Bavarian Workshop

[Bennett]

Do any members here have experience with / opinions concerning Bavarian Workshop in Van Nuys, CA? I have been referred to them by the owner of an M-Coupe for my 3.5 conversion. They seem perfectly capable, but places like La Jolla Independent may have more experience in this particular job, allowing for fewer potential missteps.

Any input would be appreciated.

 

[Stan]

If you are close enough to CArl Nelson, I would go there. As you correctly stated, he has done this so many times that he knows all the pitfalls.

 

[WALTER]

I'll second Stan's endorsement. From personal experience, Carl Nelson and his crew are awesome. I had a 3.5L, 1.3 Motronic, 5spd swap done by them (Chris Keefer) that I am very satisfied with. They are honest and upfront; they are also not cheap, but aside from that, you can't go wrong with them in my opinion. That being said, I have also heard good things about Dynotech Motorsports in Oceanside, CA. I have been in contact with them regarding a E9 S38 engine swap that I am considering (Carl's shop wants more money than I want to spend) and they seem knowledgable, friendly, and resonably priced.

-Walt

 

[Bennett]

Thanks for the input. Bavarian recommended the S38 swap as well. They apparently did a bit of the work on the Paul Cain car - how much I don't know.

 

[bmwmadman]

Not to keep beating the drum but you can't go wrong with La Jolla Ind. (Carl's team). And while you do pay more I believe you get much more advice. They have a great path to EFI for these cars that everyone else trys to copy. Also they are constantly looking for ways to upgrade and make their systems work better.

 

[Adam]

no affiliation blah blah blah, but i feel compelled to put in a plug here for peter & erik over at coupeking:

http://coupeking.com/

i haven't done an engine swap with them, but i've had nothing but positive experiences with them every time they've worked on my coupe. their coupe experience is unmatched in the LA area. i can recommend them without reservation.


-Adam

 

[dtortoise9]

conversion

Go to Carl and Chris at La Jolla- they are the best! Love my car even more now that the swap has been done. Can't stress how good those guys are.

 

[Stan]

Coupe King

I got my car from Peter and before I picked it up in LA to drive back to NH, he worked on it a bit. New leather interior

and a fair amount of bodywork.

He also went through it to be sure it would be safe for the long ride home!
Stan

 

[jranmann]

I might also recommend Don Lawrence who's now with Steve at eCartoys in Palm Springs...Don has forgotten more about the e9's and e3's than most of us will ever know.

Cheers!

Ran

 

[coupeking]

Marc at the Bavarian Workshop has been doing fine quality tuning and specialty BMW builds for a long time. Knows his stuff. Carl and crew are also very good and pretty much developed this conversion--but are far away relatively in San Diego.
If I were in the SF valley and wanted this job done BW/Marc would be a fine place to go. Very congenial and detail oriented guy.
At Coupeking, we are more of a restoration shop that does mechanicals, but we too use Carl's facilities when we have a puzzling mechanical issue or need fine tuning of one of our own 3.5 conversions.
Peter
coupeking