tc@torpedo
Club Guest
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2007
- Messages
- 50
- Points
- 0
The following is based on my experience and my business partner's experience going to MSPEED in USJ. My 1999 523i E39 - the ABS light among other lights in the meter cluster came on. I sent it in to check and was told I needed to change two things - the ABS box which is situated in the engine bay and that the meter cluster was faulty too. That cost RM2300 and RM4000 respectively. After the change, I noticed that in the gear indicator in the meter cluster read PRN654321 instead of PRN54321 as mine is a 5-speed model. I asked Ah Meng many times if he's sure this unit is for my model and he insisted it was. I just found out yesterday that this meter cluster is made for a 2004 model and not the correct one for mine which results in some fault readings being inaccurate or not detectable. Also, the quote for second hand units like this even after profit margin built in is around RM1000. This despite the fact that I was clear with Ah Meng about my previous experiences of getting ripped off before first sending my car to him. My business partner's 1996 520i E34 - his gearbox was not shifting and was stuck in 3rd gear. Ah Meng told him he needed to overhaul the gearbox which cost RM4500. After doing so, the problem still persisted and my partner went to a gearbox specialist in Subang who told him that the problem is due to the trans program which either the DME relay or Fuel Pump relay could be faulty resulting in this problem. The Fuel Pump relay turned out to be the problem with a quick RM180 fix. Of course when confronted with these issues, Ah Meng just dismissively asked me to leave to the car for him to check. Like anyone would after such blatant cheating. He did not even offer any form of apology for making a mistake or something. It was pure guilt and trying to run away from the problem.CAVEAT EMPTOR guys. Anyone who's going there to fix their cars beware. Despite MSPEED being referred to by friends of the UDMOwners club, we still got ripped off in style. Anyone is welcome to disagree with me on this matter. If you are happy with your service there, cool. But I'm writing this for the benefit of those who might be suspicious of their experience there too or are thinking of going there for the first time. So far, after more than 10 years of trying to find the right mechanic and having used about 6 different ones, I have concluded the following 2 rules to be important:1. Trust No One - they will all lull you into a false sense of security by doing a good job the first few times then start to rip you off subsequently. So always get a second opinion especially for big jobs and always verify the parts cost with other suppliers. Don't rush, you'll only come to regret it like I do now.2. If you think you can trust your mechanic now, please refer to rule no.1.My friend used to joke that the only good mechanic is a dead mechanic, I now share his jest of frustration. Integrity has never been rarer than any collectible BMW. But I'm trying to keep the faith....Cheers and hope this helps some of you out there!
