Just for a sense of balance I thought I'd lend my exposure to Auto Couture. I had them do a VERY complex job, converting an SMG to a 6MT. I'd like to meet ANYONE that doesn't feel this is a complex endeavour.
I was living in the Philadelphia area and had VAC motorsports do a clutch exchange and they ended up replacing a lot of other parts. They overcharged me, used cheap aftermarket parts while charging me for OEM, kept my car for a month, they broke my rear view mirror off the windshield, had it repaired for free (I know the guy that fixed it for them), and then charged ME for it on top of the other charges. They also said I had to pay in cash ($3400), they said if not cash it would be $300 more even with check. Needless to say, I was not in a rush to return to them.
My SMG pump had died so I was looking to do the SMG to 6MT conversion. Coincidentally one of the people living in my building was walking by and complimented me on my car ('03 Laguna Seca M3 Vert). We started talking and I told him about my plans for the conversion and that I was trying to find a shop up to the task. He told me about Auto Couture and raved about them. He said it was far (2 hours from Philly area) but well worth the trip and he didn't take his BMW anywhere else.
I called that day and spoke with Stavros. It was immediately apparent that they were "car guys". Very pleasant, sounded excited about the opportunity, and very professional. Stavros checked with Sean (master tech) about the job and an accurate quote. Called me back within the hour to go over everything with me including time tables (which turned out to be accurate), prices, etc. I had performance technic in Cali build the kit. Auto Couture was great about taking out my bell housing, shipping it to perf tech to do the machine work, and getting the bell housing and a full install kit back. When I went to drop off the car, they were awesome about letting me look around the shop (they have some amazing cars and some amazing ongoing work). Sean gladly stopped what he was doing to introduce himself and talk to me about the job. Like I said, true car guys.. it was like being in a garage working on cars with a bunch of my friends.
They told me it would be about 4 weeks and it was just under that. The team was awesome and Stavros called me about every 3 days to update me. Even if there was no progress and they were just waiting on the parts from Perf Tech, he still called to let me know that. As one would expect, there were a couple complications, and they kept me up to date every step along the way and didn't charge me up the *** for the work and the headache.
When I went to pick it up, they were great. I got caught in traffic and Stavros stayed about an hour after closing time for me. And, he was glad to do so and still took his time talking to me and going over stuff when I finally got there (he didn't rush me at all). The car was amazing. They had already tested it and fined tuned everything, so by the time I picked it up, it was perfect and ready to go. And let me say, my only regret is that I didn't do this the day I bought my car. It's worth every cent and like I have a new car. But I digress... Of note, they called me the day after I got my car back and again a couple of weeks afterwards to see how everything was going.
Prior to going with Auto Couture, I read this review and there was one other bad one on a different site that I found about them. I'm extremely glad I believed the other hundred great reviews and didn't make a decision based on the 2 bad ones. These guys are extremely nice, extremely professional, extremely competent, and actually care about customers as people/friends. I just moved to Florida and it will be tough to find a local place to live up to Auto Couture.
Just my 2 cents...
-Nik
PS: I realize I don't have many posts on this forum because I'm a 3 series driver. If you look on E46 fanatics or M3 forum, I have many posts and how-to write ups.