Morristown BMW Service Department inflated estimate, but backed down when challenged Morristown New Jersey

This is a "bad" becomes "good" story. I have a newer 2006 525i that didn't have a AUX jack for electronics like iPods. Now BMW does have an after-sales solution that a dealer can install.

I brought the car in for unrelated service and asked them for an estimate to install this AUX jack. I had previously done research online which indicated that part costs around $100 and it should take an hour for the install. Now we all know there's plenty of profit in the part, and time estimates in a dealer's service manual are there to protect the dealer.

So when I got an estimate for $400, I was a bit surprised. I asked the service representative, Mario, to double check his numbers. He said that was for the part and 2 hours of labor.

At that point I said that's a lot higher that I would have expected, given that the BMW service manual says one hour and the part is only around $100. When he saw that I was going to walk, he asked me to wait while he checked into it.

"Good news" - it turned out that the official BMW price was $236 rather than the $400 he originally quoted. Now I know mistakes can happen, and I suppose that's a possible explanation. And there's an alternative theory that they tried to charge more than the book price and adjusted it when I balked.

In the end, I'm still paying quite a bit for a simple AUX jack that most inexpensive cars come with these days - so BMW is not demonstrating leadership here. But to pay an extra $164 above book price would have been over the top.

When it car service, I look for fairness and honesty. I haven't finalized my opinion of Morristown BMW, but I will watch them more closely because of this experience.

On the plus side, there did take care of other warranty items and even offered to program the garage door openers. These are positives and I'll give them their due here.

Njmatt
Chester, New Jersey
U.S.A.