INDY Service Centres

[WIDEOPN-X5]

Hi Fanatics. Please bear with me as I start with a small rant. I am actually so close to getting out of BMs because of this issue. Servicing and general maintenance.

I have for the most part serviced my BMs at the dealerships (yes I know.. not a good start) but lately its got to a point where it feels like each time the cars go in its a R10k starting point. The frustration for me is that I can sniff out BS a mile off but it is typically only confirmed in an effective "cross examination" where the BS'er gets trapped in their own web of nonsense. I base my queries on simple logic most of the time.

So here's the thing. I am desperate to find an honest, passionate BMW indy who I can take my cars to and know they have the same passion as I do and the same attention to detail I expect. I don't mind paying for work done properly and if its necessary; afterall, preventative maintenance is better than fixing. Where I do have a problem is being hoodwinked and fed a crock of shyte only to find that things weren't done or weren't necessary. One example was the brakes on the X5 where the pedal was inexplicably going hard as if no boost. BMW Pmb first feedback was the rotors and pads weren't OEM and should be replaced because the braking efficiency was low. Quote?? R26k!!! What a crock!!

When I challenged them that the car was bought with 57k km on the clock, from a BMW dealership and every service under MP was done and therefore BMW Bloemfontein must have fitted non-OEM parts, they suddenly backtracked stammering and stuttering. I wonder how many people they catch each day?

I realise maybe I am looking for a unicorn and for the indy guys on here I mean no offence at all; I just want to find someone I can take the cars to who will do the jobs properly, using quality parts.

PS I would literally drive to Joburg / PTA if necessary I am that desperate.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Mytfine]

Plenty of indy's who are far better than dealers, but they are also not cheap.

Get to know bmw club members in your area and im sure they can steer you in the right direction.

Just remember , even the best indy's are also human and make mistakes but a great indy will be honest, and make ammends, a chancer will make excuses.

 

[TurboLlew]

Hi Fanatics. Please bear with me as I start with a small rant. I am actually so close to getting out of BMs because of this issue. Servicing and general maintenance.

I have for the most part serviced my BMs at the dealerships (yes I know.. not a good start) but lately its got to a point where it feels like each time the cars go in its a R10k starting point. The frustration for me is that I can sniff out BS a mile off but it is typically only confirmed in an effective "cross examination" where the BS'er gets trapped in their own web of nonsense. I base my queries on simple logic most of the time.

So here's the thing. I am desperate to find an honest, passionate BMW indy who I can take my cars to and know they have the same passion as I do and the same attention to detail I expect. I don't mind paying for work done properly and if its necessary; afterall, preventative maintenance is better than fixing. Where I do have a problem is being hoodwinked and fed a crock of shyte only to find that things weren't done or weren't necessary. One example was the brakes on the X5 where the pedal was inexplicably going hard as if no boost. BMW Pmb first feedback was the rotors and pads weren't OEM and should be replaced because the braking efficiency was low. Quote?? R26k!!! What a crock!!

When I challenged them that the car was bought with 57k km on the clock, from a BMW dealership and every service under MP was done and therefore BMW Bloemfontein must have fitted non-OEM parts, they suddenly backtracked stammering and stuttering. I wonder how many people they catch each day?

I realise maybe I am looking for a unicorn and for the indy guys on here I mean no offence at all; I just want to find someone I can take the cars to who will do the jobs properly, using quality parts.

PS I would literally drive to Joburg / PTA if necessary I am that desperate.

Thanks in advance.

The Porsche goes to @Clint@MMS AUTO . F90 comes off plan in April and while I will probably keep basic services at BMW for history purposes, for anything beyond this, it will also be going to Clint. I do the same with my Alfa - stamp the book at the dealer but for any complex thing, I send it to Autopitstop (Ashley & Kishen). If you are willing to make the trip to GP to do your servicing, these are the only ones I feel work on the car to the same standard as I would personally. Clint is very transparent and a pleasure to deal with. His content on here speaks for itself. If you see some of the whatsapp messages he is more OCD/pedantic than I am.

One of my staff has an M140 and one of the 'usual suspect' JHB dealers has been taking the absolute piss sorting out some basic issues. As soon as it was off plan they basically started a campaign to make the ownership experience as miserable as possible while extracting as much money as possible. How they still expect him to want an M240 after this is anyone's guess.

I have noticed a general decline in the level of service from the dealers too. I have never had the same confidence since Hevashan left Midrand and Shaun from Bryanston moved to New Zealand. I had another guy at Alfa (Anesh) who also left to NZ. "Unfortunately" (for me LOL) my Merc guy was promoted too. These key guys are so critical to a good experience, otherwise you really are just a number and it is just to keep your car with a dealer history really. I can only imagine KZN is much worse. I would almost want to emigrate to NZ to have Shaun and Anesh dealing with my cars again , but fortunately Clint and Ash are here.

 

[AshG108]

@Clint@MMS AUTO - I cannot recommend this guy more. Knowing him since early 2000s, this oke is anal about the work he carries out, can literally eat of his workshop floor before and after he works on the cars. He does the work himself with one guy who works with him and I have boht my cars go to him without a stress or doubt while it is there.
Sending my cars to BMW is like sending a child to public school, sending it to Clint is like sending it to a top tier Private school. Peace of mind, no need to worry about valuables as it is a trusted workshop.
He does not over bookings for the sake of money, he books sufficient time to get your car done with utmost quality and uses proper parts that are tried and tested, you get all your old parts back and every single step is fully documented with pictures and videos along the way.

Before Clint, I use XFlow as well, exactly same story with Alister (Become a good friend over the years also since early 2000s). Always has time and will always help, without money or income in mind. These two workshops get my vote especially on BMW but both can do VW also. Both my cars have gone to Alister also for even exhaust work, engine work.
Old parts also given back, pricing is very decent, Alister also shops around for the bext pricing so saves you a ton of hassle of doing the shopping around yourself and he deals with dealer parts so warranties intact.

 

[modocrat]

There are some good indy's in the Durban area.
1. The Agents - South Beach
2. Petrol Head Auto - Verulam
3. M Masters - Pinetown.

 

[WIDEOPN-X5]

The Porsche goes to @Clint@MMS AUTO . F90 comes off plan in April and while I will probably keep basic services at BMW for history purposes, for anything beyond this, it will also be going to Clint. I do the same with my Alfa - stamp the book at the dealer but for any complex thing, I send it to Autopitstop (Ashley & Kishen). If you are willing to make the trip to GP to do your servicing, these are the only ones I feel work on the car to the same standard as I would personally. Clint is very transparent and a pleasure to deal with. His content on here speaks for itself. If you see some of the whatsapp messages he is more OCD/pedantic than I am.

One of my staff has an M140 and one of the 'usual suspect' JHB dealers has been taking the absolute piss sorting out some basic issues. As soon as it was off plan they basically started a campaign to make the ownership experience as miserable as possible while extracting as much money as possible. How they still expect him to want an M240 after this is anyone's guess.

I have noticed a general decline in the level of service from the dealers too. I have never had the same confidence since Hevashan left Midrand and Shaun from Bryanston moved to New Zealand. I had another guy at Alfa (Anesh) who also left to NZ. "Unfortunately" (for me LOL) my Merc guy was promoted too. These key guys are so critical to a good experience, otherwise you really are just a number and it is just to keep your car with a dealer history really. I can only imagine KZN is much worse. I would almost want to emigrate to NZ to have Shaun and Anesh dealing with my cars again , but fortunately Clint and Ash are here.

Thanks so much for this Llew.

 

[WIDEOPN-X5]

@Clint@MMS AUTO - I cannot recommend this guy more. Knowing him since early 2000s, this oke is anal about the work he carries out, can literally eat of his workshop floor before and after he works on the cars. He does the work himself with one guy who works with him and I have boht my cars go to him without a stress or doubt while it is there.
Sending my cars to BMW is like sending a child to public school, sending it to Clint is like sending it to a top tier Private school. Peace of mind, no need to worry about valuables as it is a trusted workshop.
He does not over bookings for the sake of money, he books sufficient time to get your car done with utmost quality and uses proper parts that are tried and tested, you get all your old parts back and every single step is fully documented with pictures and videos along the way.

Before Clint, I use XFlow as well, exactly same story with Alister (Become a good friend over the years also since early 2000s). Always has time and will always help, without money or income in mind. These two workshops get my vote especially on BMW but both can do VW also. Both my cars have gone to Alister also for even exhaust work, engine work.
Old parts also given back, pricing is very decent, Alister also shops around for the bext pricing so saves you a ton of hassle of doing the shopping around yourself and he deals with dealer parts so warranties intact.

Thanks Ash.

 

[WIDEOPN-X5]

There are some good indy's in the Durban area.
1. The Agents - South Beach
2. Petrol Head Auto - Verulam
3. M Masters - Pinetown.

Thanks Modocrat. I actually remember using M Masters to do a lot of work on my E39 540i that I ultimately sold to Mo on the forum.