Prior Experience with BMW Certified Collision Centers?

[carenthusiast]

Hello. I'm located in DC Metro Area (Montgomery County) and unfortunately my F80 is in need of a body shop.

I've searched through some older threads on here to get an idea of recommended quality body shops and also checked online reviews for shops in my area. Already gotten 3 estimates, all very similar (practically identical) so not much mystery on what needs to be done. It's just the quality of the repair I'm worried about.

Of course like many of you I'm very meticulous about caring for my cars especially my M3. Not even 3 years old. So having a hard time deciding between shops as I want it to look right, not just ok/passable. Especially worried about the painting that will be required (Yas Marina), as well as reinstalling all the parts to fit just right. I've had body shop work done in the past on other cars but nothing as special as this car.

My question is if anyone on here has any prior experience with using a BMW Collision Center. The two closest to me are the one in Rockville and Fairfax. I checked online reviews for these and they are somewhat mixed, but in theory it seems like they would be better equipped to restore the car to what it was. They have specific experience with F80's and even the Yas Marina paint. That being said, still nervous due to the mixed reviews.

Guess I'm just wondering if anyone on here has used either of those shops before and if so, what did they think of the quality of work.

Thanks.

[MGains301]

Priority 1 Collision in Rockville does miracle work. BMW certified and I have first hand experience recently from them getting me a new bumper and painting it mineral white. Couldn't be happier with it.

My brother also used them when his Oxford Green E39 M5 got into an accident and needed the rear quarter panel blended. Car came back flawless, couldn't even tell it was in an accident.

Ask for Caesar and he will take care of you.

[carenthusiast]

Originally Posted by MGains301

Priority 1 Collision in Rockville does miracle work. BMW certified and I have first hand experience recently from them getting me a new bumper and painting it mineral white. Couldn't be happier with it.

My brother also used them when his Oxford Green E39 M5 got into an accident and needed the rear quarter panel blended. Car came back flawless, couldn't even tell it was in an accident.

Ask for Caesar and he will take care of you.

Thank you for replying with your experience there. That helps put my mind at ease.

[f80er]

BMW Annapolis has a 'BMW Certified Collision Center' on site that did work on my F80 and not sure I would use them again. I don't even think that title really means anything other than they went through whatever process BMW requires to call themselves that. I also used Fairfax back in the e46 days to replace a carbon black e46 M3 hood and they were terrible. But that was a long time ago so things may have changed.

If it were me I would find the best local independent body shop regardless if they are BMW certified or not and use them.

[pseto]

I've used Euro Pros in Gaithersburg with great results

[MGains301]

Originally Posted by pseto

I've used Euro Pros in Gaithersburg with great results

Euro Pros is a good option too and they are up for some custom fab work. They attached and molded my hartge lip to my CSL front bumper on my E46 M3. Custom fab work looked great but paint job was a 7/10. Euro pros only accepts cash payment as well (or at least this was the case five years ago).

[pseto]

Originally Posted by MGains301

Euro Pros is a good option too and they are up for some custom fab work. They attached and molded my hartge lip to my CSL front bumper on my E46 M3. Custom fab work looked great but paint job was a 7/10. Euro pros only accepts cash payment as well (or at least this was the case five years ago).

I thought they did a good job with my mineral white e92 M3 and they also installed some carbon goodies perfectly. I think its still cash/check only; CC would have been nice though.

[arashir]

Sounds like you already have some great references but just to add another data point, I would not rely on the BMW name attached to the collision center for any indication of quality service one way or the other. I made that mistake the hard way before.