I've known Bart for about ten years now, originally through BimmerForums and about a month ago he and I came to a deal on his Unicorn Wagon, a car a lot of you guys here know well. Three weeks and 900 miles into blissful AMG ownership, the car begin doing some strange things; shifting awkwardly into and out of neutral and finally a CEL and transmission limp mode. I had the car towed to Buckhead Imports Performance and Jason, Thomas and Tony began their work diagnosing the issue.

Turns out something went wrong with the conductor plate and when they dropped the pan it was full of metal shavings. Not good. Within minutes of hearing the bad news, Bart was on the phone with Jason confirming what we all feared: the beast needed a full transmission rebuild. Bart called me and did what only Bart would do: he offered to PAY FOR HALF of the rebuild. That's right, no stories, excuses, just did what he thought he needed to do.

So hats off to someone that I consider a dear friend and I look forward to many more years of happy AMG ownership, made better right off the bat by Bart and the crew at BIP.

 

+1000000 … Yep Bart is a great guy. I only had one dealing with him directly but I can certainly vouch for him (not that I'd need to). Sad to see him leave the forums

 

Wow what a good person. I know people who sell their car and as soon as something goes wrong which was not supposed to according to the owners condition of the car, they just back out and throw the, "it was sold as is" BS.

Hats off to this guy even though I dont know him

 

good people do exist....

 

Sounds like a lot of good peeps in Atlanta.

 

Bart is a great person, PERIOD! I'm glad I had the pleasure of meeting him.

 

Most would tell you you ain't driving it right. How ARE you driving it lol?
Great gesture, great forum member, nice car!

 

That's definitely a great move on his part, but I'm not so sure I would have done the same. If it was within the week and maybe a couple hundred miles, then yeah I may have, but yours was longer. These are performance cars and people are going to drive them and abuse them. The extent of the abuse is what determines whether the car stays in tact or breaks.

 

Now go ahead and slap the lower front lip on there

I doubt it was abused as I believe the estate is driven by his wife for their kids.

 

There's your answer right there!!
Juuuust playing.
But: I did let my wife use my car the whole day the other day, now I feel a bigger vibration and need a rear wheel bearing mysteriously

 

You sound like the type of person that Bart isn't. Glad I didn't get it from you.

Ha! Well my wife is far from normal. We sold her s/c'd E36 M3 on 1000# coilovers with urethane bushings throughout when we learned she was pregnant with our second son. Plus she holds a BMW CCA Club Racing license. When she curbed one of the HRE's on my E46 M3 vert, she actually called me up crying. Yes, I'm a lucky guy.

And FWIW, the car started acting up heading back from an HPDE at Road Atlanta when she was following me as I was towing the race car...at maybe 65mph. Not that I need to defend myself, just pointing that out.

 

99% of the people here are the "type of person that Bart isn't", and if they say otherwise, they're just talking. Actions speak louder than words and it's hard to say you'd take care of the buyer when you're not in that situation. Like I said, it was a great move on his part and consider yourself lucky to purchase a car from a seller like that.

I bought a motor from a shop locally who many people have dealt with and have said many good things. Within 50 miles of driving, the motor spun a bearing... with no abuse done at all, and no oil loss whatsoever. The shop pretty much told me to eff off.

It just goes to show how some people are complete crooks and others are saints when it comes to business. You happened to deal with a saint.

 

It sucks to write a big check after you sell someone a car in perfect working condition with impeccable service records, but ***** happens for no reason no matter how hard you try.

You would think that having the tranny fluid changed twice over the past couple of years and running stock boost would keep the tranny happy, but it just goes to show that a relatively cheap part like a conductor plate can really do some damage when they fail.

I would rather leave a few bucks on the table and do what is right, instead of sacrificing my integrity or friendship for some short term gain.

Also, I sleep better at night knowing that I did everything I possibly could to transfer ownership of a "good" car to someone else, especially another diehard car aficionado.

You are a class guy too, never met you but I bet you are the type of guy that would step up to the plate too if needed.

Don't worry I have not left the forum, I still run the wagon registry and read this forum daily. AMG's will always have a spot in my heart and I have to be in the know when Chawkins and RedBullJunky tear into the 9's

In the end you have to do what is right, never hurts to give a little

We try our best, and you sir have one of the cleanest and tastefully modded white E55s on the board

We try and take care of everyone, I guess there is a bit of southern hospitality here.

You are a good guy too, your trials and tribulations make me respect you even more. Hopefully I won't have to push your beast again, that car is freaking heavy!



Look at Chawkins, the "AMG" crack dealer already trying to get him to buy some more parts

You are probably correct, but it would make it hard to look at yourself in the mirror every morning if you treated people like that. I guess I was taught differently

Thanks for the compliments guys and hats off to the BIP crew for getting the unicorn back on the road in short order and in better than new condition.

 

Big believer in karma. Good things happen to good people because good people do good things for others.

Wait, what?

Well done.