Stephen James BMW Avis 154

I had a great experience last Monday (25th of November 2025).
Thank you for your help — I would definitely recommend you to anyone!

I’m happy to update my review to 5 stars. It originally started very low, but after the significant improvements, I have no hesitation in giving a full 5 stars now.

…..

Over the years, I’ve had multiple visits, but I’ve consistently felt unwelcome. Despite the presence of advanced CRM systems, there’s been no effective follow-up, and emails have gone unanswered.

About four years ago, I had shortlisted 2 vehicles and tried to get in touch with the sales team of Stephen James —unfortunately, I received no response. Ultimately, I purchased my BMW 520i from Arnold Clark. Ironically, it wasn’t a win for their sales team—it was more the result of being pushed away by the lack of engagement from Stephen James.

More recently, I paid for a vehicle inspection and received the report as expected. However, again, there was no follow-up, no communication, and even a follow-up email from my side was ignored.

Sadly, these repeated experiences have left me with a negative perception of the brand and its customer engagement.

Edit 1 - 10th of May,2025 : I saw remarkable improvement on my today’s sales & service related visit which is good indication .
+ perfectly washed my car before delivery
+ email communication eventually gets more important than legacy phone call
+ warm welcome
+ good experience with sales team

So moving my review one step ahead i mean into 3 stars. I will do a review after December visit of mine. I believe it will be 4 stars 👏

Edit 2 : 7th of June , 2025.
I had an interaction with the sales team regarding my next car. The experience was very positive — I received excellent support and felt genuinely welcomed. I’m updating my rating to an early 4 stars in recognition of the remarkable improvement.

I recently took my BMW to the Ruxley branch for a recall repair on the exhaust-gas recirculation (EGR) cooler, which had been booked over a month in advance. Despite the long lead time, they did not have the necessary parts in stock, I’ve received a call midday when I was ready to go and collect it for them to tell me my car had to stay an extra 24 hours—completely unexpected and inconvenient.

After the repair was supposedly completed, I noticed that the system hadn’t been updated properly, and the fault is still showing both in the car and the BMW app. This gives me little confidence that the issue was actually resolved.

To make matters worse, I was charged £640 for a full service that clearly lacked attention to detail. Basic checks, like tyre pressure, were ignored—even though there was a warning signal on the dashboard, which was still active when I picked up the car and became more obvious as soon as I started driving.

This level of service is very disappointing, especially coming from a brand like BMW that prides itself on quality and professionalism. I expected far better.

I had a frustrating experience with Stephen James BMW Bromley regarding a recall for a software issue. Despite checking in online to inform them of the problem, they couldn’t fix it on the first day due to an error. I had to return the next day, only to be told the part wasn’t available. Now, I have to book another appointment. Wasting time dropping off and collecting the car repeatedly for an unresolved issue is disappointing. Not the level of service I expected.

I bought my used BMW 545e from Stephen James Woolwich. The Salesman; Kacper, was both polite and professional, but there were a couple of issues with the car which came to light through no fault of the salesman. I contacted the dealership manager Iain Mackay directly and I can’t speak highly enough of the way he treated me. I was not passed on to someone else, he took ownership of the issues personally and took immediate action to correct them. He arranged for my car to be collected, even though I live some distance away, and an equal replacement was left with me whilst the problems were corrected. He kept me updated with progress and it was quite simply the best way you could possibly treat a customer ! Even the delivery driver Sean was excellent.

The service I received was exemplary from Iain Mackay and I would have no hesitation in recommending Stephen James Woolwich as a direct result of his excellent service.

Some weeks following the purchase of a new electric mini I needed help with starting my car. Lee Madden, who sold me the car, answered my email promptly and guided me through the steps o follow. Problem resolved but advised to take the new mini for diagnostics, which were all good. Mini delivered home. But above all the kind, polite a helpful way I was treated was outstanding! I found out that Lee was on his day off when he answered my email. What a beacon for this company!

I have some serious safety concerns with my vehicle. Steven at the Woolwich branch was disrespectful, unhelpful, dismissive and a complete time waster. I believe that he deleted data from their system which is in breach of GDPR. The dangerous issue still persists with the vehicle randomly breaking without cause. The BMW brand has been severely let down by this branch and the manager's disgusting blatant disregard to its customers.

I brought my car in for my back brakes to be done, and the experience was lovely. Easy to book in, arrived, walked straight into reception to hand my key over and was greeted by 2 smiley welcoming members of staff who took my details, offered and got me a coffee and sat me down at the correct desk. Everyone introduced themselves by name and had actual customer service which is rare nowadays. I handed my key over, they set me up at a table with wifi and a plug so i could work whilst my car was being done.
They said it would take 90 mins, and it spot on.
They also washed my car for free after asking if this is something I would like!
I paid, booked in for another appointment regarding an oil leak (which my fantastic warranty covers) and then i was off. I felt really safe and looked after in the reception and look forward to future appts if they are all like this! :)

07.03.25 response to business - yes the branch was Ruxley :) Clive was fab as always as were all the staff. They and their managers should be proud. thanks!

Easy to book and follow-up text confirmations with the Woolwich branch. Excellent service from Tanvir Mohshin, friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. An asset to the branch.

After having our key stolen I called to ask what I should do... Bring the key in to have it reprogrammed they said.
The wife dropped in only to be told that the locks had to be replaced at a huge cost.
Really disappointed at the lack of knowledge from these experts.

It was Bromley.
HF22GDJ

i had the pleasure of dealing with Jamie in the parts department. He was very professional and knowledgeable and was very patient as i needed quite a few parts. He got all the part correct first time. Every time i spoke to any of parts staff, they were courteous and polite. Jamie is definatly an asset to Stephen James Enfied.

Trying to get through to the parts department is impossible and infuriating. Can get through to the sales team straight away (surprise surprise) but parts and servicing is impossible and infuriating especially when you get to the front position in the phone queue and the phone line goes dead. This garage charge over £200 per hour for this service - you need your brain examining to as to why you should use a company that offers such poor service.

A Warning About Stephen James BMW garage (Ruxley, Maidstone Road)

I want to share my recent experience with Stephen James BMW to warn others about their service. My car was recalled for an EGR cooler replacement, and what should have been a straightforward process turned into a headache.

They replaced EGR cooler & performed a vehicle health check, claiming my car needed a downpipe flexi joint replacement for £832, saying it was "missing." Trusting them, I assumed this was legitimate.

Just three days later, the engine light came on. Thinking it was related to their suggested repair, I visited other garages, on the hunt for this part. Only after one garage decided to lift the car & to our surprise the repair wasn’t needed at all. Then, when the car engine was inspected, it turned out the EGR cooler they had supposedly fixed hadn’t even been connected at all, hence engine light on the dashboard.

On top of that, the heating in my car stopped working, something that was fine before their work. When I confronted them, both the service manager and mechanic lied straight to my face, claiming the heating failure was a "random coincidence." The mechanic even confidently said my flexi joint was cracked—without knowing my car's number plate.

To add insult to injury, the service manager suggested I pay £199 for diagnostics to find where the problems are, which their team caused in the first place, plus extra for the repairs!

This experience has left me furious and questioning whether this was negligence, a scam, or an attempt to boost their year-end budgets. Either way, I would advise anyone to think twice before trusting these BMW services.

Steven James, London, Woolwich,
The gearbox oil change due on my app saying it cost me £52 plus VAT when I went to BMW in Woolwich I ask the guy how much he said to me £275, when I showed him the price on the app, the guy look like he was embarrassed. I don’t want to go there anymore.

I wish I could give 0 stars but no option. Avoid. I have been a customer for 10 years and for the last 2 years they seem to have no clue what they are doing. From mis-selling, to unaware of what they are doing in service, to giving 1 price and increasing once you get in and many more. I got a 5 series £60k+, service was supposedly included, warranty on the vehicle for being under 3years and insured for everything. However, when I went in for service I was told it wasn't covered had to pay additional for this. Then came around issues with the alloys, approved by BMW however the tyres kept going flat. Now I am in to fix this, insurance doesn't cover alloys properly you are covered to have you alloys pretty much polished that's all. Cracks not covered, stephen james gives one price over the phone or via email and when you get there the parts are not available or price has gone up. They kept me going in back and forth since the 18th of October and still hasn't been fixed. I don't believe anyone here knows what they are doing or selling anymore. Avoid getting insurance to cover parts of the vehicle you are only paying extra for nothing.

My X6 displayed an engine management issue. The car was taken to BMW Ruxley for an initial diagnosis at a cost of £198. I was advised the EGR valve needed to be replaced, which would cost, including labour a further £565.85. Therefore, total cost of £763.85. Within an hour of taking the vehicle home, the engine management light came back on and the same issues reappeared. BMW Ruxley collected the vehicle and ran some further tests and advised the throttle valve also needed replacing. The cost of the part alone is £307 + VAT. No idea of what the labour charge will be. I have been advised that if the throttle valve is replaced then other issues may also arise. Do these people have no shame??😳 Disgusting, despicable and bordering on theft. Don’t ever use these rogues if you want your vehicle fixed by professionals.

Sold me a second hand 3 series that I paid hard earned cash for in May 2024. I chose the car for its low mileage and took out an extended 4 year warranty so I would get hassle free motoring or so I thought. I live in Birmingham but liked the car so much I took the train to go and buy it. I bought the car with 12k miles on it, i took it for its FIRST major service to be told all 4 brake discs are warped and they all needed changing, surprise surprise the warranty meant nothing, I was told it wasn't covered, it probably only covers your indicators if they stop working! The car in total has done 17k miles and has 11% wear on the pads but the discs are warped, how?. Stay WELL CLEAR from them, if you are foolish enough to buy a car from them you have been warned. LOOK ELESWHERE or if you HAVE to make sure you get down on your hands and knees even if the floor is wet and dirty and check the discs as you would with every car you buy. I wouldn't even do this if I had bought it from a non verified BMW dealer, disgraceful customer service. They also wouldn't leave me alone phoning me to see if I wanted to buy a new car and also buy into their Motability scheme garbage. Quick enough to take your money but when your left driving a dangerous car they don't want to know anything about it, thanks Stephen James great customer service you should be proud of!!
I should of mentioned I'm 55 years old, MPG is more important to me than racing around as that is what they insinuated I was doing, my driving style, even if I was do you build cars to it's performance model but then put rubbish brakes on it, as said the pads have 11% wear on them but the discs are damaged. Proof, October their App 68 MPG ,73% less CO2 emissions than other 3 series 330 drivers, 57% share drive than 82% of other 330e drivers, 76% more efficient than other BMW drivers, basically as the month previous says WELL DONE on my driving style, either I'm a rally driver or your App is lying and useless, I'll let you decide!!
I spoke with BMW UK before I spoke to you as I knew they would understand the issue better and hopefully be able to offer me some help and a resolution to the problem, even if they made a contribution towards the replacements. They totally understood the issue and couldn't understand why this has happened. With this in mind they have booked my car in for replacement discs at their cost, thank you BMW UK you have made my Xmas. I haven't now had to try and get the money together over this difficult and expensive time of year especially as I'm not employed anymore after being made redundant.
Don't reply to this as it's not even worth me reading or other reviewers reading, you should be ashamed of yourselves for not even offering ANY help whatsoever.

I’ve been a customer for many years-love the cars, the service I received until my last visit was superb.
I only had a last visit last week due to a safety recall for the drivers airbag and I left super happy like I am most visits.

I was ready to give a 5 star review until my detailer came out to clay bar my car the morning after.

The first thing he said was why is there a dent on your passenger door, it looks like someone full on slammed a car door straight into it. I said that’s strange as it had barely moved since his last visit , and is only driven to one place where it is parked on its own. So I emailed my service guy who had been excellent during my visit and asked him if they had done a ‘check in ‘ video as I wanted to know if it was there upon arrival or if it happened by accident whilst with them.

It has happened to me once before, many years ago; they checked the cctv saw they had done it and fixed it straight away. It just required a simple ‘yes or no ‘ answer. Instead, I have received radio silence after spending thousands there over the years. It takes away the trust and puts me off the brand which is a shame. If it wasn’t for the safety recall then my car would never have been there in the first instance.

Stephen James Ruxley
This is the third and final I will ever use the Ruxley branch after once again leaving the place angry let down and disappointed
My car was wrongly diagnosed with failed front wheel bearings after noise from front of car ....even though it had sailed through MOT 2 weeks previously....so after putting my trust and faith in the garage to have located problems I paid for repairs and when I collected car the day later the noise was still there ....which was then taken out for test drive by a different technician who pin pointed problem within minutes of uneven tyre wear......after trying to charge me for unnecessary work I left and WILL NOT RETURN so if you do have a BMW with any problems or issues DO NOT go to Ruxley

Stephen James BMW: as bad as it can be. I posted my original review on - 18 Nov 2023 however almost a year and not receive any calls or communication from Stephen James. This shows the level of customer services and after care Stephen James provide to their customers.
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SJ BMW Team, received call when I was in office so requested him to call back, not received any call since then! please ask your GM or team to message me or call me back.

Although not sure what your GM is going to help me to resolve after 1 year? it would be really interested to know....

Having recently purchased a used car over the past month it developed a fault resulting in there being a battery drain and it cutting out intermittently. The car was then transported to Stephen James Bromley via the RAC for diagnosis and repair. This is where the story unfolds. Whilst a factory recall was factored into the repair to the vehicle (airbag upgrade), the team were very reluctant at wanting to investigate the issues after having the car for over 4 days (despite me having conversations with the Service Manager and initial investigating Technician giving them a full audit trail of the sequence of events) , they were citing non standard entertainment module added to the vehicle (carplay). They wee more concerned with talking to me about what they could bill to BMW and costs I would accrue if additional investigation was warranted other than looking at giving me a credible solution for my reported problems. When I pressed the team on this I was then informed the the initial technician wasn't confident at looking at the vehicle so it would then be escalated to a more qualified colleague. A further week passed then the team at Stephen James stated that a module needed to be replaced which I was then told would cure the problem. I was also given estimates for additional parts that would "cure" the apparent misfiring issues which had developed on site and apparently several months prior to me even owning the vehicle. When challenged I then received several invoices with differing costs, which the Service Manager admitted I would be billed for despite the problems not being fixed. Subsequent quotes were sent to me with apparent solutions to the misfiring but not for the battery drain situation and the Service Manager wanted someone else to "look at the problem". I have a full audit trail of the sequence of events and made several attempts to escalate all of my issues via the Service Manager and BMW personnel higher up via him but to no avail, no one had the decency to contact me based on my reported issues. The car was with them for over 3 weeks until one of their "senior technicians " looked at the vehicle and confirmed via the Service Team manager that they suspected that the problem rested with 2 separate modules on the car which needed to be replaced, with no costs just throw away statements with no solution in mindin terms of addressing the drain problem. This was prior to me being informed that the car was now working correctly with no drain. I'm now left with a car which will now start again, though doesn't drive as it should, and has started to cut out again. All this after 3 weeks. Thanks very much Stephen James Bromley..not..