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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.
Honda’s new Plug-in Hybrid vehicle (PHV) arrived for testing in the UK this week. The model is essentially a Prius which uses a combination of electricity and petrol, saving on petrol use by using exclusively electricity for short journeys.
The controversial feature is the Plug-in aspect which means the car can be charged using mains electricity, currently available roadside from one of 40 charging posts installed already in the UK by EDF energy. The car certainly offers a way to minimise the impact of high fuel prices, but beyond that is it no more than an eco-scam? What about the environmental impact of electricity generation for example?
The short answer is that Honda’s new model will simply transfer its carbon footprint to a few hundred miles away - wherever the nearest power station happens to be. It would be nice to think that the energy was coming from wind turbines or hydroelectric power, but statistically this is unfortunately highly unlikely in the UK.
It is hard to establish whether or not the electricity needed per mile from a coal-fired power station is more environmentally damaging than the fuel needed per mile with so many variables in the equation. The numbers are quite different if you drive a Jeep 4×4 rather than a Toyota Aygo for example. In any case it is much of a muchness (with the Aygo at least - the 4×4 comes in second best every time).
The second issue is that there is clearly something absurd about advocating the purchase of a new car (made from nearly one tonne of steel), not to mention one using a 30kg Lithium battery, in order to save the planet.
Some groups have also been quick to point out that the success of this scheme could spell the end of off-peak electricity prices (as has happened in Spain last year), ultimately raising heating and utility bills and further exposing economically vulnerable groups such as pensioners in winter.
The distinction must therefore be made between this car’s potential for saving money at the forecourt, and its ability to reduce the carbon footprint of motoring. Running this car on a daily basis makes economic sense (road tax is zero and fuel costs are lower), though it would be hardly cheap to buy from the showroom (think somewhere in the region of £20k). Once this initial cost is considered the economic appeal of this PHV is drastically reduced.
As for the environment it is hard not to feel that Honda is exploiting the gulf between the average consumer’s desire to be ‘green’ and the actual level of knowledge about the environmental impact of our day to day lives. The concept of buying a new car as an positive environmental gesture requires quite a level of doublethink, while the need for mains electricity simply represents a geographical transfer of emissions to elsewhere.
Perhaps the only way this car can make environmental sense is if charged exclusively by a renewable source, such as rooftop solar panels (seems a little unlikely here in the UK). However EDF’s scheme of installing charging points throughout London suggests Honda and the energy company already have other ideas.
In the end there are only two guaranteed winners if this scheme is successful; Honda and EDF. The economics for the consumer don’t really add up considering the car’s hefty price tag, and environmental concerns seem to be more of a marketing ploy than a genuine motivation in launching the car.
Dejan Levi
It may be a very expensive VW but this 4WD is really a cheap Porsche.
Diesel and performance cars go together like oil and water. But there is at least one notable exception and it’s not a sports car.
This most unlikely creation is based on Volkswagen’s luxury soft-roader, the Touareg, which first went on sale in 2003. It was developed in conjunction with Porsche and is named after a nomadic Saharan desert tribe, the Tuareg.
For some reason, VW chose to spell the Touareg name differently, and it doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue either: “too” “ah” “reg” is the most common way to say it, “twah” “reg” is the Mosman way. In the US, VW ran a television advertising campaign just on the pronunciation of the thing.
The Touareg name is designed to conjure up images of great desert treks and at least one foreign journalist sought to find a Tuareg tribe in a Touareg. He did. Eventually.
But I’d be keen to see what someone from the tribe would make of the latest model in the Touareg line-up, the R50, which went on sale earlier this year.
Article continues at Drive Life
There are several important issues to consider in this year’s presidential election - the war, the economy, the environment. As if that were not enough, here is one more weighty concern: BMW says it is developing a new, turbocharged four-cylinder engine but is waiting for the outcome of U.S. elections to decide whether to bring it here.
The new engine will be turbocharged and provide better efficiency and acceleration than the company’s current normally aspirated inline-six, said Jim O’Donnell, president of BMW North America. The engine will be coming to European markets in the near future, but BMW is holding off on the United States. Why? BMW wants to gauge how tight future fuel efficiency standards will be in the United States, and it thinks much of that depends on who becomes the next president.
Read more at Automobile Mag Online
Limited edition SUV to commemorate success in Transsyberia Rally
Porsche is to unveil a limited edition Cayenne S Transsyberia at the Paris Show to commemorate its success in the rally of the same name. The SUV has dominated the Transsyberia Rally in recent years and picked up the top six spots in this year’s race.
The road version of the Transsyberia Cayenne uses the same 405bhp 4.8-litre V8 as the Cayenne GTS which will be mated to a six-speed manual ‘box. The final drive ratio has been dropped to 4.1:1 to give it a 0-60mph time of 6.1 seconds – half a second quicker than the standard Cayenne S. The six-speed auto is optional.
Read more and see photos at PistonHeads
It’s pretty normal in most mainland European countries but here in the UK it has rarely been seriously considered as a solution for reducing motorway congestion and raising funds for road upkeep. Understandably no politician seems keen to propose what would surely be a very unpopular policy, but with the high levels of congestion currently present on most UK roads it might be time to think again about following the example of our European neighbours…
Setting aside the political suicide aspect of attempting to introduce such a policy, let’s look instead at the practical implications in adopting a ‘peage’ type system (as in France for example):
1. Obviously road travel becomes more expensive - and consequently public transport starts to look like a more cost effective way to travel. As more people move to public transport the prices of such services (particularly trains) could be lowered as rail operators find themselves suddenly no longer bound by such tight margins. Ultimately national travel (on public transport) improves both in terms of financial accesibility and level of service.
2. Fewer car journeys has obvious environmental benefits and, even more importantly, would help to reduce to number accidents on our roads (congestion and road safety are inversely linked). It is no surprise that, in the current motoring climate with rising costs and fewer people on the roads, the DVLA has reported a significant fall in accidents this year.
3. The revenue earned by the toll system would help fund road upkeep (and the running of the toll system) so that fewer tax pounds would need to be spent by the highways agency to maintain roads. Ultimately this would free up funds for other areas - perhaps to subsidise public transport for all UK citizens?
4. The UK’s CO2 emission levels are reduced helping us to meet the targets agreed to at Kyoto and moving towards a more sustainable transport system - as well as reducing our reliance on imported (and financially unreliable) oil.
5. Journey times are significantly reduced as congestion falls away - people drive less but when they do they find the whole experience much easier and quicker than it currently is.
There are also negative points, but some of these can be minimised with careful planning.
1. Public road transport (buses and coaches) could be made exempt from the charges allowing prices for such alternatives to remain cost-effective.
2. The impact on hauliers and similar industry traffic could be managed by granting an alternative and more favourable rate to such users which would lessen the financial problems inflicted on them by such a move.
Unfortunately there is no way around the fact that such a proposal would be extremely unpopular, particularly in the current economic climate in the UK. Indeed even if such a scheme were seriously considered now would hardly be the best time to introduce it. This is not to say though that it wouldn’t be effective, just that the current cash crisis would make the transition unnecessarily difficult.
All in all the idea is hardly original but should perhaps enter the public domain as a potential future measure for solving some of the current motoring problems in the UK, particularly relating to motorway congestion. The only downside is simply paying more to drive on motorways - but perhaps this is the only remaining solution other than adding a new lane to every motorway on a near enough yearly basis…
Dejan Levi
With the average cost of learning to drive in the UK now just over £1,500, the DVLA has recorded a drop in the number of new applications for provisional licenses this year for the first time since 1999. The 8% reduction in applications (equivalent to 52,000 fewer learner drivers) also probably contributed to the DVLA reporting a considerable decrease in congestion (as did high fuel and insurance prices) on UK roads - around 12% - which has greatly decreased average journey times.
But all these financial and environmental concerns have got me thinking; are new drivers in the UK really adequately informed about all relevant aspects of motoring when the pass their test? After all the learning to drive experience is for most of us our only motoring education, but beyond teaching us safety behind the wheel it hardly touches on other points of driving…
As the motoring climate undergos significant changes in the UK it might be time to consider if certain changes need to be made to the nature of testing new drivers - so as to better inform and educate them about the issues and challenges of modern motoring.
Is it time for example that an element of environmental awareness was added to the theory exam? Should learners be educated about fuel consumption and CO2 emissions and how to be aware of the levels of one’s output?
Efficient driving could be one aspect of teaching just the same as manouevres and mirror use - with students incurring a ‘minor’ for unneccesarily rapid acceleration or braking in tests, in much the same way that careless handling or neglecting to signal might be punished.
Students could be taught how to effectively budget running a car over the course of a year, and how to make decisions about driving habits based on financial and environmental information. But why stop there - learners could also be taught about different insurance types and how to negotiate the arrangements that best suit them.
There is room both to introduce the teaching of practical habits, such as a more economical and fuel-efficient style of driving, and also to discuss general theory issues relating to engine size, CO2 output and the subsequent environmental impact of driving.
In an ideal world everyone would be adequately informed and resourceful to discover this for themselves, but in reality there are far too many of us who either don’t have the time, or simply aren’t aware that such choices exist… However it is in our collective interest to support any action (such as this one) which might contribute to reducing the environmental cost of motoring in the UK and also to cutting congestion and the accidents that go with it.
It seems the current system is fairly effective at ensuring our new drivers are as safe and sensible as possible upon passing their tests, but in order to negotiate the current issues faced by motorists in the UK a few extra pieces of knowledge and information would be greatly beneficial. I can hardly imagine anyone protesting about the introduction of a few extra questions into the test that, rather than making it harder, would work only to better equip new drivers for their motoring lives.
Dejan Levi
The BMW X6 range is to get a new flagship with the launch of the BMW X6 xDrive50i. Powered by a unique twin-turbocharged V8 engine, the vehicle’s 408hp powerplant is capable of propelling the vehicle from zero to 62mph in 5.4 seconds before going on to an electronically-limited top speed of 155mph.
The 4,395cc engine features the novel design of two turbochargers and catalysts within the vee of the engine. Such a configuration aids packaging requirements while also boosting responsiveness courtesy of the shortened exhaust pipes. To highlight the competitive advantage this arrangement yields the BMW X6 xDrive50i is 1.8 seconds quicker from zero to 62mph than the flagship Range Rover Sport. The BMW’s CO2 emissions figure of 299g/km is 75g/km cleaner than the Range Rover and, in recording a combined 22.6mpg figure, it is also 4.8mpg more fuel efficient. It is a similar story when comparing the same BMW X6 to the Porsche Cayenne GTS. The Porsche is 1.4 seconds slower from zero to 62mph, 2.3mpg less efficient and, at 332g/km, it is 33g/km more polluting*.
The BMW X6 xDrive50i goes on sale in November priced at £53,930 OTR
Read the full article at Carpages.
Swiss tuners Sportec have been tweaking the 997 GT2, and the end result is the new SP750.
The standard 3.6 bi- turbo engine has had its power increased by an astonishing 220bhp. the massive increases have been achieved by adding modified turbochargers, along with titanium conrods, sports camshafts, a reprogrammed ECU and larger charge- air- intercoolers.
Performance figures are equally impressive with Sportec claiming that the SP750 can cover the 0-60 sprint in 3.2 seconds, taking 0.5 off the standard car, and top speed is claimed to be in excess of 218mph.
It is unknown whether the Swiss flag on the roof is standard, or optional.
To read more and to see images of the model visit PistonHeads
The Mercedes-Benz S-Class has been crowned Best Luxury Car at the Auto Express New Car Honours 2008, winning the title for the third consecutive year.
Editor in Chief, David Johns commented that “few cars have reigned over such competitive sectors with such complete authority as the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. To many there simply isn’t a better limousine. Beautifully engineered both inside and out, it’s one of those rare cars that is as good to drive as it is to be driven in”.
Dermot Kelly, Managing Director of Mercedes-Benz said: “S-Class has been an enduring success with press and customers alike and accounted for one in every four luxury saloon sales last year. We are delighted that Auto Express still recognises S-Class as the best luxury car in the sector.”
The award-winning S-Class family has been the flagship model by which all others were judged for over 50 years during which it has continued to offer innovative technology, enhanced safety features including Nightview Assist, Brake Assist PLUS and DISTRONIC PLUS as well as supreme comfort for passengers in the spacious cabin and for the driver at the wheel.
Article continues at Carpages
