B & M Transmissions

«Never assume malice when stupidity will suffice»…I hope.
After some clutch work was done at another shop, I was told that the 3^rd & 4^th gears in my 2001 Jeep Wrangler’s NV3550 manual transmission were out. Since they were fine before the clutch work, I’d lost faith in the first shop. After a Unilocal search, I called and spoke to Travis at B&M Transmissions, who insisted that there was almost no way the gears could have been destroyed by either clutch work or grinding down on my part. He offered a free tow to his shop, a free diagnostic check, and implied that the work could be done quickly. I agreed to have the vehicle towed to the Burnet location of B&M.
The vehicle was towed at 5pm, Thursday, Jan. 21^st. It wasn’t until Saturday that Travis called, saying they had to crack the transmission for further investigation, but their transmission guy wouldn’t be in until Monday, and there were about 7 vehicles in front me. I thought «transmission guy? As in a single transmission guy for a place called B&M Transmissions?» That struck me as odd.
It took 5 days to get an estimate– $ 2410 to rebuild my transmission. I replied «What about a refurb? I’ve seen them for less than half that.» He replied with something like «we’ve looked around for those NV3550s, and they’re hard to find.» I replied «give me an hour.» It took me literally 20 minutes to find a shop in San Antonio that would sell me a refurbished transmission with a 1 year unlimited mileage warranty for $ 800, less than a third of what B&M wanted for a rebuild. In addition, they had at least 5 of them for sale (so much for being «hard to find»). I called back with the news, and Travis agreed to put the refurbished transmission in for $ 650.
If you’ve ever worked on cars, you know that when you get a refurbished unit, you bring in the old part to exchange for the new one. It’s called a core exchange, and it’s standard practice. Hence, I had to get my old, broken transmission from B&M, take it to San Antonio, swap/​pay for the new one, and take it back to B&M. Three times, twice on the phone, and once face to face, I told them to make sure the transmission was ready for me to take, and that they had all the parts they’d need off it to mount the new one. Three times.
After reaffirming they’d gotten all the parts they needed from the old transmission, I arrive at B&M around 12:30p on Wed. the 27^th. They hadn’t even removed the bell housing. Travis tried to assert that the shop in SA would need it (they didn’t even ask, for the record). In addition, they hadn’t taken off the bearing retainer either, for which I had just paid $ 164 (that’s another story, but Travis knew what was going on with that and should’ve had it removed). That they couldn’t even handle the simple request to strip the old transmission of necessary parts should have been a red flag. After convincing them to remove the bell housing and retainer, one of the guys said «you should be able to move it yourself,» even though they were wearing work gloves and clothing, and I, their paying customer, was not.
I trucked the old transmission to San Antonio, swapped it, and headed back to Austin with the new one (perfectly smooth transaction). When I rolled up around 5:15, Travis couldn’t be bothered to greet me or offer to help unload the transmission because he was off in the corner, playing with a remote controlled car. I’m not sure if B&M services r/​c transmissions, but I’m guessing not.
So now that I’ve taken time off work to get a transmission, I’m in a rotten mood when I get a call the next day saying they had NOT, in fact, removed all the mounting hardware from the old transmission (including the reverse light connector), they couldn’t find the necessary parts anywhere, and couldn’t proceed with the installation. Travis wanted to charge me $ 75 for a new reverse light connector, as well. Of course I was angry, and I told Travis at the very least they should «eat» that $ 75 connector. He refused. Words were exchanged and he told me I’d have to find the parts myself. That’s exactly what I did.
I called Travis back the next day and told him to expect a FedEx package with all the parts they neglected to strip off the old transmission. To his credit, he apologized for «being an a$$hole» to me on the phone and swore that if those parts got in early Saturday he’d work late or pull guys off the line to make sure my Jeep would get taken care of (it had been there more than 2 weeks).
When I received notice that the FedEx arrived early afternoon Mon. Feb. 1, I called and asked when I could pick up my Jeep. «Well, it probably won’t be until tomorrow,» he said. He couldn’t even give me a definitive answer about when it would be done.
So Tuesday, February 2^nd, 13 days after B&M Transmission took possession of my Jeep, I get a call at 9:24am saying my it’s ready. «But,» Travis says, «there’s a shudder when you go into 2^nd and 3^rd gear.»
As of this morning, it also pops out of 5^th gear. Great job, guys.

I would like to say thank you to travis and his team. No matter how many times I called to ask ridiculous travis never sounded irritated!
We dropped it off and we knew it probably wasn’t gonna be good but they took great car of us. Had to rebuild the transmission. But the guys at B&M were nice and reasonable plus warranty!
Thanks guys!

Last year I had to get my transmission replaced. B&M did it quickly and for a reasonable price. Since my car is a 99 Honda, it has needed various other repairs. I brought it back to B&M for fixes great and small, and every time Travis and his team take care of it with no problems, often within a couple hours. Solid shop for general auto repair.

I will not go back there again. It has to be one of the worst experiences I have ever had. I went in for two issues «service engine soon» warning and lift gas struts for the trunk door. After pricing they quoted me $ 150 for gas struts and I said do not do it. For the Service engine soon light they suggested to try replace the sensors. They said it will take 2 hrs of labor at $ 85 /​hr. I was like fine if it fixes my issues I am good.
They said the sensor change made the service engine light go away. To be fair they said there was no guarantee the issue was fixed. Which is true because the «Service Engine» soon light came back 2 HRS laters, I spent $ 260 for nothing !
Anyway here is where things get worse. I got their at 3 pm. We waited 40 mins for the parts to arrive and by 4.18 pm they were done. At which I said why are you charging me for 2 hrs when you only worked for less than an hour. They response I got was «Pay or leave your car here !!» /​«This what the book says». I really like to know which freaking book that is. They then negotiated and I paid for 1.5 hrs of labor for less then 30 mins of work. The owner had conveniently disappeared and I left talking to technicians .
I left the establishment and got a call with a screaming voice saying I did not pay for the gas struts and that the mechanics had replaced. «I had run away with out paying». «We will report you to the debt collector». And phone was slammed on me .
I had absolutely no clue they fixed the gas struts EVEN AFTER I SPECIFICALLY SAID NOT TO FIX IT they had changed it. Then owners calls screaming at me for his mistake and making me pay for it. I did call back square it away and payed an extra $ 60 to make it total of $ 320.
My service engine light is still on and I have 2 gas struts I didn’t want !! They cannot be trusted !!

Absolutely the worst. Travis the so called manager is an ass. I don’t think the mechanics at this place could assemble a tricycle much less a transmission! DO NOT GO HERE EVER

Brought my vehicle in because it had a large rattling noise before shifting. They did a quick diagnostic and determined the issue. They let me know that the part that was causing the issue was under warranty and I should contact my Dealer.
No charge for a diagnostic! They were quick, professional and only asked that I come back when I have an issue they can fix.
Thanks!

Let me start by saying that my minivan didn’t actually require a repair, so my review is limited.
However, our transmission would occasionally slip, and I couldn’t find a friend with a rec on a tranny shop. So I just drove up Burnet Rd until I came across them. Travis and Phillip at B&M were both very courteous and helpful. They kept it for 2 days and drove it a couple of times, but couldn’t recreate the event and therefore couldn’t diagnose it. Although Travis suspected a possibility, he didn’t try to hard-​sell something that might turn out to be unnecessary. They did not charge for the diagnostic. When it gets /​worse, I’m brining it back to B&M on Burnet Rd.

I bought a used car that had a slipping transmission. The dealer told me I had to use B&M. I though, «Crap, their forcing me to go to their shop. I’m gonna get screwed!!»
Did i get screwed? Hell no! B&M did a fantastic job! Turned out the transmission needed to be rebuilt. They dealt with the warranty company and the dealer. They kept me informed of what was going on with my car. The owner talked with me every day the car was in the shop, explaining everything to me.
When my car was ready, they told me I needed to bring it back within two weeks so they could check it out again. When I brought it back, they found a leak in the pan gasket. Again, I thought, «crap, I’m screwed.» Nope, I wasn’t. They took it apart, ordered the part, and put it all back together in less than an hour. My car runs great!
I hope I don’t every have to have transmission work done on my car again, but if I do, I’m taking it back to B&M Transmissions.