BMW Dealership Slated to Open Soon in Murrieta

BMW will soon be a household name in Murrieta when a dealership selling the high-line cars opens its doors in May.

BMW of Murrieta will be located in the Murrieta Auto Mall in the former Carriage Motors location, next to Murrieta VW. It will offer a service department and a stock of more than 250 new and certified used cars. The dealership is a co-venture between North Carolina-based Hendrick Automotive Group and race car driver Boris Said.

Said, an Escondido resident, has been racing under NASCAR and BMW Touring Spree for many years, and said the next step was opening a franchise. He has sought to bring the dealership to Murrieta since 2005, seeing the city as an ideal place. The nearest BMW service is 40 or 50 miles away in Escondido or Riverside.

The automotive group owns 8 acres of land adjacent to the Auto Mall location, where the dealership will permanently be located once French Valley Parkway goes in. The parkway will add a freeway exit at Cherry Street in Murrieta, but Said's original plan to wait for the roadway has given way.

For now, the partnership is redoing parts of the interior and exterior of the facility, with plans to open between May 1 and May 10.

"We are in the process of renovating the facility, updating the service department, and creating a luxury, performance feel to the dealership," said Kirk Heppler, Executive Vice President and COO of Hendrick Automotive Group, in an e-mail.

"In every area where possible, we are using local contractors and businesses to accomplish this renovation," Heppler said.

Heppler said the dealership will likely stay in the location for five years, possibly seven, until they can build a new state-of-the-art facility on the adjacent property.

"It will be our first dealership in this community, and we’re extremely excited about the opportunity," Heppler said.

The project gained momentum when the City of Murrieta utilized its new fast-track program, designed to help new businesses open.

"We approved it in three and a half months, which is an extraordinary timeframe to get something like this approved," said Bruce Coleman, economic development director for the City.

"We worked with them and they decided to look at the old Carriage Motors facility on an interim basis," Coleman said.

"This is a significant success for the City of Murrieta to have attracted the luxury brand of BMW; it reflects the high income level of Murrieta," Coleman said, noting that that the median income in Murrieta is $97,000.

"There was a need for this here."

In addition to using local contractors to do much of the facility work, the dealership will provide 40 to 50 jobs for the region. A job fair is slated for April. A preliminary website has been set up. Within a few weeks, job seekers will be able to apply online.