I thought I'd write a little review of my experience with Mastertech in Ashford, Kent in case anyone else in the area is looking for a decent independent to work on their //M.
Having used a main dealrer for years in order to keep my extended manufactuer's warranty, I decided not to renew my warranty and thus took the opportunity to find a good independent to work on the car. I don't do many miles a year (3,000 or so) and so it is only now after 7 years that the car needs its first Inspection II. I've recently moved to the North Downs between Faversham and Ashford and so the nearest two that get mentioned on here a lot were ETA at Brands Hatch and Munich Legends across the border in Sussex in the other direction.
Both are some distance away which is a bit of a pain and I was most perturbed that neither answered my calls initially and took days to get back to my voicemails. In fact only ML got back and quoted my just shy of £1,000 for the service which struck me as a bit rich for an independent. More locally a name cam up which I hadn't seen reviews on so I thought I'd go and pay a visit to them, Mastertech Automotive in Ashford http://www.mastertechautomotive.co.uk/
Tucked away on an industrial estate like so many, the owner Ben took a break to ask me in and see what I wanted. I'm not handy with a spanner but I can understand the theory and see what is recommended on the internet consistently so I talked through the need for an Inspection 2, the importance of the clearances being checked properly, the right oil and so on and so forth. Ben was very patient with me because with hindsight it was clear fomr the M3s, M5s and other prestige marques around his workshop he probably knows what he's talking about! While not solely specialising in BMWs he seemed very knowledgable on the ins and outs of the S54 engine.
So we agreed an Inspection 2 for £585 using all the propoer consumables. After the event Ben had kept all the old parts before throwing them away and the boxes of the new parts to reassure everything was in order. He even let me keep the spare couple of litres of oil from the change left over form using 4 litre botles which I thought was a nice touch. Communication was good throughout with regular phone calls and emails. As it happened I needed a few other things doing and indeed wanted a few other things done as well, all of which were done without fuss and with thorough explanation. I like that they have secure storage for the car (I can only go there at weekends to pick up/drop off) and just like a dealer they wash it for you before handing it back and I like the touch of asking if you want to test drive it and make sure everyhting feels alright before paying. All in all a great experience which I can recommend. I'll report on the other modifications here in due course when I've lived with them for a bit.
Having used a main dealrer for years in order to keep my extended manufactuer's warranty, I decided not to renew my warranty and thus took the opportunity to find a good independent to work on the car. I don't do many miles a year (3,000 or so) and so it is only now after 7 years that the car needs its first Inspection II. I've recently moved to the North Downs between Faversham and Ashford and so the nearest two that get mentioned on here a lot were ETA at Brands Hatch and Munich Legends across the border in Sussex in the other direction.
Both are some distance away which is a bit of a pain and I was most perturbed that neither answered my calls initially and took days to get back to my voicemails. In fact only ML got back and quoted my just shy of £1,000 for the service which struck me as a bit rich for an independent. More locally a name cam up which I hadn't seen reviews on so I thought I'd go and pay a visit to them, Mastertech Automotive in Ashford http://www.mastertechautomotive.co.uk/
Tucked away on an industrial estate like so many, the owner Ben took a break to ask me in and see what I wanted. I'm not handy with a spanner but I can understand the theory and see what is recommended on the internet consistently so I talked through the need for an Inspection 2, the importance of the clearances being checked properly, the right oil and so on and so forth. Ben was very patient with me because with hindsight it was clear fomr the M3s, M5s and other prestige marques around his workshop he probably knows what he's talking about! While not solely specialising in BMWs he seemed very knowledgable on the ins and outs of the S54 engine.
So we agreed an Inspection 2 for £585 using all the propoer consumables. After the event Ben had kept all the old parts before throwing them away and the boxes of the new parts to reassure everything was in order. He even let me keep the spare couple of litres of oil from the change left over form using 4 litre botles which I thought was a nice touch. Communication was good throughout with regular phone calls and emails. As it happened I needed a few other things doing and indeed wanted a few other things done as well, all of which were done without fuss and with thorough explanation. I like that they have secure storage for the car (I can only go there at weekends to pick up/drop off) and just like a dealer they wash it for you before handing it back and I like the touch of asking if you want to test drive it and make sure everyhting feels alright before paying. All in all a great experience which I can recommend. I'll report on the other modifications here in due course when I've lived with them for a bit.
, cheers for the heads up.
Even more so when your trusting them with your M!