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Daniel, Peter and all at PMW, Where do I start? I guess I’ll tell the whole story! At 31 years old and on my fifth BMW I can’t believe it has taken me so long to find you! Having been messed around previously by a major BMW dealership I knew it was time to consider other options. I was introduced to your firm by a friend that owns an E90 M3 and was impressed by your service. In the same week, another friend recommended you. Two recommendations in one week, it had to be a sign. Both could not speak highly enough of your attitude, professionalism and end product. Time to call!…………… I originally spoke to Jayne who was warm, friendly and personable. I was passed to Peter and immediately knew that my car was going to PMW and nowhere else. Car rental was arranged and so when I dropped the car off, I had a car to drive away with and with minimum fuss. Having been dealing with main dealerships for so long, I predicted a call either at the end of the first day it was in the garage or the next morning. So, it came as a surprise to hear from Peter whilst I was driving home, some 30 minutes to an hour after I had dropped the car off. Peter knew there were things I personally wanted to do to the car, but suggested we prioritise works in order to mitigate the total costs. Hang on a second… A car garage worrying about MY money? This was getting too good to be true, surely. By the end of the first day, Peter had pointed out issues which he felt needed attention and we agreed to start works, costs were made clear before a spanner had been picked up. Whilst in the garage, I never had to call to find out what stage the repairs were at, I was always called and kept updated. Again, in stark contrast to my usual dealings with BMW dealerships. I picked my car up a few days later and Peter asked if I wanted to drive the car with him. I was just amazed that he was willing to take 5 minutes out of his day to make sure I was satisfied. Every garage should do it, but it really made it clear to me that PMW care about their clients. They care about their reputation and it shows in everything they do. The car was a dream, it just drove beautifully. A few days after the service, I booked the car into a BMW dealership to get the alloys re-furbed and a dent taken out. Having just been serviced by PWM, I only wanted aesthetic work done. So it came as a surprise when they called me (a day later!) to say the diff seals and gearbox seals needed replacing. Alarm bells ringing. Firstly, why are they checking mechanics when I didn’t ask for this, and secondly did PMW not do this work? I called Peter and he confirmed the seals were changed so back on the phone to BMW. I asked the BMW dealership what gave them the impression this work needed doing and they pointed to oil residue. I asked them if they had actually checked the seals and they hadn’t. After inspecting again, they (BMW) admitted the work had already been done and that they would have charged me for work that already been carried out. What a f******g liberty. I asked BMW not to look at my car anymore and to carry out the works I originally asked them to do. I have lost all faith in them, they really should be taking a leaf out of PMW’s book. The car was in the garage for three days for this work and I was called twice. Owning a business myself, my feelings are that any business shows it true colours when things go wrong, not when they are going smoothly. This leads to chapter two!………. Two weeks later, the car came up with a transmission fault whilst my wife was driving home. Straight on the phone to Daniel. Daniel agreed a tow would be best so as not to cause anymore issues and said he would arrange this immediately. He called me back within 15 minutes and the car was collected within the hour. Unbelievably efficient.The fault was found that day; a faulty pin in the transmission electrical plug. No bullshit, no messing around. An apology and the problem fixed within 24 hours. The entire situation was dealt with perfectly.I really cannot sing your praises enough PMW. I can only try to put into words how impressed I am and have been with your service, communication and the overall experience. Even my wife smiles like a Cheshire cat now and has asked me not to change cars as I usually do every 12 months. My Wife! Someone who just does not care about cars. So, not only have you made my car drive like a dream and made me the happiest car owner in London but you’ve also managed to make the wife happy as well, that deserves a bonus point.All my staff are bringing their cars to you (as you know). If I meet anyone in the street that owns a BMW, will be sending them you way, PMW are just on a different level. You are in a league of your own.Genuinely, keep up the amazing work Guys & thank you very , very much for everything. My car will not be going anywhere else in future, even if I moved abroad!Though I guess that’ll be a good excuse for a long drive?
Hi just wanted to leave some feedback to say thanks for dealing with my request
for swirl flap blanks so quickly. I ordered these at 12pm and they were with me
in the Western Isles before 11am the next morning! I needed to ask for some
advice when putting everything back together which I was given immediately over
the phone. All in all, a fantastic company which offered a customer service
level that was second to none!
Thank You!
After a bodged repair by a local London garage to my swirl flaps and deep concerns about my 2001 BMW 530D Touring I consulted Peter from pmwltd about the condition of my car. My regular mechanic whom I have known for 20 years simply took out my swirl flaps and replaced the shafts with bolts. This at some time later, only (900 miles) caused an ingestion into the chamber and ruined my piston and valves and looked like a very time consuming and costly repair. After completion I took my car to peter at pmw and discussed the works. He had his guys strip out the existing bolts that were very unprofessional and replaced with his swirl flap blanking plates. Now I have heard a lot about these plates and swirl flap damage and I can tell you as an ex AA Patrol man that if not done correctly as Peter has done you will cause serious damage to your beloved engine. This is a guy with a great team and a wealth of knowledge behind them who know their stuff, not your usual bit mechanic who ”
knows a bit about engines”. I drove down from Lewisham London to his workshops in Chelmsford and it only took an hour and was easy to get to. If I was you I would call them for your piece of mind because you know like I do that you don’t want just anyone tinkering with your pride and joy. Its worth the drive knowing your car is in safe and knowledgeable hands at pmw. He,s not a rip off either, he is a very reasonable honest mechanic and cheaper than the main dealers out there. Thanks peter.
We are pleased to announce to our regular customers that we now have EcoTune software platform in our workshop. This ECU diagnostic and tuning solution enables us to bring your car to the new performance level, without compromising your car insurance or manufacturer’s warranty.
The way EcoTune works, every customer can choose his own optimized tuning, either for performance, economy or environmentally friendly basis. From our experience, it seems that everybody wants performance on the pedal first and then some economy second. We can certainly deliver most of our customer’s requests. The only caveat is that software can, nowadays, push hardware beyond its limits. This means, that in some cases, when customers want the highest possible performance, we would need to advise them to first get appropriate hardware updates. Otherwise, longevity of the vehicle can be seriously jeopardized.
Will EcoTune affect my motor insurance policy? To really give a proper answer to this question one would need to look into each case separately. But, in general this upgrade will enable safer overtaking and cleaner emissions. A good thing to know is that EcoTune is completely transparent to even main dealers and one could certainly say that insurance companies in the current economical climate will be hard pushed to refuse any applicant who implemented this modification. We certainly advise you to be completely open with your car insurance provider and provide them with all the information regarding EcoTune. At this point it needs to be said that large numbers of Local Councils and logistics companies are using vehicles with EcoTune.
Currently, we only can do EcoTune performance tuning on the vehicles that are brought in to our Chelmsford workshop, but in a future we plan to provide a mobile service at either your home or workplace.This type of work might take a few hours at most, as each car is different. Some cars can be accessed through diagnostic port, some need interaction with vehicle’s computer and others would even require replacing the chip inside ECU.
Nobody likes to be involved in a car crash and very few people can say that they have trained for such a situation. It is no wonder that technology is slowly taking over this hazardous situation. Taking into the account the speed with which modern electronics react, versus the speed with which an average human can react, it is no wonder that BMW started experimenting with those systems many years ago.
In the recent world premiere, the BMW 530d equipped with anticipatory assistance system successfully passed a so called “offset crash”. This system was integrated into an upgraded Active Cruse Control, which was extended with new sensors, like a radar. The whole system is designed in such a way that it doesn’t interfere with driver’s control of the vehicle until it is absolutely necessary to do something. So one doesn’t need to fear that car will suddenly start breaking, on its own.
The way it is done: a collision threatening situation is divided into several stages. First system will just pass a visual warning in a form of a lit up symbol on a dashboard or a small head up display. If situation continues to worsen, still without any reaction from driver, an audible alarm will sound off and at that point brakes will be pretensioned. Basically braking system will be prefiled with braking fluid and brake trigger level will be automatically lowered, all in order to reduce the time that is needed to engage the brakes. If finally, car enters into the third and last stage; where collision is imminent and unavoidable, the car will take over and activate brakes as required.
In the tests run at DEKRA, near Neumunster near Hamburg, the speed of BMW 530d that was approaching an offset obstacle was reduced, at the point of collision, from 60 km/h down to 40 km/h. That is great success for the new system since it reduces a kinetic energy absorbed by passengers by 33%.
The government is currently reviewing recommendations from the secretary of state for transport, Lord Adonis, to lower the blood alcohol limit for drink driving convictions and bans from 80mg per 100ml of blood to 50mg (i.e. to just over half a pint of premium strength beer), which would bring us in line with most other EU countries.
Furthermore, research by road safety charity, Brake, suggests that the public (including drivers) would be in favour of an even more drastic reduction - to just 20mg per 100ml of blood. So, while it seems likely that we could wait a few more months before anything is announced for certain with regard to changes in legislation, it seems very probable that some degree of alteration to current limits will be introduced in either 2010 or maybe even 2011.
Now, as can be expected, this has provoked the usual array of complaints and protests, mainly it seems coming from drivers who quite enjoy the fact that the current laws permit them to have two, or even three, pints of beer before getting behind the wheel of their vehicle. The 70 or so deaths a year (and 230 serious injuries) that would be prevented by the change are a fair price to pay for this liberty according to their logic (or otherwise they dispute the validity of the figures, despite having very little to base this complaint on).
Moreover, apparently this will kill the rural village pub according to many of the same voices. Well, to me it seems quite likely that rural village pubs will be offering a range of other (non-alcoholic) beverages - plenty of them quite nice (fresh fruit juices, assorted teas and coffees, smoothies, fizzy pop, some nice elderflower cordials, ginger beers, tonics, etc etc) which will surely offer some degree of interest and refreshment to the drivers who wish to spend an afternoon or evening in the company of their local landlord and fellow villagers.
If not - (i.e. if the no booze factor is simply too significant to overcome and they end up staying at home with drinks from the off-license), then it seems quite clear that the pub, as a hub of the local community, was not that valued in the first place if something as little as no alcohol in one’s drink is enough to provoke abandonment of these supposedly beloved traditional social spaces.
So, I’m all ears if someone can provide a rational and sensible reason for opposing this proposed change but, in the meantime, i’m afraid the logic that this is some oppressive totalitarian measure of a power-drunk government, or that it signs the death warrant of the rural pub, seem like very thin arguments indeed. They basically represent an attempt forward a wider debate on issues such as individual freedom and local communities, when the underlying true fact is that the owner of such opinions simply quite likes being able to legally drive after a few drinks. This is hardly the most responsible position from which to evaluate this newly proposed piece of legislation…
Dejan Levi
brake, Dejan Levi, drink-driving, drink-driving limit, Road Safety, uk blood-alcohol driving limit
A report published today has called on ministers to introduce average speed cameras on all of the UK’s motorways in a bid to save around 1.4 million tonnes of CO2 annually. Despite the clear environmental incentive to support the measure however, many drivers are highly opposed to the move - no surprise since it is estimated that around 52% regularly break the 70mph speed limit.
The problem in a way is that the technology is currently too good, strange as the concept seems - for today’s cars and roads are far different from those of the time when the speed limit was introduced. Put simply, it is far too easy (and often safe) to exceed the national speed limit.
And this is the reason so many people are incensed by the suggestion (see for example the range of angry comments left on the Telegraph website in response to an article on the subject), but what is also puzzling is that often the same people who regard this as an infringement of civil liberties, consider breaking the speed limit as a fundamental human right…
What should be remembered here is that the issue is one of reducing CO2 emissions - and there can be no doubt that the measure would represent a great way to do do this. If it means that we must concentrate more while driving, then so be it - after all if you struggle to maintain a consistent speed while driving due to the difficulty in checking the speedometer then maybe you shouldn’t be driving on a motorway at 90mph…
What is certain is that this question will continue to be a massively controversial one over coming months, as whichever government comes out of the general election struggles to meet the challenges of reducing carbon emissions. The reality is that driving excessively fast on motorways, be it for pleasure or business, is simply no longer a responsible option if we take seriously the need to reduce our environmental pollution. I’m sure if we stop and think about it for a bit, it’s surely not too much of a quality of life issue if we go just that little bit slower - plus it’ll do wonders for our wallets…
Dejan Levi
climate change, Dejan Levi, green motoring, Motorway speed cameras, national speed limit
The new BMW X1 has been awarded the maximum 5-star safety rating in the latest Euro NCAP crash test results. The BMW X1’s safety ratings - with scores of 87 per cent for adult occupant protection, 86 per cent for child protection, 71 per cent for safety assist equipment and 63 per cent for pedestrian protection - place it as one of the safest cars in its class. It obtained by far the highest pedestrian safety rating, of the 12 cars recently tested.
All BMW X1s come as standard with a comprehensive safety package developed specifically for X models. It comprises many different elements including front, side and curtain airbags, front and rear anti-roll bars, deformation zones with door reinforcements and Dynamic Stability Control as well ISOFIX points for installing children’s seats at the rear. The restraints are controlled centrally and are triggered electronically to provide the most effective protection, taking into account the type and intensity of the impact.
Head over to Carpages to get the full article, including photos
Interesting to see that councils up and down the country are increasingly looking like following the lead of Portsmouth, where a blanket 20mph speed limit has been introduced for all roads in residential areas. With Edinburgh already some way to implementing a similar system - and London having it in some parts already, the trend is unmistakable. Within another year it seems 20mph will be standard speed limit for such roads. As always the big question with such audacious steps is - can it work?
Of course there are few who would argue against such a move - the statistics for 20mph zones and road safety are pretty indisputable. The survival rate for pedestrians hit at 20mph is 97% - compare that with just 10% survival at 40mph, and 80% at 30mph. In essence we are looking at saving hundreds of lives each year if such a move can be succesfully implemented (i.e. respected by drivers).
Even if average speeds drop from 32mph to 24mph in such zones it will no doubt be a very positive step in the right direction. However as a driver i know how insignificant the difference between 20 and 30 often feels (believe it or not it actually still takes quite a lot of concentration to drive at very low speeds, and it’s often easier to switch mechanically up to fourth gear and cruise along at 30).
For this reason it seems essential that the awareness campaign for these proposed moves is both prolonged and effective. Make no mistake - driving at 20mph feels extremely slow when one is not used to it (it’s only twice the speed of a bike) and unless drivers are fully behind the sensible reasoning of such new limits i fear they will simply ignore them. I for one am hoping that the message gets through, and am personally totally supportive of the move as both a driver, a pedestrian and a resident of the UK.
Dejan Levi
