Originally Posted by m5james

Why the cynicism?

No, I'm not BMW trained. Nor do I have a motorcycle endorsement/license or taken a class in order to qualify me to teach others. Have I gone down (crashed) enough on the 3 bikes that I've owned over the years to others what not to do...yes. In regards to BMW's, what I have done is owned 5 of them, and still have 3 of them now.

I've done everything from replaced wiperblades to pulled transmission and disassembled them to replace their internals (w/ guidance of more educated people.) Some things in regards to maintenance, I've lived and learned myself and vicariously through others since I first became a member of the M5 boards back in 99. Can I rebuild an engine...no. Am I confident enough to recommend a sparkplug that I've had luck w/ compared to other suggestions...yes.

I've helped countless friends in the Seattle area do work on their cars. I've done the same here in Boise for the past few years I've been here, but I finally decided to create a website to document my work. But no, I'm not licensed...nor are 99 percent of the members on these forums who follow the advice and writeups we create while the owners are doing the work themselves. I didn't know certification was required to give experienced advice. No offense to killcrap or Weasel at all because we already know they give great advice, but plenty of board members over the years have experienced BMW techs (indy and dealership) that had absolutely NO clue what the hell they were talking about. Ask me about my 3k estimate for an indy to do repairs...which I myself discovered to be a simple clogged cat. That's the beauty of these forums.