Recommended BMW dealer in Chicago? Chances for a discount?

[nbarab]

i would like to buy my first bmw in chicago, but i do not have any experience on these bikes and their dealers. do i have a chance for a discount? Insurance rates? Thanks!!

[dderrig]

I think it's safe to say avoid Chicago BMW (Search the Forum for Chi Towns problems with them).

Dave

[nbarab]

I think it's safe to say avoid Chicago BMW (Search the Forum for Chi Towns problems with them).

Dave

i got it.. something more specific about dealers? if this can be considered advertisment, just pm me. i really need some help on this. thanks

[Lost Rider]

Sadly the closest new bike dealer I can recommend is Gina's BMW in Iowa. There isn't a decent dealer anywhere in Chicago.
Chicago BMW sells some stuff cheaper but treats their customers like poo, bad attitude, SLOW parts, etc... The service department is a joke, the service manager is a lier with the worst attitude, their store is one of the worst I've seen ( been to many a BMW dealers in my travels) , small shop with no selection of gear to go with the bike. The dealer on the north side is equally as bad with an ass for a service manager, and a joke of a little store, seem like they cater to more "classic" BMW clientele. The dealer on the west side in batavia lost their BMW franchise a few years ago - no wonder, I went in their on my 1150R to test ride a 1200R and they wouldn't let me and gave me attitude.... I bought one from another dealer the next day.
A 2.5 hour drive to Gina's is worth it... great people, great service, nice shop, lots of gear to choose from, etc... I would think in the winter, in this economy any bike dealer would work with you on price, I know my friend at A&S in Sacramento would...

Now if you just want to shoot the poo and learn about BMW's, maybe buy a used one, go see Johnny at MotoWorks Chicago on S. Western, he's a stand up, honest, passionate BMW guy... but not a new BMW dealer.... that's a good place to start.
Tell him Joe Finn sent you!

http://www.motoworkschicago.com/





You can see my story about Chicago BMW here:

http://r1150r.org/board/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=19322


Good luck!

[Tak]

BMW Motorcycles of Milwaukee is just 90 miles north. I have been a customer there for the last 10 years and have been very satisfied.

I met a group of guys there that rode up from Chicago to buy some clothing. They said they have made the trip several times because they did not like the dealer in Chicago.

[Lost Rider]

I have actually heard good things about Milwaukee BMW, and know plenty of people who travel up there for service, just never been there myself.

Another resource in chicago is the local BMW club, CRBMW. they have meetings monthly and a forum online. I'm not around chicago much anymore, but there's plenty of helpful people in that club.

Not sure when the chicago bike show is, should be soon, Chicago Region BMW owners club have a booth there where you could ask away about BMW's....



How about a little more info about you? what are you looking for, why a BMW, what did you ride before, where do you want to ride, etc...
There's plenty of help available here...

[nbarab]

I have been in miami for about 3.5 years. I bought a new hayabusa, a new gsxr1000 (both got stolen) and a zx14 which finally i managed to sell 5 months ago(full titanium akrapovic, sargent seat etc). Previously in my home country (greece) i was driving a cb1 400 and a cbr600. Why bmw?? Because here in the usa, you cannot really speed and i really need some torque low+ i loved my cb400 (naked bike). I also like the fact that bmw does not have chain!!!! an d also i think that i can really enjoy this bike in this country I i could not really enjoy my other bikes/cops are everywhere).
So, i bought a lot of japanese bikes/ and now i feel that it is the time of change...
People give 16k to buy a 1r200r and to me it is a lot of money....
However, i would like to buy a brand new black. the lowest ticketed one (around 12,750? w/o taxes + a stand)
I do not like cars, i love bikes/ i am afraid that in chicago i will not be able to drive for 2-3 months/year??.

THANKS FOR ALL THE INFO/ MAYBE I WILL NEED TO PM YOU IN CASE WHEN I WILL BE READY TO BUY (IN ABOUT 1 MONTH)
Do you believe that i can find a brand new around 12-13k otd?

[nbarab]

chitown i have just read the post in which you report your problems with chicago/bmw . It is the first time i read something like this!! i was going to have a stroke...

[gezerbike]

Call Cycleworks in Barrington ( 847-381-8050 ). They were recently sold to new owners and they are very eager to move some bikes and repair the somewhat tarnished image that developed over the years. If they can't help you, head down to St Louis and see Honz @ Gateway BMW.....good guy with a great inventory of new and nice used bikes.

[Lost Rider]

chitown i have just read the post in which you report your problems with chicago/bmw . It is the first time i read something like this!! i was going to have a stroke...

well, don't let it alarm you too much, I'm in the minority with GS problems, and the 12R is rock solid with very very few problems (none for me)... and more dealers are good than bad, it's just hard to forget the really bad ones like chicago BMW.

the beautiful thing about the R is you can do all the maintenance your self with a little info and some basic tools

[cwrose]

This is maybe a little off topic, as I can't recommend any dealers near Chicago, however I can relate my own experiences with Chicago BMW.

So recently I have been searching for a good price for a BMW part and I of course tried my local dealer first. Lonny, the parts guy for BMW is decent to deal with. Knows my name, always has an answer. So I asked for a quote on the part and for an item with a retail price of $234.95, the quote came back at $258 and some change. Since I didn't know what the retail price was at the time, I didn't think much of it.

My next call was to Chicago BMW, you gotta love their 20% off BMW parts and accessories. What you don't gotta love is their go get 'em attitude, or rather their extreme lack thereof. I get the parts department on the phone and inquire about the item I'm looking for. I explain that I'm price shopping with various dealers and that I live in Fairbanks, Alaska. He quotes me a price of $187 something, plus shipping. I asked him if he could estimate shipping, and he said no. He couldn't do it without a weight for the item. There was no, let me check and see how much it weighs, no ballpark figure, nothing. And absolutely no effort from the employee. I asked him how they shipped items and he replied with FedEx. I explained to him that even small, light packages cost a fortune to ship FedEx to my location. I asked him if it were possible to ship USPS Priority Mail (think flat rate boxes), and his short but sweet answer was no, we don't have the time to go to the post office. Obviously there was an extreme lack of willingness to work with a potential customer, so I politely told him that I don't think Chicago BMW would work for me as a vendor and wished him a good day.

Next, after reading some praise worthy posts about Sierra BMW in Nevada, I decided to give them a call. I spoke with a fellow by the name of Brandon in the parts department who sounded eager and willing to help me find what I was looking for. We had talked a bit about my situation and the fact that I am looking for a vendor to work with and possibly work with in the future for obtaining parts. After discussing shipping options, he said that USPS Priority Mail would probably be the most cost effect and estimated the shipping at 12-15 dollars. At this time he asked if I could hold and I told him no problem. A short moment later he came back and informed me he had spoke to his parts manager and said that I could give him my email and the manager would email me a discount code for 10% off my purchase price. He also told me that if I make my order, I can add a comment regarding the shipping estimate and he would make sure that if the actual cost was higher, he would make an adjustment as to not go over my estimate. All this with absolutely no prompt from me. I was happy; there's no other way to describe it. I thanked him for his time and told him how much I appreciated his willingness to help me and told him I would patiently await an email from his parts manager.

So just for curiosity sake, I called Lonny at my local dealer and told him the quote I was given and if there is anything he could do to match it. He literally laughed at me and said good luck. Then proceeded to tell me that I should be leery of such a deal. At that moment, I decided that I would no longer support that dealership. Looks like I have to truck the bike 400 miles for service or I gotta start doing it myself.

In summary, so far, without having actually completed the deal, Sierra BMW of Nevada has been an absolute pleasure to work with. Chicago BMW, on the other hand, had terrible customer service along with my local dealer.

[nbarab]

thank you very much for your feedback and all of you guys that you are so polite to reply to my thread!! I checked yesterday the insurance in chicago for the 1200r and the quote was quite reasonable (500$) per year with comprehensive.. i hope that there i will work out a deal with a dealer, and i will get this bike

[Lost Rider]

thank you very much for your feedback and all of you guys that you are so polite to reply to my thread!! I checked yesterday the insurance in chicago for the 1200r and the quote was quite reasonable (500$) per year with comprehensive.. i hope that there i will work out a deal with a dealer, and i will get this bike

Why do you need to buy it in chicago anyways?

If I was patient enough to wait for months to buy the bike, I would send out a mass email to many dealers getting quotes and buy from the cheapest one- if cheapest was my main concern.
Buying the bike where you're going to service it could pay off in the long run.... I would figure out where to service it first, then worry about buying it, starting with your likely service dealer. Then maybe see if they will match a lower bid from another dealer.

good luck!

[nbarab]

The reason is..that usually i am getting bored of my bikes, so there is no long run.. (usually after 1-2 years i sell them).. I will be very happy if this does not happen with the r1200r (i will have..major financial benefit. .)

[deilenberger]

The reason is..that usually i am getting bored of my bikes, so there is no long run.. (usually after 1-2 years i sell them).. I will be very happy if this does not happen with the r1200r (i will have..major financial benefit. .)

I suspect that you might be delighted with the outcome. I can think of two people who have sold their R12R's who were members of this forum. I know of no one locally who has. Many of the people on this forum report doubling the miles/year they ride (me fer'instance) with the R12R... it really is that good.

I've been asked a number of times "What bike will you get next?" (I'm not known for keeping vehicles for a long time..) and my really honest answer is - "If the R12R blew up tomorrow, I'd be heading to the dealer to buy a new one. I see nothing else that does what I want in a bike as well as the Roadster.." And seeing the new bikes from BMW (and a few other manufacturer's I might consider) - that hasn't changed. It continues to put a smile on my face every time I see it in my garage, and a grin on my face every time I plunk my butt on the seat and twist the fun-grip.

[Mollygrubber]

I would agree, Don. The only exception might be the new KTM Supermoto 'Touring'.

If I was not concerned about spare parts in remote locations, that would be a cool traveling mount.

[nbarab]

I would agree, Don. The only exception might be the new KTM Supermoto 'Touring'.

If I was not concerned about spare parts in remote locations, that would be a cool traveling mount.

ktm =unreliability/you are never sure that you will return home

[TT RDHS]

I would agree, Don. The only exception might be the new KTM Supermoto 'Touring'.

If I was not concerned about spare parts in remote locations, that would be a cool traveling mount.

ktm =unreliability/you are never sure that you will return home

My Superduke has been bullet proof!

This photo was taken on a six day tour of more than 2700 miles of twisty roads, in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado & Utah.

[nbarab]

lucky guy .. seriously now, i have never heart nice comments about the ktm quality (except the wp suspensions)..espesially the first 990..

[TT RDHS]

lucky guy .. seriously now, i have never heart nice comments about the ktm quality (except the wp suspensions)..espesially the first 990..

19,000 trouble free miles, so far...
Including half a dozen track days. I love that bike, and I'd highly recommend one (or the SMT that was talked about earlier).
But I also love my RR.
I actually bought the BMW to mellow out my riding, a bit, the KTM brings out the hooligan in me
I've been pleasantly surprised at how capable the RR really is! Although the BMW does not bring out the nasty in me, the way my SD does. And that's a good thing.