Advice On Bmw Service In Houston

I'm new to BMW's, but not new to motorcycling. I've ridden bikes for 32 years. This is my first BMW, a 2007 R1200RT, and I would like to here from riders with experience with the 3 dealers in the Houston area. I purchased the bike from a private individual. However, I am very familiar with the dealerships. I'm ready for the 600 mile checkup and service.

Most of all I have read on the various forums regarding service has Wild West in Katy the prefered service dealer. I really don't want to go to Austin (Lone Star) to service my bike. But, if necessary....then.....

I'm very leary of BMW North because a very recent former employee has told me they are going to file for bankruptcy. This is why he left the company that owns the dealership. They have already closed their second location in southwest Houston. He also told me they lost all their BMW certified service personnel. That's the reason why they only had 3 BMW bikes on the floor when I went to inquire about purchasing a bike from them. BMW would not ship to a dealer without a BMW certified tech. This has been about 3 months ago and I'm pretty sure things have changed. I have not been back to the dealership since then. However, the new GM was there and I met him. I have noticed he has posted new threads on various forums asking for a chance to make things right at BMW North. Anyway, enough about that!

Any Help you can give me would be greatly appreciated! Thanks and ride safely!

Having taken my bike to Wild West and The Woodlands for service, here are my thoughts.
I went to WW for my 600 mile service and had great service. In and out with no surprises.

At a later date I had a rear tire replaced at The Woodlands and I was in and out very fast with no surprises. They use to have a pick up service, but I never used it.

I have been to TW several times recently to pick up oil filters and gear oil. The bike inventory looked pretty good.

I used to own a few Guzzi's some years ago and there was moto shop North of I-10 near Wild West Honda by the name of MPH Cycles and the owner's name was Mike. They were the Guzzi dealer for Houston and also serviced BMWs. He had a BMW mechanic with lots of years of experience working for him at that time. It's been about 5 years since I was there, but this may be worth checking out. I thought that they did good work on my bike the one time I needed them.

Thanks! I am familiar with MPH. I visited with Mike about 6 months ago to inquire about the new Norge 1200.

If you want it done right... visit Wild West Honda/BMW in Katy.

Closer to town, see Cliff over at Gulf Coast BMW.

I avoid BMW North Houston at all costs.

I had some recent work done in The Woodlands, Had no problems. They had at least 20 BMW's on the floor. I may be partial to them because I live up this way, but I have never had a negative experience in there.

I am not too surprised about the rumored troubles about the Woodlands BMW store. They don't seem to heading in a consistent direction. I actually had some warranty work and an inspection done not too long ago there when I heard JC from Lonestar was the service manager (he was already gone after about a month). They were actually done with the bike earlier than promised but I had to wait at the dealership for about 30 minutes waiting for the entire service staff to come back from lunch so I could get my bike out of the shop. Nobody had any idea how to check me out and release the bike.

I did send an e-mail to the owner of The Woodlands BMW to give us a response to the issues that riders are having with the dealership. I hope that he will respond in this forum.

I had Wild West do my last service and they really have their act together. I recommend them highly. They score highly on the things that are important for me in choosing a shop for my bike.

The things I look for (in no particular order) are:
1. Stability - can they keep top mechanics on staff?
2. Communication - estimate up front, communicate progress or as any changes are uncovered. Listen to the expectations of the customer and try to personalize the transaction to make me feel good about coming back next time.
3. Approachable - service manager knows the bike and the capabilities of his team and can give you a straight answer.
4. Quality - do the job right, consistently.

I have very good reasons for making the switch to Wild West from another area dealer but I won't go into them in this public forum. Let's just say that for me, based upon the criteria given, Wild West is my service center of choice.

Good luck in your search!

Dave.

92'Bearkat said:

I did send an e-mail to the owner of The Woodlands BMW to give us a response to the issues that riders are having with the dealership. I hope that he will respond in this forum.

Click to expand...

He probably won't. He will most likely correspond with you via e-mail if he does respond.

mlinkibikr said:

I had Wild West do my last service and they really have their act together. I recommend them highly. They score highly on the things that are important for me in choosing a shop for my bike.

The things I look for (in no particular order) are:
1. Stability - can they keep top mechanics on staff?
2. Communication - estimate up front, communicate progress or as any changes are uncovered. Listen to the expectations of the customer and try to personalize the transaction to make me feel good about coming back next time.
3. Approachable - service manager knows the bike and the capabilities of his team and can give you a straight answer.
4. Quality - do the job right, consistently.

I have very good reasons for making the switch to Wild West from another area dealer but I won't go into them in this public forum. Let's just say that for me, based upon the criteria given, Wild West is my service center of choice.

Good luck in your search!

Dave.

Click to expand...

Mechanics move around quite often. Service Managers usually have a target attached to them from the point they take the jorb. If their numbers look bad, they are usually gone. As they say, poo rolls downhill. If the leadership is bad, generally the whole department will be bad. I won't bore anybody about how mechanics usually get screwed or any other old chestnut like that.

I like your list.