Big, bad BMW shop - What to do?

[Massive Lee]

... I've been on forums for almost 10 years, so I realize it's a place for the immature to call people out that they wouldn't in person. Just shows me who the kids are on the board.

And you are 22, right? I'd add, "only" 22... Do you realize that some of those people that you call "kids" and that have highlighted a few problems with your car may well be old enough to be your father. And you called them "kids"... Not only in this post, but on many others.

Look. End this drama by having the car measured in a reliable bodyshop. It takes 30 minutes to measure a car and conclude if it is straight or not. It usually takes 5 minutes to see what exactly in the suspension is crooked. Why all the drama with badmouthing a business?

Realize that while you may be the Golden Kid in the insurance business, your automotive knowledge might be limited. It's okay. I am a lousy plumber.

And now some more titties.

[Spec]

And you are 22, right? I'd add, "only" 22... Do you realize that some of those people that you call "kids" and that have highlighted a few problems with your car may well be old enough to be your father. And you called them "kids"... Not only in this post, but on many others.

Yea I realize that. I personally would be addressing "kids" as more of a maturity rather than age issue.

[Fidhle007]

Techs are actually very good forensic scientists and can get a very accurate idea of if and how a car was hit. Especially techs who have friends at body shops...

[2Big4a3Series]

Techs are actually very good forensic scientists

That is true but looking at it from the tech's perspective, he just wants to do quality work and get paid for it. He can't be concerned with a semi-unrelated problem. It would have been nice of Boyd to check it out completely but he can't concern himself with something that he did not cause.

[Fidhle007]

Exactly, but it explains very well why he wasn't very eager to repair damage "that wasn't there before." At my shop, if we find another problem that we ARE equipped to fix (we don't do body stuff in house, we leave that to the folks who are good at that sort of thing) we will try to do so but it will show up on the bill.

[einstein57]

Spec it sound like you might want to invest in another e30. Will probably be cheaper for you to get a much cleaner car and swap all your upgrades. Rollers are butt cheap.

[Fidhle007]

Spec it sound like you might want to invest in another e30. Will probably be cheaper for you to get a much cleaner car and swap all your upgrades. Rollers are butt cheap.

What he said. I would have done the same thing except I hit a raccoon and the insurance agent made an accurate assessment of the damage. :D

As you can see in my profile picture, the body shop I use now is brilliant.

[atomic]

After reading all of this and seeing how it is turning out in what the problem is with your car, explains to me why " MOST " shops around here will not touch a car without it going back to factory specs using oem parts period.

[JoeyJoeJ0]

So what happened at AR anyway?

[Spec]

Hey guys! Sorry I havent been on in a couple days. I received my car back from AR. I was extremely happy with their service and communication, a better experience then what I received before.

Ok so here's the deal:
1) AR aligned the car to appropriate toe and it did remove a bit of the problem. I am unsure why Boyds did not align the car originally after their work. Boyd admitted to me that they were unsure why they did not either. Either way, this has helped.

2) AR checked out the suspension and said everything looked to be installed properly. No big bends, no misaligned parts. Boyds did proper work there. There is a slight difference in camber between the front wheels now, but not as drastic. I'll try and take pictures later.

3) I think the aftermarket fender has a lot to do with the fitment issues up front. It is bent slightly different bow-wise then the OEM fender, and there a small crease developed while it shipped to us. I have an OEM fender in the garage, so I'll try to spray the OEM one and install it to see if I can't get things looking better, and to find out if there is indeed frame misalignment or if it's just the poor quality of the aftermarket piece.

4)The ABS is still not working. I didn't have AR look too much into this. I am going to do a little looking myself this weekend, and do a full diagnostic of what the problem is once I get the wheels mounted over the next few weeks. I will contact Boyds and inform them of such, so that they can honor their claim to pay for work if that is determined to be their fault.

5)New Magnaflow muffler put on. Sounds quiet but with a much deeper tone. I like. :) Again, will try and grab pics soon.


So I'm going to call Boyds and inform them of the findings. Let them know that an alignment did help some and that there is still some camber difference, but that everything they did looked ok as far as suspension goes. I'll let them know I'm still having an ABS malfunction and that I will have it checked in full when I mount my wheels and report back with findings.

I have still not been able to get the ABS to work. I've stomped on it a couple times and no ABS, just slight lock. Hm... maybe it's not just an unplugged sensor... or would that not allow the ABS to work? I don't know much about the ABS system, any ideas? I'll know for sure after AR takes a look.


As far as the buying another E30.... Perhaps. The thing is this car is in (generally) great shape, just passed 130,000 miles, had every belt/fluid replaced in the engine, new water pump, etc, great interior quality, yada yada. Would be a pain (and $$$) to switch cars and all parts unless there was physically something wrong with it, which I'm not thinking to be the case.

[einstein57]

Invest in a bently manual

[Fidhle007]

Yes, your aftermarket fender fits horribly (a common occurrence with aftermarket E30 body parts) but your frame is still racked. I'm sorry, but that's the sad story of it all. I'd say the front of your frame is at least a 1/2 inch out of whack, just looking at the pictures provided. I could tell you more accurately seeing the car in person obviously but you really need to have it addressed by a GOOD body shop if you want everything to work.

[smonkbmw]

what is wheel mounting going to tell you about your malfunctioning ABS?

[Fidhle007]

He's going to take it out and drive it and if he crashes, it's still broken.

[AndrewBird]

Yes, your aftermarket fender fits horribly (a common occurrence with aftermarket E30 body parts) but your frame is still racked. I'm sorry, but that's the sad story of it all. I'd say the front of your frame is at least a 1/2 inch out of whack, just looking at the pictures provided. I could tell you more accurately seeing the car in person obviously but you really need to have it addressed by a GOOD body shop if you want everything to work.

I'm sorry, but there is NO WAY you could tell that the frame is tweaked 1/2" from those dark, crappy pictures. I don't care how attentive to detail you are, there is just no way. Maybe in person, but not from those pictures.