I've owned my BMW 840ci for 15 years, and I am very AR about how it performs and obsessive that everything works right. I just don't like mediocrity! In these 15 years of ownership I've taken my BMW to the expensive BMW Dealerships trying to sell you every unnecessary service, and where service reps turn over like an autumn leaf so I end-up speaking with a different one each time I bring my car to them who doesn't understand me or my BMWs' needs. I have also taken my BMW to the outrageously expensive specialty shops that don't seem to get it right all the time. Finding a shop that specializes in my ultimate driving machine can be a challenging task, but I finally found one by word of mouth before Yelp was a source of reference for us. My experience at German Auto Sport has been a completely different one, and this is why I've been bringing my 840ci here for more then 6 years. The entire team of auto engineers at this shop are honest, hard working, conscientious, talented, professional, and charge for repairs that are more then fair when comparing them to the myriad of services I've received in the past from others and, they treat me like a customer should be treated. I was reviewing some of the write-ups below and was surprised that Gary, the front desk service manager got some bad raps from a few reviewers? It didn't seem to have anything to do with Auto German Sport competency per se, but rather with Gary? I don't know what this is all about. I am not here to defend Gary. I think it is only fair to share my experience since it starts at the front door when you bring your car in for any service. Gary as been delightful and positive. He is as professional as I want him to be. He is friendly, out-going, gregarious, knowledgeable, and is a pleasure to work with. I feel he add's value to German Auto Sport. When I was trying to get new Michelins for my 840ci, he turned me on to one of his resources that gave me a better deal then I was offered at a tire specialty house. Another time I walked in to pick up my 840ci after some major work. When I was handed the invoice, it was higher then I expected because I hadn't listened or read when the estimate was handed to me months earlier. I was embarrassed. The new tires were a part of this invoice. I checked my bank account via my smart phone, and noticed that I did not have sufficient funds ( I was short more then a thousand dollars) to cover the entire cost of repairs plus the tires. Gary told me not to worry, the shop would take care of the tires with the outside vendor, and that I could pay the difference the following week when I had the money. I would never have received this response from a dealership, or from someone that I didn't know, or know me. People's perceptions are strictly that, perceptions. German Auto Sport's entire business is based on quality of work at fair market prices, and most importantly, customer service. Gary provides that! Chris is a hands on owner / manager. In other words, he understands BMW's, and while he owns the shop, he also works on the cars himself. He has been more then fair and honest with me over the course of our relationship. I trust him and his team completely. In more then 5 years, I have never had to bring my 840ci back to him for the same problem that I brought it to him the first time. German Auto Sport accidentally cracked my windshield, which was already cracked from a previous rock pelted at my BMW from a dump truck on the highway. I wouldn't let him pay for the replacement, but he adamantly insisted saying it wouldn't have had the second crack if it wasn't for his shop's fault. We got into an endless war of "yes" and "no" words about it. We finally settled on splitting the cost for a new windshield, and to this day, I still think he should never have paid because it was already cracked. This says a lot about this shop and the people that own / work here? Behind the scenes, in the back where all the work is done, is other quality talent. Most notably is an auto engineer named Shahriar who probably has worked the most on my 840ci. I owe a lot to him as every time I bring my car in for service or repair I leave with confidence that the work has been done right. When I start it up, my 840ci purrs like a kitten, and when I get it on the highway, it roars like a lion. It always seem to run so much better when I drive it away from their shop. Sometimes I think he tinkers with it in the back to make it perform so much better although I can't qualify or quantity this. I am thankful he is there. Remember those early long-running advertising jingles "You can trust your car to the man who wears the star" by then Texaco? Well, just like putting trust in your doctor or dentist, one must put the trust of their ultimate driving machine in their mechanic too. I trust this shop until the day comes that I don't trust this shop any longer and I hope that day never comes. And so, this is my story! read more

PREDATORY SCAM: DO NOT TRUST GERMAN AUTO SPORT I had to click one star so I could write a review, but really it is no star. First, I already know exactly how the owner will reply--defensively. He will play the blame game. He will blame me, he will blame my car, the weather, the sky, the rain, or the road. He will say I am "cheap" and shouldn't own a BMW if I can't afford to service it. He will claim my attitude was the problem, say "we tried to help you," or lie and say "we gave you a discount," or "there are other cheap shops," or "your car issue is complicated," or "you are not a mechanic," or "good riddance, we don't want you as a customer anyway," and so on. He will blame anything but himself. I can't wait to see what he will come up with--and I know it is not going to be a professional, humble response addressing the price gouging and manipulation. It will be arrogant, mark my words. When you hand over your keys, you trust a mechanic with your life. German Auto Sport (GAS) & manager Josh exploit that trust. I towed my F30 BMW 320i. Prior to towing, I checked and physically inspected the car & checked BMW, Alldata, spoke to mechanics. It was a simple intake tube replacement. Instead of being honest, Josh forced a $300 diagnostic extortion fee just to read back my own diagnosis. Brake Fluid Flush Price-Gouging: Josh charged an inflated $300 flat fee for a routine brake flush. I verified with a trusted independent specialist that the standard price for this exact Euro flush is $175. GAS marked a basic service up by nearly 72%, pushing right past dealer maximums. They didn't even bother to reset my dashboard service warning signal. Knowing how they operate, I am highly suspicious of whether they performed the work correctly. What followed over Labor Day weekend was pure consumer manipulation: The Friday Hostage Deception: Josh explicitly lied & said the car would be ready Friday. Instead, he ghosted me all day, withholding the estimate until 5:07 PM on Friday afternoon--seven minutes after closing for a 3-day holiday weekend. This was a calculated, high-pressure tactic to trap my car & force a panicked approval. Screenshot attached. Fabricating Crises: His original estimate was an astronomical $1,122. Alldata proves this turbo inlet tube installation should never surpass $390 max for total labor. In reality, it takes 45 minutes of labor & a $179 genuine part. Josh tried to make it look like a major mechanical catastrophe. The $75 Retaining Ring Scam: He attempted to charge a $75 fee just to tighten a simple metal collar ring--a task that physically takes under 60 seconds. Inventing Broken Parts (PROVEN FRAUD): GAS claimed my crankcase breather hose was broken & demanded $286.66 to replace it. I personally inspected this hose before drop-off & knew it was undamaged. I now have the ultimate third-party verification: a certified independent specialist physically inspected that hose on their rack & confirmed it is 100% fine, completely unbroken, & does not need to be changed. Josh fabricated vehicle damage to pad his numbers. Cheap Aftermarket Bait-and-Switch: I gave Josh exact OEM numbers & vendor pictures. He copied & pasted the price from my source into his estimate, but given his extreme dishonesty, it is highly probable he intended to use a brittle $20 aftermarket knockoff while pocketing the margins. Ripping off customers with cheap parts puts lives at risk. Caught Red-Handed in a Shell Game:When called out, Josh & his associates panicked over the weekend & scrambled to hide the scam on a revised estimate. He lowered the tube labor but immediately hiked the price of the breather hose part from $77.41 up to $108.65 to secretly slide his profit margin back in. Then, he changed the text name of the line item to "BOOST TUBE" to deceive me into thinking he was fixing a deeper radiator pipe, while leaving the exact same upper intake part number (13717605638) on the bill. When I walked in to pull my car, Josh became snobby, arrogant, racist, & combative because his fraudulent house of cards collapsed. I paid only my authorized $600, flatly refused his fake fees, & towed it via AAA to a reputable independent specialist. They acted like true professionals, charged the honest $174 factory MSRP for a Genuine BMW part, & billed 45 minutes of actual labor. My total bill there was $387--saving me over $800. FINAL NOTE: A formal fraud complaint has been officially filed against German Auto Sport with the California Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR). read more

These guys are simply put, the best. Let me say that once again, just in case you didn't understand what I just said: these guys are THE BEST at what they do. I owned a 3-series for five years and it was because of the guys over at German Auto Sport that this car is still on the road today, running better than it was the day I bought it. I have reviewed German Auto a few times in the past, and nowadays, I consider these guys to be good friends. I'm quite flabbergasted by the negative review on here, which is why I couldn't help myself...I have to comment! I think the most important thing to see is that if you look at all of the negative reviews and compare them to the positive reviews, the folks who wrote negative reviews never specifically state what they took their car in for initially, and it clearly shows that not only do they not want to spend ANY money on their cars (it's a German car, dammit...you have to baby it, and by baby it, I mean spend some money), and they would rather take their cars to SpeeDee Oil Changers for their oil services and have those guys overfill or underfill their engine, likely with the wrong oil (they don't pay attention, and why should they for $19.95?). These folks also seem to be the types who feel that the parts they pick up at their local Autozone are made with the same quality and precision as the quality parts you'll get through German Auto (and for the smart Bimmer owners who DO order their parts on their own, they get them from a reputable sources such as Pelican, not Kragen). On the other hand, the folks, such as myself, who have written positive reviews (and I will continue to do so because if these guys ever scream one word, it's integrity), explain in detail what they had done. The last job these guys did for me was replace all four struts on my 86 3-series. They were worn and old, likely the originals that came on the car. I got exactly what I paid for and that car handles like a freakin' CHAMP now! Lastly, and I know this is a long review but trust me, I could keep going, but hang with me here for a few more moments, To the guy who thinks Chris made him feel like an idiot for not learning about his car before he bought it, I can't say for sure what was said because I was not there. I can say that I have been at the shop on NUMEROUS, I'm talking hundreds of occasions when Chris was interacting with other customers. He has always been very professional and courteous to his customers. My point is, if that guy thinks Chris wanted to make him feel like an idiot for not researching his car before buying it, he SHOULD feel like an idiot for not doing the research because again, its a GERMAN CAR! To the folks complaining about the cost of Mini service: blame yourselves, you bought a complete pile of trash for a car and you're gonna pay BMW money to fix it whether you like it or not. In the meantime, try not to get upset that you bought what you thought was an amazing car at an astronomically high price (all things, especially quality, or lack therof, considered)...if it's a first generation 'Cooper it's got the same motor as another incredible vehicle: the Dodge Neon. German Auto Sport is THE top BMW repair shop in the entire Bay Area. Take it from me, I've been screwed over elsewhere and when I buy my next Bimmer, there's only one shop I'll take it to: German Auto Sport. read more

Honestly, thanks for all the people who posted their Luke warm complaints, The owner obviously lacks skills to accept any criticism, right or wrong He just blasts the customer??? Hey Chris, you are in the customer service industry, weather you like it or not. You should strive for 5 star reviews and if you don't get some, then like a normal bussiness owner, you should reach out, apologize for their experience, and leave it at that, encourage customers to call before they leave a negative review, and that "all problems can be resolved if we communicate" "no need for a negative review, if you are not 100% satisfied. Reach out! The vast majority of any "problems" can be solved with a simple solution" and so on...I am customer service too, much cooler than yours, Job and head, I get the neediesr most entitled customers sometimes at either of holdings in AZ, CA, and NV. I do vacation rentals all the as a job, aa such, have to answer my phone in the middle of the night, 24/7(...some customers are unreasonable, rude, but at the end of the day, have never had less than a 4 star reviews if even a 4 star review. All 5 star. The reason why? It was not that things happened sometimes at a house. Or something had breaken down, or any number of issues. Customers had to heal with allot of B.S. like one the internet was out the whole week in the area, still, we reached out, made sure they know who to call in case of any problem at all, amd I or a family member could xoordinage all the people who hllp us with the properties to go there asap and help! Even whe. Thry were unreasonable, nasty people, I never tale it personally. I have offered free discounts, thingslike that if something was not working they jad planned on using...and guess what, all my experiences have shown you attract more bees with honey than vinegar. And no one loaths a power tripping small business. Larger business. Any business owner or employee should know. Take nothing personal, and if they drop a bomb nuke on them, yet they never voiced their issues to you first. You have a problem. Just from your responses, so defensive. I would never spend a dollar to you. To be the best, you need loyal customers along with the skills and the power to control your emotions. All your responses were wrong. ALL should have read something like "I am so sorry this or that happened, have you reached out to so and so and explained the issue. We gurantee pur work and would appreciate if we get it right you can improve your rating...we seek to have happy customers who trust us to do quality work at better rates when possible, this is what we do, we take it very seriously, and wantt to apologize right away and schedule you back in for free to take another look and or fix," you big heads get in the way of best success. read more

I really like German Auto Sports & even look forward to bringing my car there. As of the past year, the shop now specializes entirely in BMWs. I like that you always speak directly to the mechanics. I appreciate that the repairs are explained in detail, and that they help prioritize what should be done now & what may need to be done in the future. They are also great about recommending when to do two repairs at once to save on labor costs. I find their rates to be absolutely reasonable, if not less than what I expect. It is always a pleasure to do business with them. Before discovering German Auto Sports, I spent some years paying extraordinary bills at another shop in a more prominent Berkeley location. My prior mechanic often returned my car to me with new problems. What concerned me was that these new problems were invariably identified as other parts I needed to fix whose costs would be just as much as the initial repair. Nor were they clear in explaining why I needed so many obscure things fixed. Now that I know I did not need to tolerate these conditions, I wish I had come to German Auto Sports sooner. They have my full and sincere recommendation. read more

It hard when describing this establishment to not sound too effusive in my review. What does expertise, fairness, and patience add up to if you're a BMW owner. Answer: the place to bring your vehicle for repairs. The owner Chris is a super nice guy who seems as much a customer advocate as a businessman. He went to bat with a local BMW supplier when they sent 3 consecutive defective parts for an exhaust problem I was experiencing with my 2000 323I. He and his mechanics kept insisting that the problem was the replacement parts themselves, while the supplier alleged faulty installation. Guess who was right. Gary runs the front of the business and is an excellent customer servant. He often is able to diagnosis a problem and potential solution before it even gets back to mechanics. By the way, unlike many shops there are no weak links among them. All have 3 mechanics have worked on my vehicles without any apparent difference in results. How good are these guys? When our family needed a second vehicle we replaced our later model VW wagon with a BMW 525 wagon because we knew what we'd get at German Auto sport. A big thumbs up! read more

When you recommend a business to friends and family, you in many ways are taking on a responsibility and putting your own reputation on the line. When I 1st began dealing with German Auto Sport, it was to solicit advice on how best to prioritize the work that my daughter's car needed. Chris Lingle, the owner, gave me a list of what he felt needed to be done, what it should cost and how pressing the work that needed doing was. At no charge. The same for my son's BMW. The same for mine. I am a pretty competent mechanic and do a lot of my own work. When I can't, don't have the time or the energy, this is where I take my car. My son is now in San Diego and routinely calls Chris for advice on his car. This guy is the aces... really. I have NEVER gotten anything but professionalism from him or anyone on his staff and I have ALWAYS felt that I got more than I paid for. If you have a BMW (and let's face it... they can be annoying and expensive to maintain) and you live within 20 miles of Berkeley, try these guys out. You won't regret it and you can walk up to 4th ST while you wait for them to do their magic. read more

Average shop that's extremely highly over rated. When it's time to get work done the owner Chris (Fast Talker).... blows smoke up you ass by telling you that they are suppose sell you parts at a higher price but some how he's able to magically knock down the price because he doesn't think it's fair because of the economic recession. LMFAO Simply a scheme to make you feel better about taking it up the ASS because even after all that the prices are still twice as high. Labor is average at $100 an hour. But I don't seriously think that they are committed to your car for the time that they charge you for. When it's time to pay for the work they've done. You get this sense of the workers in the shop in the laughing underneath their skins as they tell you about the repairs they made on your car while trying to keep a straight face. If you want an average shop with outrages prices that will make you feel good about taking it up the ass. Go to German Auto Sport - Berkeley and ask for Chris. read more

Thank you Chris and German Auto Sport! I had a very annoying coolant leak in my 2013 BMW 535i. After two visits to BMW Concord, replacing radiator and hoses, the leak did not stop. The dealership eventually gave up and effectively told me there is no leak even, though I was still adding 1 quart (liter) of coolant every two weeks or so and effectively waiting for overheating to occur so I can buy a new car, right? That's when I reached out to the great team of German Auto Sport, who diagnosed and finally stopped this damn leak rather effortlessly!!! These guys are real pros (not like entry level dealership mechanics in expensive offices), very efficient, and capable. They are also true car enthusiasts and I learned a great deal from Chris about BMWs of different generations (pros and cons) and saw some of his own vehicles (truly impressive). My only regret is that I did not go to German Auto Sport earlier and started with the dealership. Thank you guys! read more

You know when you take your car to a mechanic, you get this slight feeling that your paying them to just screw around, do as less labor as possible yet charge for tons and tamper with future problems? well, at GAS, Chris and his team completely eliminate that. For once i think i felt more comfortable with my car in another's posession because Chris (the owner) is just that good at what he does, and is really nice. Its genious really.. i mean, instead of just ripping you off and making money off of you once, he treats you with respect and honesty so you will return and be a loyal customer to his buisness. Which, in the long run, provides you with a smile and a working car, and him with a job for years to come. If you own a BMW, go to Chris and German Auto. You will not be dissapointed with his work and prices. read more

I've been a satisfied customer for years. Unlike other auto repair places, I actually look forward to taking my car to German Auto Sport. Chris and his team explain every detail before starting the work, they are extremely fair about pricing, and they even let me work in their office while they're servicing my car. They're the kind of trusted mechanics you look for: they repair cars, they don't just change out parts. In one case, my windshield fluid sprayer had stopped working. Instead of just changing out the pump motor like any other repair place, they suspected that the line from the reservoir to the spray nozzle had become clogged with aftermarket fluid. They cleaned out the line with high pressure air at virtually no expense and did not change the pump motor. I recommend them without reservation. read more

I brought my little mini cooper s to German auto sport after having it worked on from another shop in el cerrito and it wasnt fixed and they put it up on the rack and said right off the bat it was not what the other mecanic said that what was wrong with the car it needs a new rear sway bar & bushings that was cousing the noise not strut bushings so i had them replace it and the noise was gone for good i should have just brought it to them first and would have saved $189 dollars on replacing strut bushings that didnt need to be replaced in the first place so go to them before you take your car anywhere else and get a real honest quote on whats going on with your car and not replacing parts just to spend m oney the owner is great and would recommend bringing your car there read more

Following up on Berkeley dealer web advertise BMW Z4 and being from another distant state required finding another source to size up the condition of this vehicle. By web search, German Auto Sport was found in proximity of this dealer. This shop specializes mostly in parts and repairs of BMW's & Mini's. It is not a used auto sales shop. In addition, web reviews highly rated the quality work done through Yar and Chris. My call to them in doing an PPI (Pre-Purchase Inspection of this dealer Z4 was expeditious in scheduling, working with the dealer to examine the vehicle, and providing a detailed analysis of the car's condition. Both Yar and Chris were very communicative thru the PPI process between the dealer and myself. I would readily do business with them. read more

"I took my Audi A8 in for an AC repair and couldn't be happier with the service. From start to finish, the team was upfront and transparent about the diagnosis and costs. They took the time to explain exactly what was wrong. They even offered options for different repairs based on urgency with the heatwave the Bay was experiencing and my budget, which really helped me feel like I wasn't just being upsold on unnecessary work. The AC now works perfectly, and there were no surprise charges when I picked up the car. Their honesty and expertise are refreshing, especially for a luxury car repair, and I'll definitely be coming back for future maintenance. Highly recommend this shop for any Audi owners!" read more

Having been in the habit of putting on the miles and miles on my ride (Average of 30,000 miles/year), I could have no better peace of mind than to bring my MCS to Chris and the Gang. So confident of their workanship, performance upgrades were made using their suggestions after the front seal work was done. They went ABOVE and BEYOND to do the job right. Let's just say, they know how to upgrade a MINI Cooper from top to bottom: CravenSpeed 17% pulley reduction, JCW catback exhaust, M7 Tower Strut, M7 2% CrankWheel. They took feedback/input from me when it came to alternate suppliers! My supercharger screams through the seems now. Jezebel is whole other beast. read more

I have a 92 bmw 525i touring. The instrument cluster started failing in it. So I removed it and had it sent to speedo-tach in Concord. They sent it back to me with no explanation saying it wasn't fixable. So I contacted Chris, the owner of GAS, and he said he had several clusters and to swing by. He handed me three and let me bring them home, test them out, and see which one worked for my car. After finding the right one, I sent the others back and he gave me a good price on the one that worked. I am very happy to have a working cluster again. He is very knowledgeable when it comes to bmws. I highly recommend his shop. read more