1 - the 07 toolkit has more in it than an 04's (IIRC).
2 - Just ask, and you'll get the 2nd metal key.
3 - Look at the adverts, they used to include the sevice, now the adverts don't. If you'd paid for it before would you be concerned about its price now?
No such thing as a free lunch
I agree with with your comment that there are no free lunches, but I didn't put it into context of their "sales pitch" before and that's where my frustration stems from.
This is my personal experience:
They pitch their product as premium price with premium value add (i.e. more bits included in the OTR price then others). This I feel they delivered when I bought my first brand new BMW a couple of years back. Since then and especially since the LWR sponsorship/promotions, they seem to have gone for a strategy of investing in marketing (such as LWR) but recouping it by taking stuff out of the product.
So for me, who was attracted the brand and the product pre-LWR for the proposition they offered then versus now, I may have dropped out of their target market. I am disappointed and probably will have sold my BMW before the end of the year.
Your response on points above doesn't really defend the situation for me.
1. They took away without really telling people. If you look back at the threads from those years you will know that was the case. So now they give it back because of customer "feedback". This is good but not perfect, as I feel they shouldn't have done it in the first place. If memory serves me right, the OTR price did not go down when they did this. May have even gone up that year.
2. Again that is just not good enough. If you think it is then your expectations are different to mine and there is no absolute right and wrong.
3. Dealers actually used to charge people even though the brochure said it was included. My dealer tried it and I showed them the literature. Again if you think that is ok then our expectations are different.
As someone who works behind a desk and don't know much about mechanical stuff, things like extended warranty does give me comfort. So when the recent warranty renew price came through and it was about 100% more than what was offered only a couple of years ago you know there is a change of strategy at the company.
To qualify this, I have only had BMW bikes since I passed my test and they have bought me great enjoyment for the purposes that I wanted them for. To go on holiday to see other parts of the world. My current bike has been pretty reliable taking me to morocco and back last year, and have only had the battery failing during my current ownership.
. VW just reckon tolerances are so good from new that most engines don`t need any lengthy running in or checking for a while. I sell heavy trucks and the engines are so good in these things that they go 50,000 miles between services.
And they changed the bevel box oil properly (wheel off, final drive unit pivoted 90 degrees down).
(Next time I'll book a bike to take out.)
) or it wasn't done. (less likely still?)
