Three e30 nuts set up a shop one day...

[daytonaviolet]

Wait a min... Is that Alvin's car?? Wasn't that car in the states, won a bunch of awards? I didn't know he shipped the car to Manila, did he??

Yes.. Imfamous Alvin. Brought it pinas when he moved there 2yrs ago.

[kalib0y]

Much respect to my fellow Pinoys! Im going to have to take a trip back and visit you guys.

[thealbert]

Beautiful shop! The floors look impeccable.

Clean enough to eat off of it! hhaha

[thealbert]

great looking shop pare :) next time i visit pinas, i'll drop by and say hello. perhaps you know one of my friends from wakwak. he drives this 2002 :)

Wait a min... Is that Alvin's car?? Wasn't that car in the states, won a bunch of awards? I didn't know he shipped the car to Manila, did he??

[bekurt]

Beautiful shop! The floors look impeccable.

[SeatownE30]

Thats awesome! i love the addition of the leader board to the simulator. I better get my practice in on GT5 before i even think of jumping in the hot seat! I'll definitely take you up on that offer if and when im in town.

I told my brother about your shop and he will try to swing by one day. His name is Bryan and currently drives a newer Ford Focus but is considering switching to BMW depending on what he finds in the used/new market. If you know of any clean examples for sale, let me know and i'll pass the word along to him.

Okay, if not a Jeepney, at least a Tamaraw FX! haha

Keep the E30 love going! Salamat!

[thealbert]

Congrats on the nice shop! I love everything about it...layout of the lifts, lighting, transparent waiting room (with video cameras pointed towards the cars being worked on! Who does that??) and racing simulator. Also, having the shop divided in two areas (wrenching vs. car detailing) is smart. Well done sir!

I know how challenging/frustrating opening and running a shop can be (overhead, personnel, customers, etc.) as i owned and ran a 4 bay garage in the Seattle area for 6+ years. The key is to not get burnt out doing the same mundane day to day tasks (like i did), get good people under you and trust what they do. You can't do it alone.

The best part of this thread is that your shop is located in Makati! Couldn't believe my eyes when i realized it. haha I grew up in Makati (Forbes Park) till my family moved to the states where i currently live. My brother still lives in Alabang so i'll definitely have to swing by your shop the next time im in town.

Wish i could pack my E30 in my luggage and drive it over there! hahaha

Congrats again and keep posting pics. I love seeing the variety of cars in your shop, didn't know there was a decent size BMW following in the PI (E30 Enthusiasts in Makati...who knew!?).

I'm waiting for pics of a BMW jeepney with a swapped V10! LOL

Thanks for the kind words! We strive pretty hard to make sure our shop is one of the best in town. Hopefully we're successful! I think a lot of it just had to do with the fact that we are car nuts ourselves and we've spend many years going from one car shop to another, trying to find the best one out there for us. In the end, we got a little fed up and eventually opened our own! It is a little challenging but we look at it as us having our own little playground for the big boys and that just makes it fun! haha We're lucky enough to have a wide range of cars come in so that always keeps things interesting as well. :)

And yes! We're in Makati! We're actually one of the very few independent service centers that is literally only a four blocks away from Ayala Avenue and the Makati central business district. There are a few car dealerships that are closer, but hey, those are dealers! hahha

There is a very fast growing BMW following in the Philippines now and even an E30 following as well. They even have a club! E30 Car Club Philippines [http://bmwe30cc.org]. They're a great group of E30 nutters and they're great since E30 cars and parts are much harder to come by in the Philippines as compared to the states.

Oh and speaking of the racing simulator, we've made some upgrades to it!





We've added a lap time board (think Top Gear style) and we give customers the opportunity to try and beat each other on the GT5's Monza track in a stock E92 M3. If you can beat "The Stig's ARC Automotive cousin", we'll give you a freebie! So if you're ever in Manila, drop by the shop and say hello and we'll give you a go on the racing simulator!

Oh and a BMW jeepney huh? Hmmm... you're giving me ideas!

[SeatownE30]

Congrats on the nice shop! I love everything about it...layout of the lifts, lighting, transparent waiting room (with video cameras pointed towards the cars being worked on! Who does that??) and racing simulator. Also, having the shop divided in two areas (wrenching vs. car detailing) is smart. Well done sir!

I know how challenging/frustrating opening and running a shop can be (overhead, personnel, customers, etc.) as i owned and ran a 4 bay garage in the Seattle area for 6+ years. The key is to not get burnt out doing the same mundane day to day tasks (like i did), get good people under you and trust what they do. You can't do it alone.

The best part of this thread is that your shop is located in Makati! Couldn't believe my eyes when i realized it. haha I grew up in Makati (Forbes Park) till my family moved to the states where i currently live. My brother still lives in Alabang so i'll definitely have to swing by your shop the next time im in town.

Wish i could pack my E30 in my luggage and drive it over there! hahaha

Congrats again and keep posting pics. I love seeing the variety of cars in your shop, didn't know there was a decent size BMW following in the PI (E30 Enthusiasts in Makati...who knew!?).

I'm waiting for pics of a BMW jeepney with a swapped V10! LOL

[Dsun]

That shit right durr made me swerve :stupid:

Was at America's Tires a few months back with my mom getting her some decent tires & half the customers were looking at their cars being worked on. Guess you just walk off when Jiffy Lube changes your oil

+1

I want full transparancy, its nice to see what is exactly being done to my baby. THere are shady shops out there that do a halfass job or nothing at all and being able to see exactly what goes on would give me a piece of mind.

[HarukoE30]

Beautiful shop man, only thing I would do differently is the glass windows into the shop. Nobody likes to have people watching them while they work, and customers don't want to see what goes on in shops

That shit right durr made me swerve :stupid:

Was at America's Tires a few months back with my mom getting her some decent tires & half the customers were looking at their cars being worked on. Guess you just walk off when Jiffy Lube changes your oil

[thealbert]

Why are there no shops in merica like this. I'd actually take my car to the shop then!

Seriously? There are none in America like that? I would have thought there would be! Umm... you're giving me ideas! hahah!

[thealbert]

Outfuckingstanding!

I own a E30 only shop in Huntington Beach and I could only dream of such a shop setup. And what a setup, the intelligence in design and efficiency is amazing!

I love the glass waiting room and admire your philosophy on the matter.

Also the squared lighting above each work station.

Everything.

Too be honest I thought it might be a hoax, I figured it was some kind of Bosh Automotive Museum and you guys just got permission to park a few of your own cars in there and take pictures, lol

I can imagine the overhead is pretty breathtaking, but with a operation you got going on, I am sure you will reap healthy profits.

Super Impressed.

Here is a picture of my small shop I got back in 09'


Best Wishes!

Hahaha! Sometimes when I wake up in the morning, I do feel like I'm living a dream! I need to pinch myself just to make sure! lol. But indeed, we're real and we're here to stay! A lot of thought went into the layout and creation of the shop. I remember those old planning session nights that my partners and I used to have all the time. It was great to see that what we had on paper turned out well in real life! We do have some ideas up our sleeve for expansion so we'll surely keep you guys updated! :)

Our shop design, layout, etc impressed Bosch so much that they actually officially named our shop their flagship service center in the country! Woohoo! 8-)

Btw, congrats on your shop too! It looks good as well! It's packed full of E30s! Just the way I like it! hehehe

[thealbert]

I want to get setup with Bosch and Liqui Moly like that

I love looking through this thread, such inspiration for my own venture. Keep up the great work, and thanks for all the photos/updates

We're glad to be an inspiration! That really means a lot. We strive hard to make ourselves a good shop. My partners and I live and breathe BMWs after all! So far so good (I suppose!) and we hope to continue doing so! :)

[daytonaviolet]

I gave you? Sorry, but have we ever met before?

perhaps it was a different albert i knew :)

[thealbert]

yes.. he drives it in Manila. if you look at the 2002 rear window, it has the BMW Car Club of the Philippines sticker which you gave me. i have the other one on my rear window :)

I gave you? Sorry, but have we ever met before?