I have used Zimbrick European for my service. I chcked out Concourse Motors and found that their parts markup was much higher than Zimbrick which also gives a discount to MBCA members. Mechanic of Choice: Dan Gillitzer the moderator in the ML, G-Wagen & Unimog section.

Need names of a couple of talented, honest MB shops in the SE Wisconsin area. Are there any?

I am also in the SE Wisconsin area and a new owner of my first '84 300DT.

Thanks

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John

1995 E320 - 115kmi+ Smoke Silver/Cream (Wife's Wagon)
1989 260E - 195kmi+ Black/Grey (My Panther)
1984 300D - 242kmi+ Black/Palomino (Retired)

I take my Benz to Zimbrick Eurpoean in Madison WI and ask specifically for Dan Gilitzer aka Gillybenztech the Moderator on the ML forum. So far he has never done me wrong and been very helpful.

PS see my post concerning parts prices. http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/great-lakes-us-il-mi-mn-oh-wi/144138-wisconsin.html#post317776

TTT

I can certainly attest to your helpful post!! I am from Madison as well and Dan takes excellent care of my 190e. He's done quite a bit of work on it thus far, and it's been done right the first time, and the prices aren't outrageous. The people at Zimbrick are great to deal with, and they really do care about the customer.

Many people have said that they have had such bad experiences at dealerships. I'm happy to say that this is a pleasant exception!!

Take care-
Michael.

__________________
+AMDG+
2005 W203
Running as fast as I can to stay behind!!

I was in a car accident on 12/29 and had my car towed to Concours Motors in Glendale, WI. They're right on Silver Spring Drive I think. I did not have the opportunity to deal with them directly because they would have been too slow in getting my car back to me in a reasonable amount of time (their body shop was WAY backed up). They did, however, provide an estimate for me and were extremely helpful while I had the car there. I would take my car there for servicing. I don't know what their labor rate is, but it must be comparable to other dealerships.

Hope this helps!

__________________
+AMDG+
2005 W203
Running as fast as I can to stay behind!!

So you were the guy that was going to get another car from them. Dan told me about you. He said you wrecked your car and might get the C280 or C230 Kompressor. Bad news for you if you wanted the one with the heated seats (C280). I got the C280. Both were fine cars but the wife wanted the heated seats. Something she always has on the minute she steps into the car. What you don't know was that I went in for service a few days ago and had an issue. I bought a CD changer and brackets and was having them installed because I didn't want to rip up something finding the fiber optic cable. I had Dan do the work. Here is my story.

While it was there, I knew about a slight seepage in the rear differential. Wanted it cleaned out so I could assess the leakage. Needed to make sure that it wasn't leftover from when someone spilled oil or whatever on it. Dan was cleaning up the oil with some sort of soap. He washed it up and blew it dry to make sure there was no residue for a clean reading. He tried to clean the exhaust pipe and we noticed a spot that kept getting wet. Traced it to a 2 inch crack on the pipe. Since the car was within the 1000 mile 1 mo warranty that Zimbrick offers with that car, it was fixed at no cost to me. Zimbrick ate the cost of the repair that was diagnosed by a Zimbrick Tech!! OTOH, he could have waited for a month to tell me that he "discovered" it and I would have to pay for it. I believe it was charged to the Used Car Dept but if that doesn't speak about the honesty of the tech, I don't know what will. I made sure to write a letter of recommendation to Tom Zimbrick and give a copy to everyone up the line between him and Dan. Guess the wife was right when she insisted that I could look where I wanted for a MB but the purchase should be from Zimbrick European just because she feels more comfortable with the people there.

This is a place I would HIGHLY recommend you go to if you were going to buy the other car. I believe it is listed at $19000 and I would have seriously considered it if it wasn't for the fact that the wife wanted a warm tush while driving.

This is also the reason that when my friend needed service (head gasket leak) on her 190E and wanted to go to some independent shop that had a lower hourly rate, I told her that she should get Dan Gillitzer to repair it. His hourly rate was higher but they wanted to charge more hours and I was not sure of the quality of the job. After all was said and done, Dan's price came out a little lower than the independent shop. I saw that Dan fixed the head on my previous one which was also a 190E and it worked for $100,000 miles before I sold the car. Guess he did the job right. I know it is a little more of a pain since the techs work 4 10 hour days a week to get Dan but I think it is worth it to have a tech I know and trust do the job and do it right instead of a "Oops, Sorry about being stranded out in the middle of nowhere. Lets try it again.".

Hey there!

Thanks for the great post. Congrats on the C280! I was disparaging when I had my accident with my 190e on 12/29. I was too far from Madison to have it towed there, so I had to have it towed to the dealership in Glendale (Concours Motors). They were great to me, but they estimated damages at $9,000! I could have cried. I loved my little 190e and thought for sure that they were going to total it.

The insurance company came to have a look, and they lowered the estimate to just under $7,000, and they called me to tell me that they were going to FIX IT!! Yippee!! The body shop that works with Concours said that they could have my car back by February 13th! That was almost TWO MONTHS! I called the insurance company, and they suggested another body shop on Vera Ave. in Glendale. I went there and was REALLY impressed with the shop and the guys that worked there - really nice. They had several Mercedes cars and a couple of Porsches there that needed attention too, so I didn't feel bad leaving it there for repairs. I get it back tomorrow, and I can't wait to see what they've done to it. I'm just happy to be getting it back - I put too much money into it already to have it totaled. You know what they say about cars after accidents - I'm hoping that mine will be just as good or better than it was before the collision.

I can't sing Dan's praises enough, and it looks like you have had an experience that has you singing the same tune as I!! I'm happy for you that they covered the repairs on the C280. There would have been NO WAY that I would have been able to afford either of those cars. I paid $6k for my 190e with 70k on the clock. I got a great deal, for a poor seminarian!! If the insurance company would have totaled, I'm sure I would have been back to the American pieces of crap for awhile.

Thanks for sharing your story, and best of luck with your new C280. Hope it's good to you, and if it's not, you'll have Dan there to take care of it for you!!!

Peace-
Michael.

__________________
+AMDG+
2005 W203
Running as fast as I can to stay behind!!

Just a Head's Up. Dan is no longer working at Zimbrick. Not sure about the other techs because I haven't used them. Maybe later after I have used them a little more I might give a recommendation but we shall see.

See updated post.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/great-lakes-us-il-mi-mn-oh-wi/144138-wisconsin.html#post379642

Since I do a good deal of DIY work, I'm not going to bash any dealer or recommend a shop, but email me if you want if interested -- Michael pretty much knows my take on the Madison Merc repair scene.

One of my fraternity brother's is the general manager of Zimbrick, Inc, but have yet to use that yet.

I recently bought an 85 190e, and am looking for a good mb shop in the midwest. Anywhere in Wisconsin or Minnesota will help.

I have taken my 1980 450SL to Page Auto and they have really done outstanding work on the diagnosis and repair of the car. You can tell when you get there that they are real European car guys and they don't do any work that does not need to be done. It is hard to find someone who will work on the CIS fuel injection on an older Benz in this area. I would highly recommend!


Jim Loseke

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Jim Loseke
1980 450Sl "Black Beauty"
2002 C230 Kompressor "Spicy"

Yep -- they're good guys and they've been there for a long time.

Ron
http://germanstar.net