Mechanic in Tampa???

[AKM-3]

Can anybody recommend a good independent BMW mechanic in Tampa Bay area?

[Tim in N FL]

I have heard good things about Cars and Concepts in Tampa proper but have never used them...I'm in Gainesville, FL area. I'm a Suncoast CCA member...check out their chapter site and ask some of the principals in that group for recommendations.
Best,
Tim in N FL

[warsteiner]

[kelly]

Cars & Concepts is a great shop. They took good care of my 1971 02 this past year. Ask for steve or tomas. Highly recommended!

[adciocca]

I had work done on my 8 from C & C and they are meticulous about what they do. Go to C & C they are good.Thanks,
Antonio

1991 BMW 850i (black-USA)

[JIM]

You can also check out Bergman's International Autoworks in Brandon, just east of Tampa. They do my Mercedes and BMW. honest and professional. Jim

[kristofergregoire]

Thomas and Steve are great guys

BTW - there is a BMW CCA tech meet at C&C this sat @ 9am.

[kristofergregoire]

prix which they built from the ground up at their shop. it was the black e36 in the SCCA touring car class.

C&C - 813 348 6183

[j3996]

Hello,
Can anyone recommend a reliable mechanic in the New Tampa area? My car is in trouble! PLEASE HELP!
Thanks,

[j3996]

Hello,
Can anyone recommend a reliable mechanic in the New Tampa area? My car is in trouble! PLEASE HELP!
Thanks,

[J.Schecter]

Steve At Cars and Concepts is a [Oops!] [Oops!].

I know most of you have probably had good experiences with them and so did I until last week.

To start off, I'd like to be clear that I've known about Steve at Cars and Concepts for about humm 4 maybe 5 years.... I believe he is the owner or owns it in some way.

We were never tight or anything but I knew him to be a good guy. When I first met him he had a great attitude and he was "All about Service". I trust few people with my car and back then he was 1 of them.

C & C grew into what appears to be a successful shop. But, it has definitely gone to his head. I had not seen him for about 3 years and I go in last week on a sensitive issue he had done very well on before. I needed a frozen bold extracted from my wheel adapter without trashing the adapter. They had done an excellent job the time before.

I go in last week and everything seems fine. They get my car on the rack and this time it was an easy job because the bolt was still mostly intact. He managed to get it off with an airgun and the special reverse threaded sockets use for this particular problem.

I was more then happy with the situation!!! Totally Saved... great job!!

He gives the rest of the wheel assembly job over to one of his chromies to torque everything down and I was ready to go.

Steve and I go around the corner where he’s working with another guy on whatever. I let him know that my good friend who usually works on my car has a tight schedule and had been unable to get to some of my oil leaks from my blower modification.

I simply asked Steve for an estimate on it and he starts fencing with me about it. I was so caught off guard with his attitude I could hardly reply. I let him know that the main problem is a T-Valve/Splitter up near the high pressure oil pump outlet. We go back and fourth about it until finally I force an answer out of him and he just cuts and says “A Thousand Dollars”.

I’m not an sensative person… But he throws that in my face like I’m some [Oops!] teenage wanna be that living with my parents that can’t afford it and is wasting his time. Again, I’m totally shocked with his attitude. This is not the Steve I knew from a few years back.

I don’t go around flashing money, jewelry or any of that [Oops!] for people to see. I am by no means rich... but 1 thousand dollars isn’t a problem for me. At that point in time he’s got my car in front of him with 4000 dollars in engine mods, 2000 in wheels and 1400 in suspension.... etc.

Whatever made him think that I $1000 is over my head... only he can answer... and even if that was the case there is no need for him to be a [Oops!] about it.

I was about to ask him: why are you talking to me like this... what’s your problem today?

At that point our conversation is interrupted by a crashing sound... not all that loud but enough to raise concern. We go around the corner to see to see the front of my had rolled off the front off the rack. It slammed down on the jack plates of the undercarriage... inches from doing a front flip right off the rack (which is the most common result when a car rolls off the front of an alignment rack). As luck would have it the car is very low so the total roll forward was short before it hit the jack areas of the undercarriage.

There was minimal damage – nothing to get upset about... and so I was pretty casual about it and just focusing on how they were going to get that sorted out.

This is getting long so I’m going to just cut to the point. After getting that sorted Steve had a whole new attitude. He took a good look for the estimate of the oil leak work and let me out with a $40 bill for having changed 1 frozen bold – normally an appropriate price...But not after how my car was handled and damaged.

No one had seen me take this photo of my car off the front of the rack while they went to get jacks and stuff to get the car back on. My cameraphone is all I had.

Steve not only never apologized... but still had the nerve to charge me $40 for about 1 hours work 80% of which was getting my car back on the rack and inspected for damage.

His overall attitude was insulting beyond belief. Only after my car was damaged and he remembered that I run C3Cars did his attitude change.

http://www.c3cars.com/zt/CandCRackJob.jpg

J.Schecter

[mathew]

Hey this is a website I am working on. Check it out to find the best auto mechanic in any city. Mechanixloop.com, we haven't launched yet but it is a really cool way to find repair in cities you don't live in.
http://mechanixloop.com

[Vic]

HORRIBLE...

These people replaced my a coolant hose in my BMW Z3 and pressure tests were "accomplished"...

I thought everything was fine until my car started oveheating a few days later. It ended up being that they trapped an air pocket in the engine block so that coolant was not able to cycle through. Of course I didn't know this at the time and didn't know why my car was overheating.

So I bring it over to them. I was delighted to find out the style of troubleshooting that is accomplised over at Europa Motoworks. Their moto is "keep replacing parts until it works"!

So I got charged $1000+ dollars and they couldnt find what was wrong. They told me my engine was "Done".

And of course after a few minutes of online troubleshooting, I figured out how to fix the car myself for free in about 2-3 hrs. (Its bleeding the coolant to force the air block out of the engine)

NEVER GO HERE!

[Duke]

Anyone know of a reasonably prieced BMW repair shop on Tampa? I have 1997 528I with sterrings problems. I think the power steering is gone.