Murketts & AST
 

There has been a lot of praise thrown Murketts way so I thought I would give them a try as I knew some bits needed doing on my car.
I have owned BMWs for about 9 years and have always used main dealers for servicing.
I have to say I was a bit sceptical and the distance was putting me off.
I was glad I made the effort. It really has been a like a breath of fresh air dealing with Andy. He really knows his stuff and speaks to you as one would expect but you often don't get from BMW dealerships. It was like I'd known him for years after the couple of weeks they had the car for.
They gave the car the full once over' advising me of things that needed looking at (that weren't OEM) and replacing everything that needed to be replaced on the BMW warranty.
There was no flippant remarks made about a couple of mods on the car, as I have found with other dealerships.
I returned to pick the car up and everything I expected to be done was done and other bits that I wasn't expecting were also done, including 4 wheel alignment.
I could have saved them that task as the next stop was AST:whistle:

Anyway I will gladly travel the miles from Leeds to Cambridge for Murketts to do all my work :thumbs: and highly recommend them :supz:






on to AST to get these fitted

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...7022010007.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...7022010013.jpg



http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...7022010016.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...7022010015.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...22010017_2.jpg

I opted against the rear coilover due to some of the horror stories I have heard...

Curtis at AST was great along with the guys from Powerhouse :supz:
great garage with a great spray painted picture on the wall

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...7022010011.jpg

Full AP kit on later this week :)

and if this post doesnt read right :birdman: I'm knackered having just got home

looks good s.mac:thumbs:, thanks for the info. interested to see how you get on with the AST. are your AP's all painted and ready to go on? i'd also be interested to see how they turned out.

Excellent news mate and glad your pleased with Andy and Murkett's!

Your right about it being like chatting to an old friend, I was very impressed on the phone when speaking to him and have already discussed my inspection II with him, going to try and get it done before the Ring/Spa trip to make sure everything is hunkey dorey! ;)

I went for the AST sportline 2 kit, I have it on a soft setting which is softer than OEM and will have a play with the settings later.
Its set up for road at -1.5 camber and -2.5 for track, I will see how it goes.

The callipers are ready and I will take some pics, they have been the biggest headache I have ever had with a mod, it will teach me to buy 2nd hand :banghead: I had to get a sign writer to do the yellow ap text ;)

glad to hear things went smoothly at Murketts

i wish we could get -1.5 to -3.0 on the camber adjustment as i think that would be ideal :smokin:

Looks good Steve - another thumbs up for Murketts too :thumbs:

That's interesting that the AST kit you get over there is different to the ones you get in the States ...

Is this is the 4100 single adjustable or the 4200 double adjustable?

I've heard really good things about ASTs and have been tempted to switch to these.

US Version:

http://www.vorshlag.com/images/catal...letekit_01.jpg

http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/4...13_zpmPn-L.jpg

Murkett's rock!
 

Must say i had exactly the same great experience with Murkett's myself, very professional and knowledgeable bunch. Highly recommend them:-)

I just wish it was the same at other BMW dealers i have used. Why-o-why do they have such bad attitude??

PP.

To cover up their ignorance and luck of knowledge, I presume :whistle:
I'm looking forward to my next visit to Murketts on Friday, for SMG update :thumbs:

Because they are jumped up cocks who think they are something they are quite clearly not! :bigcry: :banghead: :banghead:

Price Matt? :)

these are the ones I went for, specific CSL ones

http://www.astsuspensionuk.com/sportline2.asp?make=BMW

from

http://www.balancemotorsport.co.uk

Hi,

AST offer very good perfromance and
are very simple to adjust on the spring
height with their 'Clamp' system.

We were trying to get them to make the
40mm 3 Way damper inserts for a E30 M3 in
2006, but it was not something they
would do then.

We drove a Test E36 with their AST Race set
up on, and it was very flat handling without being
skitish, even over the bumper sections.

Very impressed.

I do not know if this has changed now,
but in 2006, they had the same damper
internals as Ohlins, but without the price.

Regards,

The Gorilla.

http://www.cslregister.com/forum/sho...3171#post43171

;)

I think DuncunR said Andy @ Murketts charged him about £41 :thumbs: I decided to get it done as there is no evidence in my extensive history file to suggest otherwise

Just came back from Murketts... Great Service as always :thumbs: Had my SMG checked and it appears it's already had all the updates last time the clutch assembly was done (under warranty) at the end of 2007 so there was no need for updates, in the end. However, I was informed that my clutch forgot what to do precisely in the CSL, so it had to be re-trained :smt017. I know it sound very strange but as per invoice... Check SMG status. re-teach clutch ... apparently this is quite common so if your SMG doesn't feel quite right, its worth having BMW re educate your clutch ;) Grand total of £35.25 and my SMG does feel crisper & more responsive. Monday @ Bedford Autodrom is going to be a tough lesson for my clutch :hahaha:

Nice one Matt, it's certainly something I'll be speaking to Andy about, I think this 'clutch slur' is quite a common thing amongst us so worth looking into whilst they have my car! ;)

Certainly is :thumbs: and a very cheap fix :beer:

my new clutch (2 years old) was slurring. Teach by BMW didnt work and clutch due for replacement next week.:thumbs:

Explain this slur exactly Shim, is it like delay or more like a slip?

happened to my first ckutch at 42k miles as well, it is just a slow engagement to the next gear, so the clutch engages but the revs dont die back to the new gear level as it is not fully engagd so the revs stay high for 2-3 times as long and slowly drop

so

brrrrrrrrrrrrrr click brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrruuummmmmmmm

instead of


brrrrrrrrrrrrrr click bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmm

worse when you are at full chat and not there when you change up leisurely

Well... after the up coming TD on Monday I will know for 100% certain if my replacement, 2 year old clutch needs replacing. Seemed OK on the way home after the "re-teach" but then again A14 is packed to the full with SPECK cameras so it's no place to drive enthusiastically :whistle: Are U getting that done on "Good will" or under warranty ?

Thanks for that mate, I think it's safe to say I definately have a clutch slur then! and guess what, my car has just ticked over the 42k mark....

first one was goodwill but as i paid half labour, the warranty lasts two years :thumbs::thumbs::thumbs:

Same as if you pay excess on your warranty,your parts are coverd because you have paid towards them,if you dont pay excess then the parts are not coverd for 2 years,daft but true.:wink:

Huh!? Call me stupid but I'm full of man flu at the moment and that doesn't make sense to me!? :banghead:

if you get a warranty job FREE then there is no warranty on that job, BUT if you contribute you gt 2 years warranty]

now go back to bed and sleep :thumbs:

Ah I'm with you! :thumbs:I wish people would always try and appeal to the lowest common denominator! :bigcry: :hahaha:

I got no fookin sleep last night at all, I'm still in bed now on the laptop! :hahaha:

Thats why i get excess with my warranty.:thumbs::thumbs:

Mine's the same as yours then matey so I've actually made a good decision there for a change! lol :beer:

:thumbs::thumbs::thumbs:

AST offer a good range for the CSL sportline 2 either with or without coilover rear and the race setup are both superb, i ran s2's on my E36 and worked superb right upto 1100lb springs, cant recommend them enough, been selling them also for 3 years now and i havn't had any problems reported ;)

Was just doing a bit more research on the ASTs and thought I'd refer back to your post .. then something caught my eye ...

The rear adjuster is suppose to sit on the top like KWs not on the aluminium arm ;)

it was fitted by the UK AST guys ?? are you sure, is it an easy job to change ??

if I remember rightly the OEM springs sat on a rubber seat ?

Also, I think the height adjuster is sat on top of the spring ???

There might be a difference to barrel springs, but according to the Vorshlag guys it goes on the top:

I've searched also and the opinion is split actually on where it should ideally go - I personally think it is better on top as there's less movement withe the adjuster and less likely for it to punch through the aluminium arm if it sat on the bottom.

There is an advantage for having it on the bottom though and that is you can put a long bolt and washer and actually secure the adjuster to the arm.

I believe most other brands have the adjuster on top.

Not hard to change around - wheel off, 18mm damper bolt and drop the arm, support it on a jack and take out the spring and adjuster and flip it.

http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Instruct...05_3sfJL-M.jpg

Thanks for the info :thumbs:

how much is murketts service 2 please :thumbs:as mine will need doing this year

Inspection II is around £850 I think mate, £400 cheaper than my local main stealer! :banghead: :bigcry: :smokin:

I went to Murketts in 2004 to have my APs fitted & they were brilliant. Nice to see they're still doing the bizz :thumbs: