San Diego Performance European

Finally a «Yes sure… we can do that»!!!
And SDPE did just… That!!!
And a follow up call TOO!!!
Thank You Ben & Julie
& Staff…
Rev Malone

Julie is simply wonderful and Ben knows what the hell he’s doing.
I will continue to bring my screamin’ beamer here until the wheels fall off, and when that happens, I’ll get it towed here and Ben will put them back on.
I trust SDPE!

Can I get a applause? Wow, this Auto repair shop is awesome. I was referred to this place by my cousin. The owner, Ben, and officer manager, Julie are great people and very welcoming. I took my 2007 BMW 530i to get my trunk actuator replaced and Ben did an awesome job on repairing the actuator. Julie, was a great help as to explaining and showing me exactly what was going to be repaired. I trusted them 100% and they delivered 100%. If your looking for a reasonable and quality auto repair shop for a luxury vehicle, you have to contact San Diego Performance European. You won’t be disappointed. Thanks again, Ben and Julie.

This is an awesome shop to take your precious euro car, especially a classic, which is what I was particular on. I had an awesome experience interacting with Julie, the office manager, and Ben, owner and mechanic. Both of them were extremely friendly and loved to have a conversation, which I appreciate a lot more than just a shop that takes your car and money. Ben was more than happy to talk about the cars he had in his shop and their expected build.
I took my 1988 BMW 325is (E30) there for custom fabricated rear sway bar mounting reinforcements and minor body work… which then became severe body work; more on that later. I, unfortunately, only had a week to get work done as I was moving, but Ben took the challenge confidently and promised me my car would be ready.
Ben knew exactly what to do with my car and was quick to get to working on it. Julie was great at giving me daily updates via email on the status of my car and would include pictures whenever a problem occurred such as my body work request.
I initially took it in for what I thought would be minor rust repair since I was taking the car to Washington. The rust repair ended up being a larger rear body repair and given a week, Ben did what he could possibly do with my car in that given time, which is another reason this shop deserves a great review because you could tell that Ben actually cared for your car; and as a car enthusiast, that is all you can ask for of a shop. I’m sure if I had more time the car would’ve been done up all the way, but for the work I received and their cost, you CANNOT beat San Diego Performance European. One of the best shops in San Diego and I will continue to go there whenever I’m in town.

I recently relocated to San Diego from Chicago and after reviewing such tremendous reviews I decides to have my newly acquired E92 serviced here. Julie was phenomenal and gave me great details of what to expect, accurate and reasonable pricing and was available to answer every last question I had for the shop. Ben (the owner) is meticulous/​detailed in his craft and it definitely kept me comfortable and assured that I will be returning for all future maintenance and check ups.
I would highly recommend them to anyone in search of a top notch specialist!

I have been taking my car to Ben for over 6 years. I have always liked him and his staff for being very professional. They have done a great job with my VW Toureg 2005
I had the check engine on for a while. Thy have fixed numerous wrong things on my car and made it check engine light free. I am so happy and thankful that it did not cost me the outrageous prices that I was quoted for. That is one thing you can depend on good work and reasonable prices. Just try them and you will find out. I recommend them strongly for all of your European cars.

I took my C63 Amg here and these guys are professional and honest. And really know what they are doing… They go out of their way to try and make and keep the customer happy! Thanks for the great work!

To all European vehicle (especially BMW) owners and enthusiasts. I have worked with Ben Flores for a number of years and I have to tell you, he is hands down one of the most knowledgeable, enthusiastic, dedicated, honest, and down to earth people that I know. From race engine building to chassis setup, simple cosmetics to control module diagnosis and so on… Check this guy out, he knows his stuff!!!

SDPE is the definition of perfection when it comes to European cars. I have taken him 3 e46 M3s, 1 e60 550i and 1 e39 M5. His attention to detail is fantastic. Bens ability to identify problems and make sound reccomendations is what makes me continue to go back. I work as a buyer for a car dealership and have purchased over 4,000 vehicles for my company however ive yet to take home a European car for myself with out SDPEs approval. Would highly recommend as he is the ONLY Euro shop I recommend.

SDPE is my #1 choice for any car repairs! I have never owned a BMW but I work in the area and this shop has out preformed even my friends who happen to be mechanics. Ben Flores is very kind and knowledgeable. He has never fixed anything that didn’t need to be fixed and he is always upfront on what the issues could be. I am very thankful to have found him as car repairs can be very costly if not done with the consumer in mind.

We’ve been going to SDPE/​Apex for 10+ years and have had nothing but great experiences and service. We’ve had a handful of cars serviced here including a 1980 BMW E21 C1 Alpina, a 1999 BMW 540i Touring, a 1999 Mercedes c43, a 2003 BMW M Sport Wagon and a 2002 Mercedes ML55 Rentech.
Ben Flores is very knowledgeable about European cars and is exceptional at what he does. He knows all the in’s and out’s of Euro vehicles and if he doesn’t know, he knows where to find the information. He’s gone out of his way to assist us in emergency situations and always does so with a genuine kindness. He takes great pride in his work and is a perfectionist. The things we appreciate most about this shop is after market performance and racing as well as OEM. We highly recommend Ben for any European car enthusiast.
The staff here are professional and offer friendly customer service.

Ben has serviced my vehicles since 1990 (approx) and has always done an awesome job. The customer service is absolutely the best and prices much better than the dealership service departments!
I just hope that Ben continues his business, otherwise we would not know where to take our vehicles and who to trust!

Let me preface this review by saying that I will present all the facts truthfully, as I perceived them, but I also will present my opinion with how things should have been.
I do not have a great experience with Ben Flores. In fact, in retrospect, it was pretty bad.
I had just gotten a new e30 M3 and there were more than just a few problems that needed to be addressed. I brought it here to get an initial post-​purchase checkup, and he pointed out a few things that were useful, but later, i found out that he missed a couple things that were pretty critical.
The first was motor mounts that were either on the verge of failure or had already failed at the time of inspection. The car came with Ireland Engineering urethane mounts and the driver’s side had completely shorn while the passenger side mount had either been overtightened or melted from the heat of the exhaust manifold (heat shield was in place). So my motor was basically bouncing around on one mount. A simple visual check would have made obvious the status of these mounts, but I was not informed of this. I have since replaced the mounts myself.
The second thing was very loose exhaust clamps (clamps that hold the center exhaust section and the muffler together). This led to my exhaust falling off in the middle of the road. not the end of the world, but if the car was lifted up and inspected, i don’t see why a simple wiggle test wouldn’t have been performed. and the sleeves were LOOSE. not even semi-​tight
My second experience with him happened when the car blew its head gasket, and this was what really turned me off to him. I had to get the car towed to his shop, and upon arrival, I was scolded for letting this happen to my car.
Seriously?
Like I didn’t already feel like shit that this happened?
He chided me for not taking care of the batteries in the gauge cluster, which were not fully functioning, but was still reading the coolant temperature just fine. The problem, according to him, turned out to be an incorrectly installed timing chain… so I really didn’t appreciate him acting a dick about my car overheating.
Aside from the fact that he chided me, the biggest problem was that he missed a critical issue. When he finished the full valve job, he mis-​diagnosed one of my problems by telling me my radiator was clogged, when in fact the damn water pump was leaking. I smelled coolant the day i took it from the shop and I dismissed it as, «oh, it’s probably just residual coolant evaporating on the outside of something». I trusted that he was a competent enough mechanic to not miss something that obvious, and a check of the engine bay revealed no obvious leaks.
After a few more drives, the water pump failed completely and all my coolant disappeared leading to a near-​miss repeat overheating catastrophe.
Ben used my «clogged radiator» and an SI board that was still functioning (the SI batteries were on their way out, but again, the temperature gauge was still fully functioning when i picked it up) as an excuse to not warranty the work that he did. He made me sign a thing that said it wasn’t his fault if something failed.
When I called back repeatedly about this, he ignored my calls and failed to return any of my messages.
So my point is this: he may know some standard operating procedures for this car, but he’s not good at fully diagnosing the problem and ensuring all bases are covered. In my opinion, he performs an incomplete job, and for the premium that he charges, his work should have been bulletproof.
On top of that, with shitty customer service and uncalled for snobbery, there’s nothing this guy can offer that would make me go back to him.

I took my BMWs (three BMWS) to APEX for about 2 years, every time that they work on something they never completed the job. I always had to take the car back.
They rebuilt all the mechanics of my convertible, for what ever reason the top stop working I call them to have them take a look at it and they never return my calls.
Another BMW the window regular broke they repaired about 6 months later the regular stop working again they charged me for another regular.
I had a 635CSI they thought that the fuel pump went out it turned out to be the computer. They had my car for 2 weeks when they quoted me a price they wanted $ 800 to diagnose the problem. I told them that that sounded like they didn’t know what they were doing. Neil was a nice guy but he didn’t know how to diagnose a vehicle. I would have been better off taking my car to the dealer.
Find some where else to have your BMW repaired.

I was recommended this place by a friend as I was getting so fed up of dealing with the overpriced BMW dealerships. It is by far the best experience I have had with a car repair place. It was so refreshing to work with Ben and Gus as they are so honest and know what they are talking about. They are trustworthy! One is so used to dealing with the shady car repair guy and these guys genuinely run an honest business and quote you a great price. They take pride in their work, do a great job and will not give you your car back until it is in perfect working condition. If you have a BMW, take it there, or any other european car for that matter, they are very nice people and I will probably never go anywhere else from now on to get my car fixed.

One of the best BMW repair shops hands down.
Only drag is now they don’t allow you to bring your own parts. Call ahead of time if you want to bring some special aftermarket parts. IE superchargers, etc…

Seriously great place. Ben and Neil really know their stuff.
I recently picked up an E46 M3 on the cheap so I took it there before I bought it for a PPI. They did a thorough job, stayed a bit late for me, and it was on the cheap. They really go out of their way to make sure your up to date, informed and satisfied while they fix your car.
So far I’ve done: PPI, Inspection II, diff flange seals, rear trailing arm bushings, and a fan clutch. Grand total from Apex/​SDPE: $ 1700ish. Grand total from BMW: $ 3700ish.
They get a bit busy sometimes which can be expected from such a small operation but the work they do is tip-​top, they’re honest, and they’re a fraction of the price of the dealer. If you have a BMW that’s out of warranty DO NOT go to the dealer. Bring it here.
Thanks guys!

i just got an oil change from there today and realized that this is the only shop in san diego that i’d take my car (i have a 1988 e30) to be worked on. they’re know for working on bmw’s and can fix or modify anything on them; these guys even fabricate race parts.
i haven’t had too much done to my car besides the pre-​purchase inspection, valve adjustment (something that needs to be done for my specific car), tune up, and an oil change. parts fixed include the water pump and alternator bushings;these are some of the minor services that they perform. some of the major services include rebuilding a motor and creating a fully raced track car (not that fast and furious type deal, real skill is involved). btw… keep it on the track.
the only bad part about the shop to me is how much i get charged to get things worked on… wow…it’s gonna cost you. the parts itself may not cost much, but the labor is gonna get you. but you get what you pay for, and i can’t perform the work so i’ll take it to a place that has the knowledge and ability to work on older cars. my car is definately not a daily driver due to how sensitive the motor is. even still, the price isn’t all that bad when compared to the dealer and other shops in san diego. you’re gonna get a fair price from this place. big ups to the guys and apex/​sdpe.