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Autohaus Bayern
10 Responses about Autohaus Bayern
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March 25th, 2007
I had a great experience with darby but had to return several times due to technician failure. Also found out owner used my tires and wheels on his car to race while my car was in for service. The head technician they had left for unknown reasons and he was the only one with ASE certs. No experience with current techs.
July 18th, 2007
I took my wife’s Audi A6 to them a couple of months ago with a bad oil leak.
From my own internet diagnosis, I was sure I needed new valve cover gaskets
and cam tensioner seals. Darby told me to try the valve cover gasket first
(from his experience they were the main culprit), and if that didn’t work
they would refund the labor on the valve cover (1.5 hours) to do the cam
tensioner seals (8 hours). No leaks since, and I saved $700+ on something I
was absolutely sure I needed. They did the service in the time expected (one day) and didn’t try to jack me around on other stuff.
October 12th, 2007
These guys are good. They’re honest and don’t try to “upsell” services. On more than one occasion (and with both vehicles I have taken in) they have reduced labor charges when it was more than they had estimated.
Note that they do get busy and will sometimes push to get you to pick up your car (they have a tiny lot).
Also note that the Google map above shows them in the WRONG location. The shop is further south and east, on Beaverton-Hillsdale highway just east of 217.
March 25th, 2008
autohaus rocks my socks! GO DARBY!
March 27th, 2008
I’ve had nothing but positive outcomes from the folks at Autohaus, be it the top-end rebuild of my 6-er or the front grill/headlight work. One job cost thousands, one less than $100, both were treated with the same level of attention to detail that one would expect from professionals, and I appreciate that. They do a fine job with the details of cost, time, ect. as well. I am sure I could find no better with regards to the maintenence of my favorite ride.
April 29th, 2008
Dropped car off due to Service light issue. Was told by the friendly staff that I needed head gaskets replaced and intake system resealed due to leaks at the manifold. total $5500.00. I almost had them do it. They seemed to be very professional and have a very clean and nice waiting room with free coffee. My wife demanded I get a couple other professional opinions. I took it to the dealer and asked for their take on the long list that Autohaus Bayern insisted I needed done. After $300 the dealer (Kuni) gave me a statement saying that there is NO Evidence of a compromised head gasket. Further they did the same intake test as Autohause Bayern (smoke test) to see if they could find the leak that Authause Bayern found THEY FOUND NO SUCH LEAK. Bottom line is that the MAF needed to be replaced ($289). OK here is where against my better judgment I decided to get another non dealer opinion. This time I withheld any prior diagnostics and simply told the service tech about the Service Light. They gave me a loner car for free and told me that they would look into it. They (Boyds) called me the same day and asked if they could do an intake test I agreed (my third one by the way) They like the dealer found no leak in the intake system. They also found the same codes as everyone else “Fuel Trim” they put a loaner Air Mass Meter or MAF to see if that does the trick. At this point I showed him the list of the $5500 Autohaus Bayern recommended. They Like the Dealer were completely shocked! In fact the owner of this independent shop had all his techs look at this and without charging me more money went down the list and objectively discredited everything Autohause Bayern recommended under the threat of my car blowing up. My colling system is in great shape with newer radiator and water pump put in about 2500 mile ago (a typical and common thing for these cars at 80k miles). Both, the dealer and the independent strongly suggested that I make these finding public. This is my fourth BMW and I am quite used to the quirky things that go wrong with them. I have just under 500k miles across the last 4 cars and never had a problem as Autohaus Bayern claims I do. In fact the test Autohaus Bayern used to determine that I had a “comprimised” Head Gasket is called a chemical barrier Test. I should note here that Autohaus Bayern told me that I could check with the dealer and that the dealer wont know about it??? Truth is the dealer does know about it but does not use this test because it is not the best method of testing for Head Gasket integrity. My car has never had any strange smoke out the exhaust nor does it us any coolant or oil for that matter. There also is no abnormal pressure in the coolant system, a sure sign of trouble. In this adventure I have made friends with some very talented BMW service folks. The only amazing thing about my car problems is that it needed a new MAF and NOTHING ELSE. The group had looked again at the Autohause Bayern recommendations with dismay, that a shop with nice folks that are willing to take time to talk to you and make you a espresso wile you visit would make such a wrong call. To be fair the only excuse is that they gave me a diagnosis of somebody elses car. With that in mind I had to be sure. So I called. Nope they are sure that it was my car and the story changed yet again and they told me if I care about this car I should get in ASAP. Now I also asked about the Chemical barrier Failure. My question was, “is the Head gasket leaking”? They would not give me a straight answer in fact they never used the word “LEAK” just that the chemically detected exhaust gases mixed with the coolant. I was told by the dealer that chemical tests are NOT EMPIRICAL because they detect in parts per million. One could simply leave a radiator cap open in a parking garage and the exposure could trigger a positive. Thats why dealers and independents do not use the test. Here is where things get fun. We did a coolant pressure test. Guess what the result was NO LEAK!!!
I at this point feel that I have done my homework and found objective findings in this case. I gave them the benefit of the doubt TWICE at my own expense.
If you are reading this a STRONGLY suggest you read the reviews as I did after the fact. There are more than one review questioning the ethics integrity and honesty of Autohaus Bayern.
May 1st, 2008
I’ll never go back to Autohaus Bayern.
I took my M3 in last December for a new radiator. Shortly after the service, the car started severely overheating. I immediately took it back to Autohaus to see what was going on.
I got the car back with a diagnosis of a cracked head - like the last posting, they suggested something like $5,000 in repairs and sent me home with a “do not drive” warning. As an aside, the car was delivered with a check engine light on and significantly low on coolant (took three fills of the overflow tank to fill). Very sloppy work!
I did some of my own diagnosis and convinced myself that the overheating was due to poor circulation of coolant through the radiator. The top radiator hose would get hot when the thermostat opened, but the bottom hose would barely warm up, even when the car began to overheat. I also looked for the classic signs of a cracked head - water in the oil, grimy coolant, or lots of steam, and found nothing.
I started asking questions of Autohaus and was assured that the original radiator failure and the overheating were both explained by the cracked head, which was confirmed by the “absolutely reliable” test for exhaust gas in the coolant.
I had a long conversation with the service advisor about the timing of such a significant failure. While I didn’t want to accuse them of blowing my engine during the radiator repair, I simply could not come to grips with the idea that my car, which had never previously experienced overheating, was suddenly and massively overheating after their repair and that the overheating was caused by a blown head on a M3 with only 43,000 miles. At the very least, I wanted to allow for the idea that the overheating had another underlying cause. If we could eliminate it, I felt that I could believe that the cracked head was a pre-existing condition, even though it seemed like an unlikely failure.
The service advisor would not listen to my concerns, and clearly felt that I was just trying to get them to pay for the expensive repairs. He angrily said that he would “throw in a water pump” to see if it would help the overheating problem and offered me the “club discount” on labor for the major repairs.
I decided that I should get a second opinion and took the car to another independent shop. When I described the overheating problem, they immediately asked if I had the thermostat replaced when the radiator was replaced. They said that the BMW thermostats commonly fail in a way that causes them to not open fully, which reduces coolant circulation through the radiator and causes overheating.
I asked about the cracked head diagnosis and was told:
* BMW heads and head gaskets are very robust and almost never fail.
* A head or head gasket failure will essentially always be accompanied by water in the oil, sludge in the coolant, or massive amounts of steam in the exhaust. As noted above, none of these symptoms were present in my car.
* The chemical test for exhaust gas in the coolant is a notoriously unreliable test and should never be used as a diagnosis for a head failure.
I had the mechanic replace the thermostat for around $100 and the overheating was immediately fixed. I have had no other problems with the car since.
I would strongly recommend that you do not take your car to Autohaus Bayern. If you do, and you get a diagnosis of head problems, based on a chemical test on the coolant, RUN to another mechanic for a second opinion.
May 23rd, 2008
Autohaus Bayern Lies or is grossly incorrect about everything they diagnose. Autohaus Bayern takes advantage of customers based on false/qustionalble diagnostics. Autohaus Bayern has very poor integrity by not controlling the accuracy or honesty of their staff and in my case the owner. Autohaus Bayern has very poor ethics from what I have read out there. Autohaus Bayern does not have their customers best interest in mind based on my experience. Read and search carefully about these guys there are many poor reviews on this subject. Google “Autohaus Bayern Reviews” see for your self…
My BMW has been running perfectly for 2500 miles since Autohaus Bayern tried the dishonest chemical “Block Test” Scam. Trying to scare me and the other reviewers here by saying “Do not drive the car or it will blow up”. Both dealers and independent shops agree that replacing the head gaskets based on a chemical test is, well, “Stupid” And to “scare” Autohaus Bayern customers into a $5500 repair is simply unethical. Head gasket problems are almost always accompanied by white smoke in the exhaust, water in the oil and/or abnormal pressure in the cooling system. BMW head gaskets are VERY strong and almost never fail according to anyone who knows the brand. Do not fall for Autohaus Bayern’s unethical, dishonest, intimidating, tactics. Autohaus Bayern talks a good talk, but I found out via 2nd and 3rd opinions, that they were out to make $5500 when the car needed only $300 worth of repairs. Be very wise and DO NOT GO TO AUTOHAUS BAYERN.
June 23rd, 2008
autohaus bayern is horrible. do not take your car there. they are disshonest and will rob your. they told me that my tps (throttle postion sensor) was bad. they said it would only be $100 to fix. when i got my bill they charged me $240 for replacing the part when all it takes is 2 screws and maybe 5 mins at the most to replace. if that’s not bad enough did not even fix the problem. Then refused to work on my car anymore becuase i complained to them. horrible customer service and diagnostic. DONT GO THERE!
July 13th, 2008
I’ve taken my 540i to these people twice. The first one was for an oil change. Was told that the oil drain plug was striped and they had to put in an oversized one did not get a satisfactory explanation on this. Also had them check the headlight adjusters (which were broken) they told me it did not have auto adjusters and every thing was fine. Did not replace dirty air filter and cabin filters were never checked.
On the second visit the windshield wiper motor was not working. 225 dollars to troubleshoot and 490 dollars to replace. When I picked up car I opened the hood and saw that the rubber tube from the cabin filter to the cowl was not on correctly and told the counter person and I could tell that this seemed to be a petty thing to him and why was I bothering him. He fussed with it for about 10 min and cured very loudly about German engineering and told me he had no use for newer cars because they were so complicated and he would never own one. I found this attitude very unprofessional. I would never recommend these people. I have since taken my car to Marque Motors. They don’t have a fancy waiting room with an espresso machine, but they are extremely knowledgeable, honest and competent. To me that is what counts the most.