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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.
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%.
There is a wisdom in buying a second hand car, that in its own day was a class leader. Solidly built cars like BMWs, Audis and Volvos have engines that were very well made and can easily do more than 200,000 miles. So, buying a luxurious car that had only one ‘careful’ owner and possibly had spent most of its mileage on the motorway, in the 4th gear, is quite sensible idea.
Lets, for example, have a look into 5-Series BMW E39, that came to the market 14 years ago and, at that time, was seriously praised and wanted car. Although the whole series was replaced in 2003, with a new models, it is still mighty good looker with lots of space in the cabin, large boot and hefty 400 bhp. It boasts particularly good acceleration in a mid speed range, which is just lending itself for cruising and overtaking on the motorway.
So how does economics stuck up? Nowadays, for about £2,500 you can get any 1997 O-reg 520i with a shade over 100,000 miles to its clock. If you want to spend £4,000, you can have a good choice of lower spec high-milers. A 2000 U-reg 530d diesel is more, with a sub-100,000 car closer to £7,000. Certain specs demand higher price like SE or Sport specs. Expect to pay extra £1,000 for estates.
If you really have bias towards buying this kind of a secondhand car, than you might look into what is available in a £10,000 to £15,000 price bracket. There you can choose some 02 and 03-platers that are still in a very good nick. Low-mileage 530i and 540i saloons and estates, or the 525d and 530d four-door can cost around £17,000. Expect to pay extra £5,000 for M5.
Running costs
BMW 5-Series are truly modern cars and they have a light built into the dashboard that alerts you about the need for service. Manufacturer recommends three types of service: regular oil service, inspection level one and inspection level two. Those inspection are usually spaced out at 10,000 miles or once a year. At a time of writing, inspections costs were like this: £220 for oil service, £300 for inspection level I and £400 for inspection level II.
But these are main dealer prices, if you bring your car to PMW Ltd. for servicing, we ca give you up to 50% discount on servicing, compared to main dealer prices.
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