Car sent in for service was 2003 manual BMW 330xi. The issue was a whining noise coming from clutch. I had the car serviced at BMW, who advised that the whining was because of a throw-out bearing. BMW wanted $2,500 to resolve the problem. New clutch cost is approx $890 and its about 7-8 hours labor, so I thought I'd find an alternative. I typically work on my own cars but a clutch change would required me to raise the car and leave it sitting for 3-4 days while I removed transmission, exhaust and drained some fluids. Being busy at work I figured it much easier to let A resolve the issue for me in one day.
Front desk manager was very nice. I advised him what the issue was, throw-out bearing, asked him to change out the entire clutch i.E. New fly-wheel, clutch and bearing (service cost would be the same for the bearing, so might as well get the entire kit changed out). I purchase the OEM parts from BMW myself, so they would be top quality and left it with A for a day.in addition I asked for a coolant flush. When I received the car the clutch wasn't properly aligned and made a grinding noise when changing gear. When idling the car rpm's had increased and there was a noticeable grinding noise. Having researched the clutch change myself I knew that this was caused by misalignment of clutch and flywheel. I returned the car and was told that I was correct and that they would take care of it. Also the belly-pan that protects the underneath of the car hadn't been screwed back into place properly - typically done by someone who is in a rush and doesn't care.
The coolant change had also been done incorrectly and the drain plugs had been left open, so coolant was dripping into the belly pan. They said they would also take care of that. I received the car after two more days. Same issue - grinding, loud noise when shifting, more misalignment. So I returned the car again and told them to take as long as they needed. I even advised them that BMW recommend an alignment tools for the clutch - giving them P/Ns and references for where they could get them. Car was returned after a full week! Coolant leak was resolved but they never topped up the coolant level, so the level sensor triggered as soon as I turned the car on. Mis-alignment was never resolved, the car still rattled and ground on start-up and when changing gears. Also BMWs have start sensors which won't allow the car to start unless the clutch is depressed - this was damaged during the change out.
I ended up bringing my car to BMW - they advised that a new clutch was needed (the misalignment had destroyed the new clutch I had just bought). A are just a bunch of incompetent, unskilled rip-off merchants. I have a strong mechanical background and generally take car of my cars, with pride and interest. I would really hate to see anyone use their services and get stranded on the highway with a broken clutch - please don't use them or at least do so at your own risk. Have their work checked and double-checked. Or for important work like this go to the main dealer (yes it costs more but it's worth it). Honestly, messing up a coolant change can do serious damage to an engine. I ended up spending almost twice as much to have the problem resolved. Stay away from a transmission.
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