Bavarian Machine Specialties

I've moved away from the area, and miss BMS terribly. I could always count on getting things fixed right in a timely fashion for much less than at the dealer and with vastly higher repair quality. The place is so clean that I was embarassed to take my car unless I'd had it detailed, and it never came back dirtier than I'd left it. I've never met a more knowlegeable BMW mechanic, nor one I'd trust more with my car and my family's safety.

Friendly staff, helpful atmosphere, knowledgeable professionals. Oh, and CLEAN shop!

Great shop. Superb work. Best BMW shop in the region.

Mike Perkins is the best. Over the past 9 years he has taken care of six of my family's BMWs, including our current 750iL and '91 M3. I was confident enough in Mike's worl that when I sold a car, it went to a friend (and all but one -- hit my a truck -- still are worked=on by Mike). What I like is that Mike fixes problems, rather than work on symptoms. This takes time and is sometimes frustrating (that little squeak took 4-days to fix!) but you are sure that the problem is solved. I never had to go back for the same problem. He also does race cars and performance stuff for those who like that sort of thing.

This place does competent work on BMW's, for sure. As a previous review stated, you do get what you pay for, and Mike is meticulous to a fault. I do want to emphasize "to a fault", however. Be aware that if you take your car there for a problem, they will fix it in the most thorough manner possible, which may not be the cheapest solution to the problem. In other words, if there are two solutions that will FIX a problem, BMS will choose the more thorough and more expensive way. That is fine for an unlimited car repair budget, but I needed to be a little more flexible in my repair choices, so after a year I went elsewhere. One other thing to be aware of: make sure that they give you an estimate BEFORE starting to work on your car. I think they are used to River Oaks Beemer owners that say, "Oh just do what it takes to fix my car", and many dollars later it's fixed. I'm the kind of Beemer owner that says, "weeellll...how much is it going to cost? And do I need to do it now?" I had the unfortunate experience of having them begin work on something I had not yet authorized, and in fact when I found out what it was going to cost I wanted to wait. It put me in the awkward position of having to either pay for something I didn't want done, ask them to undo the work, or ask them to not charge me for what they had done so far since I didn't authorize it. The end result was fine, but it was awkward, uncomfortable, avoidable, and they could have handled it a little better. However, if you want the most thorough maintenance on your BMW and aren't too worried about cost, they would be good for you.

The owner Mike Perkins is honest and very competent. The shop fixes the problem correctly on the first visit. The prices are somewhat expensive but you get what you pay for. They did a good job of maintaining the 1989 BMW 535i that I had for 4 years. They are better and somewhat cheaper than the new car dealer.