Schererville's BMW dealership has a new owner, and the dealership's former owners have agreed to pay nearly $25 million to BMW of North America as part of a federal lawsuit alleging the local car dealer defaulted on loans, according to court records.

Last week, Levin BMW became BMW of Schererville, new dealer-operator Mike Gillespie said Monday. Gillespie bought the dealership at 1400 Indianapolis Blvd. with investment dollars from Michigan-based auto dealership mogul Joe Serra. The Levin family, a local auto dealing mainstay since Leo Levin founded a dealership in Chicago Heights in 1949, is no longer involved with the Schererville BMW dealership, Gillespie said.

Gillespie said he plans to restore customer service perks he said were cut in Levin BMW's last years. Gillespie, who said he is a veteran of many Chicago-area auto dealerships, called owning a BMW dealership his "dream."

"Mike Gillespie will be there every day working hard to earn back all the customers," Gillespie said.

Serra, who owns dozens of dealerships in seven states, said he chose to invest in the Schererville shop because he is confident in the BMW brand and he likes the local dealership's surroundings.

"Quite frankly, I was very impressed with Schererville," Serra said.

The ownership change coincides with an apparent agreement in a federal lawsuit against Levin BMW. BMW of North America claims in a lawsuit filed in October in Hammond federal court that Levin owes the auto import company $24.9 million in outstanding loan payments. The lawsuit requests a foreclosure and sale of the dealership. The suit claims Levin BMW defaulted on $24,851,594 in loans made by BMW Financial Services, the importer's financing arm, to the dealership between November 2007 and January 2009. As of Sept. 2, Levin had defaulted, and the dealership's executives violated the terms of one of the loans, a $6.1 million mortgage, by signing onto a "junior mortgage," the suit claims.

On Friday, Hammond federal Senior Judge James Moody signed a judgement ordering Levin BMW to pay BMW of North America $24.9 million. Lawyers for both parties filed papers agreeing to that payment.

Neither former dealership President Paul Levin nor lawyers in the case could be reached for comment.

Gillespie hopes to boost customer service and add 20 to 30 staff members to what has been a "bare bores" operation, he said. Gillespie said his new luxury car dealership can survive unforgiving economic conditions.

"I think it's a great product for this market," he said.