!!! BEWARE of Century West BMW !!!
 

I got my car back from the dealer a little less then a week ago. After picking it up I drove home and parked it until the next day. The time I drove the car I noticed a clunking sound coming from the front and knew right away something was wrong. I drove the car around that day then parked it at home and kept it their over the weekend, drove another car and waited till I had time to go to Lucent Motor sports (The ones that installed my entire suspension, a very reputable shop in Los Angeles) which was 03/26/08. Once I got to Lucent they realized that the link that connects the front H&R Sway Bar to my Tein SS Coilovers has been cleanly removed on both left and right side of the car showing no signs what so ever of breaking off. At that point I knew sometime when my car was at the dealer they were removed and/or stolen. I went over to the Dealer (Century West BMW on Lankershim Blvd in North Hollywood) told the service adviser, and he told me he was standing by the technician when they raised my car to check the control arms so he knows it couldn’t of been them. After going down to the service area, talking to the tech and the service manager the service manager professionally approaches me and lets me know that they didn’t lift my car because it was two low and because of the aftermarket suspension. Now keep on mind what my service adviser said to me (That he was standing my the tech when my car was raised up). My car was at the dealer for service that time for two days. One of the few things my car was there for was to get my control arms checked, and my front bumper repainted. I now can not drive my car and have to pay $200 for a part that was taken stolen from me.

My question is can that link for the sway bar to my coilovers be used on another car such as an E46 328 (The car the technician drives) or perhaps a different brand other then Tein?

Also what can I do other then complain, post this in other forums, and file a complaint with the BBB.

Either way beware of the type of Business being conducted over at Century West BMW, the perfect definition of a STEALERSHIP.

Seems unlikely that they would steal such a visible and low cost item. Is it possible that it was stolen while parked elsewhere?

100% not possible that it was stolen while the car was under my arms. I dropped the car off on 3/19/08 at 7:30 a.m. at Century West, picked it up in the afternoon on 3/20/08, parked it in the garage and took the Mini Cooper, came home around 6p.m. took girlfriends SLK55 to dinner. 3/22/08 – 3/23/08 drove my M6, on 3/24/08 around 8 a.m. was when I drove the M3 again and realized weird sounds were coming from the front, pulled over into the 7/11 on Riverside Blvd, and Caguenga Blvd. but couldn’t tell what was wrong and hoped it would just go away. 3/25/08 still didn’t go away, and 3/26/08 same thing. Called Tom over at Lucent and was very worried about my car, came in and he told me that 100% that those pieces were removed off of my car and did not break off because both sides were cleanly missing. In addition I wish that those pieces were cheap because then I wouldn’t be so upset. But paying around $200 for something that was taken from me bothers me and I’m sure would bother you as well especially when you take such pride in the one car you modify.

ahh sucks to hear that, just had recent problems with Pacific BMW in Glendale, took my 5 in for service come back to a badly dented door and curbed Maya wheels!!

See I think that’s the problem. It’s the cars that have some type of modifications done to it, which come back with something wrong. All I hear are stories and stories about dealers treating people like this.

I'm just thinking that since it was removed/stolen from my car I can file a police report with Century West BMW most liable for what happened.

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you can file a police report, have you talked to your lawyer?

Just happened today. I'll be visitig the police department if nothing happens by morning time.

keep us updated on the situation

Will do thanks.

Sorry to hear. You can't trust BMW dealer services. Poor customer service. After owning a 330 and an M3, it makes me think twice to own another BMW. And complaining to BMW NA doesn't help either since they claim to be "independent dealers".

That's very true. I'm going to however try giving them a call and ask to speak to a manager. This dealer will feel the heat unless they call me in the morning with a reasonable solution.

The news on the link just got a lot worse. Turns out the part is going to be back ordered for one week which means I cannot drive the M3 until then. In addition the Service Manager said he would give me a call first thing in the morning and its already in the afternoon and have hear nothing. Just unbelievable…

I hear this stuff all the time. BMW, Mercedes, Audi all make great cars, but their dealer networks are absolutely horrible.

I wish we had a shop like Lucent around here, I'd get my oil changed there, no lie!

this sucks. you are just having the worst luck with dealerships... good luck.

So I get a call from the Service Manager at around 5pm when told I would hear from him in the morning. Left me a message simply saying that he stands behind what his employees have told them and believe that they did not take the part from my car, and that I should of came back the same day and informed them about the problem. I however came to them right when I was able to figure out what the problem was. Guess it’s my fault I’m not a mechanic. But that’s fine I’m going to just take them to small claims or even hire a lawyer especially since now I found the part if back ordered and I’m going to have a car sitting around for the next week in my garage.