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Hi all,
I have in Dubai for than 2 years but am new to this forum.
I am driving a e46 323 2000 model which I bought in May 2005. It runs great but recently I have noticed the noise from the front. I sent it to Jano (in AL Gusais) and it cost me 3000 AED but the noise is still there. Brought the car back to the garage but they insisted there is nothing wrong.
Is anyone here could recommend a good garage (for BMW) to me?


many thanks.

Well, the best one is BMW itself, also, you could try Tony Edwards (behind BMW SZR) or House of Cars.

I have no real idea regarding BMW, but those are the ones i know about, but imho, just take it to BMW to get it fixed.

Thanks, mate. I checked the E46 forum and have seen all positive about Tony Edwards. One guy in my office asked me to try X service. Has anyone here ever been to Tony or X service? Could you kindly recommend which one to go?

Burj,
Janu is a very 'low class' workshop, i used to take my E36 328Is there, till i got sick of his services. I ended up purchasing teh Bently E36 workshop manual and found out that all my problems were due to a faulty coolant sensor (drove the car craxy, failed emissions etc).

The next people i know that (at least) want to listen to you is X-service center, althought one should constantly attack them to get status of the car (problem/finished or not).

If you like, we can meet up and i can check out the car for you, for free and help out where ever i can. I have worked on my very own Porsche for 7 years, following the factory manual, i never taken the car to a garage in....5 years or so.

burj323 wrote:Hi all,
I have in Dubai for than 2 years but am new to this forum.
I am driving a e46 323 2000 model which I bought in May 2005. It runs great but recently I have noticed the noise from the front. I sent it to Jano (in AL Gusais) and it cost me 3000 AED but the noise is still there. Brought the car back to the garage but they insisted there is nothing wrong.
Is anyone here could recommend a good garage (for BMW) to me?


many thanks.

You didn't tell us what you spent 3k to fix if the noise is still there. 3k is a lot for a "low-class" garage.

Hi Hosrom,
Thanks for sharing your experience. I have never done any serious repair at Janu until recently for steering problem. For 3k they replaced the wishbones “German parts”, used scrape steering box, break discs and pads. I took the car back after the repair and test drove with the mechanic but they looked at me said nothing is wrong. I guessed they are deaf and didn’t hear a thing. Anyway I gave up and brought my car to X Service on Saturday. Like you said they listened to you and have replace a lot of parts. It took 3 days for repair and cost me 9k which includes complete AC overhaul (worth 4k), vent pump replaced (3k), oil service, fuel injector cleaning and some minor stuff. The car runs pretty well, the handling is as sharp as before but funny thing is it become a bit harder to start the engine when cool. I have to crank a few more times than before. I guess I need to bring it back again.

Too bad I didnt see your message before sending the car to the garage. I used to drive some troublesome cars like Citreon, Alfa Romeo and Saab back home in Taiwan. I have spent a lot of time in the garage working the mechanics so you can call me a car person. What Porsche you are driving? I do love the pre-90 911 but I don’t think it is a car for here and there wont be any qualified guy can take good care of it.

Thanks again and hope we can meet up sometime!!

Did you just say 9k?

That's right. 9K

I am personally free to take you to my friends garage who i have been going to for the past 4 years.

I currently have a

Toyota Camry
BMX 350i modified
Jeep


I will be glad to take you there myself (togather) and see whats going on with your car...no point taking it to agents who charge per hour just to keep your car with them....

Private Message me...if u want

burj323 wrote:Hi Hosrom,
Thanks for sharing your experience. I have never done any serious repair at Janu until recently for steering problem. For 3k they replaced the wishbones “German parts”, used scrape steering box, break discs and pads. I took the car back after the repair and test drove with the mechanic but they looked at me said nothing is wrong. I guessed they are deaf and didn’t hear a thing. Anyway I gave up and brought my car to X Service on Saturday. Like you said they listened to you and have replace a lot of parts. It took 3 days for repair and cost me 9k which includes complete AC overhaul (worth 4k), vent pump replaced (3k), oil service, fuel injector cleaning and some minor stuff. The car runs pretty well, the handling is as sharp as before but funny thing is it become a bit harder to start the engine when cool. I have to crank a few more times than before. I guess I need to bring it back again.

Too bad I didnt see your message before sending the car to the garage. I used to drive some troublesome cars like Citreon, Alfa Romeo and Saab back home in Taiwan. I have spent a lot of time in the garage working the mechanics so you can call me a car person. What Porsche you are driving? I do love the pre-90 911 but I don’t think it is a car for here and there wont be any qualified guy can take good care of it.

Thanks again and hope we can meet up sometime!!

Ok, for 3K, you can do more than replace the front wishbones, disks and pads. I should know, since i went and got front wishbones, tie-rods, disks (all 4) and pads from sharjah (OEM German Manufacture) all for less than Dhs 2k. Janu installed the wishbones, but everything else was done by me, and Janu charged 200 for the wishbones, and i added another 100 for Pirellie 4 wheel alignment.

HOC are reall ass*es when it comes to 'being perfectionists', i faught with them on the phone for 40mins, since they told me that my tires needed to be replaced, funny since i replaced them 200kms before i gave them my car. I got Toyo Proxy 4 tires, the same tired used to drive the FVD Cayenne Turbo in Germany, pushing it to 309.12kpr, making it the fastes SUV in the world. They recommend Michellen or Pirelli tires, where after spending over 10,000 on those tires (2 sets each), i just hated them.

Not_Sure wrote:I am personally free to take you to my friends garage who i have been going to for the past 4 years.

I currently have a

Toyota Camry
BMX 350i modified
Jeep


I will be glad to take you there myself (togather) and see whats going on with your car...no point taking it to agents who charge per hour just to keep your car with them....

Private Message me...if u want

350i modified? that's not stock, and i never saw anyone install a v12 engine in a 3-series. The biggest one could put is the M5 V8 engine, bigger than that and you need serious frame rail work to cope with the larger engine, as well as stress factors/point and the weight, not to mention fitting that huge transmission in there, and the nighmare of the engine/transmission harness and radiator, i have seen (with my eyes, not online) bmw tuners in Germany doing that, and that is what they had to say. If you did so, my hat's off to you, since there is NOTHING impossible in the aftermarket world.

Do you mind telling me which garage are you talking about? PM/email me if you like to keep it quiet.

burj323 wrote:That's right. 9K

And did you just praise them?

Well, they fix the old problems but has created a new one. My car gets a bit difficult to start. The day after I took the car back the miss-fire was so bad and the engine was vibrating like hell when I stopped. I turned off the engine, waited for 2 hours and it ran smoothly. Couldnt figure out why so I brought me car back to them again today. Guess what, no probelm, as the computer said. I sort of shake my head because my car didnt have such probelm before I sent it to get the AC fixed. They did clean the injectors for me and since then the engine starts to act differently.......so different that computer couldnt even tell.

Maybe I have to try another garage and start to write a book about all BMW garages in Dubai.....

You could try Auto Benz. I didn't mention them since they are more general rather than BMW-specific, and I felt they are expensive. But if you feel 9k is ok, then they might be suitable. Their mechs tried to save me money by discouraging me from getting stuff changed that I wanted, since my car is 16 years old and might not be worth it. The place is near Al Tayer Motors Garhoud and they advertise on AutoTrader or AutoMart.

burj323 wrote:Well, they fix the old problems but has created a new one. My car gets a bit difficult to start. The day after I took the car back the miss-fire was so bad and the engine was vibrating like hell when I stopped. I turned off the engine, waited for 2 hours and it ran smoothly. Couldnt figure out why so I brought me car back to them again today. Guess what, no probelm, as the computer said. I sort of shake my head because my car didnt have such probelm before I sent it to get the AC fixed. They did clean the injectors for me and since then the engine starts to act differently.......so different that computer couldnt even tell.

Maybe I have to try another garage and start to write a book about all BMW garages in Dubai.....

The used the wrong gapped plugs on my 328 when that happened, itr is such a simple fix and check to do, but like you, i was pissed off has heck when i found the gaps to be 0.7mm where it should have been 0.9mm +/- 0.1mm (yes, it makes a difference).

Hi,

I plan on purchasing a 2000 328CI Canadian Spec car. Could you please advise where i could take the car for a investigative checkup prior to purchasing it.I have been recommended X service as Tony Edwards is very expensive.

thanks

HI,

Also, thinking about a S2000. Could someone please recommend a good garage to get it check from. Honda official service say they will take 3 days !! No seller is willing to leave his/her car for that long.

thanks

akshay79 wrote:Hi,

I plan on purchasing a 2000 328CI Canadian Spec car. Could you please advise where i could take the car for a investigative checkup prior to purchasing it.I have been recommended X service as Tony Edwards is very expensive.

thanks

Tony Edwards is complete crap, they charged me Dhs 400 for a full check up on my car, and said that the wheel rims were bent and the cause of the vibrations. I checked the bently e36 manual, and i found out that the front struts were shot and leaking externally, not to mention that the bump stops were missing.

X-service center is better than Tony, but again, they think they know it all. I had my ac blower was uncontrollable, and they wanted me to purchase a Dhs 3,000+ blower assebley. Again, the bently manual showed a blower resistor that is the cause of this, but AGMC wanted Dhs 600 for it. I got it from the USA, and took 4 days for Dhs 287 including shipping and problem solved.

I am so suprised how Dubai has so many places that repair cars, however i am also suprised how much crap they say, and they are supposed to be professionals with 15+ years european experience under their belt, which clearly shows not to be.

akshay79 wrote:HI,

Also, thinking about a S2000. Could someone please recommend a good garage to get it check from. Honda official service say they will take 3 days !! No seller is willing to leave his/her car for that long.

thanks

If i were you, id stick to the dealer. The problem with owning a high performance car, is that you don't want anyone claiming to have experience (where they don't) to be messing about.

For now, take it to the dealership, at least they warranty the work that goes into it. I shall put a word out for a good, reliable place that works on S2000 for you, but it will take some time, hence why i suggest taking it to the dealership.

What work do you wish to be carried out?

i haven't been there in about 1 year as I don't have a BMW anymore but the place i use to go to was behind Sharjah City Centre, they are called Al Jabri. i found them dirt cheap, good (not great), honest and reliable.

If i were to become a BM owner again I would take my car to them.

good luck.

hosrom_951 wrote:

akshay79 wrote:HI,

Also, thinking about a S2000. Could someone please recommend a good garage to get it check from. Honda official service say they will take 3 days !! No seller is willing to leave his/her car for that long.

thanks

If i were you, id stick to the dealer. The problem with owning a high performance car, is that you don't want anyone claiming to have experience (where they don't) to be messing about.

For now, take it to the dealership, at least they warranty the work that goes into it. I shall put a word out for a good, reliable place that works on S2000 for you, but it will take some time, hence why i suggest taking it to the dealership.

What work do you wish to be carried out?

I believe akshay's problem is he wants to get a car tested before buying, and the dealer wants 3 days just to do a check-up.

But hosrom, where do u get your car parts shipped? I always wondered what address to provide for courier shipping while buying from U.S. websites. Is it PO Box or home address (using landmarks)?

Yes, exactly. The Honda dealer wants 3 days to do a DHM 350 test on the car. Its called an engineers report. The seller is unwilling to leave the car for that long.

X service is willing to check the car for me however they will not be able to logon to the car computer.

You can try X Service. They might not be able to fix every problem but are quite good to find ones. And by the way, they are not cheap either. Good luck.

Hosrom,

Have you heard about Falcons Garage? I have to find someone to fix the steering problem. I went to Jano and they replaced the wishbones and a scrap steering box and that was a complete fcuk-up. Then I tried X, this time they said the vent pump is gone. Paid 3 k to a new one but the problem is still there. Let me xplain my problem. When I turn the steering wheel, the first inch (both directions) doesnt move a thing. It's like there is a gap some where. X told me it is no harm but, if I really wanna fix it, get 5 k ready and they will fix me a new steering box. No harm? I try any of my friends' cars, even a Toyota does better than my 323. I thought about taking it to Tony but have to think twice now after reading your comments.

Do you have any suggestions?

can anyone recommend a good body repair shop? i've just been to AGMC's workshop near Barsha to get an estimate for repairing my car's bonnet... they were charging over twice the cost of repair in Max's garage.. Í need another estimate to confirm whether AGMC is too expensive or Max's is too cheap (which might cause one to wonder about quality)

Hey there...

I'm Looking at a Manual 99 323i for sale....I just wanted to know how much it would cost to get the car evaluated at HOCs...

or is there anyone who will give a free estimation..

btw burj....I would also like to know whats your mileage of your car...so I can have an idea of the kind of maintenance your going through

Thnx Alot
Arnold

P.S. ....I just noticed the date of this tread