Thinking about becoming a BMW mechanic...

[triplebeam]

Whats up, I was thinking about becoming a Mechanic for BMW, does any know what they make a hour or yearly income. thanks for the info

[AlphaAndOmega]

i heard they make like $70k a year...which is super good for a mechanic, check out UTI a few of my friends are going there to be mechanics and they have a BMW program there

[M5Power]

Yeah, you have to go to a training program first and you have to be accepted to get in.

[RidAh]

70k my freakin ass. ya maybe 70k canadian and even that it to much.

[Sendittoryan]

They aren't mechanics, they're "technicians"...

[slapshock]

My brother went to UTI and got accepted to the Mercedes Benz program. He will graduate next month. He first applied to the BMW program but they said that you have to have experience before they accept you, working at a place like express lube is considered an experience.

As far as salary, you really won't make a lot of money if you don't join any manufacturer's program like bmw or benz or audi. A friend of my brother didn't join a manufacturer's program he just took the auto/diesel class and the ford F.A.C.T. and now he's only making $10/hour. The manufacturer's programs are free, (the ford F.A.C.T. is not) although if you fail the class you'll have to pay them, if you pass the class you automatically get a job at one of the manufacturer's dealerships. You are also obligated to work for that dealership for a year, that's basically what you pay them for your training.

The average pay is somewhere between $15-17/hour, of course it goes up as you gain experience and also by being and ASE certified technician, you will earn more money. And $70 grand a year for a beginner is crazy, in some cases if you're good in about six or seven years you'll be earning that much. Also, if you became an ASE certified master auto technician,(which basically means you know everything there is to know about diagnosing and fixing a car) you will earn six figures per year. You have to take a test to become and ASE certified technician, I believe you have to have at least 2 years of experience in the automotive field before you can take the ASE certification test. As for the ASE master certified technician test, i believe (i'm not sure) you have to have a minimum of ten years of experience in order to be eligible for the test. If you pass the test, you have to take it again every two years in order to prove that you're keeping up with the new technological advances in the automotive industry. One of my brother's instructor used to work for range rover and he earns $250,000 a year.

So basically if you're not ASE certified or if you're just a beginner technician you're looking at $25-40 grand a year, less if you're not working at a big dealership.

One thing to make sure your mechanic knows what he's doing is if he's an ASE certified technician, usually, they'll have a blue circular patch in their uniform that says ASE and under the ASE it will say if he is an automobile technician, or a master auto technician.

One more thing, my brother told me that the porsche program is the hardest to get in to.

[Atiyeh]

I have been looking into UTI ALOT lately, I think I may just do MMI instead. If I were to do cars, I would want to do Porsche, I dont even want to work on Bimmers..

[WhiteE30]

70k is less than what the c-techs make here at work. B-techs pull in about 120k and A-techs make about 140k. I guess that's just here, and I guess it depends on the shop.

[OptikalPhiber]

Originally Posted by WhiteE30

70k is less than what the c-techs make here at work. B-techs pull in about 120k and A-techs make about 140k. I guess that's just here, and I guess it depends on the shop.

I'm not trolling, but those 100k+ numbers are a bit hard to believe.

what is the starting pay for someone just coming in from graduating from the tech program with 0 yrs exp?
what number of years are needed in order to get to become a A/B/C tech?
Out of X employees, what % would you say are A/B/C techs, versus the % of meathead techs that are pulling in $13-15 per hour?

[caracas_e30]

i work at a BMW dealership in MD.

to begin with.....if you dont know shit then you become a skippy, or a mechanics assistant. that pays anywhere from 24 to 40k a year.

then you got C, B, and A techs. A techs are master techs and they really do know their shit. their usually the guys who have been around for years and this is no joke but they make upwards of 90k. One tech here makes around 120k a year. this is no bullshit to begin with but i must say that it takes YEARS AND YEARS of working on the field and working at a large a well known dealership to receive such income.

[TheWiseGuy]

I went to the bmw step program at lincon tech in columbia. Very cool concept but it definately wasnt for me. Aside from that a basic maininance technician can make anywhere from 30k to 200k. Honestly the numbers appealed to me, but not enough to work in a dealership. I work for road race technologies, and would do it again if I had to. If you do take and complete the bmw step program then you will leave being a master technician with a minimum salary of 80k and a garaunteed job oportunity in one of almost any BMW dealership in the US. Its a very very appealing program with a lot of benifits. The only reason it wasnt for me was because I had already been a BMW mechanic for some while and I am very race oriented. If you will be walking in with an open mind and little knowlege of the field then you will have a great time. Oh p.s. GOTO UTI NOT LINCON TECH.

[TheWiseGuy]

Feel free to pm me about anything

[RidAh]

i dont understand. The most money a bmw tech in canada would make is maybe 70k canadian a year. 200k US is crazy, and i need to move to the states.
Any Canadian bmw techs out there?

[ak]

Do you have any experience when you were in high shcool?

[Mark_In_PA]

Im starting UTI in October and yes my goal is to become a BMW tech when all is said and done. I also have signed up for the FORD fact elective. MMI is a Motorcycle Mechanics Institute or Marine Mechanics Institute. Well I dont care how much I make Id be happy just wrenching on them. Im doing it because I want to do it. I mean most of my friends are going to 4 year colleges with no real idea of what they want to do. Also they have no guarantee of a job when they are finished. UTI does. Also the whole program is 1.5 years or so. you will be making money before most kids your age are out of college. I think UTI is a great opprotunity for anyone who is interested in working on cars. If you are interested give UTI a call and they will contact a local representative by you. If you get a chance visit one of their custom training group centers. I have visited the MB/Audi/VW training center in Allentown, PA and it is very clean and very modern. The shops are huge and lots of new cars. I cant wait to go leave already