Has anyone had good experiences with any Independents in the Milton Keynes/Northampton/Oxford area?  It's for the Sport Evo and should be routine service stuff.

I haven't tried Thorney Motorsport yet but recall him writing in an article in one of the BMW mags that he was mainly focused on the newer stuff.

Any suggestions?  TVM in advance.

BMworx in Aylesbury get good press on here, I use Mtec in Northampton (P 01604 493300) and am happy with them, they do a good job for a fair price...

Dont use Autobarn in Northampton whatever you do...

PCS in Bletchley seem pricey compared to other indys in the area, cost them up and see what you think..

Thanks guys, looks like I'll be trying the outfit in Northampton then.

For your info, I have used PCS in Milton Keynes for a couple of years.  Pricey, yes.  Mechanically fine though, and no worries.  Reason I am not using them is that despite my specifically asking them not to clean my car, they still did so, and with a brillo pad, judging by the damage they did.  And also "didn't have time" to weld the exhaust like I asked them to, but did manage to find time to replace a perfectly good battery, which I could have done myself.  Miffed?  I certainly was.

Thanks again chaps.

The episode with PCS was a trifle annoying (!).  The rear exhaust hanger bracket broke off the boot floor, which meant that my (newish) exhaust was hanging from the 2 rubber bands by the half-shaft.  Never mind I thought, the car has a service in a couple of days, so I phoned them to let them know it needed adding to the job sheet and just used the other car for a while. 

I duly took the car in and left it with them all day long, as arranged.  They clearly cleaned it with Jizer and wire wool, messed about replacing a battery that hadn't given me any trouble at all, and then sent me off with the car when I came to collect it.

It was only when the exhaust banged against the rear apron that I realised they'd not done the exhaust at all.  I went back and aksed what the deal was and they said they "hadn't had time".  This was despite wasting that time with the battery and trying to remove my nice black paint.  Amused I wasn't

I only started using them because they were local and convenient.  Bexley were fantastic, but a million miles away, so I figured I'd use a local for the oil services and Insp I's, and go to Bexley for the Insp II's.

I'll try the Northampton bods and see how I get on.

Had the tappets done at MTek, can't say much bad about them. Job was done in the quoted time (longer than others as they don't have  a full shim set and had to order them in) at the quoted price, with nothing 'extra' thrown in (but then it wasn't a standard service, granted).

Only one very, very minor gripe with the invoice stating items (gaskets, in this case) being replaced 'as required', when the original quote (and price charged) included a full new set. My bad for not checking whether they actually replaced them or not before leaving. Not really very concerning, but something to check if you like reading too much into the wording of invoices.