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Thread: BMW Technician Starting Pay?

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    BMW Technician Starting Pay?

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    I'm currently looking into working as a technician at a BMW or MINI dealership and wanted to get some input from current techs about what the starting pay would be.
    I know every shop does things differently and starting pay depends on the shop's location, I'm looking to get a general idea of what it would be.

    I graduated from an automotive school about 3 years ago (uti) can't remember my exact gpa or attendance rate but they were both high, I have only about 6 months of experience working in the field (firestone) and I have most of my ase's (6).

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    nickdrivesm3 is offline <---Retired from that BMW CCA Member
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    See the BMW STEP section right above this thread.

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    i looked through that but didn't see anything that answered my question. i'm not looking to go through step

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    Quote Originally Posted by pat3022 View Post
    i looked through that but didn't see anything that answered my question. i'm not looking to go through step
    its in there.

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    If it's in there I'll find it. There's a lot of info there- a lot of good info. I'm slowly reading through the 91 pages of the thread.


    Nick- Thanks for taking the time to write all of your posts in the STEP thread, very insightful and helpful stuff.

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    As it probably says in there ASE's don't mean much to German car brands... Because they don't. At my shop you would probably start around 11-12 with no BMW certs. Depending on how well they manage training depends on how quickly your pay increases. Also remember that would be base pay and eventually you would be flat rate and have the available to make twice that if your efficiency is good enough. It all depends on you. Good luck.

  7. #7
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    my opinion on ASE's ( I have all 9 automotive ones and P2 parts)

    They are completely useless and meaningless.
    They test you on 40-year-old obsolete Ford/GM/Cryingslur tech.

    I went into my first session all worried it was going to be intense and was very disappointed with what was given. The entrance exam for STEP was beyond any ASE I took.

    However, if that is what your current shop sees as the mark then go for it.

    As I'm done with dealer life after only 10 months I'll share my pay.
    Started at 19/hour flat rate due to having decent prior experience
    Bumped to 20/hour after 6 months
    New service manager then instituted a new pay plan and was bumped again to 22/hour, and that's where I ended.


    I know it is decent pay, but I am one of those people that will spend the time required to do a job 100% to my personal satisfaction and that was also my downfall. I could only manage about $10/hr hourly when hours turned was divided by hours spent at the center.
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    I had all 8 ASE's and L1 when I was applying at dealerships out of STEP. I was offered $16-19/hour on average.

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    I was offered 19$ starting after step and UTI, then after a year I got a dollar raise.

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    Straight answer:

    It really depends in what area of the country you are but generally first year with your experience dont expect more than 35-40k. Again, I dont know about your area if its higher or lower than the average.

    You can check on US Bureau of Labor statistics (google it) and check whatever area you want, search by automotive repair jobs and look at dealer technician pay. Your pay will be in that area or slightly higher because it is a luxury dealer..

    I have heard first year techs making more back in the day (45k in San Francisco) but I'm pretty sure those times are gone. Just take it slow and easy, learn everything and starting second year you can worry about making 50k+ maybe even up to 60ish if you are good / lucky / in the right area of the country again.

    After being a master tech (5+ years and all training) it used to be possible to make over $100k in a busy shop but from what I hear / know those times are now gone. I am not quite there yet but I don't expect it either.








    So theres that.
    Last edited by Fijian; 09-10-2011 at 04:47 PM.

    I dunno nothin bout no cars...


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    I was offered 15-16 right out of step... then they threw me into flat rate after only having my own lift for 1 month. I also did not get a raise after they put me on flat rate. I was lied to by almost every one in the dealership other then the techs.

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    I graduated from STEP in 2005. I interviewed more shops then most people in my class because I was willing to move anywhere. The average hourly wage offered was $16/hr flat rate. 2 shops were straight hourly, that would be what I'd look for as flat rate is a bunch of shit now with warranty screwing you over all the time. The shop I finally chose was $22/hr to start. Sounds great right? Well....no. They had 75 techs! Sure hourly it's nice pay but when you can only flag 35 hrs a week cause you get to see 1 maybe 2 cars a day it's not so good. Right out of school $35-40k aint too bad I guess, but you also have to be at the shop a LONG time. We were open from 7am-7pm with an hour lunch. 11 hours per day and every other saturday for 8 hours. Thats 3068 hours a year, the average 40 hour work week is only 2080, so you're really working a job and a half. If you divide your $40k by hours at work you really only make....$13ish/hr.

    Not to mention you get ALL the new car rattles and dumb noises and trim issues and other no money to be made cars as your 1-2 cars per day. Gee wonder why no one wants to be a tech. Spend 2 years in automotive school then STEP to make what you could make doing IT work after 6 months of OTJ training.

    I don't work for a dealership anymore if you can't tell

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lewthor View Post
    I graduated from STEP in 2005. I interviewed more shops then most people in my class because I was willing to move anywhere. The average hourly wage offered was $16/hr flat rate. 2 shops were straight hourly, that would be what I'd look for as flat rate is a bunch of shit now with warranty screwing you over all the time. The shop I finally chose was $22/hr to start. Sounds great right? Well....no. They had 75 techs! Sure hourly it's nice pay but when you can only flag 35 hrs a week cause you get to see 1 maybe 2 cars a day it's not so good. Right out of school $35-40k aint too bad I guess, but you also have to be at the shop a LONG time. We were open from 7am-7pm with an hour lunch. 11 hours per day and every other saturday for 8 hours. Thats 3068 hours a year, the average 40 hour work week is only 2080, so you're really working a job and a half. If you divide your $40k by hours at work you really only make....$13ish/hr.

    Not to mention you get ALL the new car rattles and dumb noises and trim issues and other no money to be made cars as your 1-2 cars per day. Gee wonder why no one wants to be a tech. Spend 2 years in automotive school then STEP to make what you could make doing IT work after 6 months of OTJ training.

    I don't work for a dealership anymore if you can't tell

    this is a good post.

    what are you doing now?

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    Also went to an automotive school in 2003/2004. Graduated (sort of) and decided to skip STEP because I had an offer from a BMW dealer. Started at $16/hour, moved to $19/hour after about a year or year and a half.

    Moved back to Northern California and was hired on at a dealer for $22 or $23 an hour (2006), and then shortly after that moved to a somewhat neighboring dealer at $24/hour.

    Then I left the business because it honestly sucked.

    However, if I hadn't done all of that, I wouldn't have gotten fed up with cars, left, gotten a job at Apple, and subsequently met my wife. So I suppose it's all okay in the long run.
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  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by SR20Fastback View Post
    Also went to an automotive school in 2003/2004. Graduated (sort of) and decided to skip STEP because I had an offer from a BMW dealer. Started at $16/hour, moved to $19/hour after about a year or year and a half.

    Moved back to Northern California and was hired on at a dealer for $22 or $23 an hour (2006), and then shortly after that moved to a somewhat neighboring dealer at $24/hour.

    Then I left the business because it honestly sucked.

    However, if I hadn't done all of that, I wouldn't have gotten fed up with cars, left, gotten a job at Apple, and subsequently met my wife. So I suppose it's all okay in the long run.

  17. #17
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    Two things are very important when pay is considered. Area, and location..... Yeah I know there the same thing. But its about that simple in the beginning. I started out of step in 03, with my ASE certs, AC certs, blah blah.. 17hr. 36k, year one, 68k year two, half way through year two started flat rate at 23hr. Year three at 26hr hour flat rate, 102k. My best year at year 5 128k. This is where area and location really play big. San Diego, lots of work, before market crashes.
    Looks good right, well not so much any more. Warranty is squeezing techs balls so tight our eyes are popping out, and customers are holding on to there money even tighter. I basically hit the pay ceiling at my 4th year, and had no more upward movement per hour. Also as a note, I don't work overtime, come in early, and always take my lunch. I'm good at my job, and could regularly flag 160+ hr in a pay period, again back then.
    I've been looking to get out of this business for some time now but have a family and obligations, and will, find a better route.
    Now out of San Diego, in Seattle (family move), barely manage to get 90-100 hours. Same tech, same schedule I've been following for years.
    My recommendation, if you want to work on crap, (squeaks rattles and so forth as noted above, the occasional CBS maint items) don't have any motivation to move up in a "career" or want to blindly make your way through your job go for it. I'm not even 30 yeat, and can't wait to get out. Don't take it the wrong way, I actually love working on cars, but the dealer life sucks. Best of luck however, sorry if I sound to negative, just my point of view however screwed up by my experience.
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  18. #18
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    What San Diego dealer did you work for? You can PM me if you don't want to post it.

  19. #19
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    The pay is straight up not good. I played the whole UTI/STEP game at 18. I started hourly at 15 and then ended at 25 flagged hour but it was hard to get the work. I currently am a foreman at an independent making more money on salary with benefits, and I dont do bitch work anymore. I'm 25.

    A dealer is good experience, but if you plan on having a life or owning shit (needing reliable income) you wont be there long.

    Also, get your damn ASE master, no reason you should not have that by now, it looks really good for anywhere you want to go. BMW master means nothing except to the dealer you work for and that depends on the D bag that gets called the service manager.

    Get your step experience and work your contract, quit and go into parts or service advising, better money, less work. Tech's are treated like plantation workers circa 1850.

  20. #20
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    "Tech's are treated like plantation workers circa 1850"

    So ridiculously true. The reason I am so dissatisfied as well.

    Get through step, play out your contract and find somewhere independent to work once you have the "dealer experience".
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  21. #21
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    this thread is so true in so many ways. to answer the original question, i was hired in at 17/hr flatrate. then got a raise to team leader, which put me at 18/hr plus $1/hr turned by the techs in my team. i had two others in my team (two step noobs hired into the night shift) so i basically was making around $20/hr flatrate in the end. not bad for raleigh area, but sucked for the amount of hours possible to get. i never had a big issue with getting my hours, but just got more demotivated the more i worked at the dealer. i still remember the first week after i stopped working at the dealer, happiest week of my life. it was like i was freed from slavery or something lol.

    Quote Originally Posted by SnakeOil View Post
    I actually love working on cars, but the dealer life sucks.
    exactly how i felt. i couldn't be happier to have been able to get out of the field. now i can work on cars as a hobby and enjoy it to it's fullest, i just need to build a garage at the house now. ez-up tents don't quite cut it when you need heat in the winter haha.
    Last edited by Aamir bt; 01-11-2012 at 12:57 AM.

  22. #22
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    The 5 post above mine are awesome. Anyone looking into this as a career really needs to understand that this is how this world works now. .com
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  23. #23
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    well here is my story,

    went to UTI in phoenix (old campus) and recieved a butt load of S.O.P. (student of the phaze) awards. those were a no brainer, all you needed to do was get a better grade than the other 14 rejects in the class. BMW bent over backwards for students with lots of those in there transcript.

    After uti was approaced by the counselor and was told i should apply for BMW, and porsche. Did that and dropped ford fact. If you can handel ohms law and read a wiring diagram then dont waste your time on that class unless you wana dabble in independent shops.

    got a great job working at Nissan North America Proving grounds as a tech on night crew making 13 an hour (hourly time with no over time allowed) and that was great. but then BMW accepted me and i was told that I need to be in florida for orientation in 3 weeks..... WTF so I went in and talked to them and said I want the Phoenix campus or nothing. they pulled some strings and got me into Phoenix campus.

    Started STEP in the old building and it was like going to the army, drills everyday, instructors that would quiz you while working on cars. it was great, we could miss "NO" time at all. We had to be clean shaven, belt, dress work slacks, STEP shirt tucked in, hair cut ect ect. if you came and were wearing a 5 oclock shaddow then the teacher would flip you a bar of soap and a pink disposable razor and tell you to shave.

    anyway STEP is very laxed now, after my class there was one more then UTI took over and started to accept anyone that would fog a mirror. We see the rejects at the ontario campus when we go for car specific training. They are terrible, and FASTRAC is worse. teachers dont care as much because they get written up for the old things it seems.

    anyway. right out of step I got a job and was started at 16 an hour plus they gave me 2000 tool allowance (at 50 percent off snap on thats ok in my book) and they are still paying my student loans as long as I stay employed with them.

    first year made 35K
    second make almost 50k (got a raise of 3 dollars when I went flat rate)
    then its been above 45k ever since
    this last year i made 60k and 22 flat rate (in an economy that is crap they say)
    we are a smaller shop, only 7 techs but we are fairly busy.

    the key in the dealer ship is to stay ontop of your training. kiss some ass and rub elbows with anyone higher up and BMW contacts are always nice also, my phone is full of engineers and RTE's and such.

    So.... there is money to be made, large shops that pay alot are not all they are cracked up to be, and some of the smaller shops will push you through training faster than large shops.

    i still love to work on the cars, but hate the warranty BS and politics that come with the job.

  24. #24
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    This is an interesting thread. I'd like to resurrect it for some more advice.

    I originally went to college, was going to get a degree in marketing and advertising. Turned out I hated marketing. Dropped out and went to school at a local JC and took the auto program, i already knew a ton about cars and aced all the classes, by then i was working at a sears, doing tires and things like that. making about 8/hour commision and all that, quit there and worked at a toyota dealership for 10/hour as a lube tech, did that for a little over a year, they wouldnt promote me, i was 18 at the time, dropped out of auto class, since they were pretty boring and i all the stuff they taught you was pretty basic, got a job at a local subaru dealership and worked there for over a year, started at 12/hour then moved up to 16/hour flat-rate, from then on i worked at subaru dealerships. youngest tech at every shop i've worked at at 21, i was doing work foreman were doing, engine tear downs, diagnosing, clutch jobs, all that nice stuff all the young techs want to do.

    Every senior tech has always talked to me, all of them would give me this talk, about how i should get out of the business before I'm too old. they would tell me about how much they get paid, and spent in tools, how the flat-rate system screws us over. Since then I've worked at several places, and with the economy the way it is . I agree with them now, I've since then decided to make school a full-time effort and working on cars a part-time job kind of thing.

    the money is pretty sweet on the short-run. but think about it in the long run. Long hours, low pay in the long run, health risks, and lastly, always being told what to do.

  25. #25
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    This doesn't entirely answer your question, but I know a few BMW and Toyota techs and all of them hate it. They're probably right with getting out and going into something else. Are you living at home? Money definitely seems sweet until you move out and are paying bills. Once all that cash is no longer disposable and you're busting your ass to get by, it becomes a lot less fun.
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