just recently turned 22 if that’s worth mentioning at all.

I understand there’s a few points here but any responses or bits of advice are much appreciated. Cheers!

Cheers for the responses I really appreciate it. It’s nice to hear some positivity. Wages aren’t the most important thing for me at the moment to be honest and I value my own job satisfaction far more so here’s hoping it’ll be enjoyable. Obviously it’s nice to know if there is some upwards progression though.

Touching on the point about EVs and hybrids taking off I’d like to think that things are due a change. Perhaps when we really start seeing the roll out of electric cars en masse the premium for skilled EV/HEV technicians will go up. That said, I might just be naive and if the job hasn’t changed much in the last 20 years who’s to say it will at all.

Thanks for the support as well, a job is what you make of it at the end of the day. I’ve loved jobs everyone else hated and hated jobs that everyone else loved if that makes any sense so I think I’m a bit mad in that sense anyway. Who knows what the future holds. Cheers!

@The Road Crew and @bearman68 (I don’t even know if this @ thing works on here), again cheers! Nice to encounter a lot of positivity here, far more than when I tried posting on a Navy forum before I embarked on that ill-fated voyage, which is nice to see. Hopefully my new colleagues will be a welcoming bunch as well. I’m sure the banter will be great and I’m anticipating being the butt of many jokes for a while!

I fully intend to milk the Halford’s trade discount and government tax rebates to cut down on tool costs and I’ll try and steer clear of the Snap On man for as long as possible. That is until I’m inevitably lured into the Aladdin’s cave of shiny trinkets that is their van Do they actually have Snap On vans in the UK, or is that an exclusively Yank thing?

It’s great to hear that people still really enjoy the profession, although I can never blame people for chasing a better salary. Really strikes a chord what @bearman68 said, in regards to feeling like you have a worthwhile skill set. There’s something to be said about feeling accomplished when you come home stinking and knackered, just let’s me know I’ve put in a hard days graft.

I might have my eyes opened yet but feeling very optimistic and positive going into this new career.

I’m in a similar part of the country where quite honestly you’re doing well if you’re hitting the top end of £20K. Money wasn’t even a concern for me to be honest when I started looking into the industry and those kind of apprenticeships, but everyone else close to me has been very vocal in expressing how hopeless wages are for me mechanics, hence why I posted here. As someone else said, there are Negative Nigel’s everywhere but you don’t have to be one. I’ve seen a reasonable amount of optimism that tells me there’s a half-decent career and potential for earning good money if the work suits me. If nothing esle, I’m enthusiastic even if I don’t have a clue what I’m doing so hopefully that’ll count for something

Great insight, much appreciated! Job satisfaction is massive for me but as you get older obviously it doesn’t always cut it. As you said about going to work on the railways, I kind of see getting into the trade as an investment in itself. I suppose that way if I end up disliking if, at least I’ve set myself up well with a mechanical background and after a few years can look for other jobs or industries which require similar skill sets but might pay better.

Hasn’t really been mentioned here, so it’s a bit out of context, but I see the point often being made that sometimes you’re just better off stacking shelves for £10/hour rather than struggling by as a mechanic. Once you’ve been there done that, and all the other bs that comes with trying to supervise and manage a store within retail, there’s a lot to be said for a job that pays less or similar but gives you a lot more satisfaction and actually involves engaging your brain. I was offered a sales position with a starting salary of £22K prior to accepting this apprenticeship offer, but turned it down because I didn’t feel interested in the slightest. I’m saying this just to illustrate my point that, for all I inquired about wages and they are important in the long run, it’s not something that keeps me awake at night.

It’s also worth adding part of the apprenticeship involves working on electric and hybrid vehicles and you get a qualification out of it.

Fair enough. I’m not specifically looking at just the electrical side. I had an opportunity with Tesla that actually went ts up not long after I accepted this job but the fact that it was purely electric vehicles switched me off. As useful a skill as I’m sure it is, petrol and diesel will still be around for a long while I’d imagine.

I did plenty of job searching prior to taking this job and where I’m from there doesn’t seem to be anything related to maintenance for rail, aircraft or boats coming up for entry level people like me, sadly. I actually came from the Navy where I was training to be a marine engineer, but since I’ve left (for various reasons), that’s obviously no longer valid so you can count ships and military out, in terms of potential career choices. Half of the ‘technical’ work I would have been doing we were told was basically just reading gauges and watch keeping anyway which would’ve had me clawing my eyes out with boredom.

In other words l’m working with what I have. I appreciate the input and understand I might end up hating it, but it’s not like I’m swamped with opportunities here. My options are very much, take it or leave it and spend another few months unemployed, which I really don’t fancy.

Ah I see. Thank you. Another path to look into I guess if it suits me. I’m just looking forward to learning the basics.

Another interesting story. Thanks! I guess like any job really if you apply yourself and work hard enough, and possibly more importantly have the right personality, who knows where you can end up.

Appreciate the input as always.

Understood. In fairness not much puts me off. I’m that stubborn I can be told point blank not to do something but if I fancy it, it’s happening anyway. I was the same when I left my last job and didn’t see any future so just the normal reaction I guess. As always, you don’t hear as often from those who are happy but the negativity always find it’s way to the top. Cheers though!

Cheers! Thank christ for that, it’s cold enough as it is!

I recall reading (or was it watching) something in regards to dealerships and how they do business. In short, as much as online sales are very popular, they seem to be under the impression that people often still like to close the deal at the dealership and like to at least look at their choice of vehicle in person, test drive it even, before shelling out such large amounts of money. I mean I’m no car fanatic and don’t know A from B but I’d still go and look at car and want to drive it before I bought it, regardless of where I was buying it from. Although, perhaps that’s just me. That said I know plenty of people equally clueless about cars who think similar. I’d assume when it comes to lease cars people seem less bothered since it’s never really theirs anyway.

Of course, you have the likes of Tesla who operate their own first-party ‘showrooms’ as opposed to traditional franchised dealerships so whilst you might he able to look at a car and test drive it, you can only buy online and your desired variant will he delivered. In other words you can sample a Tesla but the actual car that’ll be delivered won’t be that same car. As more people are willing to use that sales model - and it’s clearly working for Tesla - perhaps we will one day see the demise of traditional dealerships in favour of delivering to your door.

Or am I just talking se?