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\CFeb 8,1977




Dear Sirs:

\JAs you can see from the amount of material enclosed, a reasonably
large amount of time went into the preparation of these documents.
I would hope that you would spend an equivalent amount of time
reflecting on the content of my complaints.

The point of the enclosed collection is to document some very unfavorable
experiences that I have had with BMW service in the United States.
That unfavorable nature extends to your Los Angeles representation, which
is supposed to  reflect your policies and beliefs; I certainly hope
that is not the case.

Perhaps, this is the point at which you should read my letter to  Mr. Nabielek,
and then read his response.

Now you  should understand why I am upset.

Please notice the dates. I wrote to Mr. Nabielek on Oct 26, 1976; he did not
respond  until November 23, 1976. I  expected that
I would at least receive a note acknowledging receipt of my letter.
(The date of my letter to you is also significant; over two months since
Mr. Nabielek's response. As I stated in my letter to him, I have been working
on a very intense and hectic schedule; 
18 hours/day, 6 days/week. I had until Jan 31, 1977 to finish a text
I am writing for McGraw-Hill. I had spent a considerable amount of time
arguing with BMW presonnel and spent even more time and energy
preparing my case for presentation to Mr.  Nabielek. He did not 
begin to address the issues I had raised; I had no
more time to  spend until my book was finished. That task is now
completed and I return to resolve my problems with BMW.)

An examination of my letter and Mr. Nabielek's response will show
what I believe is a callous disregard for "customer relations".
The issue of the water pump was only one of several instances of 
unsatisfactory workmanship. Consider his charge that "the compounded
difficulties would never have happened if a regular service
by  franchised BMW dealers would have taken place during the lifetime
of the automobile." First, I understand the source of the charge; it is difficult
to ascertain the quality of work performed on a car if one does not
know the mechanic.  I returned to tuning automobiles simply because
the quality of BMW service was not up to my standards. I have
tuned and manitained Porsches for several years; at one time, owning
two Speedsters, one of which was in concourse condition; and
also  successfully maintained my 550RSA Sypder. Regardless
of my competence, Mr. Nabielek's charge is not sustained by the
facts presented in the letter. 
H&E could find nothing wrong with the  cooling system.
If the factory authorized dealer's word is to be believed, then how
is a owner to know differently?  Allison's solution was to replace
the radiator hoses (several of which were quite new) and then boil
out the radiator; indeed, at that point in the overheating
problem, few options remained.

Mr. Nabielek also neglected to address the issues of  H&E's
incredible performance on the BMW inspection. He neglected the
dents  in my fender placed there by Allison BMW. He neglected
the appalling  patch job which H&E did to the warranteed fan clutch.
He neglected the  sloppy examination which Allison  did in neglecting
to tighten the  chain tensioner cap even after I told them
about the  symptoms. He also neglected to
apologize for any  of the behavior of the agencies.


I believe that Mr. Nabielek well knew that there was not a damn thing I could do
about any of it. I have talked with my lawyer about the situation.
The state  of California has very weak laws concerning incompetent workmanship.
My only legal recourse is to prove that the poor workmanship was
performed "with intent to defraud"; I don't believe that legal fraud
was involved, but only incompetence. However, the result is the same;
I spent an unreasonable amount of time and money for a series of services
which were not performed correctly.

Since the letter to Mr. Nabielek, I have had occasion to
work on my car. The initial  operation consisted in replacing
a faulty oil-pump. No damage was done to the engine. When I started the car
the oil light stayed on; I immediately turned off the engine and had it towed
to a privately run garage which I had heard did reasonable repairs
on BMW. That rumor seems to be true. Since this happened shortly 
after my exchange with Mr. Nabielek, and my confidence in BMW
workmanship was minimal, I asked them to examine the car. In
particular, to make sure that the tensioner spring was in place; it was.

However, during their inspection they discovered that the "cam
gear lock tabs" were not bent down. I'm sure that Allison
doesn't expect that  the cam bolts will come loose, but you built the car 
with that safety precaution for a reason; they should have respected
that decision. The mechanics also found that the car did not run very well;
the carburetors were back-gassing, and spitting. I can attest to the fact that
performance was poor: running-on, and flat spots in acceleration were
constant irritations.

Recently I have performed my 8000 mile inspection. In that
examination I found that the rear carb (the one Allison worked on)
was very poorly adjusted; the  mixture screw was about 1/2 turn
away from stop; and the carburetors are very unsynchronized. My options
are either to learn how to fix the mistakes myself or take the car
to a mechanic I trust and spend more money; neither option is
very attractive. I'd rather that Allison had performed the
services that I contracted for.  In the course of my inspection
I adjusted the valves; I have never seen them so tight: less that 0.005 inches.
I seriously doubt that they were originally set to the 0.010-0.012 inches
specified in the manual; naturally, I cannot prove that conjecture. Neither
can I confirm  that they did anything but replace the fan clutch
at the 600 mile examination.
(That's one of the major difficulties; a total lack of trust.)
If they had not adjusted the valves at the 600 mile checkup, that would
account for the excessively tight valves. I have know way of knowing; I
do know that  head bolt #14 was loose.

There is a close correlation between "running-on" and valve setting.
Close valve settings seem to reduce the problem; set at 0.011 inches 
the running on was severe; however most of that was caused by the
poorly adjusted rear carb. Now the car "runs on" as it did before Allison
did their work and the idle is very poor. Hardly an acceptable solution.

What do I expect for you? It's not clear that you can do anything to repair my
damaged confidence. Though my legal recourses are non-existent I would not
object to recovering some of my financial losses from you.
In particular, the cost of the H&E tune-up, the Allison experiment
on my carburetor, the H&E destruction of my fan-clutch, the dent in my 
fender, and my lawyer's bill. I have know way yet of ascertaining
whether  Allison's poor tuning practices have done permanent
damage to my new valves; and I have not had time to examine
my alternator; perhaps Mr. Nabielek is correct about the alternator.

I changed from Porsche to my 2002 in 1968 because
BMW was an exceptional automobile. My raves and demonstrations
convinced many  people to buy your automobiles. 
As direct result of my early experiences, I can recall influencing at
least five purchasers of
your 2002 and one Bavaria; I'm sure they in turn influenced others to buy
BMW products.
When I  purchased
the 2800 in Germany, the original intention was to sell it on returning
the the U.S.; however, only a short drive in Munich convinced my to sell
the 2002 instead; the 2800 is an exceptional automobile even today.

Considering my experience with your dealers, I find it very difficult to
recommend purchase of your automobiles.  I  tell people about my 
recent experiences
and suggest to prospective buyers that unless they can perform the
services themselves, they should look elsewhere. The problems I have
had will become more prevelant, I fear. The difficulty is that you
make an expectional automobile. It needs little  more than routine
care during the first 100,000 miles. The car can  survive regarless
of the competence of the mechanic (myself included). However, when it
comes to honest repairs, your agencies are unable  to perform
to the standards of the machine. The result is disappointment.
Your mechanics are trained to replace parts, rather than to diagonsis
and repair. That is not a failing which is  unique to BMW, but
it is disappointing all the same.

I still request the updates for my BMW manual. I realize now
the BMW of North America is just a renaming of Hoffman Motors. I had trouble
obtaining manuals through them before, so the response of Mr. Nabielek
is now more understandable.  See your enclosed letter of 1971.
 As then, I now as you for the manuals.

I feel that an up-to-date manual is more of a necessity than ever
since the dealers 
know of my complaints to Mr. Nabielek (see his letter)
I am now sure that I cannot get reasonable service from the dealers, 
and will be lucky to receive adequate access to parts. I understood this
possibility before writing to Mr. Nabielek. My options were: 1) to
keep quiet about the poor service, 2) continue returning the car until the
service was done properly, 3)  or to complain. The first two options
were unacceptable. Mr. Nabielek  didn't beleive that the
problems warrented his attention. I certainly hope that
you do not feel as he did.

As I said at the end of the letter to Mr. Nabielek, I don't find such
letter writing very pleasant. It takes time and energy, and though
my book has gone to the publisher, I have much better
ways of spending my time.  However, I do expect to receive fair return when
I spend my money. I do expect to be treated courteously when I register
a complaint. My experiences with BMW service make me very sad.

Please consider what I have said. If you would like further documentation
I can probably supply it. There are several other people in this area
with similar experiences at H&E; they have given up since no one seems to
listen. In the end BMW will lose.
\.
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Yours sincerely,



John R. Allen
Member Technical Staff
Hewlett-Packard Research Laboratories
3500 Deer Creek Rd.
Palo Alto, Cal 94304
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