Ridgeway B'mth (was Woods)

[Stone Cold]

I know the dealers generally get a rough time but thought I would give some praise where it is due

Bought on 06 M3 Conv from the above in December, all good until I noticed the gearbox was a bit more clunky and jerky than I expected (SMG) So I went off to Ridgeway and one of there senior techs came out with me for about an hour (him driving) and agreed that it was not right. So the car went in last Friday and I picked it up today with all the work done FoC under the AUC scheme, with no quibble at all.

Replaced an oil seal at the back of the engine which was leaking onto the clutch
New Clutch
New Flywheel
Brake pads were low (lower than they should have been for such a recent AUC) so they replaced them FoC as a goodwill gesture

£2500 if I had been billed for the work!!! result

Now driving like a dream and very happy with the service, the loan car I had all week was a 320 petrol XDrive, about £35k worth was a massive disappointment though, dull, dull, dull so pleased to have my M back

[nick1275]

Must have improved since my dad used woods, had bmw's for 10 years (sourced elsewhere by the company he worked for) and they were always serviced there. Doing 25-35k a year they got serviced quite a lot, he never had one good experience the over the 10 years. Stuff done wrong, poor customer service, half arsed washing of the car, they even lost his car one day! Unfortunately the company insisted he took it there as it was the local dealer.

[Stone Cold]

I know what you mean about Woods, I always felt like a second class citizen whenever I went in there so I was looking to source an M3 from Merv's or Norman's but this one came up and actually glad I bought an AUC now, they are a bit chaotic at the Service Dept but I think it is just because they are so busy, we will see how it goes as it will be serviced there for the forseable.

They do all differ though, I have a BMW bike and don't like the dealers in Dorchester so I go the extra distance and use Bahnstormer in Alton who are excellent

[nick1275]

On the other hand father in law has never had an issue with them since he started using them in about 2003, both sales and service. They bend over backwards for him. I've found there parts dept hit and miss too

[Herbs]

Mine went in there Friday for some work under warranty which I'm waiting to hear whether it has been accepted or not so will report back in the next couple of days how it went.

[martinrpeachey]

I live just around the corner from there and have a friend who worked there, he said they treat their staff pretty badly, which often shows through in customer service.

What I've noticed is the amount of cars they leave on the road behind the dealership. This road is used as a rat-run when Walisdown road is rammed solid with traffic. Brand new cars, 2nd hand, service cars etc. all sat there waiting for someone to kick a mirror off, or sideswipe with a van.

Not good really. As much as I can't stand the Westover dealerships, at least they have the good sense to park customers' cars in a compound, under CCTV.