good shop in Palo Alto

["G. Steinke" <g_steinke@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

People often post with complaints about their dealers, etc. I thought I'd 
post a recommendation about the shop I go to. I've been taking my e36 to 
Palo Alto Bimmer in Palo Alto (near San Jose). Good shop, attentive to 
details, and reasonably priced. ($380 for Inspection II with synthetic fluid 
- - Dinan was in the $500+ range, and added extra charges for things like shop 
rags. Last time I checked Stevens Creek BMW it was $600+.) I just went there 
for the Insp II, and mentioned that I needed a smog check. He mentioned that 
he doesn't have the license to do smog checks, so I figured I'd have to take 
it to a gas station. When I picked up the car, he had taken it to a gas 
station to get the smog check done, only charging me the gas station's fee 
and nothing extra for the time. Not only that, but he took it to a place in 
Mountain View that's cheaper than Palo Alto's gas stations. Not bad.

BMWCCA members may have seen the article in the latest Roundel about the 
trip in a 6er. That author mentioned that he took his 6er to Palo Alto 
Bimmer as well.

My post on E46 problems elicited more discussion of the E36 problems, so I 
guess that there's no real endemic flaws. Good deal - even my Nissan 
Sentra-driving wife has decided that she likes the E46 better than a Lexus 
IS300. Reliability is the BMW concern vs the Lexus, but it looks like it 
should be pretty good.

Greg




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