02. Service
Hello, and thank you for stopping by. My name is Lee Rector. One thing I’d like to make clear is that I can’t take the actual credit for our great work, because almost all of the work is done by our technicians. But it begins with good communication in our service department. That’s a time-honored automotive term, but I prefer to think of the service department as our communications department. A BMW or Mini technician’s craft requires more knowledge than ever before, given the sophisticated and integrated computer systems used by an innovative company like BMW. As motivation, I tell my techs that it takes a highly educated engineer to create a problem, but it takes a technician with natural mechanical talent to fix that problem. Jonathan, our youngest--now with years under his belt--was the favored neighborhood bicycle mechanic when he was a child. Mark and Angelo are both second-generation professional mechanics. While my dad was a barber (he would never make the jump to hair stylist in the 60’s), he was capable of performing everything from overhauls to brake jobs in our driveway. That’s where I learned: (a) I’d better not lose any of his tools, and (b), I’d better be clean, tidy, and organized. It never occurred to me that he could not fix anything wrong with a car. He also taught me that it required proper tools and technical data. Up through the late 80’s, there was not a problem in a BMW that I could not solve with a set of proper tools, basic meters and a test light.Books were mainly used for specifications.
In the late 80’s BMW began to implement computers, which in turn require computers to test and interrogate a BMW network system. Now a number of problems result from software issues. The real work is in understanding what the computer is reading and in some cases, not reading. The books (mostly digital) are now typically consulted for design concepts and functions so that we have a clear understanding of BMW components. Most specifications are designed in, such as valves, dwell and timing that function off input from a multitude of sensors and no longer require adjustment. They are not only electronically programmed but adaptive (which is pretty cool). Well, these settings used to be my secret weapon on fine-tuning a BMW when I had the ability to set adjustments. Now, among high-caliber independent workshops, ours has one of the world’s best computer devices to communicate with your BMW or Mini.
And now, for some good, honest, straightforward talk--the kind large corporations don’t have the courage to do.
We get our work done daily and we get it right 99.9% of the time. Those of you who know me know I’m not much on hype. On the unlikely occasion we don’t get it quite right (no one’s perfect), we count on your timely feedback to learn what’s not right. And given the opportunity, as long as the design is good, we’ll fix it. We are nothing if not tenacious.
Worried about voiding a warranty? As long as your work is done properly, no one, not even a corner gas station or your neighbor’s kid will void your BMW warranty.
Worried about dealership level technology and work? Two of us formerly worked for dealerships and one worked at BMW of Austin. Are you concerned that we don’t have access to the BMW factory information? Well, get your credit card out and you too can take advantage of the factory BMW dealership web site at http://www.bmwtis.com.
We’ve been in business since 1985 because we have the know-how to get your problems solved. And if that is not enough, we belong to a worldwide co-op of professional BMW technicians, and have tens of thousands of archived posts at our fingertips. These archives save our customers an untold amount of money.
Not only do we work on BMWs and Minis, we drive them ourselves!
- We get to work with BMW drivers—great folks like you.
- We have cool customers!
- We have a cool job!
- How fun is your job?
- We love ours!
If you need anything for your BMW or Mini Cooper please call for an appointment and come on in. We’ll see how much we can save you!
Yours truly,
Lee Rector and Staff