Few questions!

[leeson660]

Hi guys

The CS is coming up for her first service (just an oil service) in my ownership and has also just gone through it's 12 month UAC warranty.

Couple of questions

1. I currently have full BMW main dealer service history - is this required to take out the mondial warranty?

2. If the answer to the above is no then I am very inclined to go down the independent specialist route. When I visited Ocean BMW in Falmouth I was pretty disappointed with the general attitude down there especially from the sales staff. My friend was genuinely interested in buying a 335d (cash) and despite several follow up calls from myself they never bothered phoning back. That didn't inspire me with confidence in handing over my pride and joy to them and paying a premium for the work! Do you guys look for main dealer service history when buying i.e. will going down the specialist route affect the resale value?

3. I live near Plymouth - I have found Paddock Motors Exeter http://www.thepaddockgarage.co.uk who from the website look like a decent outfit. Does anyone use them? Or of course any recommendations in the South West?

If anyone can help on any of the below that'd be much appreciated.

[E30M3SE]

If your planning on extending/renewing your AUC warranty then I would keep it all main dealer. If your not going to renew then by all means go indie, however ensure you retain the invoices for the service as well a getting the book stamped.

[Ev112]

Would suggest giving Ocean a try. Believe you need main dealer for the warranty.
Not dealt with the sales side of Ocean in Falmouth but have used their service department a few times - have generally found them to be good - reasonably priced, and willing to say jobs don't need doing. In contrast to some bad experiences at other main dealers.

[leeson660]

Thanks for the info guys.

Just to clarify:

1. When servicing your BMW, failure
to comply with the service schedule
recommended by BMW may invalidate
this warranty. All service and warranty
work must be carried out by an
Authorised BMW Dealer or BMW
Service Authorised Workshop using
only Genuine BMW Parts. Your BMW
Service Booklet should be stamped,
dated and detailed with the correct
mileage at the time of service by the
servicing dealer.

Ocean Falmouth it is!

Quick update: All booked £169.00 for the service! That seems extremely reasonable to me was expecting a lot more?

Edited by leeson660 on Monday 12th November 11:32

Edited by leeson660 on Monday 12th November 11:34

Another edit just in case someone searches for this info!

Phoned Mondial and they have confirmed it doesn't have to be main dealer servicing.

Edited by leeson660 on Thursday 22 November 20:12

[JTR32]

In my experience, when choosing a dealer to use, do not let your opinion of the sales department put you off using the service side (and vice versa I suppose). Try and investigate a bit further by speaking to people / manager in the relevant dept.

Also, that price seems about right for an oil service for an E46 M3. In fact, it may be worth ringing another potential dealer you could use to get a price from them. If they are cheaper, Ocean may well be willing to match it. I know my local dealer has started price matching.

It's just the Inspection services that will sting at a main dealer!!

[BlackPorker]

I got a price from here:
http://www.maindealerdiscount.com/

which my local BMW dealer matched without a quibble even though it was more than 50% cheaper than their initial quote!