Not having a BMW, I do not have any experience with any of the shops - Ergo, the shops I listed were a cumilation of the people asking where to take their cars - I figured it would be easier to have 1 thread listing the places rather than countless threads.
As Jeff said, someone has had a bad experience at any of the shops listed.
The feedback, although it is has been negative thus far, is still beneficial - if you decide to take your car to one the shops listed at least you know what to expect and/or explain out exactly what you want done.
As I said I don't know much about BMW shops, but I have heard horror stories among horror stories about most Import (Japanese) shops in Milwaukee - I know of one independant shop that provides high quality service, but that does come at a premium - he is not outragous but is only marginally cheaper than a dealership, so out of convenience I just get my work done at the dealership (doesn't hurt that the first 2 oil changes were free and 1 tire rotation took me 1/2 hour - Lease FTW )
Point is, every shop is going to have some irritated customers - better to know in advance than to find out for yourself.
-S
Current: 1988 325is m20b25
2004 GSX-R 600
1978 yamaha rd400
1975 yamaha rd350B
Sold: 2004 GSXR 600
Sold: 05 honda 600rr
Sold: 87 E30 325Is With T3 Turbo/intercooler
Sold: 96 1.9l Z3
Sold: 97 318ti with s50 swap
sold: 95 m3
Sold: 89 Garret Turbo'd e30
Service:
Mraz Automotive
(262) 781-0074
3240 Gateway Rd
Brookfield, WI 53045
I now the owner mike mraz and he is a honest guy and does great work. Never have heard anything bad about them
dropped of my car at alpine today and they quoted me 350 for what they said over the phone would be 175. I asked what gives? She goes thats for two wheels... Im like... what?
I dont know why they would think i would only want two rotors put on my car. I should've done it myself.
Current: 1988 325is m20b25
2004 GSX-R 600
1978 yamaha rd400
1975 yamaha rd350B
Sold: 2004 GSXR 600
Sold: 05 honda 600rr
Sold: 87 E30 325Is With T3 Turbo/intercooler
Sold: 96 1.9l Z3
Sold: 97 318ti with s50 swap
sold: 95 m3
Sold: 89 Garret Turbo'd e30
And it just gets better.... You had high hopes for Alpine too, eh? I'm friends with the daughter of the owner of European Auto House, and spent some time with her dad at the ALMS race. I would be going there, but Mequon is a hike - although I go to Cedarburg with my 944...
Speaking of 944, Mraz put Toyota coolant in it several years ago - never been back.
I know lots of people who have only one axle worth of brakes done at a time. Of course they're all cheap bastards but still... You should have asked them at the start when the low price was quoted. Communication is a 2-way street.
Just got my 528i back from Concours after some routine maintenance (coolant flush, brake flush, and oil change) and their price was surprisingly reasonable. I've always dealt with Scott whenever I take my cars there (for warranty work the last 5 years) and he was always great to work with but when I dropped the car off this last time it was insanely busy there and I had to deal with a new guy named Sean. Not the best experience, I told him to reset the service indicators after the service which he refused to do because the indicator was calling for an inspection and I wasn't about to pay them their rip-off rates for looking at things I can look at myself. So when I picked up the car I had to argue with him to get the damn thing reset. Scott would never pull that crap with me. What do they care anyway? The whole reason I went to Concours to begin with was so that Scott could earn some commission off my work since he's been so helpful in the past, and now he won't see that money anyway since the other doofus wrote it up.
Now that European Auto House is up north by me I may have to try them.
I spent most of my money on cars and beer... The rest I pretty much wasted.
well i still think they should have clarified over the phone since i told them that i had purchased 4 UUC rotors and pads and two sensor wires. So i was obviously comunicating on my end.
Regardless its in the past. They did my car on short notice and did a really good job. Happy just not 100% happy.
Current: 1988 325is m20b25
2004 GSX-R 600
1978 yamaha rd400
1975 yamaha rd350B
Sold: 2004 GSXR 600
Sold: 05 honda 600rr
Sold: 87 E30 325Is With T3 Turbo/intercooler
Sold: 96 1.9l Z3
Sold: 97 318ti with s50 swap
sold: 95 m3
Sold: 89 Garret Turbo'd e30
I manage a small car dealer in West allis. We send all of our BMW/Mercedes service to
Cleveland Ave. Auto repair
85th & cleveland west allis wi
414-321-1130
Very reasonable on price and knows his stuff. Tell him Mike @ merit sent you.
FWIW, I've been going to Alpine since I picked up the car earlier this year. Used them for catching up on long overdue maintenance items neglected by the POs that I felt uncomfortable in tackling as a new BMW owner, as well as suspension install work (from shocks springs to subframe bushings), parking brakes, and install of a replacement diff and driveshaft. Easy folks to work with, will allow you to bring in/dropship parts if you can find a better source, and the mechanics are very willing to take the time to explain to you what they are doing, what needs to be done and why and don't give you grief when you decide to DIY. A glitch or two has come up occasionally but they have always worked with me to take care of things. The facility also is secure if you have to leave the car overnight. Wish they were located closer to home but it has been worth the drive.
I have been going to Mraz for about 4 years now and I have yet to have a bad experience. I started taking my '93 318is there after "The Shittle Car Shop" kept giving me the run around every time I brought my car in. After my Mom's Z3 came off warranty we started taking it there as well. I just recently picked up a 330ci and will be bringing it in for its first time soon.
Mike and his crew do a great job.
I have done a lot of biz with Alpine and have been happy with them. The owner, Dennis, is the guy who works on the BMW's and is a good guy.
For instance, I had a '93 vw corrado i brought in because it wouldnt start and i got no spark, half hour later they called and told me my fusebox was loose and i could come pick it up no charge. At the time I had NO CLUE about cars and they really could have racked it up for me. So props to them.
Just ask for Dennis.
They were also one of the few shops around that would work on my dads 89 750iL besides the stealership
PS...he is looking for a cheaper e30 toy to track around.
FYI NEVER TAKE YOUR CAR TO COUNCOURS UNLESS IT IS UNDER WARRANTY!!!!! I hate them with a passion and can give numerous examples of them their 'customers'. They don't give a rats ass about you. Their sales team is terrible too, my dad bought a mercedes gl450 from cali for $3k less and the car was stickered $5k more expensive!! He told the guy that it was too much money for the car and the salesman replied, "well, I would be happy to show you a lesser vehicle"
Whenever you take it their they get all crazy about making sure you give them high ratings on service. Ever wonder why? Perhaps because they have so low ratings that the car companies don't give them the spifs they should be getting for good service.
European Auto House is the place the PO of my car took it. He didn't complain, but he doesn't exactly know a lot about cars either....
'87 325(stock) work in progress....lots of work...not a lot of progress....
Big Bear Tire in Oconomowoc.
I dropped my 318ti off there after installing an Ireland Engineering rear camber correction kit. They did an amazing job even though it was a huge pain in the ass. They are willing to align to whatever specs you want, great for cars that see some track duty. Very professional and they didn't charge me extra because it was aftermarket and different than stock.
Highly recommended for tires, wheels and alignments.
I spent most of my money on cars and beer... The rest I pretty much wasted.
My roommate used to be a parts driver for Concours and recommends staying away; that's all I've heard about them.
As for Alpine, my Audi 200 turbo was taken there by my buddy Brendan a while back (before I bought it from him). It had a strange miss under acceleration that we couldn't figure out. They said he needed all new fuel injectors, that none of them were flowing correctly and they needed to be replaced. He took it to Mequon Auto Tech for a second opinion. Jeff (the guy who's working on my E28 now) looked at all the injectors and laughed. The #5 fuel injector had popped out of its hole. He popped it back in and the car ran fantastically once again. Since then, the 200 has only been there and at Reina (who are pricey but top-notch) for service, and he's done a great job.
YMMV; I wouldn't say Alpine is a bunch of scheisters because of that, but I can say that Jeff over at Mequon is a great guy. Not a BMW-specific guy, but he does fantastic work.
~Desmond
'99 BMW 528it 5-speed
'87 Renault GTA convertible
I wouldn't let those guys touch my car with a 10 foot pole. I've seen their work and it's not pretty. I know several people who are currently in litigation with them over their "top notch" service. They've severely damaged more than one car they've worked on - and then had the balls to hand the owner a 5-figure repair bill and the car in worse shape than when it got there.
I spent most of my money on cars and beer... The rest I pretty much wasted.
After my car started hemeridging oil for the past couple of weeks I decided to take it to MRAZ based on the feedback in this thread and that they are probably one of the closest shops to where I live. Wow, I was totally blown away by how I was treated. I don't think I've ever had as good of an experience with customer service in my life ever.
They were able to accomodate my school schedule by having me drop the car off on my way to school in anticipation for working on it the next morning and even provided me with a loaner. Granted it was a Mercury Sable, probably 2000ish, but I can't even get a loaner when dropping my GTO off at the dealership. For an indy shop to provide customers with loaner vehicles sends a message to me that they understand the inconvience and actually gives a damn about the customer.
They called me the next morning probably about 9ish with the initial diagnosis (vavlve cover gasket, although they couldn't rule out head gasket also with all the build-up on the block. FYI, it was leaking from the back of the head and what I though was under the #6 cylinder under the exhaust. I powerwashed it a few times but couldn't get all the build-up washed off to properly diagnose it myself so I gave up.) They had the job done by the time I was done with class. They also found small leaks from the front cover and water pump which were both off and on when my car had the work done at LCS back in June. I suspect they either didn't follow the correct torque/tightening sequence or reused the old gaskets.
Overall, I'm definately pleased and will be back the next time I need service done.
no love for the hatch
Even a broken clock is correct twice a day, LOL
Their sales practices are even worse than their service. They show consignment cars as if those cars belonged to them in their ads and on their website and even if you make an appointment to come in and see one of those cars it's never there and they give some run around story and try to convince you to buy one of their cars. A guy I know drove up from Chicago to look at a Ferrari 512TR they had advertised (still do, as of 11/15/07) after making an appointment, etc. They didn't have the car available. It was a consignment, which they never revealed to the Chicago guy. They said the secretary was out driving it and they didn't know when it would be back. I know the guy that owns the 512TR and he changed his mind about selling the car - it hasn't been for sale for many months. Yet Reina uses it to lure customers in and then tries to sell them a Testarossa they own that has been for sale for ages.
I spent most of my money on cars and beer... The rest I pretty much wasted.
I've never taken a BMW there, but I've had nothing but good experiences when I've bought my Volvo to:
Import Specialists
2121 Ole Davidson Rd (Highway 31/Green Bay Road), Racine, WI 53405 Phone: (262) 638-8788
They specialize in the big German 3, as well as Volvo, Saab, and Subaru. Very friendly, knowledgeable guys, competitive (but not dirt cheap) prices, and excellent work. The shop is kind of a small place, but they seem to do quite a business. The first time I went there they had an E24 M6 and a 560SEL on the lifts.
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