Living in a downtown condo and parking in a large parking structure at an angle, I can't even change my own oil. This is a new and a bit uncomfortable situation for me, but that's the price I pay to live here, I guess. As a result, I need some recommendations for both an independent shop as well as a dealership in the Chicago area. The independent shop needs to be relatively close to downtown, but I realize I'll have to go to the suburbs for a dealership other than Perillo BMW (which I refuse to patronize after prior experiences). I'll need the independent shop primarily for scheduled maintenance not covered (and strangely deemed unnecessary) by the new(er) 4-year, 50k mile service deal and the dealership for service that is. I'm following Mike Miller's old school maintenance plan since I intend to keep my car until gas is obsolete. I'm at my 30k mile mark, so I have some things to do. Thanks for your help! Rick Some places I've hear of: Ashland Tire & Auto - Had my tires installed, wheels aligned, etc. Great shop, but not sure I want to "test" them out on my list of 30k mile maintenance tasks. M & R Import Service - Angie's List shows good reviews, but Yelp shows the opposite. I think they're a BIMRS shop, but I don't even know if that's a good thing. Chicago Import Service - Yelp shows good reviews, but I don't know anyone who has experience here. Nothing on Angie's List.
fields bmw you are welcome to request me if you come up to Northfield, send an email to contact me Dave
go to www.chitownm.com it is a chicago BMW forum whose members are most friendly! They will be more than willing to share their knowledge with you! Heck, join the forum and go to some meets! good luck!
I'm really never one to complain about service, but I also had some really bad expereinces with Perillo's Service.... They put a mark in my stereo replacing woodgrain trim that cracked in the cold, they chipped the new peice of trim that they put in, and I had to take my car to them twice to fix a blown speaker...and twice for them to try to fix a water leak (they never did fix it because it started to leak in the rain on tuesday). They also miss matched the tires on my car when I needed to replace my two rear tires (they put bridgestones on the rear when I already had perelli's on the front).... They missed a loose tie rod when they performed my 45,000 mile service-- Lucially another dealership found it when they were fixing some botched body work that perillo did.... I was wondering what the clunking sound occasionally comming from the front of my car was.... However, Perillo did do a good job of detailing even if they lost some of the plastic plugs that hold the trunk carpet in place... I bought my car at VOB BMW in Rockville, MD and I've had it serviced there and at BMW Peabody outside of Boston, MA.... Both of these places are top notch...
I’ve gone to North Point Motors at 9140 Terminal Avenue in Skokie (847) 470-9393. Tim Kompass, owner. They replaced one of my front lower control arms, installed new control arm bushings (both sides), both sway bar end links, Bilstein HD front struts/rear shocks, a DEC catalytic converter, and OEM rear muffler, switched back to the stock springs all around for around $2000. I supplied the parts. They did O.K. I don’t use them anymore. I went to P & L Motorsports at 3847 Carnation Street in Franklin Park (847) 678-4311. Paul Szuba, president. They fixed the loss of power over 3500 RPM and backfiring by cleaning the AFM. I would go to these guys for tuning (Megasquirt, etc.). I think they race e30s. I’ve been to The Werk Shop at 28814 Nagel Court, Unit B in Lake Bluff (847) 295-3200. Mike Marijanovic, partner. They have a real clean shop, advertise in Roundel, specialize in restoration. I think they replaced parts that did not need replacing. But I now use Precision Auto Repair at 3034 N. Central Avenue in Chicago (773) 622-3311. Andy Grycuk, owner. Andy is a very knowledgeable mechanic and does a lot of BMW repair. His sign says something like If everybody else has tried to fix it and can’t, I will. And he does. Inexpensively. Oil change $10 plus oil and filter. He has repaired my leaking exhaust gasket (from North Pointe Motors work), fixed my air conditioning (replaced compressor, expansion valve and condenser, vacuum and fill with R-134), fixed my parking brakes, replaced axle boot, power steering hose, both flex disks, installed a short-shift kit (including rebuilt the shift linkage, replace trans rear seal and trans linkage seal), replaced stock injectors with 19#’ers, new heater fan… I think highly of Andy and trust him with my ’89 iX because he knows what he is doing and does it for less.
