JD Power Survey for M3

[Tacoma]

Originally Posted by F83

JD Power is mostly bullshit. They do these surveys and then their real business is a consulting practice to help companies do better on the surveys. But the practice is far more on "gaming the survey" than actual improvements. Source: been through it on the manufacturers side at a former employer. No actual credibility among manufacturers - if you pay them consulting money you tend to do well on the survey. Imagine that. In other words, JD Powers is a shake-down.

Disagree. If it's simply a matter of "gaming the survey" then all the manufacturers would be doing it and getting good scores. I've also been on the manufacturer's side as a contract consultant and they do absolutely have credibility by automotive professionals in the industry. The manufacturers get the reports and take seriously to consider and rectify all material issues raised as best they reasonably can.

Whether JD Power or Consumer Reports or countless others, no surveys are perfect but if you survey all the surveys, you do find consistencies that attests to their value. If you can find a better more unbiased organization that does this, please do tell. For me, these reports (at least at a consumer level) are relevant data points in my purchasing decision, so, I for one, do my best to respond to the surveys as accurately and honestly as I can, and we are all the better for it.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by PodDoc

I got a couple of these from jd power for my 16 M3. Im torn as to whether to fill it out because i have had multiple issues with the idrive system. On one hand, if i fill it out, maybe bmw takes notice and does a better job in the future to work out bugs before production. On the other, as someone else mentioned, im (maybe irrationally) worried it will hurt resale if enough people report the same problem.

As with most surveys though, they are usually biased as most people that answer are people at the extremes, either with lots of issues or extremely happy.

What issues have you experienced with your iDrive system?

[PodDoc]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

What issues have you experienced with your iDrive system?

First, the connected drive function for stuff like online search and bmw assist disappeared from my menus like it was never there. Fixing it at the dealer caused some other issues, that eventually was fixed.

Then after an over the air nav update that was done automatically, the idrive system would restart on its own, first once or twice a drive, then over a couple weeks kept doing it every 30sec to a min.

There are quite a few others on here that have had the same problem with the idrive restart. Couple people have needed their whole hardware unit replaced. Mine was fixed with a reflash/reinstall, has been working fine since.

[M4RAUDR]

I think that manufacturers use these surveys to collect data and refine the product that they build. I've actually met JDP - if you are around the SoCal/Westlake Village/Thousand Oaks area, you'll see him tooling around - it is really funny - he drives an old Crown Vic with the license plate 'JDP III' Very unpretentious for someone of his wealth. He sold his company around 10 years ago for somewhere in the neighborhood of $400M to McGraw Hill. He has a recent book from a couple of years back that is an interesting read. I think everybody should fill out the surveys honestly, as it really will help BMW create a better product for us all.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by PodDoc

First, the connected drive function for stuff like online search and bmw assist disappeared from my menus like it was never there. Fixing it at the dealer caused some other issues, that eventually was fixed.

Then after an over the air nav update that was done automatically, the idrive system would restart on its own, first once or twice a drive, then over a couple weeks kept doing it every 30sec to a min.

There are quite a few others on here that have had the same problem with the idrive restart. Couple people have needed their whole hardware unit replaced. Mine was fixed with a reflash/reinstall, has been working fine since.

Yikes! That sucks. Sorry to hear about that.