[335i E92]

Hi all

I've just had my car serviced by David Wood independent BMW Specialist (Stockport).

The service was soo good i felt it was only fair to let you all know as service like this is very rare!!

Some off you may be aware that i've had a few teething problems with my 335i since i purchased it a few months ago. New turbo actuators / coils / injectors!! During this period i had to spend a lot of time at the main dealers where the level of service i received at best shocking!!

Having stumbled across Darren Wood's my car will NEVER see another garage. Darren has over 14 years experience working in the main BMW dealer network (Williams Manchester & Bell Wilmslow) most as the Head Technician and Mike his wing man has 6 years experience at Williams BMW.

My biggest frustration dealing with the main dealer was the very obvious break down in communication between the service advisors and the technicians.

When you call Darren Woods its simple, the phone is answered by either Darren or Mike. They are massive BMW enthusiast and are quite happy to chat in depth about your car and offer their advise. For me this is invaluable, my experience at the main dealers which is where my car lived for a good few weeks was that any feedback about the car i was giving to the service department was blatantly being lost in translation by the time it got the technician working on the car.

To top it of these guy's charge £40 p/h labour!! I’ve just had an oil service and my adaptations reset with them. They collected my car from work which is a good 15 miles away at 10am and i had i back washed and vacd by 3pm.

All i can say is my car is now a FLYING machine. Having had new Turbo actuators / 6 new injectors / 6 new coils & new plugs fitted i decided get DMS Automotive to put the map back on my car. I then took it to Darren Wood for an oil change (Castrol edge 5w-30) and reset of adaptations to fully bed the remap in.

To bench mark how well the car is now running, yesterday i left a very confused look at the face of an E92 M3 driver on the A34 not only did the car keep up with his toe for toe from 5mph to, well i cant tell you on here but lets just say if the road was wider he would have been firmly placed in my rear view mirror!!

Anyway if you don’t now them and even if your not local get on to Darren Wood in Stockport!!

[parapaul]

Nice to hear praise for a change You must be chuffed to have the car running how it's supposed to!

[doughboy]

+1

Take it you mean Darren Wood BMW not David Wood??

Great guys, my car won't be going anywhere else either.

They do a great clutch delay valve removal for £30 too including the new valve and fit bleed etc.

Well worth it at service time if you have a manual box.

They'll be fitting my bespoke Birds suspension kit / new pads / lines / fluid etc in a week or two......

[335i E92]

Ha ha..

Yes forgot to tell you, they also fitted the CDV when it was in for the oil service this week. 1st and 2nd gear changes are now silky smooth and no delay in power delivery!!

[335i E92]

Yes, obviously i meant Darren!!

Bet you cant wait for the Birds suspension kit, haerd alot of good things about it. I have Eibach pro sport springs fitted n will be getting eibach arbs fitted soon. Got a wedding to pay for so the birds option aint gonna happen!!

[rogerxp]

Always good to hear a recommendation for a local indy - Darren Woods' details duly noted

If you see a silver E46 on the by-pass give it a wave; it could be me!!!

[SteveF1]

I will be taking my motor there for my servicing as I refuse to accept BMW prices any longer. I suppose if the cars serviced using OEM parts your warranty has to be honoured. I haven't had any work done by them yet but on asking their advice they have been prompt, knowledgeable and friendly. Can't fault them and considering they are trained to BMW standards and then some and they are in business to keep business/custom (unlike the dealers) I would prefer them to look after my car rather than the faceless techies at the dealers.

Free plug to these guys.

http://www.darren-wood.com/

[xenon]

Originally Posted by SteveF1

I suppose if the cars serviced using OEM parts your warranty has to be honoured.

Manufacturer's warranty is honoured but not BMW (UK) who insist on franchised servicing.

So no good for year 3 warranty or AUC.

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by xenon

Manufacturer's warranty is honoured but not BMW (UK) who insist on franchised servicing.

So no good for year 3 warranty or AUC.

Are you sure?

AFAIK the whole 3 year BMW UK new car warranty comes under the EU block exemption and is intact as long as parts to manufacturers spec are used and the service manual is followed.

As of this year, the manufacturers even have to make service bulletins, service manuals and previously 'secret' stuff available to independants - great news!

NOTE: 'manufacturers spec' doesn't even mean it has to be OE parts, as long as the parts state they are to BMW spec you'll be ok.

Not sure about AUC though, that is partly about the sale of goods act anyway, so i don't know how it fares with non dealer servicing?

Extended warranties (insured) are a different thing though, they can insist on what they like.

[xenon]

Well I wouldn't put my mortgage on it but as year three of the warranty is from BMW(UK) and not the manufacturer (as is AUC) they can put what stipulations on it they like and block exemption does not apply.

Might be wrong, not an expert here.

[doughboy]

Hmmmm....

Interesting.

I thought the factory warranty only applied outside Germany if you exported the car yourself?

When BMW UK import the car for you, I thought their 3 year warranty superceeded the factory warranty by arrangement with BMW AG?

When you buy new, your new car warranty documents are provided by BMW UK and the warranty itself in honoured by BMW UK for all years of the 3 year warranty, no mention of BMW AG, whether they internally back-charge BMW AG during years 1 & 2 I don't know, but the 3 year UK warranty paperwork is the same single agreement and has the same terms for all 3 years, there is no change of ownership or terms after year 2


?

[xenon]

Could be right DB, what you say makes sense.

[Kal]

I was looking for a local BMW specialist!
I'm sick of the muppets @ Blue Bell.

[335i E92]

Originally Posted by Kal

I was looking for a local BMW specialist!
I'm sick of the muppets @ Blue Bell.

As I said I've spent a lot of time over the last few months at main dealers. The service and quality of work you get are worlds apart.

Why would you pay £120 + vat labour for a shoddy service, p@ss take!!

My car went in this week and I can honestly say its never ran better. They even gave the car a full check over at no extra charge, greased up all the bonnet and door hinges, tyre pressure etc etc

As for the warranty mine is on a 56, however I’m sure block exemption rules that you are not tied to the main dealer, hey if you’re not sure it’s a quick 5 min call to BMW UK to clarify.

[rogerxp]

...and as it by magic...


...my brake warning light come on

Not trying to deviate from your very generous plus for Darren Wood but I'd always planned on using BaMoW for the servicing of my E46 as they're nearer than Darren Wood. I bought a battery from them about 6 weeks ago and they seemed good and have come recommended by someone I know. Anyone locally got any feedback on them.

[335i E92]

Originally Posted by rogerxp

...and as it by magic...


...my brake warning light come on

Not trying to deviate from your very generous plus for Darren Wood but I'd always planned on using BaMoW for the servicing of my E46 as they're nearer than Darren Wood. I bought a battery from them about 6 weeks ago and they seemed good and have come recommended by someone I know. Anyone locally got any feedback on them.

I can't comment on them as ive never used them. I live in Handforth Dean and they pick up and deliver your car back to you the same day. If you live or work within a reasonable distance from them they could maybe do the same.

Just give Darren a call 07767 394316 and see what he can do. I’ve just had enough experience with main dealers and some local indy's to know when i find a gem!!

[rogerxp]

Originally Posted by 335i E92

If you live or work within a reasonable distance from them they could maybe do the same.

Live in Bramhall, work in Wilmslow, so if they can collect I'm perfectly happy to give them a go .

Originally Posted by 335i E92

I’ve just had enough experience with main dealers and some local indy's to know when i find a gem!!

I'm with you on that.

[doughboy]

When I take the car there, I just take the laptop and paperwork and work from the office / waiting room.

If you ask and get there at 8 ish you'll be first on the ramp and away in a short while.

There a butty van and garage right by for anything you might need!

[SteveF1]

I work in Denton so its right round the corner for me.

[rogerxp]

Went there today to see what my brake warning light was indicating; seems I need new front brakes and probably discs. Prices quotes seemed pretty reasonable (not done any comparision though and am unlikely to).

Chatted to Mike, didn't get to meet Darren, and he seems very nice and easy to deal with. I mentioned there was very good feedback on here which triggered me (and the amber light on my dash of course) to contact them.

Seems I've still got a couple of thousand miles left in the brakes (my driving means that'll be halved) so will get these guys to sort it out for me when the time is right. They can make arrangements to collect my car if needed (a service not usually advertised but if it's handy enough they're happy to oblige) so that would help as it's quite a way out of my way and I'm hardly ever in that neck of the woods.

Getting my CDV sorted at the same time too plus a general check over the car whilst they're at it. As I've only had the car 4ish months I've no idea of the condition under the skin.

[TMP]

Originally Posted by Kal

I was looking for a local BMW specialist!
I'm sick of the muppets @ Blue Bell.

+1 their service is appalling....only use them as they are so local!
The only time they have fixed the issue first time is when I actually got to speak to a technician.

Doughboy is right - you can use these within your 3 years warranty (EU regs, as long as they follow the mgr service schedule and use approved parts).

I did read on here though, that the BMW Extended Warranty forces you to use BMW Stealers. If this is the case, I probably will look elsewhere for the extd warranty....

[TMP]

Originally Posted by rogerxp

Went there today to see what my brake warning light was indicating; seems I need new front brakes and probably discs. Prices quotes seemed pretty reasonable (not done any comparision though and am unlikely to).

Chatted to Mike, didn't get to meet Darren, and he seems very nice and easy to deal with. I mentioned there was very good feedback on here which triggered me (and the amber light on my dash of course) to contact them.

Seems I've still got a couple of thousand miles left in the brakes (my driving means that'll be halved) so will get these guys to sort it out for me when the time is right. They can make arrangements to collect my car if needed (a service not usually advertised but if it's handy enough they're happy to oblige) so that would help as it's quite a way out of my way and I'm hardly ever in that neck of the woods.

Getting my CDV sorted at the same time too plus a general check over the car whilst they're at it. As I've only had the car 4ish months I've no idea of the condition under the skin.

Roger, i reckon you jinxed the E46 amber light by talking about your Masser amber light ! At least this one will be cheaper