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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.
Overtaking on the inside, cutting other drivers ‘off’ and hogging the middle lane… All of these bad habits have annoyed UK motorists enough that, in a recent poll, an overwhelming majority said they would support the addition of an ‘etiquette’ section as a component in the practical driving test.
I personally couldn’t agree more - with road rage (be it someone else’s or your own) being one of the things which makes driving often so stressful and frustrating for many, it would surely be of massive benefit to educate and train drivers a little more thoroughly at the early stage of their driving lives, to help minimise this unpleasant aspect of driving.
The whole thing got me thinking about so-called ‘bad habits’ which people develop in their driving that I personally find particularly grating, most of which result from laziness or a lack of confidence. Everyone must have their own similar list, with a few changes here and there… but one things for sure; if the etiquette section can reduce the frequency of these, we’d all gladly support its inclusion. Here’s my top driving frustrations:
- People who park on double yellow lines, especially on tricky bends near busy junctions. They always significantly reduce visibility and contribute to causing accidents - and always emerge blameless every time.
- Relatives and friends who drive in third gear at 50mph (I know quite a few believe it or not), and then complain that their cars really burn through petrol at a scary rate as the engine roars and strains under the groan of motorway driving in 4th…
- Middle lane motorway hogs AND those impatient and dangerous drivers who under-take them to make a point. Basically both categories here contribute to a considerable number of motorway accidents, all because one is too lazy or not confident enough (in which case should not be on the motorway) to change lanes, while the other is too impatient and stressed that they do an even worse manoeuvre just to make a point…
Anyway, the list could go on (roundabout non-indicating, mobile phone use etc etc) - feel free to add your own pet-peeves below: I’ll finish merely by saying that such an ‘etiquette’ section would clearly be very welcome, but it also begs the question of who is making these faux-pas that around 80% of drivers find so annoying? It can surely only be these very same drivers themselves?
Dejan Levi
bad driving habits, Dejan Levi, driving etiquette, UK driving test
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
