Who’s writing the Blog this week!?

Hi, Reggie here. Twelve years in, and this is my first blog post! My beautiful wife Stephanie started this platform for us ~10 years ago and has been gracious enough to document our work here on a weekly/bi-weekly basis for all of this time. In fact, she is still providing the photography. If you don't already know this, Stephanie has her own business and blog at stewartimagery.com. Now, we're going to mix things up a bit. We are going to stick with the bi-weekly frequency, and I am going to write once per month….at least that's the plan.

I’m inspired to share my thoughts on several subjects, mostly based on my experiences as my business has grown from a couple of $300 parts cars into what it is today. It has been a long journey and a blink of an eye at the same time. If you’ve been with us since the beginning, you have seen quite an evolution.  Not only has the business grown, but I have grown immensely in all facets of my life.

One subject in particular that has prompted me to write is the economics of car ownership. Let's get the elephant out in the room. It can be expensive to maintain a car, let alone repair it if it breaks! I want to talk about why this is, and why prices for auto service can vary so much from one facility to another.   I also want to explain why a shop like mine won’t install the parts you might want to provide and why we can’t match online parts prices. Please stay tuned!

How about this one? – Someone just told you that your car needs $500…or $5,000 worth of work!?!?  YIKES! Should you get a second opinion? Is your mechanic trying to pull one over on you? When does it make sense to trade it in?  We experience these situations every day, and it has peaked my interest enough to study and evaluate these options. Spoiler alert – When it comes down to dollars and cents, it almost always makes more sense to invest in the car you already own. But, just because the economics can make more sense, it doesn’t mean it’s the right decision for you. I would like to expand more on this subject in the future and help you make the decision that makes you happy.

But Reggie, aren’t you a “Car Guy”? Why not write about the fun stuff like car shows and projects and race cars (Because Racecar!). Absolutely! I have all kinds of topics rolling around in my head. At the moment, I am re-restoring (??) our 1984 318i Baur TC. This is a car that I put ~100 hours in back in 2008 on a shoestring budget. Stephanie and I love this car, but the 4-cylinder engine has never really given the vehicle enough moxie, so I now have a rebuilt and highly detailed 2.5L 6-cylinder (M20B25) to put in it. Before I install the engine, I intend to repaint the engine bay….oh and I have known the driver’s floor pan has had some rust issues, so let’s go ahead and address this too.  I’d love to write more about this project, and several others as we go down this road.

Most people know by now that Reggie's Motorworks is primarily a German Auto maintenance and repair facility for BMW, MINI, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche. I feel fortunate to have brought an outstanding team of guys together who far exceed my personal abilities in modern auto care and client relations. 

In the background though, I have retained and nurtured a passion for older cars and the art of restoring and modifying them.  I'm sure you see this in Stephanie's photos of our travels and at our Open House (<<<Click for details!). While this has always been part of our DNA, it is not always front and center. In fact, at many times this area has been neglected due to the demands of running a thriving business. At the moment though, our team is so strong that I'm getting more and more time to get back into the shop. Over and above that, we have a young man named Brandon working here that is taking a liking to metal work and vintage cars. 

Below you see a shot of me practicing on a new tool called a bead roller. To me, this is an exciting "toy" that will allow us to more efficiently form things like floor pans and patch panels when we're fixing rust in older BMW's. I should have had Stephanie take a photo of Brandon using this tool, as he will likely be using it just as much as I do. Earlier I said "I" was working on our Baur. In reality, the better word is "we". Brandon has been with us since late last summer in an entry level role where he does a huge variety of tasks, from taking out the trash to driving our courtesy shuttle. At this point, we are looking to relieve him of some of these duties so he can grow into a new roll in our fab shop. Our e30 Baur TC seems like a great training opportunity! 

So, what do you think?  What subjects would you like for me to cover?  Our blog platform doesn't currently support comments, so instead post your comments on Facebook. There you’ll find a link to this blog post.  I'll pin it to the top for a few days, so its easy to find. https://www.facebook.com/ReggiesMotorworks/

Thank you!

Reggie