My Local Dealer is Horrible -"cool story"

[Lof8]

I call them up to see if they have any exhaust hanger donuts in stock. They are absolutely helpless if I can't provide the VIN #. Can't do a year/model search or any other means...VIN only.

fucking annoying. If I didn't need the hangers for this weekend, I would definitely be shopping somewhere else. Just one of the many things that have pissed me off about my local dealer.

[F34R]

One of my hangers pulled through on the highway. Pulled over and used my LARGE hose clamp. Just tightened it down till the old one was banded together with the clamp. Worked so well I never replaced it.

Tracked with it too, so if you have one that is an option till you can replace it.

[Nairb]

I would never call Sarasota BMW for anything, honestly.. unless you are a loaded yuppie from Siesta or Longboat looking for a new 7-Series, they are pretty much worthless. Have you seen their service floor? You could fucking eat off it.. not a true garage.

I know a mechanic in Bradenton who is very fair and may have some spare exhaust hangers for e30's.. PM me if you want his info.

[slammin.e28]

Auto Zone. They have donuts, ya know?

[Lof8]

I would never call Sarasota BMW for anything, honestly.. unless you are a loaded yuppie from Siesta or Longboat looking for a new 7-Series, they are pretty much worthless. Have you seen their service floor? You could fucking eat off it.. not a true garage.

I know a mechanic in Bradenton who is very fair and may have some spare exhaust hangers for e30's.. PM me if you want his info.

Yeah, I try not to use them ever, nothing but problems every time I deal with them. My girlfriend has a 128 thats under warranty, so she has experienced their service department, which is also shit. Fortunately, I haven't had to deal with their service as I do all the work on the car.

...and I can only wish that I was a loaded yuppie! haha

[Bimmerista]

Vato Zone or any muffler shop should have what you're looking for.

Unless you REALLY want that hanger to have a Roundel on it. :D

[Wh33lhop]

Vato Zone or any muffler shop should have what you're looking for.

Unless you REALLY want that hanger to have a Roundel on it. :D

I went to a few muffler shops looking for hangers, they pointed me to the Dinan service center.

Dinan wanted like $23 for all three. Local BMW dealer wanted $20 PER HANGER.

[dreamer420]

my local dealer (Irvine BMW) is decent I guess. theyve never had a problem finding me the part im looking for, but their pricing is outrageous.

one time I went in to see if they had the drive shaft bolts/nuts for the front part. they wanted 20$ PER BOLT, and like another 5-10$ PER NUT. I went to Ace hardware and found drive-shaft flange bolts/nuts (labeled as such) and got 3 of each. spent less than 5$

[mikeedler]

I call them up to see if they have any exhaust hanger donuts in stock. They are absolutely helpless if I can't provide the VIN #. Can't do a year/model search or any other means...VIN only.

fucking annoying. If I didn't need the hangers for this weekend, I would definitely be shopping somewhere else. Just one of the many things that have pissed me off about my local dealer.

Are you too dumb to give the last 7 digits of your vin? anything incorrectly ordered is eaten by the dealership- so if he puts in the incorrect info its his fault.

and do you think he really cares about the 2 dollars he is going to make off of you wasting 10 min. of his time.

[Teaguer]

Any self respecting muffler shop will have rubber donuts that will work for pennies on the Dollar that BMW wants.

[Lof8]

Are you too dumb to give the last 7 digits of your vin? anything incorrectly ordered is eaten by the dealership- so if he puts in the incorrect info its his fault.

and do you think he really cares about the 2 dollars he is going to make off of you wasting 10 min. of his time.

Yes, I am too dumb to give him my VIN...
...or I didn't have that info with me at the time.

The 2 dollars made on my muffler hangers may not be significant, but the hundreds or thousands lost on potential future purchases is a bit more.

Are you (and the dealer) too dumb to realize most people don't carry around the VIN to their car in their wallet?

[Teaguer]

Are you (and the dealer) too dumb to realize most people don't carry around the VIN to their car in their wallet?

Mike may have been a bit insensitive and unsympathetic to your ordeal, however many do carry their insurance card in their wallet which would contain the VIN. ;)

[Lof8]

Understood. I keep mine in the glovebox of the car, which was not located near me at the time.

I just feel they could've made a bit more effort to be helpful.

[Albuquerque30]

Even though it's autosaved, RealOEM has engraved my VIN in my head. Haha. :D

But all in all, that sounds just like a BMW dealership to me. Muffler shop or Auto Zone will do you right for this, as others have stated.

[Asrial Dune]

I had an exhaust doughnut break on me a while ago. I used a wire clothes hanger to temp. hold it up and it worked so well that I haven't bothered to "fix" it yet.