Inferior Quality of BMW and Disgusting After-Sales Service

I contacted BMW South Africa in December 2019 to inform them that I have an issue with my rear left tail light housing where it has been hanging loose for the past 8 months (before I made contact with BMW South Africa). I also told them that this housing was changed under warranty and they checked on their system and found out that it was replaced in January 2018 and that the 2 year warranty is still valid. They then informed me to take my vehicle to a BMW dealership to be checked and a report issued to them from the dealership. I then visited BMW Auto Glen and instead of being assisted immediately, I was told that I need to book my vehicle in for the inspection. I could see clearly (by pulling the tail light housing with my hand and looking inside) that the tail light housing was broken inside and it was not merely a clip issue. I could not get my vehicle to them in December 2019 due to work commitments and the festive season so I booked my vehicle in during the month of January 2020. I waited for my vehicle for over 3 hours and when I got it back, I was requested to pay an amount of R1,178.75 as a diagnosis fee and I was informed that the issue that I am experiencing is on a different tail light that as changed in January 2018; apparently the tail light that was changed previously was on the right hand side. I was not the one who requested my vehicle to be checked by BMW hence I did not expect to pay this fee since this was a warranty issue as explained to me by BMW South Africa. The service consultant should have told me immediately that the tail light that was changed is on the right hand side on not the one that I brought my vehicle in to be inspected for because the record reflects on the system but I was never informed. If I had known, I would have not allowed the inspection/diagnosis to take place and I would have replaced the tail light with a second hand tail light for R300 and not pay more than half the price of a new tail light for diagnosis; a new tail light costs R2,324.05 from BMW as per their quotation.

I then contacted BMW South Africa to bring this issue to their attention and they asked me what would be the resolution and I requested that I be reimbursed the diagnosis fee. I was contacted again a few days later and they informed me that BMW Auto Glen is not willing to reimburse me.

The sequence of events above shows that Auto Glen BMW and BMW South Africa was at fault for not checking on the system to determine that we were looking at the incorrect tail light? Why would I ask for a diagnosis when I know what the problem is when the diagnosis was requested by BMW South Africa to determine if the tail light would have been replaced under warranty. I would have just bought the second hand part and replaced it myself.

On a side note, the workmanship/quality of the parts cannot be of such inferior quality that the same issue happens on one vehicle on both tail lights. When I purchased my vehicle brand new from Auto Glen BMW, a thorough inspection should have been done on the vehicle (at the factory) but instead me, as the customer had to find a paint defect on the boot lid which had to be fixed on a brand new car and then when I got my car back it had a dent on the driver’s side door (due to negligence) so the vehicle had to be booked in again for repair. The question left to be answered is, “Is it really worth buying a BMW?”