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

[graphikg]

Didnt read the hole thing - at work. But is this in Manila?

[Tamataz]

Wow. That shop looks incredible. Modern looking and looks like the layout is great. I love the big windows.

[frag]

The outpour of support has been incredible, guys! Thanks for the kind words! We are hoping to continue spreading the e30 gospel and running the shop the way enthusiasts would do!

@E30SPDFRK: hey, no harm no foul dude. Thealbert already summed up why we did what we did, and it is what it is. Freedom of opinion is one of the things i love about r3v (though my post count is a paltry 90-something despite wandering around r3v for 3 years or so).

@Kershaw: you're just as surprised as we are! The guy literally rolled in, said "hi, i just saw your shop as i was passing by, and i need to get this rolls royce fixed up." the L-series engine is one of rolls-royce's own (pre-BMW ownership), and its a fairly simple engine that uses a bosch k-jetronic system (like the early e30s and e21s). Even though none of us have ever worked an a roller before, it looked like a straightforward enough job, though we did take a bit longer than usual working on it just to make sure its done right. Yu never know what surprises pop up when working on an old brit car. It's done now, and after a bit of detailing work, th eowner will pick it up this weekend.

@Mlarsen: thanks! My brother runs a construction company, and he and his partner suggested the lighting system. It's inspired by the overhead frames from F1 pitlanes, and more importantly, it really gets the lighting right on top of the cars.

@bernzpeed: i'll be contacting you soon, man. Got a few thing i need for my own e30 project. :)

@ethrtyiS: Sign me up! In fact, Thealbert is in CA right now. Maybe we can have a few shipped to him and he can send it over to manila. Hell, who do i ask about putting a r3v sticker on our e30s? R3V philippines represent!

@dude8383: Havent met justin yet, but like i said earlier, if any r3v guys are in manila, just drop by and hang out for a bit!

[dude8383]

Just wanted to jump in here and say that what you guys are doing is totally awesome. Hopefully you can spread your influence throughout and get some more lovin from suppliers.

A friend of mine is out in the Philippines and is a fan of E30's (he liked you on fb, Justin Robles)... hopefully he has already stopped by!

[Butler]

Nice operation you guys got there!

[fporro]

Ten thumbs up 'cus that's all I got :)

[Tron]

Awesome looking shop very professional!

[pilotskillse30]

No worries buddy, I totally understand where you're coming from. I believe this could be a car culture difference of shops in other parts of the world over car shops here. I've seen many shops in the USA where clients aren't allowed to go near the shop floor and they really can't see what's happening behind it's closed doors. Over here in the Philippines, it's sadly fairly common for shady business to happen behind closed doors of car shop floors. Unethical mechanics would sometimes swap parts from customer cars, play around in with their radios, purposely damage parts so clients will be forced to pay for more repairs, etc. Believe me, I've had this happen to myself on many occasions in the past in many shops.

So when my partners and I decided to open our own shop, we figured the best way to combat this problem is to offer transparency. Transparency with our clients where they can see our mechanics work on their cars to give them the peace of mind that we're taking good care of their cars. This also gives the opportunity for clients to see their cars being worked on and whats happening without them having to get close to the cars. Client's getting up close and personal to their cars and the shop floor also is a very common occurrence with car shops here, especially among enthusiast car owners where they really consider their cars as their "babies".

True this transparency doesn't give us much wiggle room from the shop's end to make any mistakes, etc but it's a trade off that we find is well worth it, well received with our clients and set us apart from the other regular shops in town. Furthermore, the open transparency policy forces us to make sure we make less mistakes on our work, keeps our mechanics on their toes and thus leads to better quality throughout the board for the customer. Better quality translates to less mistakes, which means happier customer and in the end, makes us happier as well. So for us, we see it a win win for everyone. :)

agreed

[thealbert]

Welcome you guys. Nice to catch you on here. I seldom visit the BMW forum for PI coz there's too much monopoly there. But glad u decided to join us.

Hey Bernzpeed! Nice to see a familiar name over here and thanks for the warm welcome. I think the BMW forum for the Philippines may seem like a monopoly cause there's really just not enough supply of suppliers over there. This is primarily due to the demand being much smaller. Especially when compared to markets like the USA or Europe. The number of active members of the BMW Car Club Philippines is just 100. That's microscopic compared to the markets in USA. I know you used to work for Volvo. A simple comparison, how many Volvo dealers are there in the Philippines compared to the USA? On that same note, there are only 3 BMW dealers in Manila and only 5 BMW dealers in the entire country. From what I can remember during my last visit to Los Angeles, there were already 6 BMW dealers within the greater Los Angeles area and it's vicinity alone! Not to mention, I am completely jealous on how much cars are in the USA. In 2007, my brandnew 2007 E90 325i at the time cost me 90,000 usd in the Philippines! And to think that's just a 325i, bottom of the barrel that you can buy in the USA in 2007. In fact, from what I know, the 325i isn't even offered anymore in the USA and it was the 328i that was the entry level 3 series. Not to mention, prices have gone up over here since 2007! In fact, they don't even offer the 325i anymore since sales were just too low and the highest 3 series you can buy off the lot is a 320d for the same price. The typical 3 series variants you can get are the 316i, 318i and 320d. You can order a 335i but you REALLY don't want to know how much that one costs, trust me! With figures like that, no wonder supply is short! Darn those import taxes!

When I retire in the PI, I'm bringing my e30s and taking them to you guys for service.

We'll be here when you need us! :)

[thealbert]

A link was posted here

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/show...ht=philippines

Holly cow! I didn't even know about this! That's awesome! I didn't know people outside of our club were following it! What an honor. And yes, now you know just how nuts we are for E30s and how it led from BMW nutter to ARC Automotive service center that services BMWs! hahaha

[SSE30]

Gorgeous shop. Best of luck to you with your business.

[robrez]

Thanks! Where did you see the build thread? I don't think I've ever posted anything about it yet here on R3V limited. I was waiting for the car to be totally done before I post anything about it. I'm currently working on a auto to manual tranny swap right now. :)

A link was posted here

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=212638&highlight=philippines

[robrez]

@leegf:

as promised, a few more pics of manoletr01's (aka "the boss") car:

Definitely a "boss's" car right there.

When I retire in the PI, I'm bringing my e30s and taking them to you guys for service.

[thealbert]

Unreal!

that's not a shop, that's an experience!

Good job guys!

outta curiosity, are you performing mostly maintanance, or do you dive right into custom fab work like boost setups, engine swaps and the like?

Hahaha, thanks! Well, it's always been a dream for us and we feel very lucky that we get the opportunity to live in it!

In general, we primarily offer services in:
- Original and Replacement Automotive Parts
- Automotive Repairs, Maintenance and Services
- Computer / ECU Diagnosis and Repair
- Automotive Detailing
- Accessories and Performance Parts
- Automotive Lifestyle Products

We currently don't have a dyno so we're not really working on boost setups just yet and we also don't do any paint or any major body work that requires painting. Though all these are in the plans for the future.

However, we can do custom mechanical work like engine swaps, transmission swaps, bolt on modifications that don't require any dyno tuning, etc. Those are no problem.

We will soon be working on a automatic tranny to manual swap on my E30 325is actually. I'll be sure to post pictures on that. :)

[Mr. Burns]

Unreal!

that's not a shop, that's an experience!

Good job guys!

outta curiosity, are you performing mostly maintanance, or do you dive right into custom fab work like boost setups, engine swaps and the like?