I really wish that my cameras were hooked up. They are still in a big box waiting their turn. We are still adjusting to the new shop while working and I set aside a few hours everyday to get closer to being finished with the setup.
Here are a couple of updated pics. I apologize for the quality of the pics, my camera on my phone must have fogged up a little from being outside and then coming inside. The constant snow around here made the shop a bit of a mess. We are still trying to put away equipment while working a very busy week. All we seem to be doing lately are transmission and clutch replacements....and a bunch of suspension repairs.
Here is the early morning pic today. Stuff is not put away as we are in the middle of using it, so please don't think we are slobs here.
Here is a better shot of my office with the black ceiling and orangish walls. I have an auto locking door with numeric keypad to keep the "command center" secure. I will be setting up cameras to see the entire interior and exterior of the shop from my desk.
waiting room pics...There is a TV, WIFI, and a coffee station. I am currently shopping for more wall art with the German car theme in mind.
Here is a better shot of my office with the black ceiling and orangish walls. I have an auto locking door with numeric keypad to keep the "command center" secure. I will be setting up cameras to see the entire interior and exterior of the shop from my desk.
Cool NSA central at BMW Guru's place, come on you can tell us the truth, the locking keypad is to keep Joey and the kids out while you are napping.
Nice you got things rolling and on time, sure wish you had the cameras up for the poo volcano though,
Steve
[This message has been edited by 84fiero123 (edited 02-14-2014).]
We work on German cars.....add a 1 after the dollar sign to be more accurate....lol.
We are still setting up in between working on cars. We cut down a few small trees; took down branches that overhung into the parking lot; put our flags on the front of the building; hung all the air line reels (still need to buy the master feed kit from garagepak.com); and got more equipment put away in the proper place.
Next week we plan to hang the outside cameras (the septic is giving us issues again and if it is like last time, I want to catch it on video).
Once the shop is 100% together, I'll get some pictures to update our website.
That's a brand-new, gear-driven, four-cam aircooled Carrera engine right there. It can slot into your 356, 550 Spyder, or 904 GTS you lucky bastard. Not that it's cheap — a complete motor is €120,000, or $157,000.
That's not surprising for a Porsche engine. If you can afford a 356, you can afford a $150k engine. We just installed an engine in a 930 turbo that the cost of the engine was over $20,000.
Here are a few updated shots. Once the winter is gone, we plan to pave the parking lot.
The air line kit arrived yesterday from Garage-Pak. Also the bathroom sink fell off the wall due to the fact that whoever installed it years ago just screwed it into the drywall....and it leaked from the faucet. I came in and it was on the floor with a big hole in the wall. I wound up installing a support beam directly to the concrete and shimmed it evenly with the drywall and then screwed a finishing plate to cover the wall. It looks pretty good.
The shop is still getting reorganized and slowly getting everything in its place. We are still very busy, but no complaints about that. We still have yet to get our sign at the street. That is the next project.
All of the existing customers really like and compliment the shop. The fact that the diner next door to us has great food is a perk too.
All of the existing customers really like and compliment the shop. The fact that the diner next door to us has great food is a perk too.
Dave
OK, the restroom is ready, the shop is almost ready, the food is next door, sounds like we're just about to hang that sign out front. So, when is the Open House Party? PS, don't forget the dancers. There's got to be a pole somewhere.
------------------ Ron Isn't it strange that after a bombing, everyone blames the bomber, his upbringing, his environment, his culture, his mental state but … after a shooting, the problem is the gun?
My Uncle Frank was a staunch Conservative and voted straight Republican until the day he died in Chicago. Since then he has voted Democrat. Shrug
That's not surprising for a Porsche engine. If you can afford a 356, you can afford a $150k engine. We just installed an engine in a 930 turbo that the cost of the engine was over $20,000.
Oops, I meant to say use this as a poster.
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Here are a few updated shots. Once the winter is gone, we plan to pave the parking lot.
The air line kit arrived yesterday from Garage-Pak. Also the bathroom sink fell off the wall due to the fact that whoever installed it years ago just screwed it into the drywall....and it leaked from the faucet. I came in and it was on the floor with a big hole in the wall. I wound up installing a support beam directly to the concrete and shimmed it evenly with the drywall and then screwed a finishing plate to cover the wall. It looks pretty good.
The shop is still getting reorganized and slowly getting everything in its place. We are still very busy, but no complaints about that. We still have yet to get our sign at the street. That is the next project.
All of the existing customers really like and compliment the shop. The fact that the diner next door to us has great food is a perk too.
Dave
Now's the time to invest in a steel roof so you won't have to worry about it at all. They come in different colors to give your place a pop.
Little by little the final touches are being completed.
We installed the air line kit from Garage-pak. About $1100 for everything except the air reels. and I like it. It keeps the shop looking cleaner.
I hired a plumber to redo the bathroom with new fixtures and add a slop sink in the basement. He also added a hose outlet next to the tire machine to make it easy to mix antifreeze, clean the floor, and any other needs for water in the shop.
Here is a pic from this morning. It doesn't look too bad considering we just replaced four transmissions on BMWs, two engines (both on 2013 Mercedes C300 4-Matics...not under warranty), a Fiero clutch, two MINI Cooper S clutches, and about a total of 200 cars have been in the shop for major repairs or minor services in the past six weeks.
BMWGuru I commend you on getting it going. Here at my work facility, we are going on 2 1/2 years of building a new facility, and it looks like it will be another 2 1/2 years before we are even in it due to the owner and project site co-ordinator constantly changing things. To give you an idea on the latest change, I went from an 4500 sq ft parts room to a 1200 sq ft parts room. And with all the issues with the floor heaving and the studs twisting and bending we will see what happens there when the frost leaves the ground.
Nice work there dude, I just have a few suggestions,
Another garage door for starters,
A window in the waiting room to watch you guys while the customer is waiting for you to finish their cars.
And don't forget to put the security cameras in as well as a recorder and a couple inside the shop, I saw some places on the net that have a live video feed available for customers so they can watch the progress of the work from home as well. Although sometimes I think that might be a bad thing if something happens you don't want the customer to see.
I don't think a window or customers seeing the shop is a good idea. Ryan has a tendency to break up the stress in the shop by being intermittently nude. Another garage door may be in the future plans. We only had one working door at the last shop. The German cars can turn better than Asian or domestic, so all the lifts are easy to hit from that one door. Dave
[This message has been edited by bmwguru (edited 03-27-2014).]
I did get the street sign out, but did not pave the parking lot yet. I directed my priorities at building the business and trying to come up with a system to run the place. I look at it like this. I have had a few cars in the shop that cost the owner's over $150,000 and they didn't mention the unpaved lot, so I should be good to hold off for another year.
I would like to widen the bay door by six feet and add another lift. I had to sell off one of my lifts at the time to afford the move, but business has increased by double of what it was.
The downside is that I haven't taken a day off since June 8th. One of my techs quit back in May and I haven't found a suitable replacement yet.
Dam Dave, where the hell is the wife, and all your kids? I thought she was one of your better techs and I know a couple of your kids would come in handy with those tiny hands. How many guys here have cursed their huge hands when trying to get them in someplace to take just that one nut/bolt off?
You know I am messing with you well about the kids, or am I? Glad to hear things are going great, well except for losing one of your techs. It comes with the territory of owning your own business the overtime never ends and you don't get paid extra for it when you're the owner.
Seems you are going to be the one in need of that night out soon if you don't slow down or get another worker who you can trust, I know how hard that is to find a good mechanic/tech hell just working as a welder I found it hard to work with some of the guys who called themselves welders. It seems anyone who has ever held a welding torch in their hand thinks they can weld just like anyone who has turned a wrench thinks they are a mechanic, well they call themselves techs now. Good luck finding someone who fits you needs as far as a tech at the shop.
one last thing, I can't believe how clean you shop is, it looks like an operating room in a hospital !
Steve
------------------ Technology is great when it works, and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't
The shop is a lot cleaner since those pics were taken. I also recently purchased a new tool cart (mobile workstation) from Snap-On to help take the stress off my box from being overloaded.
Joey has not really been at the shop since it opened and she has been driving dump trucks for a local company.
I interviewed a potential tech on Saturday and gave him a trial day yesterday. Ryan and I are very pleased because he fits all of my criteria, so now it is just a matter of negotiating salary and then I'll be looking for my "Donna" (a Suits reference).
Yes...occasional shop nudity must be tolerated...lol.
Business has been good. Our parking lot has been typically packed and almost impossible to find parking. Ryan and I are on the same page about keeping the shop clean. Here are a few pics from this morning after a very busy day yesterday and we didn't clean up since Friday. You can see my new yellow tool cart in the one pic.
I believe the next project is to widen the bay door and add another lift where my orange Fiero is.
It has been a little while since I updated. The shop has a $165,000 increase in gross sales between 2014 and 2013. I guess this location is much better. I never widened the garage door. The best price I got to widen it from 12 feet to 16 feet was $16,000. That doesn't seem worth it to me. I do plan to add another lift this year though. I recently hired an assistant manager to help me keep the workflow going and I have been spending a few hours every week making sure that my gross profit margin is where I want it to be. The shop is still as clean as day one....or possibly cleaner due to the fact that everyone wants to keep it looking good and we wipe the equipment down and mop the floor everyday. The next project is to put a new sign on the face of the building that matches the German flag sign at the street.
Ah but did you ever get the security cameras hooked up?
Just messing with you, but I do wish you had them up when the poo flume went off so we could have all enjoyed that one.
Glad things are going smoothly and you are making money hand over fist, good vibes that continues and you make a fortune. Repair has gotten so expensive with all the new tech in all the cars but it seems the European ones are the Most expensive, like you said earlier just the diagnostic equipment alone can cost you so much the back yard/shade tree mechanic is getting to be a thing of the past. I used to like working on my own cars, I still do for the most part except I can't do even simple repairs anymore because of my medical problems, hell just changing a tire is to much.
again glad to hear things are going well, give the wife a great big wet kiss for me and tell her to keep the kids out of your hair, not that I ever minded my kids wanting to help, but in your business sometimes they can get in the way.
Ah but did you ever get the security cameras hooked up?
Just messing with you, but I do wish you had them up when the poo flume went off so we could have all enjoyed that one.
Glad things are going smoothly and you are making money hand over fist, good vibes that continues and you make a fortune. Repair has gotten so expensive with all the new tech in all the cars but it seems the European ones are the Most expensive, like you said earlier just the diagnostic equipment alone can cost you so much the back yard/shade tree mechanic is getting to be a thing of the past. I used to like working on my own cars, I still do for the most part except I can't do even simple repairs anymore because of my medical problems, hell just changing a tire is to much.
again glad to hear things are going well, give the wife a great big wet kiss for me and tell her to keep the kids out of your hair, not that I ever minded my kids wanting to help, but in your business sometimes they can get in the way.
Good work
Steve
I did get the cameras hooked up. I spent some cash on an additional camera that can zoom into a license plate from more than 100 yards away. I also have them linked to my cell phone and laptop. It is handy for the weekends when cars are towed in or if the alarm system goes off in the middle of the night. Cars are not getting simpler. Even changing a battery in a BMW has to be done at a shop to be able to "register" the battery to the car. This allows the charging map to reset or if the battery type is changed, the proper map can be programmed to the car. Without this, premature battery failure is sure to happen...as well as other issues. Dave
I did get the cameras hooked up. I spent some cash on an additional camera that can zoom into a license plate from more than 100 yards away. I also have them linked to my cell phone and laptop. It is handy for the weekends when cars are towed in or if the alarm system goes off in the middle of the night. Cars are not getting simpler. Even changing a battery in a BMW has to be done at a shop to be able to "register" the battery to the car. This allows the charging map to reset or if the battery type is changed, the proper map can be programmed to the car. Without this, premature battery failure is sure to happen...as well as other issues. Dave
Nice well that kills my looking at that 04 BMW I just saw on Craig's list the other day ! Screw that, I have enough problems with just having to reprogram the dam radio stations when I do that.
Just a question about all the tech you have to have now and you don't have to answer if you don't want, just how much money have you got tied up in tech equipment to work on the new high tech cars? I mean I know you said just one of the proprietary, if that's the right word, for one car company's cars cost you like $3 K a year in just updates WTF man how can you keep up with all that crap and still make money?
Edit to add, with that over the air/Net interactive camera system don't forget to make a real good password, I just saw an article on the news about how easy they are to hack into for just about anyone of these new breed hackers. Steve
[This message has been edited by 84fiero123 (edited 01-13-2015).]
Nice well that kills my looking at that 04 BMW I just saw on Craig's list the other day ! Screw that, I have enough problems with just having to reprogram the dam radio stations when I do that.
Just a question about all the tech you have to have now and you don't have to answer if you don't want, just how much money have you got tied up in tech equipment to work on the new high tech cars? I mean I know you said just one of the proprietary, if that's the right word, for one car company's cars cost you like $3 K a year in just updates WTF man how can you keep up with all that crap and still make money?
Edit to add, with that over the air/Net interactive camera system don't forget to make a real good password, I just saw an article on the news about how easy they are to hack into for just about anyone of these new breed hackers. Steve
Off the top of my head, I have over $500,000 in hand tools and specialty tools and more invested in the shop equipment. The money is good because I have always been fast with few comebacks. I'm able to double book time every time and triple book time most of the time. Since we have moved the shop, I stepped out of the garage and now I play the role of owner. It is different, but it gives me the chance to control the business rather than be an owner/operator. Most of the German car repairs are very labor intensive. Even valve cover gaskets can pay 9 hours and we see those jobs regularly. About 30% of the repairs require dropping the cradle with the drivetrain attached to do the repair. Most regular shops turn those cars away because you really do need to specialize when working on Euro cars. Dave
Nice job! You've got it looking good. Sounds like you've developed the ideal business model. Not the easiest thing to do, these days.
quote
Originally posted by bmwguru: About 30% of the repairs require dropping the cradle with the drivetrain attached to do the repair. Most regular shops turn those cars away because you really do need to specialize when working on Euro cars. Dave
Knowing your way around a Fiero looks to be an excellent primer for these.
It seems anyone who has ever held a welding torch in their hand thinks they can weld just like anyone who has turned a wrench thinks they are a mechanic, well they call themselves techs now. Good luck finding someone who fits you needs as far as a tech at the shop.
