School me on being a BMW tech.

[asetliff]

The best route, STEP. I'm currently at the Orlando campus, only a few weeks in, but I can tell you this... STEP is the best BMW training you can get. The rest is up to you, work hard, and enjoy the fruits of your labor down the road.

[SamE30e]

I am a Certified level BMW Technician (2/4 levels). It's different here in Canada, Automotive Service Technician is an actual trade, where you need a license and have to go to school.

All of our dealers here supply the special tools.

And yes, you only really see cars as old as 10 years. Although you do get the occasional vintage cars, E28's, 2002's E30's. Maybe 1 or 2 E36's a week, then E46 and up. Every E30 that comes through the door I get. They know I used to have a few so they toss them my way, no body want's to work on them.

Warranty is bullshit, as is every dealer, so don't let that stray you away. The new car's are very complicated, but you do go to training. If you have a knowledge of more than basic electronics, you'll be fine.

As for making hours, work at Mercedes if you want to make big hours. BMW has service inclusive, so while in warranty, all the customer pays for is brakes and tires. Scheduled maintenance is covered and pays garbage.

[TimKninja]

So nobody here hates there Job as a BMW Mechanic?

I like the sound of this. I work in an indy shop that I love right now. But the money isint fantastic.

Maybe Ill start considering a dealer if you guys say it doesnt suck. All I hear is how much dealers suck and how everyone hates their job....

[Farbin Kaiber]

Just be prepared to play the shop politics game more than anywhere else you could imagine. I spent years Service Writing/Managing, and I would never go back to a dealer environment.

[bimmer630]

It sucks. Don't do it.. everyone I know hates it. I was with bmw for almost ten years and left to go to an Indy because it was bull just trying to get paid for work you did. Puma cases, warranty claim hoops to jump through, having to make sure you get tester printouts, fasta data..etc.. you have to run all these bs tests even though you KNOW what going to fix it, and they only want to pay you an hr. Diagnostic time tops. If you claim any more diagnosis on a problem car, that time eats into the time you made doing the other stuff like brakes ...services ... front ends etc.. (when they are on the same repair order)

Not a very satisfying trade to be in anymore.. especially with all the bs problems bmw is having these days with crappy Bluetooth systems and what not..

Oh and try running tests on a system that a customer complains about.. but not finding anything wrong. You won't get paid!

Go to dental school

[aaron.j]

10 year master tech here. Being a dealer tech in the US sucks. No reason to go into detail. Everything bimmer630 said is true.

You will have the guys who say omg its great i make $100k a year. I used to be that guy and realized i wanted a life outside of work. i work at an indy shop now get paid hourly work on a variety of cars and even though I make less per year I am much happier. Well actually happy.

[Cynical 1]

was a dealer tech for 10 years at Honda, Audi, Porsche, BMW and VW.

warranty is what you will do 80% of the time. bs recalls mostly and computer/software updates that often crash and take forever to upload... at least when i was with BMW.

the environment is not bad - they do send you to a lot of training for the new models, but you need to find someone friendly to help you with the older stuff as they don't train you on that. and by older stuff i mean late models. nothing more than 10 years old ever comes in, and i was the guy that got all those... lol

it is politics as well - get in good with the service writers.

study up on electrical diagnosis, troubleshooting and reading DIN diagrams - you'll need it.

[Roysneon]

Just be prepared to play the shop politics game more than anywhere else you could imagine.

This.

[Vin-barrett]

Ive worked professionally with German cars exclusively for well over 20 years. Been on the line at dealers, ISP's now with a manufacturer. There is some good insight in this thread from guys with dealer experience.

Please take into account that not all dealers are created equal. I have seen operations coast to coast and everywhere in between and can tell you employee moral varies greatly from dealer to dealer.

In an attempt to keep it short-
My advice is to work for an independantly owned dealer, with as few franchises as possible.
This is a recurring theme of where the happiest employees seem to work.

The big dealer corporations like Autonation, Penske, and many others will typically have the lower moral, lower paid technicians.
In stores like these it's common to see one or two very experienced shop foreman or similar depending on dealer size with many newbies to support. Bean counters really stretch the dollar with personel in these conglomerates.
I'd venture to say most techs that end up happy at an ISP come from this environment.

Even though a dealer is a franchise it's not like McDonalds, they are free to structure the business to what fits their needs and market.