[mashimarho]

My shop is a far drive, but I am wondering if I can go to a "conventional" shop to adjust my coils, get my alignment, and things that are not too big. Would it matter at that point?

Thanks,

[GreekboyD]

For it's all about whether someone knows WTF they are doing. It boils down to that. Lots of clueless people working on cars out there.

[mlifxs]

I have the same problem, bmw dealer and indys are far away. With regard to bread and butter repair shops, I agree with previous poster: "it depends".

I think if there's a repair in the DIY section that can be performed by folks on this forum, there's a good chance that a non-bmw specialist qualified mechanic can handle it. That said, I would ask enough questions to make sure the person is knowledgeable enough not to screw it up, or use the wrong fluids etc.

Maybe get quotes from specialists and non-specialists and go with what your comfortable with?

On the alignment...I bought a lifetime alignment contract from a tire store a few years ago, not knowing about some of BMW's special alignment methods. They've done three alignments and the car drives fine with no abnormal tire wear whatsoever.

[Meeni]

I went to NTB for alignment, they screwed up 5 times before I gave up on them and went to the dealer. I would never trust them to touch a single bolt on my car again. I've heard similar stories from most "chains". Do you think they will setup your toe and camber adjuster to spec? For me, they just "reset" them to 0, without even knowing that this is NOT the correct setup... They may know how to work on the random Civic that they see 20 times a day, but they are clueless when it comes to euro-imports and they do random stuff. The other problem is the "mechanics" are high school dropouts that have no formation. Not saying that none are good, but the average is pretty appalling.

Now, you can go to a MB independent, and if he accepts the car, you'll receive good service.

[Beas]

if they have an alignment rack, im sure they have somebody thats atleast decent at using it. As for adjusting your coils. just ask to look at the work to make sure they did it right.