Anyone else have a bad experience at Bimmerheads?

[cheffy30]

Bimmerheads +1

sent fresh from hell using tapatalk

[e30austin]

Hey guys. Sorry I am late. For those who don't know me, my name is Matt and I am one of the owners of BimmerHeads. I have been an active member of R3V and the E30 community since 2003. We have been working and building the BimmerHeads brand since 2011 and it's something we take very seriously. Much of our initial start was thanks to many of the members here on R3V.

I will go ahead and copy/paste my reply to the original poster I provided on Yelp below:

"Matheus,

I understand you're unhappy with the service provided and I sincerely apologize for that. Our goal is never to make any customer dissatisfied and we constantly strive to go above and beyond with all of the work we do.

At the time you dropped off your head you were told that we are very backed up on work and there would be no definite ETA of completion. Shant provided you with a rough verbal estimate of best case scenario rebuild pricing. You offered to pay an additional fee to expedite the service to which we declined. You still chose to leave your cylinder head with us. We have pending cylinder head and engine orders from customers all over the world and it would not be fair to put you ahead of them in line.

We did disassemble your cylinder head in order to evaluate the condition of the head and provide you information on which parts should be replaced. We recommended replacing one of the rocker shafts (that was damaged by a previous rebuilder) with a new OEM part. You were never told "we needed the rocker shaft 3 weeks ago". That wouldn't make much sense. We provided you with an updated price for the rebuild, including the rocker shaft, when you were visiting our shop in person.

Please understand that we're only a 4 man team here. We are a specialty shop offering a specialized service. We are not a production machine shop. We do not turn out multiple cylinder heads per day and sometimes not even multiples per week. Our industry is plagued with supply chain issues and this has caused a chain reaction in our cylinder head and engine build times which is beyond our control.

We do not have a secretary. Typically one of the owners of the business is the person you'll speak with on the phone. Yes, it certainly does take time from our day. Our volume of phone calls is quite heavy. But personally answering calls and questions (such as your question about your cracked engine block and how to repair it) is how we feel we best serve our customers. A secretary would not be able to provide a customer with an engine build update or an update on their suspension overhaul, etc.

Again, I am truly sorry you're unhappy with our service and our business. We never want this to be the outcome and this isn't why we've worked so hard to build our reputation over the last 10+ years. We hope that releasing your cylinder head back to you at no cost for disassembly and inspection will allow you to put those funds towards a rebuilder who will get things done quickly for you. Good luck to you and your build.

Thank you, Matt."

probably the most polite and thorough response one could give to a client like that. respect. +1 for Bimmerheads. it's not easy being a small business owner and doing almost all of it solo.

[McGyver]

Also, I truly appreciate those who've posted kind comments about BimmerHeads and our work. Thank you!

Thanks for the other side of the story. It sounds like a difficult customer with little engine building experience and unrealistic expectations. Keep up the good work!

[It's Soda Not Pop]

I was waiting for you to comment on this post. I knew there was probably more to this story.

[efficient]

Crazy I remember when they rebuilt my motor in less than a month. But that was when they worked out of la Canada and they were known as myster-e

[MR 325]

Also, I truly appreciate those who've posted kind comments about BimmerHeads and our work. Thank you!

[MR 325]

Hey guys. Sorry I am late. For those who don't know me, my name is Matt and I am one of the owners of BimmerHeads. I have been an active member of R3V and the E30 community since 2003. We have been working and building the BimmerHeads brand since 2011 and it's something we take very seriously. Much of our initial start was thanks to many of the members here on R3V.

I will go ahead and copy/paste my reply to the original poster I provided on Yelp below:

"Matheus,

I understand you're unhappy with the service provided and I sincerely apologize for that. Our goal is never to make any customer dissatisfied and we constantly strive to go above and beyond with all of the work we do.

At the time you dropped off your head you were told that we are very backed up on work and there would be no definite ETA of completion. Shant provided you with a rough verbal estimate of best case scenario rebuild pricing. You offered to pay an additional fee to expedite the service to which we declined. You still chose to leave your cylinder head with us. We have pending cylinder head and engine orders from customers all over the world and it would not be fair to put you ahead of them in line.

We did disassemble your cylinder head in order to evaluate the condition of the head and provide you information on which parts should be replaced. We recommended replacing one of the rocker shafts (that was damaged by a previous rebuilder) with a new OEM part. You were never told "we needed the rocker shaft 3 weeks ago". That wouldn't make much sense. We provided you with an updated price for the rebuild, including the rocker shaft, when you were visiting our shop in person.

Please understand that we're only a 4 man team here. We are a specialty shop offering a specialized service. We are not a production machine shop. We do not turn out multiple cylinder heads per day and sometimes not even multiples per week. Our industry is plagued with supply chain issues and this has caused a chain reaction in our cylinder head and engine build times which is beyond our control.

We do not have a secretary. Typically one of the owners of the business is the person you'll speak with on the phone. Yes, it certainly does take time from our day. Our volume of phone calls is quite heavy. But personally answering calls and questions (such as your question about your cracked engine block and how to repair it) is how we feel we best serve our customers. A secretary would not be able to provide a customer with an engine build update or an update on their suspension overhaul, etc.

Again, I am truly sorry you're unhappy with our service and our business. We never want this to be the outcome and this isn't why we've worked so hard to build our reputation over the last 10+ years. We hope that releasing your cylinder head back to you at no cost for disassembly and inspection will allow you to put those funds towards a rebuilder who will get things done quickly for you. Good luck to you and your build.

Thank you, Matt."

[digger]

their website has always said 6-8 weeks for heads ?

[It's Soda Not Pop]

I believe these are extremely backed up. They are usually very punctual with their emails. But I just received a response to an email that I did awhile ago. I'm not complaining though.
There is always 2 sides to a story. I'm not saying anyone is lying I'm saying we've only heard one side of this story.

[moatilliatta]

on these older engines more than likely you are going to need new guides, valves ground, seats cut/ground and you'd want a pressure test for cracks and valve sealing

This is why I am not a used car sales man. I know to much.

[digger]

I saw pictures he posted on Reddit.

Nothing out of the ordinary, just a disassembled head. I guess he was not happy they took it apart when they were not ready to work on it yet.

In all honesty guys, you can have the head skimmed and if the guides are good the head can be rebuilt in an afternoon.

I took my e36 M3 head to have it faced a couple of months ago one afternoon, picked it up the next day and put it together the next weekend. Done.

on these older engines more than likely you are going to need new guides, valves ground, seats cut/ground and you'd want a pressure test for cracks and valve sealing

[digger]

Rocker Arms have been the biggest thing so far. Also have had a hard time finding a machine shop who will accept any work. I did the math and I think it's actually cheaper for me to just get the head from BimmerHeads at this point, plus then I don't have to worry about the quality of work. My car has been sitting for over 3 years at this point, I can wait a few more months. 😅

yeah do not look for these kinds of services in a rush.....

[slippery]

I saw pictures he posted on Reddit.

Nothing out of the ordinary, just a disassembled head. I guess he was not happy they took it apart when they were not ready to work on it yet.

In all honesty guys, you can have the head skimmed and if the guides are good the head can be rebuilt in an afternoon.

I took my e36 M3 head to have it faced a couple of months ago one afternoon, picked it up the next day and put it together the next weekend. Done.

[venerated]

What parts are you looking for and what work do you want / needs to be done ?

Rocker Arms have been the biggest thing so far. Also have had a hard time finding a machine shop who will accept any work. I did the math and I think it's actually cheaper for me to just get the head from BimmerHeads at this point, plus then I don't have to worry about the quality of work. My car has been sitting for over 3 years at this point, I can wait a few more months. 😅

Pics or I'm thinking this is some smear campaign.

Starting to agree with you. New account. Very vague issues/complaints. No proof.

Something similar happened before with Garagistic's odometer gears. There was a post trashing the gears, saying they were garbage, etc etc and then magically there was an advertisement for another company who sold gears. 🙄

[digger]

UPDATE: I picked up the head and parts. Nothing is labeled, and they damaged a rocker shaft on removal. I’m so disappointed- 35 days and they were not even able to muster up a quote or timeline.

Bear in mind we are only hearing one side of the story

You probably don’t need things labelled as most parts will be replaced or re-machined unless it’s a freshly built head that needs minor work

how damaged is damaged ?