Dan's list of local repair shops

hey guys,

i was sent over here from the 318ti forum by member over there. I am looking into getting a BMW and was wondering if anyone had a suggestion of a good place to get a prepurchase inspection done in or near winchester? nothing on the list appeared to be in that area.

thanks

Liam
 
bunks-tj said:
hey guys,

i was sent over here from the 318ti forum by member over there. I am looking into getting a BMW and was wondering if anyone had a suggestion of a good place to get a prepurchase inspection done in or near winchester? nothing on the list appeared to be in that area.

thanks

Liam
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Liam,

I don't know of any specifically in Winchester, but if the seller is interested to bringing it up around your place in Manassas, VA, I highly suggest taking it to Convenience Car Care in Manassas.
 
mcoupemindy said:
Liam,

I don't know of any specifically in Winchester, but if the seller is interested to bringing it up around your place in Manassas, VA, I highly suggest taking it to Convenience Car Care in Manassas.
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thanks. i am not familiar with that shop specifically but i wiould consider it if the owner let me take the car. i just know it is usually easier to take a car to a shop that is near where the owner is. i am going to call on it today, just usually like to have my ducks in a row before i make calls.
 
bunks-tj said:
thanks. i am not familiar with that shop specifically but i wiould consider it if the owner let me take the car. i just know it is usually easier to take a car to a shop that is near where the owner is. i am going to call on it today, just usually like to have my ducks in a row before i make calls.
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Timmy (owner) and the CCC crew are good guys. I'm rather picky on who touches my car (for obvious reasons) and they have really taken care of me.
 
ERGriffin said:
Anyone have any experience with Einstein's Auto Repair in College Park, MD? I sort of just ran across them, saw they have a GT-1 in the shop (seems pretty rare to find that).
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I've used them as they are not far from the Metro (Greenbelt). Gary Davis, the owner, is very knowledgeable and used to work at Passport before opening his own shop. It is a very down to earth shop -- not any "showiness" -- but Gary knows BMWs and is extremely honest. When you get to talking to him, his knowledge of the car is actually very impressive. He will never sell you work you do not need, but he will tell you what the car needs so that your car is safe and in sound condition. His prices are fair, not cheap, but at the same time he is not as expensive as some of the other non-dealer BMW shops in the area. In comparison, I have tried other BMW shops in the area and have wound up sticking with Gary because I felt their pricing was high. And people who know me know that I am not cheap with servicing the cars, it's just that I don't want to be hosed.

The only problem with Gary is that because he is a small operation, if you have anything major going on -- "major" being anything outside routine service -- you should probably plan on having the car there for more than one day. That being said, this is not that unusal nowadays since dealers even don't like to stock parts for cars that are more than a few years old.

But overall, I would recommend him because of knowledge and honesty, and fair but not cheap pricing. Hope this helps and good luck.
 
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Anybody use Martin Motorsports recently? The one in Alexandria, VA not the one in Gaithersburg, MD. I used to bring my car there when I still had extended warranty and had not needed any repair work done for a while. Just wondering if anybody had a more recent experience with Gary Martin. For me it's the closest indy shop to my home but in all honesty I am not sure if he's 100% honest as far as the works needed for my car.
 
I'd like to add my repair shop in northern Baltimore county. I just opened in May of 2010. Baltimore Bimmer is a new shop where you can watch your work being done or you can even rent a bay and do it yourself if you have the hand tools. We have all the specialty tools for timing engines an pulling them, even a GT-1 so you can get the real problem diagnosed.
Our labor rate is $85 an hour which blows away any competition and we do this simply for the love of BMW's. If you've never heard of us give us a try and we guarantee you'll be pleased with the knowledge and service unsurpassed even by the dealerships.

Everything your BMW needs can be taken care of here and our knowledgeable staff are all master technicians so you know your car isn't being handled by an inexperienced mechanic. I am the owner and as a BMW Master technician I am the hub of the Shop. We have a MINI Master on staff and an ASE master. You can visit the website http://baltimore-bimmer.com for more details.
 
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I've recently picked up an '88 325iC and am working through various issues to get it back into shape. I'm in the College Park area and saw Einstein's mentioned a few times...so I will probably give them a try. I'll report back here if/when that happens. I'd usually take my car to Autoy & Autowerke in Rockville. They always did great work on my Audi...and I'd not hesitate to use them for my BMW if they were a little closer. With a car that isn't running its a little harder to get over there.

:mad:
 
Shop suggestions in Arlington (besides Currys or J&F)??

Can anyone recommend a good shop in or around Arlington for vintage BMWs? I've got a 1985 635CSi. I decided to switch from Curry's to J&F after a few experiences at Curry's where the technicians seemed not to know much about my car (for example, I had to repeatedly explain what a fuel expansion tank is and walk the tech through a repair). And I've now had two consecutive negative experiences with J&F. In the first instance, I asked them to look into a suspected leak and they told me no leak but it was there, and quite obvious. In the second instance, I came back with the leak problem, and asked them to replace a leaking hose, and they wanted to send me away without doing it, until I insisted (didn't even order the part!). Subpar service, in each case. Really frustrating, especially at dealership prices.

Anyway, recommendations would be helpful. Doesn't necessarily have to be BMW specific.
 
I know this post is kinda old but any info on RRT for service work?
SharkD said:
If anyone has any updates, I'm happy to add them. (I need to add RRT and some other info... Car maintenance has been taking precedence over web maintenance, lately.)
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