[SPQR M3]

I recently bought an '09 E92 325i with a clean service history. A mechanical inspection prior to purchase revealed no red flags. The dealer told me that they had conducted a service when they acquired the car, but there was no stamp in the log book to that effect. Owing to my natural distrust of dealers, coupled with the poor delivery experience they gave me (see my other thread), I decided it was best to get a service done. Prior to that, the last service on the car was over a year ago.

I had been researching independent BMW mechanics and a number of them had been mentioned as providing a good service: BM Wise, Michael McMichael Motors, Eurosport, BM Connections. In the end, I decided to go with BM City in Gray St, Adelaide, purely because it was convenient to my work.

I went in to BM City and met the owner and head tech, Tony. He's a very talkative and friendly guy who was only too happy to put the car up on a hoist and let me see exactly what was going on. I was relieved to see that there was nothing obviously needing urgent attention, but he nevertheless spent an hour or so going over the car with a fine tooth comb in my presence. He removed the plastic underbody shield and a closer inspection revealed a small leak around the electronic oil sensor. This would have to be replaced. He then opened the hood and inspected the air filter which was filthy. Evidently it had never been replaced since the car was new. A similar inspection of the air-conditioning microfilter revealed the same - it was clogged up solid with dust and dirt. Fortunately, the engine looked clean - "this car hasn't seen a hard life", said Tony. A simple oil change would be required.

Overall, he ended up replacing the filters, oil, brake fluid, coolant, oil sensor and a safety check. It wasn't cheap but it would have been a hell of a lot more at the BMW dealer.

To top it off, the car was returned to me washed and cleaned. Very happy with Tony's service and would thoroughly recommend him.

[pulsk001]

I had a very bad experience with this place once, in 2008.
Bought a used e30 and sent it to Tony for an oil service and paid full inspection so that I know what needed attention. The car did have noisy lifters.
He ended up pulling the head apart for the inspection and I was put in a spot where I had to get everything done. It was a $3000 car and the car rolled out of his workshop a week later with a $3000 dollar bill.
No complaints on his work, but just the way he handled me as a customer, it felt like daylight robbery.
I vowed never to go there again, I have owned 4 BMW's since and would have been a loyal customer if not for that incident. Must say very convenient location.