INTERVIEW 03
The difficult repairs are the most fun:
working in an environment with real challenge.
Joined: 2014
BMW Meister
The challenge of working on highly advanced European automobiles
At the last garage I worked at, I just wanted to handle a lot of vehicle inspections and checks.While I did enjoy working on a variety of different makes and models over those four years, I was constantly hitting a wall, feeling like we weren't equipped to handle many things. At a local garage, you don't have the specialized diagnostic machines, tools and documentation that you do at an official dealership. Often you don't know things like the specified torque or the correct procedure to replace a part. Sometimes you can fall back on experience, but a lot of the time in the end we were forced to turn to a dealership to ensure that relying on instinct didn't cause a bigger problem. It was frustrating.
When I decided to transfer to a dealership job so that I could take my career as a mechanic further, I decided that if I'm going to take this leap I want to work on European vehicles while I'm at it as they are some of the most advanced in the automotive industry. A friend introduced me, and I began working as a technician at a BMW retailer. I had barely ever dealt with BMWs before that. The first image in my head was that they seemed difficult, but I was interested in the challenge.
Aiming for Meister certification as quickly as possible
The first thing that I noticed when I began working was that the rules for servicing vehicles were clearly laid out and everything was well organized. There were systematic procedures in place to handle repair. I had never experienced working to that approach before. A lot of tasks required filling out paperwork or making records, which took me a while to get used to, but as I began working on BMWs I just told myself, if you take things step by step you'll eventually get there.
I was surprised by how advanced the training system is. During initial training I learned about BMW Group's history and businesses, before moving onto technician-specific training. First we covered things like the basic equipment in BMWs and how the vehicles work, and then moved on in order to more complicated matters such as troubleshooting. BMW Group has a system in place where you undergo specific training for your level and then take a test to move up, which is called the Meister System. As soon as I heard about it, I knew I wanted to reach the highest certification level, Meister, as quickly as possible.
Improving skills by studying for exams
I reached Senior Engineer in the first three years without much problem. But from that point until taking the Meister exam, I don't think I ever studied so much in my life. In addition to practical troubleshooting skills, the exam included challenges such as to see how quickly you could pull up information from diagnostic testers or to generate a signal shape using an oscilloscope within a set time limit. It was important to be ready for anything.
Studying for the test was hard, of course, but it was also fun. Since the topics I was studying were directly related to my work, as I learned I was able to handle more and more at work. The Meister exam is only held once per year. Although I didn't pass the first year I took it, the second time was a charm. As a bonus, all of us in Japan who passed that year were sent on a trip to train in Germany. It's a fond memory. We toured local workshops and assembly lines and enjoyed Germany in our free time. The entire week was full of excitement.
Building experience, bit by bit
Sometimes I have to diagnose faults that are difficult to get to the bottom of, where the issue only arises under certain conditions. But from the customer's perspective, they've sent their vehicle to the dealer for repairs so they assume it will come back fixed. I try to live up to those expectations and do everything I can to fix the vehicle, even turning to the manufacturer for more information when necessary.
The other day, I was working on a vehicle that had been brought in because the engine couldn't start. I couldn't find anything wrong with the engine, but when I inspected the vehicle more closely it turned out that a problem with the door handle was the cause. With a case like that I couldn't just rely on the tester. I had to look at wiring diagrams for myself and trace where the electrical current travelled. While I was working on the vehicle I felt at my wit's end, but that just made the sense of accomplishment when I successfully repaired it all the more sweet. When you encounter something once, you know in the future that when X happens Y is a possibility. You're building up knowledge, and can see yourself improve. For people who don't want to just replace parts, but who want to dig deeper to uncover the cause of an issue, to learn more about and become better at vehicle repair, I think this is a very interesting place to work.
A new challenge, with e-Meister
When I worked at a local garage, there was an attitude that, if worse comes to worst, we can always send it back to the dealer instead. But at an official dealership that's no longer a possibility. There's no one else after us. When a vehicle comes to us, we have to send it back repaired. There's also a sense of responsibility, as a BMW Meister, to produce results. But for me, this is more about fulfilment and challenge than it is about pressure.
Acquiring Meister certification was never the finish line, and it's important to strive to always stay at the top of the game. The next goal I want to challenge myself to reach is e-Meister certification, which was introduced in 2019. So far the number of e-Meisters throughout the country is small, but as the BMW Group continues to focus on electric and hybrid cars, e-Meister certification will become indispensable in the near future. I want to become a technician capable of safely handling high-voltage parts, able to work on electric vehicles in any condition. There's a sense of excitement in having new areas to challenge, and I want to keep growing in a way that lives up to the evolution of BMW vehicles.
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