[xjoeyc23x]

Had to use it last night for my M240i. Safe to say I should've just called AAA.

Anyone have a good experience with this service recently?

[IllSic_Design]

uuhhhhmmmmmmm, well what were your issues exactly?

[xjoeyc23x]

Got a blow out on my 2 month old tire last night at about 10 last night on my way to work. Sidewall blown out with a hole about 4 inches long. Call roadside service they get a tow on the way with approx time of 1 hour and 20 minutes. About 20 mins later the tow company cancels and another one is given with an estimated time of 15-20 minutes later than the original tow. No big deal as I am already going to be late for work, whats another hour. After waiting approx another hour for the tow nothing has shown up. I call BMW for an update and they stated that they do not have an updated ETA but if the vehicle is in a safe location I could do an unattended tow as the ETA time for the tow was in approx 5 minutes. I agreed as I needed to get to work so I ordered an UBER which got there very fast (4 mins) and hid the key in the gas tank and went to work. While at work I received a phone call from BMW at 1245 AM stating the tow was completed and the vehicle was at the dealer at this time, perfect.

I picked up a little overtime in the morning and was working until 11 AM. At 930 am I called the BMW dealer where the car was towed to get an approximate time from to have a new tire put on as I needed to figure out a ride home from work. The service rep called me right back and stated "We can't seem to find your car". So I stated to him I got a phone call from BMW roadside that the car was dropped off there at 1245 AM. The service rep reiterated that he looked over the entire lot and could not find the car nor the key. I then asked him if they have any contact with BMW roadside to which he said that they do not and "I would have to call the tow company to figure out what happened to the vehicle".

I call the tow company and after getting bounced around a few people I get a dispatcher who tells me "we couldn't find your car last night". Thats it. No follow up with BMW, no follow up with me nothing. Just "We couldn't find your car". At this point I'm not only getting worried that something happened to my car, but I'm getting quite upset that no communication has been made with me and that I have had to follow up with everything myself 10 hours after I was told by BMW the tow was complete and the car was at the dealer.

After going back and forth with BMW roadside and the tow company I left work early and met the tow truck at the business where I left my car (unlocked with the key in it). The kid towing the car tells me "I just got this call it was originally dispatched at between 7-8 am but it just turned into a priority".

So who should I be more upset with, BMW roadside for telling me the tow was complete and allowing my car to be left unattended with the keys in it unlocked for over 10 hours? Or the tow company for just giving up after they "couldn't find the car" and not following up with BMW or me.




/endrant

[GenXer]

That's unfortunate. I may have to use my AAA too if that's the case. I had my other car towed about 40 miles with no issue and the tow truck arrived in less than an hour at no charge and the driver even offered to drive me home.

[DanG]

I had roadside assistance tow me and my E46 M3 about 50 miles to my local BMW dealer (who wasn’t the closest) for no charge. They showed up in under a 1/2 hour. That was a few years ago though.

[David70]

Originally Posted by xjoeyc23x

So who should I be more upset with, BMW roadside for telling me the tow was complete and allowing my car to be left unattended with the keys in it unlocked for over 10 hours? Or the tow company for just giving up after they "couldn't find the car" and not following up with BMW or me.




/endrant

If you are looking to actually tell someone you are upset with what happened and hope they don't do this again you have to call BMW. You are BMW's customer, the tow truck company is being paid by BMW. Tow truck company knows you never were and likely never will be a customer of theirs so telling them anything is likely to not matter (I guess you can still tell them what you think but I can't see why they will really care). Tow truck company would like to get BMW's future tow business.

With all of these Roadside Assistance services I wonder who is really the company running them. If I was BMW/Lexus/MB or whoever I would much rather farm this out to someone else as it seems well outside of their standard business.

[Efthreeoh]

I used it once when my car was new. 2,000 miles in, on a road trip in upstate New York, I picked up a 3/8 lag bolt in the tread. TPM lit. I hit the BMW Assist button. Got a person. So since BMW recommends not repairing run-flat tires, she said, the closest BMW dealer was in Buffalo (we were near Watkins Glen). She got the service department on the phone for a conference call. It'd be several hours wait for a tow truck, then the dealer needed to order the new tire, so a two-day event for what all was necessary was a plug and patch job.

So I laughed at all of them and said no thanks. This was 2006, not many cars had run-flat tires back then, so not many tire shops had the equipment to dismount a 35-series RFT. But knowing the C6 Corvette came with Goodyear RFTs I found a Goodyear tire store. $25 and 1 hour later I was on my way with a repaired RFT.

I tried BMW Assist once after that in 2011 when my WP died. BMW couldn't find a tow company near by. A VA State LEO pulled over and helped find a local tow company. Never used BMW assist after that, waste of time.

[xjoeyc23x]

Not sure what irks me the most in the situation, the fact BMW assist contacted me and told me the tow was complete or the fact that I had to call the BMW dealer, BMW assist, and the tow company the next day to figure out where my car was. Not sure a day later anyone would have contacted me still.

[EstorilM240]

Go with AAA - they have a nice web app that will show you updates on the fly with GPS updates when you get a tow. 2019 technology, not 1989. That would have solved your problem as you could've checked up on the status instantly with very little friction and no phone calls.

Also you pay AAA directly every year, if they don't perform, you will stop being an AAA customer immediately, and that's it. They are a non-profit, member-oriented club, not a huge multinational corporation focused on maximizing $$$ profits.

Much shorter feedback loop than BMW, where they basically offer you a standard service for X years, and then try to pay out as little as possible. I've found an immense amount of passing the buck and shirking responsibility any time I've had to use a corporate-offered service, because the incentives are just for people to do as little as possible. The feedback loop is you stop buying BMWs or the brand is tarnished, which is much longer.

I did know someone who tried to use BMW Assist as much as possible because he got a free gas refill out of it every time... that's maybe the only way to beat the system. He wasn't stranded by any means.

[David70]

Originally Posted by EstorilM240

Go with AAA - they have a nice web app that will show you updates on the fly with GPS updates when you get a tow. 2019 technology, not 1989. That would have solved your problem as you could've checked up on the status instantly with very little friction and no phone calls.

Also you pay AAA directly every year, if they don't perform, you will stop being an AAA customer immediately, and that's it. They are a non-profit, member-oriented club, not a huge multinational corporation focused on maximizing $$$ profits.

Much shorter feedback loop than BMW, where they basically offer you a standard service for X years, and then try to pay out as little as possible. I've found an immense amount of passing the buck and shirking responsibility any time I've had to use a corporate-offered service, because the incentives are just for people to do as little as possible. The feedback loop is you stop buying BMWs or the brand is tarnished, which is much longer.

I did know someone who tried to use BMW Assist as much as possible because he got a free gas refill out of it every time... that's maybe the only way to beat the system. He wasn't stranded by any means.

I also use AAA and for the roughly $60 a year for me can't see it being worth the cost to get rid of it. I think "BMW Assist" helps them sell cars and based on what I pay for AAA my guess is BMW is paying far less and the cost to them is worth it. As long as you never need it everyone is happy and this is likely the norm.

For the "free gas refill", I think I would prefer almost any other possible way to make a little money than sitting anywhere waiting for BMW assist to come then dealing with the hassles that come with it.