Local Dealer Recommendations (Sales & Service) - MD/VA/DC Area

[Nick]

I figured a thread like this would be useful to anyone who needed service or wanted to buy a BMW. I have had a lot of experience with local dealers and wanted to share my thoughts, and I encourage others to do so as well.

My Service Recommendation
I had a really annoying problem with my M5 and the first dealer I took it to couldn't fix it. They told me nothing was wrong. I took it to Russell BMW and Rich Harkness, a tech there, worked on my car. He listened to my concerns and while he was not 100% sure he was feeling the problem himself, he tried some things for me and got it fixed to my satisfaction. Speaking with him, I know he is an enthusiast and he knows his shit. It's this type of customer service that BMW owners deserve, in my opinion. Ryan (blown318) had his coilovers installed by Rich and I believe he has an equally glowing opinion of him. From now on, I am only going to take my M5 to Rich at Russell BMW.

My Sales Recommendations
I have to say something quite frank here. Most of the BMW salesmen in this area are jackasses. Plain and simple. I HANDED one local dealer at least three customers as referrals who were turned away just because they did not realize that they were missing sales. One decided not to buy, one bought an Audi instead, and one went to VOB and bought the exact car he wanted which Tate was unwilling to sell him.

I will recommend Kevin Mellett of Tate BMW- he has sold Brice two cars and while I haven't bought a car from him, he has been helpful and accomodating- something I cannot say about many other salesmen I have come in contact with. I will also say that it's not worth talking to anyone else at Tate in sales. If you can't get to Kevin, come back when he's there.

I'll also recommend Nan Wong of VOB BMW- she sold me the M5, and Dado's family bought their entire fleet from her. She is very professional and is used to dealing with enthusiasts.

I will also put it out there that I recommend AGAINST Towson BMW. Nick Kostin was their last good salesman. He was an enthusiast and knew the right way to get people to buy cars. Of course, since he was good, they fired him. The staff who remain are completely condescending, stupid, judgemental and do not deserve your business. Driving up in my M5 I was told I could not test drive an E46 M3. That is not customer service. I am not the only one who has been treated that way, either.

I have dealt with other dealers but not recently or in-depth enough to say one way or another.

Please add your own thoughts! This can be a valuable resource for local enthusiasts.

[doofoo]

My thoughts.. Tate bmw sucks.. Just figured I'd get that in here before everyone else responded.

[TrojanVR6]

Rich is an awesome tech!

And the sales guys at Towson BMW are Bastards plain and simple. I was there when they completely ignored Jeff and the the Salesman started talking shit about Maserati's and then shut his mouth when he found out my uncle was the North American Importer for Maserati and i corrected him 5 times.

[EFCar982]

who said shit about Maserati? I wanna know so I can rip his eyes out of his face and shove them down his pants while I kick the shit out of him. Wow I guess im just a little opinionated here.

[brice]

Gotta chime in here.

In the past 3.5 years, I have bought 4 BMW's from Tate in Annapolis. 01 323Ci, 01 M3, 03 Z4, 03 M3. First two were from Gary Ferguson, who I knew would be my salesman since he had tattoos all up and down his leg, and he was a surfer. He saw me and took my order promptly for the Ci, and also a deposit for the M3. After Gary left, I worked with Kevin Mellett on the Z4 and the M3. I walked in, told him I wanted the M3, and 3 hours later, I was out the door with a new ride. He was able to do two deliveries that afternoon without making me impatient. Definitely someone to recommend. After four cars, I am sure he knows I mean business when I go in there. I second Nick's comment when I say go to him directly, and if he is not there, go some other time.

As far as Tate's service department goes, there are tremendously mixed reviews. There are those who say they suck, etc. as I know Mike (doofoo) has a profound hate for Jonathon, bordering on downright violent. Must say I don't blame him after hearing the ridiculous story. I myself get the star treatment when I arrive since I have bought many cars. I am in and out around their schedule, which is so packed already that they are building another service bay. There are some that say Tate only exists to service those in the Annapolis area, since they only do about 40 deliveries per month, which is a far cry from Tischer, Towson, and VOB. I will say that the only marginal experience I had was getting my last M3 fixed after I decided to run up a curb. Took two months, but that was mostly the body shop, which brings me to my final opinion...

Tate body shop. Unless you have some strange self-destructive thing going on, or you like flesh eating viruses like ebola, stay away. The people there work on numerous Chevy's and couldn't care less if you get your little BMW fixed in 3 weeks. My M3 was in the service bay for 5 weeks. You would think the body shop guys would know it was on its way down, and that they needed to order me a bumper, but no. They didn't get around to ordering me one until a few days after they drove it 100 feet from service to body shop. Idiots. I asked for a Euro bumper, to avoid the reflectors. Took 3 days to get a definitive answer, which of course was NO. Then, I asked simply to have the reflectors painted carbon black, NO, and also asked them NOT to mount the front plate, again a big NO. That was the last straw. For the final touch before I sold it, I went to Mudgett's auto body, which is the sole body shop for Northwest BMW, the smaller dealer in Owings Mills. They did an outstanding job on replacing a quarter panel, and got me in and out in FOUR DAYS!!! Something Tate couldn't replicate even if I only had to get a bumper painted, or some other similar menial task. Paint was spot on. Highly recomended if you need warranty body work. Plus, they like to work on cash if you know what I mean.

This is solely my opinion. Understandably others will think differently. I will return to Tate simply because of Kevin Mellett's sales ability. I would say "marginal" on service, "not recommended" for body shop work.

brice

p.s. nick, get me a new sig. I have a new car now.

[Nick]

Originally posted by brice
p.s. nick, get me a new sig. I have a new car now.

Haha- sorry, you're as bad as Jeff. I can't keep up with all the new cars

[E36DJ]

It's all about BMW of Sterling.. next to Ferrari/Maserati of sterling, car max, etc.. what else could you ask for?

[gregger]

i like russel but its a pain in the ass for me to get too....taking my car to tate on tues for them to fix int window trim and factory amp..........hope it goes well

[gingerbreadman]

Einstein's BMW in College Park
Off of RT. 193 and is at the Rhode Island intersection close to Rt. 1....
His name is Gary Davis and he is a BMW Master Tech. Its an independant shop that has two lifts and plenty of BMW specialty tools, as well as parts. Turn around time isn't the fastest due to it being his operation. I just started my apprenticeship with him, so hopefully we can do better on turnaround times. Prices are definately putting a real hurting on what dealerships charge, and that's usually what counts in the long run. Taking anything from e21's to e65's, anything with a spinning prop on the hood, except for BMW motorcycles. Any more details, you can call:
240-508-5166 (me)
240-432-4559 (Gary)
301-446-3510 (shop)

Please understand that there's no hot little receptionist answering phones as of yet, so you may need to leave a message. Be sure to mention DTM Power as well. Not absolutely positive, but I'm sure that we can accomodate aftermarket modification installs as well. I've put a couple toys on my car there. Also, we do weekend work sometimes, but appointments are strongly reccomended.

[Khanh75]

Originally posted by E36DJ
It's all about BMW of Sterling.. next to Ferrari/Maserati of sterling, car max, etc.. what else could you ask for?

The older guy in parts is a total ass. I went in to see how much the e46 m3 mirrors were, he didn't even bother to check the computer, just gave me an answer, "Too much". Not even looking at me when talking to me.

[BGReddy]

The only dealer Ive been happy with is BMW of Arlington bought my 2nd e46 from them and they go out of there way constanly when I bring my car in fro service...I agree Tate is unbelievably horrible sales and service..ordered a car from them they sold it before I got back in the country even when I told them I was gonna be a week and left a deposit...and their service dept just is soo bad they try to rip you off so bad...

[Cabby]

Originally posted by Khanh75
The older guy in parts is a total ass. I went in to see how much the e46 m3 mirrors were, he didn't even bother to check the computer, just gave me an answer, "Too much". Not even looking at me when talking to me.

I totally agree with that!!

[Dave]

Is Kevin the guy who had the old E30 silver M3 and has a red E46 M3 now?

[Scott May]

I have yet to find anyone who can do a better job on BMW's the Curry's.

http://www.currysauto.com/

They may cost more then most, but i have heard they have the best BMW tech on the east coast...

[E46_328Ci]

hey brice, glad to see u got rid of the z4

silver grey rules...

I'd recommmend AutoThority, they've done most of the work on my ish and its good. Nate knows just about everything when it comes to bmws. talk to pat or frankie