my experiences as a first time customer for ECS Tuning

[fairchild]

So I have 6 or 700 dollars of parts to order for the z3. wanted to TRY to get as many of them a s possible from one place.
One of the parts I needed was ball joints. Wanted both inner and outer. The search fcn on ECS's web page could never find ANY outer
ones at all. They did show the inner one. So I figured there must be some kind of glitch- figured that an E-36 compatible ball joint
shouldn't be an unusual thing.......

S I figured that their "live chat" device should be perfect for that question .........
I connected and asked my question.....
I then waited about 45 min with no response other than "one moment please" type responses--- then no response for 10 or 15 min....
long enough that the session timed out and disconnected. (I was sending them messages about every 5 min.)
So I reconnected AGAIN-----
Then after over an hour had elapsed---- they sent me a link to one they had in stock - but it was different- not the same...... it was for a z4
they said. I asked them 2 more times to confirm that they did not have a product for Z3....... but they never answered me back with anything.
I don't know why they thought a z4 one would help me any-
That ate up 65 minutes Ill never get back !
I sent them an e-mail recounting my sorry experience - suggesting that this was a good way to go out of business......
Don't know if I will get a response........
perhaps everyone else knows better than to deal with them ????? ( I feel stupid.....)
Just thought Id relate feedback in an honest way. I think I will use pelican or turner- even though they are on the west coast and it will take longer- don't even care if the price is a little higher. I feel like places shouldn't be rewarded for not caring about the people they serving. Sad
Maybe others feel differently-
Tim

[pat955]

I've had nothing but good experiences with ECS (several thousands​ spent there), I believe turner was bought out by ECS. Look up your part with real oem and search the actual part#. Also check out FCP Euro another good company.

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[328 Power 04]

Turner and ECS are now both owned by the same investment company.

I would try FCP Euro, if you haven't yet looked at them.

[Brad5161]

So I have 6 or 700 dollars of parts to order for the z3. wanted to TRY to get as many of them a s possible from one place.
One of the parts I needed was ball joints. Wanted both inner and outer. The search fcn on ECS's web page could never find ANY outer
ones at all. They did show the inner one. So I figured there must be some kind of glitch- figured that an E-36 compatible ball joint
shouldn't be an unusual thing.......

S I figured that their "live chat" device should be perfect for that question .........
I connected and asked my question.....
I then waited about 45 min with no response other than "one moment please" type responses--- then no response for 10 or 15 min....
long enough that the session timed out and disconnected. (I was sending them messages about every 5 min.)
So I reconnected AGAIN-----
Then after over an hour had elapsed---- they sent me a link to one they had in stock - but it was different- not the same...... it was for a z4
they said. I asked them 2 more times to confirm that they did not have a product for Z3....... but they never answered me back with anything.
I don't know why they thought a z4 one would help me any-
That ate up 65 minutes Ill never get back !
I sent them an e-mail recounting my sorry experience - suggesting that this was a good way to go out of business......
Don't know if I will get a response........
perhaps everyone else knows better than to deal with them ????? ( I feel stupid.....)
Just thought Id relate feedback in an honest way. I think I will use pelican or turner- even though they are on the west coast and it will take longer- don't even care if the price is a little higher. I feel like places shouldn't be rewarded for not caring about the people they serving. Sad
Maybe others feel differently-
Tim

I've had a couple of similar experiences with ECS's chat and website but on the whole most of my experiences have been very positive. Their search function can be suspect so when I can't find what I'm looking for I look up the part number on www.realoem.com and more often than not find it on ECS.

[cngizbleevng]

ECS pricing is usually quite good and I've ordered a number of items from them. No wrong parts, but then i wasn't using the chat or search function--I already knew the part number from RealOEM.com before ordering.

[JWin]

+1 for FCP. ECS's shipping is a pain. They seem to have everything shipped to them so they can put another box around the box the part came in from Germany and charge 2x shipping prices.

[Mr Bingley]

+1 for FCP--they-re my 1st go to for any web search for parts. Their free shipping option (over $50.00 order) gets here (N.E. Ohio) in three days, and they answer their phone. ECS answers their phone as well--try calling about your experience. I can actually drive to ECS in about 30 minutes and I know people who work there--I still order from FCP (I can drive to Summit Racing in 10 minutes btw and FCP is about 10 minutes from my mother's apartment in Connecticut--small world).

[dklay]

Turner and ECS are now both owned by the same investment company.

I would try FCP Euro, if you haven't yet looked at them.

This. I used to use Turner in person (no mail order)... they're local to me so I'd just walk in, buy what I wanted, and on my way. I have no complaints about ECS (yet...only one order with them so far), but FCP Euro gets a HUGE thumbs-up from me. Great service and their prices are just about as good as you can get. And with their "Lifetime Replacement" warranty why go anywhere else unless you can't get the part you want from them?!? I've also been very happy with BavAuto, although I find their website difficult to navigate. BUT... BavAuto's 'free shipping' doesn't happen until $150. I like that free shipping kicks in at only $49 at ECS and FCP.

[tankbuster]

This. I used to use Turner in person (no mail order)... they're local to me so I'd just walk in, buy what I wanted, and on my way. I have no complaints about ECS (yet...only one order with them so far), but FCP Euro gets a HUGE thumbs-up from me. Great service and their prices are just about as good as you can get. And with their "Lifetime Replacement" warranty why go anywhere else unless you can't get the part you want from them?!? I've also been very happy with BavAuto, although I find their website difficult to navigate. BUT... BavAuto's 'free shipping' doesn't happen until $150. I like that free shipping kicks in at only $49 at ECS and FCP.

I was thinking of getting the Valeo BMW flywheel conversion kit, (converts a dual mass flywheel to a single mass for better shifting) ECS has the kit for $468 so was excited to check out the "great prices" from FCP EURO, there price was $570 for the same kit! Whats up with that?

[vanne]

I bought a uuc power pulley kit for my s54 Z4, from ECS.. the amount of f'ups was unbelievable.
First they send me the 2 pulleys, no belt. Then they send me a complete new box, with one pulley in it, 3rd time lucky, and they send me the belt. All in all, about 2 months in between for waiting for the other bits, while my car was apart in the shop. You can imagine what my mechanic was saying.
I felt sorry for the guy who was dealing with my case. I could imagine he was trying to say "it's difficult to soar like an eagle when your working with turkeys!"

[fairchild]

In fairness- they do seem to be trying---- they sent me 2 e-mails back-
The 1-st one trying again to sell me the ball joint for the z4------
the 2-nd one saying that they didn't sell just the joints for the z3- but the whole arm with joints installed. and yet- I did see the inner joint but not the outer one.
So- from the customers stand point- it took 65+ min of live (dead) chat and 2 e-mails to find out that they don't stock the part I need....... That just seems
excessive...... I I explained to them that it didn't seem to make sense that they carry one joint but not both. But its not my companny to run......

I will definitely check FCP euro next. (and look up part# at realoem) Im assuming real oem outputs BMW part numbers- and the idea is that the aftermarkets
can all be crossed from the factory # ........... (as opposed to a manfacutrers number)

Thanks for the help to all !
(it appears I put this in the incorrect place ---- I couldn't seem to find a "rules faq as to where to put what--- now I see it should have been obvious if I had
browsed around into more od the subforums....)

[dklay]

I was thinking of getting the Valeo BMW flywheel conversion kit, (converts a dual mass flywheel to a single mass for better shifting) ECS has the kit for $468 so was excited to check out the "great prices" from FCP EURO, there price was $570 for the same kit! Whats up with that?

Ouch. Usually I only see that much price diff when comparing genuine BMW parts to aftermarket or reman. Call FCP... good chance they'll price match.

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[tankbuster]

Ouch. Usually I only see that much price diff when comparing genuine BMW parts to aftermarket or reman. Call FCP... good chance they'll price match.

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FCP EURO does look like a good place to buy just will need to do my homework on who has the better price on many items.

[dcvee]

I've had nothing but positive experiences with FCP Euro. I've done about $4k worth of business with them in the last month and they are spot-on.

I've had good experiences with ECS as well...but not as good as FCP. Bimmerworld on the other hand, geez, what happened to them? I can't even get emails returned in 2-3 days. They used to be on "it". Maybe I caught them at a bad time.

Don

[TurnerMS]

I've had nothing but good experiences with ECS (several thousands​ spent there), I believe turner was bought out by ECS. Look up your part with real oem and search the actual part#. Also check out FCP Euro another good company.

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We share a warehouse but the same Turner Motorsport sales and customer service staff that has been in place for years here in Massachusetts is still in place doing what we do. Feel free to give us a call or email me at dugmar@turnermotorsport.com Happy to help with any questions about your BMW.