Recommended Shops or Enthusiasts thread

[Cronenberged]

In the spirit of spreading the love for great auto service and opposite of shops to avoid thread, let's kickstart a thread dedicated to sharing your experiences with auto shops, or enthusiast that you highly recommend. If you've had a positive experience with an auto shop in your area, here's your chance to help fellow car enthusiasts find trustworthy places for their vehicle needs.

When posting, please include the following:

1. Shop Name:
2. Shop Location:
3. Services Performed:
4. What Impressed You:

Example Template:

- Shop Name: XYZ Auto Repair/enthusiast
- Shop Location: [City, State]
- Services Performed: I had my brakes replaced.
- What Impressed Me: They provided excellent customer service, explained all the necessary repairs clearly, and the job was done on time with no surprises.

[eacmen]

1. York Automotive
2. Mt Airy, MD
3. Rod Bearings, Subframe, Brakes, Suspension Tuning, Corner Balance, Light Body Work, Trailer Fab
4. Breadth of knowledge, attention to detail, accountability.

[bigjae46]

Soul Speed Performance - Austin, TX is the only shop I've used and would trust in the future.

I know of these shops and would use them if needed.

Hill Performance Bimmers - Austin, TX
MC Automotive - Houston, TX
Chicane Motorsports - KC, MO/KS
Texas Track Works - DFW
Clownshoe Motorsports - DFW
Greg Smith - DFW

Honestly, I don't really need much except for tires, body work, windshield replacements, and machine shop work and those shops don't do any of those things. I have a top notch tire, windshield and machine shop guy. Body shop still eludes me. I know a guy in Wichita, KS but I need one in Houston.

[nahvkolaj]

1. Shop Name: Practical Performance RnD (Vendor/Enthusiast)
2. Shop Location: Sweden
3. Services Performed: VinceBar, VinceSkins fab
4. What Impressed You: Vince's knowledge and thoroughness explaining the installation, willingness to answer questions, and helping me determine the right solution for my car.

[maw1124]

German Cars of Sarasota
Sarasota, FL
Care of the 500E for over 25 years, of the M3 since I’ve owned it, and of the S55 and Allroad as necessary.
German car experts and consigliere with racing, track and pit crew experience since Since, have become good friends over the years. You can’t go wrong.

Motorwerks
Commerce, MI
Care of the S55 since I’ve owned it, and of the Allroad as necessary.
Satish has guided me since I started owning these cars in the late 90’s. German car consigliere, RENNTech dealer, performance car enthusiast, you can’t go wrong.

For me, it’s been more about the modifications these guys have saved me from than the ones they executed. My 500E is a RENNTech car since the late 90’s, so undoing some of those modifications back to stock, but executing others of my choosing while “restoring” the car that most people don’t know exists, has been counsel worth the money I spent. The second time they fixed the diff pinion seal leak on my M3, they got on the phone and found a seal that they thought was better than the OE one. It has lasted twice the time. Same for Satish, making sure I didn’t bastardize the S55 in my youthful exuberance. Anyone can turn a wrench and slap parts on a car to drain your wallet. It’s like a good broker who saves you money in a downturn — anyone can ride a hot market.

maw

[heinzboehmer]

Shop Name: Elite Performance

Shop Location: Burlingame, CA

Services Performed: They do a bunch
of stuff, but I've only ever taken my car to get alignments there.

What Impressed Me: They used a torque wrench on the strut bar nuts! They're also used to race cars so a stupid street car like mine is a walk in the park for them.

[Arith2]

1. Shop Name: BMW of Ocala
2. Shop Location: Ocala, FL
3. Services Performed: Won't say no to 99.9% of work and if it is no, difficulty is not the issue.
4. What Impressed You: The adhering to quality work. Every shop has a few bad techs however a vast majority take absolute pride in our work. If a tech screws up, they fix it usually without hesitation. Techs are held accountable. I used to work at the neighboring Porsche of Ocala which was a nightmare. The issues I had there are fixed now thankfully. BMW was so good I literally wanted to work there. Comebacks are extremely rare. We are trying to do community events like cars shows and working with the local BMWCCA chapter to do that. This is the most transparent dealership I've ever seen. Most of us are enthusiasts ourselves. The E46 M3 is a very respected vehicle at my shop and most of us have the ability to fix anything. Heck, we have a guy that did PDIs on the E30. The price is the catch but in this very rare instance, you get what you pay for. My service manager would give you a tour of the shop if you asked or just have a conversation with you. My shop foreman takes time to speak to customers all the time. If you absolutely MUST bring your car to the dealership, then at least we give two craps about you, not just the money. For the record, I loathe dealerships to my core and will always advocate DIY first and foremost. This dealership I can stand because I'm not compromising my integrity by doing so.

[siamkazi]

1. Shop Name: EAS (European Auto Source)
2. Shop Location: Anaheim (Southern California)
3. Services Performed: CSL Box, maintenance, any random noise or hiccup
4. What Impressed You: Kevin/Steve and team - great at what they do, have their own cars that they track and actually understand the nuances of the platform. Also, open on Saturdays. They've been in the business for a while, prices are fair and they do it once but do it right. Every time you pull up, place is littered with E46's, E9X's, G8Xs etc, they really have the platform honed down. Also, Hassan from HTE works closely with them so that relationship was huge in helping me straighten out any tune issues.

[EthanolTurbo]

1. Shop Name: EAS (European Auto Source)
2. Shop Location: Anaheim (Southern California)
3. Services Performed: CSL Box, maintenance, any random noise or hiccup
4. What Impressed You: Kevin/Steve and team - great at what they do, have their own cars that they track and actually understand the nuances of the platform. Also, open on Saturdays. They've been in the business for a while, prices are fair and they do it once but do it right. Every time you pull up, place is littered with E46's, E9X's, G8Xs etc, they really have the platform honed down. Also, Hassan from HTE works closely with them so that relationship was huge in helping me straighten out any tune issues.

EAS is really good and Steve is awesome, very cool guy. Love his E36 and E70 X5D.