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Thread: Mid-VA indy shop

  1. #1
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    Mid-VA indy shop

    I did some searches but couldn't find a definitive endorsement of any shops in the Richmond-C'ville-Staunton I-64 corridor that can do E46 M3's (and are preferably competent enough to work SMG transmissions without shunting me to a dealer). I know the Blue Ridge BMWCCA chapter is in C'ville so I figure there has to be some indy shop I've missed in my travels.

    I'm in a state of wanting to relocate from Atlanta to central Va. We're privileged to have fantastic indy shops, but wanted to know if there were any in the middle Va area I could count on without hauling up to DC or other distant locs.

    Thanks all and if anyone cruising C'ville saw an IR E46 M3 with "M DREI" on Friday (1/2/09) that was me.
    Freude am Fahren
    2017 F31 Sport Wagon
    '11 VW Golf TDI (which retained its value *REALLY* well!)

  2. #2
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    Delta V Motorsports in Richmond is pretty good. I buy parts from them when i need them. A friend of mine works there. Pretty chill people.

  3. #3
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    You might check with Bobby Johnson at Import Autohaus on West Broad in Richmond 804 673 9171. He did all the mods on my 02 M3 and kept it running during about 35 DE days. Craig Kent is the mgr.

  4. #4
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    I'm in Charlottesville where there unfortunately don't seem to be any top-notch indy shops.

    There's BlueRidge Motorworks which can do in a pinch. To be fair, I haven't been there in years so can't say for sure and don't want to give them a bad name but I've heard their service has gone downhill over the years ...

    A little north of Staunton, Harrisonburg has MidAtlantic Motorwerkes. I'm not sure what sort of service dept they have these days but they used to have a top-notch race mechanic dude. I think he specialised in Porsches but did BMWs too. One of the owners races a BMW and there's some chance they work on it there.

    The BlueRidge Chapter BMWCCA covers a pretty wide area, not just Charlottesville. Technically, I think it covers much of Va with the exception of Tidewater and Northern Va.

  5. #5
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    What about Bimmerworld? They would be the obvious one to look at?
    Eric WONGer
    2012 NASA Nationals GTS3 First Loser
    EX-#121 IP/GTS3 M3 SOLD
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  6. #6
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    + for Bimmerworld

  7. #7
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    '96 M3, '95 540i, '93 325is SE36 #04
    Quote Originally Posted by magnetic1 View Post
    What about Bimmerworld? They would be the obvious one to look at?
    hey Mr Wonger,

    Yes, they would be an obvious choice for top notch places in Va - but they're pretty far from the Richmond/Staunton I-64 corridor. Farther than Northern Va and places like RRT. RRT would come highly recommended also from what I know of them - seeing them at tracks mostly.

    Notwithstanding the distance, Bimmerworld is the most recent shop I've taken my car to. It's about a 3 hour haul from Charlottesville but I've done business with them for a long time and it was sort of on the way to VIR.

  8. #8
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    Hrm.. only reason I recomemnded them was caus you said NOVA was too far or I woulda said RRT

    I Bimmerworld was closer to C-ville than I thought, sorry :P
    Eric WONGer
    2012 NASA Nationals GTS3 First Loser
    EX-#121 IP/GTS3 M3 SOLD
    Now-#121 GTS3 E46 M3

  9. #9
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    Just looked back on this for updates. Thanks for the suggestions.

    I think Mid Atlantic Motorwerkes is likely the winner for working on an M3 to avoid the dealership premium. In central Virginia, 60 miles isn't much of a drive.

    RRT in Dulles looks accessible as long as I don't get stuck there in rush hour. I can only assume it's worse than it was a decade ago.

    And I didn't realize Bimmerworld was in Dublin. I've been passing it on the way up there to visit friends for over 2 years now. It'd make for a nice side trip.
    Last edited by GeorgeM3SMG; 01-20-2009 at 12:32 AM.
    Freude am Fahren
    2017 F31 Sport Wagon
    '11 VW Golf TDI (which retained its value *REALLY* well!)

  10. #10
    Join Date
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    I used to work at Delta V and I take both my cars (93 325 race car and 98 M3) there if I can't do the job myself. They do a great job. They just had an e46 SMG M3 in there the other day.

    They are very good.

    If you're near the dublin area, bimmerworld would be the obvious choice, but they can be hard to schedule with as their race cars take top priority.

    Good luck with Mid Atlantic Autowerkes, lets us know how it is, I haven't heard of them.

    There is also CDOC in C'ville but I'm not sure if they do repairs or if they just do race prepping stuff.
    Andrew Elmore

  11. #11
    Join Date
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    e36, e46, e70, e92
    I second Bimmerworld and Delta V. Have had nothing but good experiences.

    Like others mentioned, BW definitely puts the racing first though (not that it's a bad thing!).


  12. #12
    Join Date
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    I've never had a bad experience with Grady Goodman at BM&V. It's off of RT 360 in Mechanicsville, just a few minutes north of Richmond.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
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    04 M3, 15 GTI
    +1 for Grady. Best BMW tech in this town IMHO.

    Not sure how he feels about SMG transmissions though (as per the OP.)
    "Power and speed solve many things." -Jeremy Clarkson

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
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    1998 323ci
    New to the Forum. I need some suspension work done on my ‘98 323 (E36). I’d like to provide parts. Ideas on any Independent Shops that might take on the work?

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