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      01-20-2014, 03:25 PM   #1
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L.A. Area 'Mod Friendly' Dealers

Getting BMS Stage 1 this week and asking the inevitable question: does anyone have any recommendations for mod-friendly dealers in the Los Angeles or Valley areas? The closest dealer to me is Pacific BMW in Glendale. Anyone have any experience with them? Also close to BMW Monrovia, Alhambra and Valencia.

Since Stage 1 is just plug and play, I could of course disconnect it for warranty work or for service but it's obviously easier to leave it on and it would be nice to think there are a few dealers out there who are 'cool'.

This was by far the biggest question on the GTI regional forums since almost everyone goes Stage 1 & beyond. The 3+ years I had my GTI, VW Alhambra and VW Pasadena were cool and I fully disclosed being Stage 1 before I was even scanned and they were always cool in that, unless the problem could be directly traced to the mod, everything would be covered under warranty.

Thanks in advance.
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      01-22-2014, 03:54 PM   #2
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I'm going to find it hard to believe that any BMW dealership will be cool with it. I think the expectation of modded VWs is great enough that dealers would want to sell themselves as mod-friendly to not lose that business.

Speaking of BMS, how'd the install go? Big difference in power?
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      01-22-2014, 10:52 PM   #3
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as long as you go in for service its all good we dont usually short test vehicles that come in for services unless stated by the customer
but if you go for a driveability complsint ect then you might have a problem
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      02-25-2014, 10:33 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 661Rabbit View Post
as long as you go in for service its all good we dont usually short test vehicles that come in for services unless stated by the customer
but if you go for a driveability complsint ect then you might have a problem
Thanks for the reply and sorry for the late response. Sounds about what I'd expect meaning, if there is a problem, I'll just remove the piggyback but if bringing it in for regular maintenance service interval, I'll leave it on.
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      02-25-2014, 10:51 AM   #5
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I'm 900 miles shy of my first maintenance. I think I'm going to just take it off given how easy it is to reinstall.
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      02-25-2014, 10:52 AM   #6
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If nothing is wrong with your car they most likely won't care. But yeah, it is easy.
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      02-25-2014, 11:03 AM   #7
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Better safe than sorry I say.
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      03-08-2014, 02:00 PM   #8
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Just so you know, removing it wont keep them from possibly discovering it was there. I specifically asked a few of the performance companies that offer Stage 1 and 2 for our cars and they said once it changes the settings, even if you go back to stock, it still shows the car settings have been adjusted. Just depends on whether they are in their looking or trouble shooting etc that might lead them in that direction. if its just oil service, tires, fluids and not necessarily any recall or updates needed, likely wont run across it. Was the same with my Audi. I had revo first and eventually went with Stasis from the dealer because it was covered under warranty like Dinan does. We just need Dinan to get a move on with something.

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Better safe than sorry I say.
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      03-08-2014, 02:34 PM   #9
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Just so you know, removing it wont keep them from possibly discovering it was there. I specifically asked a few of the performance companies that offer Stage 1 and 2 for our cars and they said once it changes the settings, even if you go back to stock, it still shows the car settings have been adjusted. Just depends on whether they are in their looking or trouble shooting etc that might lead them in that direction. if its just oil service, tires, fluids and not necessarily any recall or updates needed, likely wont run across it. Was the same with my Audi. I had revo first and eventually went with Stasis from the dealer because it was covered under warranty like Dinan does. We just need Dinan to get a move on with something.
Its not like Audi at all. Audi/VW etc. they have to crack open the ECU and install the new software which will throw a TD1 code etc. According to Terry at BMS, the car doesn't store the changes in boost etc. Granted he is the guy selling the tunes, but anyway. I'm not too worried about it. Just wanted to know if anyone had had any experience with any particular dealers being modified in any way. This was standard in the VW world but it seems like people are a lot more tame with their Bimmers.

Assuming everything is operating normally when I go in for the 1 year service, I'm leaving it on just to see if they even say anything.
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      03-10-2014, 10:28 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kafkaesque320 View Post
Its not like Audi at all. Audi/VW etc. they have to crack open the ECU and install the new software which will throw a TD1 code etc. According to Terry at BMS, the car doesn't store the changes in boost etc. Granted he is the guy selling the tunes, but anyway. I'm not too worried about it. Just wanted to know if anyone had had any experience with any particular dealers being modified in any way. This was standard in the VW world but it seems like people are a lot more tame with their Bimmers.

Assuming everything is operating normally when I go in for the 1 year service, I'm leaving it on just to see if they even say anything.
I'm thinking what they'll do after the oil change is take your car out for a "butt dyno". I'm taking my tune out.
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      03-10-2014, 10:35 PM   #11
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Haha, maybe. A few times when I would go pick up my GTI for service, there would be more miles than there should have been on it. LIke, really, a test drive after the oil change?? Ok... Whatever. Can't blame them. Stage 1 + intake GTI is fun as hell. I miss that car sometimes.

Sometimes.
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      03-26-2014, 11:54 AM   #12
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McKenna is mod friendly.
i take my car there all the time.

lowered/ rims/ tuned/ intake = no problems
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      04-05-2014, 08:54 PM   #13
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McKenna is mod friendly.
i take my car there all the time.

lowered/ rims/ tuned/ intake = no problems
Good to know, thanks!
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      04-05-2014, 09:33 PM   #14
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Just dropped off my car to South Bay BMW for 15k mile service. I didn't take off the BMS. Car should be ready Monday so I'll let you guys know if they say anything. It was pretty funny watching my service guy gush over the fact that I actually had a 6MT.

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      04-07-2014, 07:13 PM   #15
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Just picked up my car. Not a word about the BMS being installed. Might be a different story if I went in for warranty work, but for regular maintenance, they seem to be A-OK with the mod installed.

As an aside, I had an ActiveHybrid3 over the weekend as a loaner. After getting back into my 328i with BMS, the difference in speed is pretty negligible. Though I will say on a wide open stretch of freeway, the ActiveHybrid3 pulled a bit harder over 65mph.
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      04-07-2014, 11:20 PM   #16
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Cool, yeah I mean why would they hassle you if nothing is wrong. They want to bill BMW for the warranty work and move on.
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      04-04-2015, 12:10 PM   #17
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Anyone have any experience with Santa Monica BMW and if they're mod-friendly? That's who I go to now...I've heard of other dealerships being mod-friendly but they are significantly further from me. I have intake/exhaust/JB4. I'll be taking the JB4 out even for regular services since it's easy, but I don't want to have any issues with intake/exhaust. I should mention my exhaust is straight pipes from cat back...
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      04-04-2015, 12:36 PM   #18
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Quote:
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Anyone have any experience with Santa Monica BMW and if they're mod-friendly? That's who I go to now...I've heard of other dealerships being mod-friendly but they are significantly further from me. I have intake/exhaust/JB4. I'll be taking the JB4 out even for regular services since it's easy, but I don't want to have any issues with intake/exhaust. I should mention my exhaust is straight pipes from cat back...
Why not just go to South Bay BMW? It's only about another 20 or so minutes south of Santa Monica.
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      04-06-2015, 05:56 PM   #19
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Why not just go to South Bay BMW? It's only about another 20 or so minutes south of Santa Monica.
Yeah if no one has anything to say about SM then I'll probably do that, thanks. Who's the SA you deal with there?
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      04-06-2015, 06:03 PM   #20
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Quote:
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Yeah if no one has anything to say about SM then I'll probably do that, thanks. Who's the SA you deal with there?
Cesar Velazquez - helped me with warranty work and your standard scheduled maintenance. Never said anything about the tune being installed.
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      04-06-2015, 06:52 PM   #21
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Crevier BMW is good one if you guys don't mind in OC area.
Look for Aaron Buckhard or Richard Kim.
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      04-16-2015, 10:07 AM   #22
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