After reading good reviews on BMW fanatics of Anand from SA Auto Tech, I decided to leave my BMW Z4M with them. The issues I experienced with the car were as follows (after my drive from Cape Town to Durban):
- The lights not working
- The front left wheel scraping the fender
- The dead spot on the car at low revs
- The car going into limp mode when accelerating from a low rev range.
The car arrived at his workshop on the 14 August 2017. The car also developed a random intermittent starting problem when we arrived at Durban.
I explicitly told Anand I want a quote before any work is to be done on the car. I was given various excuses as to why it was taking so long to find the issue. Anand said the issues were as follows;
- The wiring to the computer box had issues which he fixed
- The computer box itself was faulty.
- The computer box was sent to Durban but could not be repaired as the Z4M has a rare computer box
- The computer box was then sent to JHB, together with his own m3 computer box, so that the parts could be used from his computer box to refurbish mine.
The computer box issue took two months to sort out! I also did not receive a quote, only a bill for R31 300.
On the 12th October 2017 I received a bill for R11,315 to fix the lights (Once again, no quote given). I was also told that the parts used were second hand.
On the 13th October I finally took ownership of my car. 15 mins into my drive, I realised the dead spot had not been fixed. Also, the car still went into limp mode when accelerating. The front left light was also not working!
The front left wheel was still scratching the fender! What had been fixed??
Once again, I left my car with Anand. (I should have learnt my lesson by now). After another three weeks of excuses, he said the issues on the car were sorted. I drove the car back to his workshop on the day I received it and told his mechanic to drive with me. The mechanic acknowledged that the dead spot was still there. Also, the car was still going into limp mode!
A bill was received for R4,617 for cleaning the injectors, a second hand 02 sensor, and he even charged me R1 000 for fuel!!! And the car was emptier than when I gave it to him. His excuse was he drove the car to Ballito to test it.
I refused to pay the bill as none of the issues were sorted out.
I decided to find a second opinion on the car. I drove to AE performance on 144 Peter Road and arrived on a Saturday 4th November.
Shawn Moodley (the owner) invited me in, and I let him know of my troubles. He asked me whether I wanted my issues sorted out today. I uttered a jubilant YES! But did not believe that he would be able to sort out an issue which Anand could not sort out after three months.
Shawn ordered all his mechanics to give my car priority and within 5 minutes they said they found the issue and all my problems would be resolved. The bracket for the airbox was missing! They proceeded to put a bracket in, and low and behold, the dead spot was gone!
Upon jacking up the car to fix the fender, Shawn noticed the control arm was broken to the point where it was dangerous to drive. He also told me my airflow meter was faulty and even proved it by putting in his own airflow meter into my car and running it on the dyno. The car produced 20Kw extra!
My middle brake light was also not coming on. Shawn ordered his mechanics to fix this.
He quoted me for a second hand bracket, airflow meter and control arm. He said he would do his best to source the parts on the Sunday! Because Shawn puts his customers first and wanted to get the car back to me ASAP, he fitted new parts when he couldn’t source second hand ones. He did not even revise his quote and still charged me the same amount!
To summarise
Anand’s total charges to fix my car was R47,000 after three months with none of my issues being sorted out apart from the intermittent starting problem. Shawn from AE performance fixed my issues on the car over a weekend.
I highly recommend AE Performance on 144 Peter Road. They are not in the game to make a quick buck off you like Anand from SA Auto-Tech. AE Performance put their customers first, and truly are experts in the field of fixing cars.
- The lights not working
- The front left wheel scraping the fender
- The dead spot on the car at low revs
- The car going into limp mode when accelerating from a low rev range.
The car arrived at his workshop on the 14 August 2017. The car also developed a random intermittent starting problem when we arrived at Durban.
I explicitly told Anand I want a quote before any work is to be done on the car. I was given various excuses as to why it was taking so long to find the issue. Anand said the issues were as follows;
- The wiring to the computer box had issues which he fixed
- The computer box itself was faulty.
- The computer box was sent to Durban but could not be repaired as the Z4M has a rare computer box
- The computer box was then sent to JHB, together with his own m3 computer box, so that the parts could be used from his computer box to refurbish mine.
The computer box issue took two months to sort out! I also did not receive a quote, only a bill for R31 300.
On the 12th October 2017 I received a bill for R11,315 to fix the lights (Once again, no quote given). I was also told that the parts used were second hand.
On the 13th October I finally took ownership of my car. 15 mins into my drive, I realised the dead spot had not been fixed. Also, the car still went into limp mode when accelerating. The front left light was also not working!
The front left wheel was still scratching the fender! What had been fixed??
Once again, I left my car with Anand. (I should have learnt my lesson by now). After another three weeks of excuses, he said the issues on the car were sorted. I drove the car back to his workshop on the day I received it and told his mechanic to drive with me. The mechanic acknowledged that the dead spot was still there. Also, the car was still going into limp mode!
A bill was received for R4,617 for cleaning the injectors, a second hand 02 sensor, and he even charged me R1 000 for fuel!!! And the car was emptier than when I gave it to him. His excuse was he drove the car to Ballito to test it.
I refused to pay the bill as none of the issues were sorted out.
I decided to find a second opinion on the car. I drove to AE performance on 144 Peter Road and arrived on a Saturday 4th November.
Shawn Moodley (the owner) invited me in, and I let him know of my troubles. He asked me whether I wanted my issues sorted out today. I uttered a jubilant YES! But did not believe that he would be able to sort out an issue which Anand could not sort out after three months.
Shawn ordered all his mechanics to give my car priority and within 5 minutes they said they found the issue and all my problems would be resolved. The bracket for the airbox was missing! They proceeded to put a bracket in, and low and behold, the dead spot was gone!
Upon jacking up the car to fix the fender, Shawn noticed the control arm was broken to the point where it was dangerous to drive. He also told me my airflow meter was faulty and even proved it by putting in his own airflow meter into my car and running it on the dyno. The car produced 20Kw extra!
My middle brake light was also not coming on. Shawn ordered his mechanics to fix this.
He quoted me for a second hand bracket, airflow meter and control arm. He said he would do his best to source the parts on the Sunday! Because Shawn puts his customers first and wanted to get the car back to me ASAP, he fitted new parts when he couldn’t source second hand ones. He did not even revise his quote and still charged me the same amount!
To summarise
Anand’s total charges to fix my car was R47,000 after three months with none of my issues being sorted out apart from the intermittent starting problem. Shawn from AE performance fixed my issues on the car over a weekend.
I highly recommend AE Performance on 144 Peter Road. They are not in the game to make a quick buck off you like Anand from SA Auto-Tech. AE Performance put their customers first, and truly are experts in the field of fixing cars.
