BMW of San Diego

Traveling across the state with low engine oil level thrown into the mix unexpectedly. Allowed to just drive in and some super friendly «BMW genius» totally hooked me up.

Wow — what great people up there. After weeks of trying to locate my midlife crisis car (435i
convertible) with the colors and options I wanted to no avail, we decided to order it. The 6 week estimated build and deliver time hit right on the money. Victor my sales assistant was a pleasure to work with and no pressure from moment one.
I have purchased several cars in my time and I can truly say this was the most enjoyable by far.

Josh was extremely helpful in the car buying process. Not only was he very knowledgeable about the vehicles, he tried to put me in the vehicle that made sense for me. Appreciate his assistance and would highly recommend Josh for anyone looking to purchase or lease a BMW.

I was looking for a solid, clean car for my daughter. On the used car lot I met Paul Hutchens. What an AWESOME experience. It was raining, we drove an ice blue Mini Cooper. Paul gave me his info, but other than my name he didn’t press me for my phone number or what could he do to get me to buy the car right then. Low pressure, professional. I called Paul the next morning, offered an equitable price for the car over the phone, the price was accepted, and I came down immediately & completed the deal. It was raining as I picked up the car. Once home, I noticed that there was a crack in the windshield (about ¾″). I called Paul. Without hesitation & without question, he arranged for me to get a brand new window. The condition of the car purchased (literally & realistically like new) & the overall car buying experience and working with Paul is what drove me to give Paul & BMW of San Diego five stars. Furthermore, it was so good (& I’ve bought 15+ cars in my lifetime), that I will not hesitate to buy my next vehicle from Paul and BMW of San Diego. As a bonus, my daughter absolutely loves her little Mini Cooper!

Review of the service :
Be very wary of getting service from this BMW location. My car kept stalling randomly when fully stopped, so being new to the area I took it to a random mechanic I found where they «fixed» the problem for about $ 800. Then when it started stalling again less than a Month later, it was clear the issue was not fixed. I decided to take it straight to BMW where they «fixed» the problem for me for another $ 1,200. I was leaving to go out of the country for one month the day I got my car back, so I did not drive it until the following Month. The very first time I drove my car, it stalled again and I was so upset — ALL I wanted was a working car and after spending $ 2,000+ on it, it’s easy to see why I was upset. I took it back to BMW, where I was given a loaner car 2016×1. When my service rep called me to update me on my car, I made the mistake of telling him how much I enjoyed the X1. When he called us again to say what was wrong with my car, all of a sudden my car needed over $ 3,000 worth of work and they only valued my car at $ 4,000 so they wanted to talk about trading it in… Convenient timing, eh? Long story short– they reattached some valve which apparently was causing it to stall. I took my car to my old mechanic all the way in Palm Springs [but he KNOWS his stuff] and he LAUGHED at BMW’s estimate saying he knew it was all BS. Upon further inspection of my vehicle, he couldn’t believe that BMW was trying to tell me to get rid of my 2007×3 with only 117,000 miles on it when my car was perfectly fine…
ALWAYS go get a second+ opinion and do not trust their estimates! Lesson learned the hard way…

These guys are awesome. I had been driving Mercedes Benz automobiles exclusively since 1986. I needed a sales associate who could present the BMW line and compare/​contrast the Marque to Mercedes. Josh Keyton was my man. Josh found a car for me in Santa Monica and had it brought down to San Diego. The car and the experience is everything I expected it to be. I am extremely satisfied with my lease. It is a pity that there is no freeway from San Diego to Germany!

Great car buying experience! I had my mind set on a CPO at Long Beach BMW but I had time to waste and was in the area so I stopped by just to look. It just so happen that the first guy to greet me was James Smaller, the same guy who helped me out on my first BMW. After doing contrasting, comparing, and test driving different models. I still had no intentions of buying until I saw a really nice 328i loaded and with extremely low miles but out of my price range. Like I said I already had my sights set on another one in long beach with a loan approved from USAA. Well long story short… James was able to get the price down by almost $ 4k AND gave me 1.9% for 60 months with no money down!!!
This dealership is all around the best. The entire transaction was fairly quick (about an hour and half), the car was detailed inside and out, free Starbucks when we did wait, and a full tank of gas. James made sure to go over every cool feature of the car and answered all of our questions. There was never any pressure from him or the finance lady.
Making a huge purchase like a car can be nerve wrecking but not over here. From now on this will be the first place to look and I highly recommend San Diego BMW and James Smaller if you’re looking for a Certified Pre-​Owned BMW.

Service Dept. here is amaaaaazing, always so nice & helpful. Glen Widdup is my service dude, he’s the best, told me to drive my car over if having any kind of prob, no appt needed! Makes life so easy when dealing w/​friendly & competent staff. Thank You!

WARNING: THE PRICE THEY LIST PARTS FOR ONLINE IS LESS THAN THE PRICE THEY CHARGE YOU AT THE PARTS DEPT
I wanted to buy a sunshade as a gift for my daughter. They advertise it for about $ 57.00 if you order it online (and they offer in store pickup).(Already expensive for a piece of reflecting cardboard w «BMW» on it).
If you go to the parts dept, they charge $ 65.00. When I asked why, they said they’re trying to boost internet sales. When I say that’s kind of sleezy (won’t get many new customers that way) they just look down. Then one tells me the new higher total and the cashier says «should have bought it online»… Hmmm, NO, YOU SHOULD HAVE MATCHED THE PRICE TO MAKE A RETURN CUSTOMER !!! ADIOS !!!
UPDATE: 2 days later they contact me wanting an e-​mail address so their parts manager can «discuss» the matter further … I notice you’re part of Penske Automotive Group, where I’ve bought my last two cars and where I go for service … er, used to go … Really, do you think I want to discuss my feelings further? Still, no offer to make anything right 2 days later … please, don’t bother to contact me again, I’m done w Penske.

Lee was very helpful when it came to my purchase. He was very efficient and did his best to accommodate my schedule. Chloe from the Genius Bar was awesome and taught me so much about my BMW. She’s been so phenomenal about getting back to me when I have questions which is one of the best feelings after purchasing a vehicle.

Service is amazing here! I’ve been coming here for years and they have always been so helpful and accommodating. I tried to get service done outside of the dealership without good results…
PROS:
Nice, clean loaner cars
Flexible loaner return
Service impeccable
Complimentary Starbucks coffee machine!
Complimentary Tazo teas
Complimentary pastries
Free Wifi
Free gift with Unilocal check-​in (like $ 5 Starbucks gift cards)
CONS:
Can be pricey but well worth it considering it’s your car and you know these folks can be trusted and put in quality work

I admit I am generally unimpressed with auto dealerships. I have a close friend who owns a Chevy dealership and familiar with the car business. I wanted a BMW all wheel drive hard top convertible as I live in San Diego and tahoe. I had a better customer experience as a stranger at this dealership than my pals where I’m treated like the bosses BFF.
The internet sales manager Dan Brummett
Was extremely efficient and priced the exact car out even before I visited the dealership. He saved me lots of time and was a very clear communicator. I can’t praise his effort greatly enough. The entire process was unexpectedly time efficient and easy. I would recommend ANY friend who was interested in a BMW to give this dealership a chance… And ask for Dan. Im a price sensitive shopper and Dan also saved me $ from all the other BMW dealers I emailed. He won on both service and price.

I stopped in to have my rear tire checked for low pressure and to find out there was a slow leak. Joshua Romero was my service tech. who helped me. I have to say he went out of his way to have my tire replaced and sent me home with a loaner car. He was kind, polite and very professional in dealing with his customers. Awesome service Josh!

I recently moved here from Fort Lauderdale and decided to make an appointment to get acquainted and established with my new car. I also wanted them to mount and drill my new California license plate to the front since this is not required in Florida.
My service advisor Glen Widdop lacked any customer service etiquette or manners. No handshake, no formal salutation, no rapport. I might as well have made an appointment with a robot. I was treated with much more welcome and respect at the DMV. This was a complete change from the customer service in Fort Lauderdale.
I also thought it was customary to have a car wash at the end, but they just scurried me along like cattle roaming through.
As a physician who has relocated to the area I am pretty disappointed with them if you can’t tell and will take my BMW and business elsewhere.

I just got my BMW X1 2016 at this location and the service that we got was fantastic!
LEE was our salesperson. It was so easy to work with him.
There was no pressure and he won’t rush you to make your decisions.
One thing nice about this guy is he LISTENS to his customer.
He helped me navigate and find the things that I want in my car.
I’ve never had such this wonderful experience from a car dealership… the past experiences were mostly unsatisfactory… I felt pressured and rushed…
If you are looking for a great and fun experience on a car dealership, pls look for LEE and I’m sure that you’re gonna be satisfied with his service.
Congratulations BMW for having such a great employee like Lee. you should hire more people like him.

My recent purchase of a X3 from BMW of SD was my first at this location and from start to finish, the service was outstanding. I always have excellent and beyond expectation service from Josh K. Josh ensures that we are comfortable with a vehicle and we are never pressured into anything. My family and I have purchased several vehicles from him that are consistently the ultimate driving machine. He is attentive, helpful, and has the expertise of every ride. My new 2016 X3 fits me like a glove and the BMW genius presentation was another component of the great service I’ve received here over the past week. Thank you all who’ve helped me from reception to finance in my latest BMW buy.

Went there to visit an old friend, Josh Keyton, and discussed with him my requirements for a new car. He helped to locate the right car, explained the financial detail, and even helped me to get a good price to trade in my old car, not to mention he helped to give me a satisfied price on my new car.
I went home with a new BMW 228 in just a couple hours.
Would recommend Josh Keyton to my friends who needs a new ride. You should talk to him, a really nice guy who really willing to help.

I went to get a set of wheel locks and when I found a lower price online, they gave me a partial refund. That was nice of them. After, I went over to service to ask about scheduled maintenance and CAROLINE was kind enough to spend 15 – 20 minutes with me to show off the great features my car has to offer (the over-​engineered on-​board computer is overwhelming!). She set up my memory seat, garage door opener, a couple of radio stations, navigation, and hot keys (which I thought only served as radio buttons). She showed me how to check oil levels from the computer and how to have text messages read to me by the computer over the speakers.
Thank you, Caroline, for your time. I look forward to coming in for periodic service.

So very disappointed writing this, and sad to say that my BMW driving days are done. You ever get the kind of service that blows you away, and you’re sure you’re a client for life? That’s my experience, I both purchased and leased a new BMW (not at the same time), and both experienced were great. I’m guessing that things have changed in the past few years, because now all I hear when I speak to a salesperson is «commission, commission, commission», which is sad because I had $ 4,000 on hand to put down.
DO NOT LEASE A VEHICLE from here, you will be disappointed at the kind of service you receive when it’s time to lease another BMW. Maybe the was their problem, they’d rather you buy the car than lease it, or perhaps no-​one wants to deal with returning a lease (which I feel obliged to remind that it was 3 years old with only 11,000 miles on it, and garaged at both work and home).
I was surprised and saddened when it was time to turn in my current lease, in excellent condition and over 20,000 miles under contract (I don’t drive much), the only «reward» for being a BMW customer was a $ 1,000 credit towards my next BMW. Man, three weeks ago I wanted nothing more than to get into a new 2 series (off the lot), but
Long story short, Mercedes not only matched the $ 1,000(and more) but man did they treat me like I was used to at BMW, and my friends and co-​workers are going to be confused when I pull up in a Benz after convincing 4 of them to get BMW’s themselves, two I physically went to the dealership with them to pick out their 3 series. I’ve already heard «what you tell me to get a BMW then you go get a Mercedes», haha!
From a former BMW driver, and one that thought i’d be for a long time, WHO KNEW Mercedes would get me a better car at less money and be happy to talk to me (three times I never heard back from BMW, quite insulting). Remember that $ 4,000 in hand? I used only $ 1,500 of it, and got into a nicer car
BMW, I will likely miss the way you drive, the way you hug the road, especially corners, but you did me wrong and now if you see a Shiney new red Benz w/​18 inch rims rolling past… I won’t be waving to you, you are like an ex to me now!

This review is for their service department.
I gave it 3 stars because I believe their service is average– not bad but not the best either.
The pros:
— if you have a service advisor you’ve worked with, they can get you in quickly (ask in advance for a loaner car if needed)
— BMW includes annual maintenance service through their warranty package
— free basic car wash
— nice waiting area upstairs with tables and chairs. They also have a tv and provide complimentary coffee, tea and bottled water.
— they give you a written report at the end which summarizes what items were checked, fixed or are up to par.
The cons:
— they are busy all the time even at odd hours on weekdays.
— they don’t start on time (it took 10 mins for someone to check me in, another 15 mins to sign paperwork and then finally my car left the lobby area).
— their services are ridiculously expensive. They charge easily 50% more than independent auto repair stores. Even though you’ve been a loyal customer, they don’t give discounts.
— some of their advisors seem rushed and not always eager to answer your questions or help you out.