The BMW dealer in Hickory is a HENDRICKS dealer!! Have them send it to Flow in Winston. Flows service is outstanding. They will treat you fair.

I live in Hickory, most everyone I know who drives a BMW takes their cars to Flow BMW and steers clear of Hendricks in Hickory.

 

I’m not even going to start about dealership service...

Having said that, having dealings with morons that didn’t have the ***** to say anything to me but yet I received a letter (yes, happened twice... )

I would take it with a grain of salt. Having someone say that said the driver was driving recklessly could be a lane change without a turnsignal. And as far as the littering, someone could have thrown their gum out the window.

I’m not condoning anything but after almost 30 years of dealing with the public in business, it is of my opinion that the kind of people that would take the time to write a letter and not have the ***** to address the problem themselves are USUALLY FREAKIN’ IDIOTS!!!


My .02 worth... in this case, I’d take the rim and alignment and move on.... it’s probably not worth your effort.


Mark

 

I have to say this kinda surprises me too! I have had no issues with Hendrick MINI. They have always been fair and treated me and my car with respect. This really shocks me that any of them would do such a thing.

 

Actually, what probably happen is this; someone on the road reported the reckless driving and littering and called it in to the police. I know this because i got a letter in the mail from the police stating that someone reported that i had been driving wreckless through a neighborhood. No ticket but a warning.
I called the police and told them (what really happened) was that i was going the speed limit (25mph) and the lady behind me who was honking and tailgating me was pissed because i wouldn't speed up. This is a long main road going through a neighborhood too. I remember looking in my rear view mirror and seeing her grab her cell phone and frantically talking to someone. Well guess what the did... Called the police and reported that "I" was driving reckless through the neighborhood. People are evil.

Sorry didn't mean to highjack your thread but i felt compelled to explain/reply to this post. Hope everything works out for you with your situation.

 

Guys, that's what mechanics DO. They have to get the car to operating temps and actually drive it. Why not kill two birds with one stone? Heck, sometimes they even have to get it on the HIGHWAY! Now if I saw my car in line at the local autocross or drag strip, then I'd be worried.

 

I'm with Dixon on test drives. Having an owner drive out of the lot, and then return in 5 minutes is to be avoided.

 

That is why I do the majority of the work myself on my MINI.

 

I've been trying to find out what is wrong By searching the forum but Ive been having some trouble getting sidetracked . If anybody can help out that'd be nice. My driver side headlight won't come on sometimes. If I flick the switch a couple times it will turn on... So far Carmax has replaced the bulb, ballast, ignitor, and the mini dealership has cleaned up all the connections but it's still doing the same thing. Once this is figured out I won't have to worry about anything...

 

What year model is it? If it is pre-facelift, and Carmax said they replaced the ignitor they are full of @#$%. As the Ignitor is not replaceable without swapping out the entire assembly. 1st gen Xenons have a reputation of having bad ignitors, and the thing is integral to the assembly. So the only fix is a full swap out of the headlight. Or you could live with it, BUT that will eventually kill the light that always fires.

Also, @ BullyDog I'd have stood on the brakes when I saw her make a phone call... "Ohh... too bad you were on the phone and tailgating me or you would have seen that rabbit run across the road and had time to stop..." Ok, maybe if I had a beater, but i love my MINI too much to do that.

I'd probably just drive with my hand out the sunroof giving her the bird.

 

Thanks for the info about the ignitor, I'll definitely look more into that. My car is an 03 so im assuming that is prefacelift(non projector). Would it be possible to just buy a whole new hid kit and move up to a 55w ballast?

 

go back to the dealership w/ the ticket and ask to talk to the highest rank there tell them what happened and threaten legal action...that should get someone's a$$ fired for sure

 

You can get a new housing and all parts, be prepared to pay dearly for it. I would not swap the OEM parts for some Chinese 55w crap on ebay or any other company, stick with the factory parts and wattage.

 

The factory xenons are plenty bright. No need to blind the rest of us.

 

Not if they are aimed properly.

Dave

 

NC has a thing about littering - you get a warning letter the first time and a huge fine the second time. So they keep a database presumably on the registered owner.
My friend got one I forget what agency issued it I think the DMV.

 

Everybody I've asked about hid's says ddm tuning is the way to go simply beacuse they're not crap and their kits have a lifetime warranty. Kind of confused about blinding people with a car that already has hid's and auto leveling lights... Nobody has flashed their lights at the stock 35w so why would they flash with 55w?

 

Hopefully the mini dealer will help me get that warning cleared up when I stop by Monday.

 

I'm not a litterbug and not saying you are but you sure hate to use up your "freebie" with the government over somebody you don't even know!

 

I doubt the report in from a random person would be tracked as your "freebie". Otherwise, if someone didn't like you they could just call the police with your plate# and lie about it.

I'd bet a police officer has to see you for this to work.

 

Really! You are going to defend the tech? Any well run dealership has designated test routes that allow no variation. The Dealer's liability of an employee conducting personal business in a customer's vehicle without written permission is huge. There is no excuse for that action and I have terminated several for that offense.

 

I'm still confused (OK, I stay that way a lot) Did you not say you bought the car at Carmax and I assume its covered by the Carmax warrenty ? Carmax should be fixing the headlight and replace any part thats needed to get it fixed. Also exactly when did you notice the wheel and tyre had been damaged ?????

 

Carmax tried to fix it but couldn't figure out the problem so they sent it to the mini dealer. I noticed the wheel damage the last time I picked the car up. The wheel damage was fixed immidiately by Carmax though so that's not a problem.

 

So have you got anywhere in fixing the problem(with the dealership)? Cause this thread is circling the drain.

 

In no way am I "defending the tech". I'm saying there are things to worry about and things to let go. If the bank is on a reasonable route near the mechanic's shop, and they needed to take it on a drive to get to temp, so be it. I'm not sweating a couple miles of that if it passes the test of reason.

I also take my car to people and shops that I trust and know, so that colors my opinion somewhat.

If they leave old french fries in the vehicle, scuff a wheel, or are arrested while driving my car, or if they're out street racing or worse, or are putting excessive mileage on the car (and "excessive" likely depends on the problem being diagnosed) then yes that's inexcusable.

 

Buddy got his back and the wife went out and found a thong in the back footwell and an empty condom wrapper ... (try explaining this away)

Guess the tech went out and test drove the girlfriend or wife