Prestige Vs. Milroy

[Eurofan]

Ok, so im up for my first service of the 320d. I just want some feedback from past and present BMW owners as to whats the best place to get my service done. So far i have been going to the agents. Since certian times i bring my own parts i find the labour cost at prestige exorbitant. However for some reason when cars are sold people make a big issue as to if it is maintained at prestige.

Few specific areas i would like to know include

1. Quality of parts used at milroys when servicing

2. Overall labour skills

3. General price of parts

4. will milroy fix parts you import your self?

Thanks in advance

[Bugatti]

Few specific areas i would like to know include

1. Quality of parts used at milroys when servicing

2. Overall labour skills

3. General price of parts

4. will milroy fix parts you import your self?

Thanks in advance

1. Milroy carries a wider range of parts compared to Prestige

2. Labor skills are equal or better at Milroy's

3. Certain parts are equal or cheaper at

4. Yes, at least has done for me.

Go visit his place and you could see for your self, the scale of operation he has, compared to the agents. Also, I doubt a typical BMW enthusiast would make a fuss if the car was maintained at Milroy's.

[SeanD]

Is Milroy still good though?

[madmax]

1. Milroy carries a wider range of parts compared to Prestige

2. Labor skills are equal or better at Milroy's

3. Certain parts are equal or cheaper at

4. Yes, at least has done for me.

Go visit his place and you could see for your self, the scale of operation he has, compared to the agents. Also, I doubt a typical BMW enthusiast would make a fuss if the car was maintained at Milroy's.

I used to take my 320D to Milroy when I was in SL. I liked it there compared to the agents, because I could wait with the car and keep an eye on the work being done. Most of the guys working for Milroy are ex-Prestige (so is he), so they would've under gone same training.

Like Bugatti said, he carries aftermarket parts, which are cheaper than OEM parts.

Edited April 10, 2011 by madmax

[rangerover]

This topic couldnt have started at a better time. I'm just considering a shift to milroy.

@MADMAX, when you mean after market products, does he use mahle filters (oem i think??) when servicing cars or aftermarkets such as fram filters (which i have heard bad reviews on). I would prefer to use oem's on my car for peace of mind.

Also i much mention that Prestige is more concerned with corporate clients and the gov. vehicles. Sometimes you have to go and sit and wait for hours even with an appointment. I'm not very impressed with their service deptm's customer service (may be just me). In contrast i called milroy recently on some query and he was very helpful.

Edited April 10, 2011 by rangerover

[miniace]

I was not happy about Milroy but things are changed now.I used to take the E36 and had reasons to hate the service.

Recently we serviced and upgraded software of a newly bought Beemer at Milroy's and they did a marvelous job. Car was bought from Darin's and Prestige requested a registration charge of Rs 50,000 to inspect the car since it was not bought from them.Sofware upgrade..they say..above Rs 25K.Bullshit!!

Milroy did the same job for just Rs 7500!!! no registration fee and no exorbitant charges .

Recommend Milroy with two thumbs up!!

MINIACE

Edited April 10, 2011 by miniace

[madmax]

This topic couldnt have started at a better time. I'm just considering a shift to milroy.

@MADMAX, when you mean after market products, does he use mahle filters (oem i think??) when servicing cars or aftermarkets such as fram filters (which i have heard bad reviews on). I would prefer to use oem's on my car for peace of mind.

When I meant OEM, I was referring to original BMW parts. They would use something like Mahle or Mann as opposed to the one branded BMW (and very much made by one of these manufacturers)

I'm not sure about specific brands. But he used to carry both BMW parts and others. You can tell him what to use.

It's been almost 3 years since I had the 320D. But, I did pay him a visit last year when I was down for a holiday.

[VVTi]

When I had the E36, I was a bit skeptical, however after the E39 came, I have gone to scope out the operations, and I must say, its impressive. True, Prestige is now more concerned about looking after the corporate, diplomatic and GOSL vehicles and pays no attention to the individual customer.

However, records for both cars are with Prestige as they were both imported by them.

Personally, next time something big comes along, something that I cannot handle at home, I will take to Milroy.

Few weeks back my FSU burnt out, for a replacement Prestige wanted 20K, Baddewala wanted 14K, but Milroy wanted only 11K. Easy choice, really.

But on the other hand, I bought a radiator hose from Prestige for 50% the price quoted elsewhere.

All relative, I guess, depending on your good fortune..

[tharindra]

Milroy has the best prices for filters [Mahle] for the E30........servicing done at Mr Ajit's Roadstar garage.......

[rangerover]

Ya i agree that its better to get quotations for any part prior to replacement. I might add milroy to the list of suppliers i will approach for quotations from now on. Just to share, the others include, ebay, engsoon.com and prestige. Never tried baddewela.

[Bugatti]

Ya i agree that its better to get quotations for any part prior to replacement. I might add milroy to the list of suppliers i will approach for quotations from now on. Just to share, the others include, ebay, engsoon.com and prestige. Never tried baddewela.

Baddewala should be your last choice.. they are expensive. They charged me 3,950/- for a gear box mount, which in no bigger than a D size torch battery.

[VVTi]

That is true, one kidney grill for the E39 was 10K from them, on Ebay its 4500 incl shipping for both sides...

[Rukster]

Hi Guys

I have been going to Milroy since 1999. Haven't had any issues and their service has been great! Had different models with varying displacements and they have always done a good job on them always. They will advice on parts, replacements and whether a job can be done or not. They will not go on asking to replace parts unless its a must and they are very good at identifying the core issues. They have a parts stocked in plenty and at reasonable prices.

Prices wise they are much better than the agents or Beddawala. Please watch out at Beddawala, they try to mate parts that are not meant for certain models. Once they offered me a 320 exhaust for a 325 and when I said it wouldn't fit I was told that it wouldn't make a difference. However, he did come in handy way back when I had the E30 and wanted a brake booster.

Cheers

[MadMMX]

Hi Guys,

Milroy's a decent guy. Used to take my E46 320d to him many years ago. Decent service and good advice. The only pain was hauling all the way to his garage which is fairly far out and when it rains that whole blasted road goes under and I mean really under - once brought the car out with water midway up the buffer. When I got the 318i I sort of moved to Prestige (actually on milroys advice as the car was fairly new at the time and he advised me to keep the record there) I guess things have changed now as the car is a little older. However his prices while they are cheaper on the non genuine bmw stuff are not all that cheap. Found that bringing the genuine stuff down from UK was waaay cheaper - and was better for peace of mind as well.

Miniace thats really expensive - was this for a E90 ? And were you doing a full DME re-program to the asian software spec or were you changing options ? I know that Prestiege just got down a new programming setup (the latest ISTA-P which is required for all the new cars) and it cost them plenty but I've never heard them ask for so much. When I got my current car and wanted to install the OBD stalk ..etc milroy actually advised me to go to Prestige as he would have had to charge me 12k for the reprogram as his diags unit was bought in partnership with a chap in Germany and he needed to pay him some amount each time he used it. Prestige actually charged me only 1250 bucks to do the job. Since then got my own BMW DIS and programmed all the self leveling Xenons, rain & light sensor ..etc at home. What did Milroy use to program the car. Was it a Yellow Head DIS or the newer Orange Head ? Was told that the newer BM's require a Fibre Optic interface for programming.

Just my 2 cents.

Cheers,

MadMMx

Edited April 12, 2011 by MadMMX

[AA3]

Hi Guys

I have been going to Milroy since 1999. Haven't had any issues and their service has been great! Had different models with varying displacements and they have always done a good job on them always. They will advice on parts, replacements and whether a job can be done or not. They will not go on asking to replace parts unless its a must and they are very good at identifying the core issues. They have a parts stocked in plenty and at reasonable prices.

Prices wise they are much better than the agents or Beddawala. Please watch out at Beddawala, they try to mate parts that are not meant for certain models. Once they offered me a 320 exhaust for a 325 and when I said it wouldn't fit I was told that it wouldn't make a difference. However, he did come in handy way back when I had the E30 and wanted a brake booster.

Cheers

Is this still valid ???

I heard couple of my friends said now M**roy is not in focus on what he does. Some times he even don' t look at the vehicle (obviously ppl go all the way to kelaniya expecting special attention for their cars) or listen what customer requests.

Badly some of the skill mechanics already left from him Also currently no tinker.

Once a friend of mine put his car to do few minor repairs. But even after couple of (working)days the car was un-touched saying various non-valid reasons we heard from other garages which wasn' t from M**roy. At that time my friend was already paying for a rented car.

Another complaint abt a paint job. He was complaining that colour matching is very very bad. Colour difference is obvious.

Any way all these cars were more than 15 years old. But not their money

[VVTi]

Dude, you are not making any sense.

What exactly are you saying?

His paint jobs are top class.

Are you trolling all the BMW threads?

[AA3]

Dude, you are not making any sense.

What exactly are you saying?

His paint jobs are top class.

Are you trolling all the BMW threads?

No offence. Just asking as Im very new for bimmers....still doing homework.

[Rukster]

Guys again, M**roy's service has been topnotch over the years (1999 - to-date)and I have no complains whatsoever. He will always advice on a car's diagnosis and issues and will be frank in telling you what can be done, needs to be done and needs priority/immediate attention. The agents are good as well, but you need to do your homework carefully and know about the car and functionality. There is plenty online and reading about them help alot regardless of taking the vehicle to M**roys or the agents.

All in all his work is excellent and will not cost an arm and leg on most occasions.

[Knight Wit A K]

Hey guys

i need to get my key replaced or repaired.

Prestige OR Milroy ???

thanx

[The Don]

Hey guys

i need to get my key replaced or repaired.

Prestige OR Milroy ???

thanx

I am no BMW expert but I will say Prestige as the main dealer has the capability to order a factory cut key straight from BMW (not cut a blank key) but whichever is the case the new key will still need to be reprogrammed to work with the car. But why not get quotes from both?

Also depends on the problem. If the key is not being identified by the car on some occasions the problem may be with the receiver unit rather than the key itself.

[MadMMX]

Actually what is the BMW model ? For the E46's and E39's upwards you have to order the replacement key from the company. Otherwise you can't start your car with it. The key is ordered matching the serial no of the car. Its pre-cut to suit your locks and apparently costs around 25k. There are other options but I'm not aware of a key programmer in Sri Lanka. You need to take a dump of your EWS, and then get down a second hand key and a new key chip - soldier the chip into the key and program it. These chips can only be programmed once - messy process.

Good Luck.

[Knight Wit A K]

Hey thanx guys..

its a E46... will try to get a quote from both.. i'll rather get it fixed right the first time..

[MadMMX]

Another experience to chalk up at the Agent !!

Referring to a manual E46 Self Adjusting gearbox on a BMW E46. I recently had some maintenance to do and gave to car in to the agents (P**T**E). Gave the a brand new BMW genuine part clutch kit that I got from England. Was very surprised when they called me to say that they were having problems fitting it. Went over - happened to have another genuine clutch plate handy as well - got fed this bullshit story by the mechanic and the Workshop Manager about how sometimes BMW part numbered products for the UK are slightly different to the Asian varients ..etc. They couldn't fit the second plate as well to the existing Pressure plate and advised me to buy their original kit for some 100K + price. Thanked them for their effort - they actually charged me 9000 bucks not to fit it !! and said no thanks to their kit (thay had acually fitted it on the car to demonstrate that it worked !!) got them to fit my old clutch back and said I'd get it sorted out with a replacement from UK. (Brought from a main dealer there) After consutation with my friend got down the self adjusting fitting kit + the centering tool and found that not only had the agent disarmed the sac assembly but also jammed the SAC springs as well. Reset it with the tools I got down and took the car to a friend in dehiwela who does race Subaru's and got him to hoist it up and pull the box off - had the BMW procedure and dismantled the whole thing with them. Fitted the new kit according to the BMW instructions and it all came together like clockwork. Absolutely no issues and the clutch is like silk now. Can only figure that the agent was trying to stiff me into buying a clutch kit from them !!! Made a written complaint as they hadn't assembled my car back right either - their were bolts & clips missing !! but wasted half a day getting a couple of replacement bolts put back !! They didn't have some of the clips that they had lost as they claimed not to have stock of them !! Got those down from my friend in UK for a few pounds and re-fitted everything back. Car is fine now. I can't believe some lame ass mechanic / technician trid to take me for a royal ride and stiff me for some heavy dough !!! I don't know if he was just incompetent or was a crook !! Mind you thus far I've never had any issues with the agents !!

Bottom line - try your utmost not to leave your vehicle their unattended !!!

Mind you the good thing about BMW is that every little nut and washer has a part no and can be ordered for peanuts if you have access to a dealer. !!!!

Cheers,

MadMMx

[pdeeban]

I used to take my 320D to Milroy when I was in SL. I liked it there compared to the agents, because I could wait with the car and keep an eye on the work being done. Most of the guys working for Milroy are ex-Prestige (so is he), so they would've under gone same training.

Like Bugatti said, he carries aftermarket parts, which are cheaper than OEM parts.

hey bro can i know where milroy is ? and how much normally he charge fr a service in bmw 5series? please let me know location and a phone number !

really Appreciate it

Thanks

[pdeeban]

I was not happy about Milroy but things are changed now.I used to take the E36 and had reasons to hate the service.

Recently we serviced and upgraded software of a newly bought Beemer at Milroy's and they did a marvelous job. Car was bought from Darin's and Prestige requested a registration charge of Rs 50,000 to inspect the car since it was not bought from them.Sofware upgrade..they say..above Rs 25K.Bullshit!!

Milroy did the same job for just Rs 7500!!! no registration fee and no exorbitant charges .

Recommend Milroy with two thumbs up!!

MINIACE

Hey bro i need milroys contact number and location plz..

please let me know more details about him!

Thanks alot!