independent shop
 

Do you take your x5 to an independent shop specialized in BMW? or any independent shop. I live in a state only two dealers and two shops specialize in BMW.
I want to have my sway bar and lower arm control changed. BTW, for the ones got it done DIY, do you change both sides or only the one that needs to be changed, and how do you know it needs to be changed. thanks

ALX5

Since off warranty, 3+ years ago, I haven't gone near a dlr
for any work. Many here would rec'd a good BMW oriented Indie
vs. dlr, for post warranty work, imo.

Where do you live?
GL,mD

I live in Salt Lake city, UT. a small state and not a lot of options to choose. I try to stay away from the dealers too. I used to ask my brother, a mechanic, for help but since he is out of job, no more lift or hoist to lift the car up. May have to use the jack and stands to do it at home.
ALX5

Any in CT?

Not telling you what/how to do it, but a couple seconds of search on the
ol'Yahoo shows a few possibilites in SL,UT:

BMW car repair Salt Lake City, UT - Yahoo! Search Results

And, at least one Teuton BMW oriented Indie, by description:
Werners Bmw Service, Salt Lake City, UT, 84115 - YELLOWPAGES.COM
GL, mD

If you make it through Boise, i'll help ya out.

www.boisebimmer.webs.com

Make it out to Portland and I point you in the right direction...

Turn around and make it to Detroit i do it for FREE:D

Not telling you what/how to do it, but a couple seconds of search on the
ol'Yahoo shows a few possibilites in SL,UT:

BMW car repair Salt Lake City, UT - Yahoo! Search Results

Thanks MotorDavid. I did use Yahoo to search and spent time looking in phone book as well as asking around. Unfortunately, there are only two dealers and two independent shops, and Werner is one of them and their price is as close as dealer price. In addition, I did come to this shop one day on my lunch brake and the mechanic was intoxicate with alcohol. I could smell him from 10 ft away. I can't trust him. Getting drunk in the middle of the day while working on BMW. No way man.
Another shop gave me bad feeling the last time I came to have my X5 change the transmission oil. You may have remember my old post about the anormous price they quoted me for oil change, lower arm control and sway bar. The total was around $3700. I did my transmission oil changed eventually with help from this forum. I don't trust that shop anymore.
They know there are limited resources in our state so they jack the price up and monopolize the market. I still have no luck looking for a BMW mechanic working on the side yet. I will keep looking for more before I decide to do it myself.

Try this website. I found two in your state. One in Midvale and another in West City Valley.

BIMRS - Independent BMW Service on Planet Earth

Thanks Fseth
I will check the other shop then. Alex Haul shop was the one that quote me $3700 for oil change, lower arm control and sway bar change.
Really appreciate you guys help.

ALX5

Good luck. Hopefully they will be less expensive.

I searched my area and know for sure that one of the shops is fairly expensive, but in your situation with limited shops to choose from, I guess it never hurts to get a quote.

I'm willing to do it for free too, but he'd still have to come to Boise. I've driven 8hrs to visit my mom and replace her clutch, and while it's not a hard job, it sucked not having my own garage of tools. Thankfully Seattle friends lent me the tools. ALX5, if you've got the tools, maybe we can arrange a few hundred dollar roundtrip ticket and i'll find some girlies at the bars to crash with...i've heard it's quite nice there :thumbup: