CS Motorwerks

My first time here was today. I had a great mech for my 530i Bimmer — in Santa Monica — but going into town from the Bu these days is an all day affair, so I wanted a mechanic closer to me. So I went over the hill to the Valley, based on the Unilocal reviews I found for CS Motorwerks.
Chris diagnosed my problem (bad spark plugs) and did the work quickly, and well. He also went over the car and told me six other things that should be taken care of in the next year or so – and he was dead on about all of them. (I checked the engine later. Every thing he told me was right.)
BMW’s are insanely great cars with some insanely ridiculous shortcomings. It takes a real artist to figure it all out. You want total dependability, get a Honda. You want beauty and grace, get a BMW or an Alfa — but prepare for it to fuck up.
It takes a special kind of wrenching to make these cars reliable in the long run. Wrenching that is surprisingly hard to find. This place impressed me. I used to do all my own work on my Bimmer, but no more — my body punishes me when I work on my car — but I know cars and and I know and respect great mechanics — it’s an art form, no lie, you have to be super Zen to really be good at it – and Chris impressed me a helluva lot. He’s smart, honest, and thorough.
He did the job quickly today, and his prices are reasonable.
Really good mechanic. Really good shop. Good karma. I’ll be back.

I trust nobody else with my vehicle except these guys here.
Don’t sell you won’t you don’t need and the prices are more than fair.
Rich

Recently bought a previously owned 325i. Wanted the full trans service.
Christian provided the full dealer service at close to half the price. Fully checked out the car as well (he knew I had recently purchased) and stated I had a very solid car! He explained to me in detail about another issue I had brought up and what was needed and when. He’s a very solid guy with a very nice shop.
I could not recommend him enough!

I took my car to two shops for a quote on some engine work and my third shop was the charm.
Christian at CS Motorwerks provided me a much better price for the work I needed and walked me through the process of the work that needed to be done and the pricing. After getting my car back and feeling like I avoided being ripped off by two other shops, I don’t think I will take my BMW anywhere else as long as I’m in socal.
I’ve always wanted an independent car shop that I felt like I could trust and it looks like I finally found one.
I definitely recommend taking your BMW here and I highly doubt you’ll be disappointed in the car service or customer service.

My almost 7 yr old 2008 328 conv had the check engine light on and Christian diagnosed it to be a failed sensor. I have a SULEV (super ultra low emission vehicle) and the sensor that failed was welded onto the radiator, which meant the radiator had to be replaced also. Rather than just doing the repairs, Christian did some research and found out that this problem was still covered under warranty. He gave me the phone number of a service advisor at the BMW dealer who was familiar with Federal and California SULEV extended warranties. I brought my car into the dealer and repairs were performed at no charge! The service advisor at the BMW dealership even commented that CS Motorwerks saved me a lot of money because not many independent BMW repair shops would look into seeing if a certain type of repair was still covered on a vehicle that the manufacturer’s warranty had expired almost 3 years earlier and that they would have just done the repair and collected their fee. Christian’s extensive knowledge of BMW’s is only matched by his honesty!

For the last 3 years, my family and I have been taking our Mini Coopers to CS Motorwerks. We have always been happy with the quality of service they provide. The team at CS Motorwerks knows the ins and outs of the automotive sector and are always friendly and available to answer any questions. I would recommend this shop to anyone who owns a BMW/​Mini Cooper. Your car will be in good hands.

Great mechanic, great shop. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a solid, honest place to get your car fixed. It won’t get any better than this!

Well it’s 8 months later than my previous review. This time around my brakes were at the point that they finally needed to be replaced/​worked on along with some other maintenance items on my list. It was a breath of fresh air to have someone like Christian work on my BMW. He’s an incredibly knowledgable, talented, honest and fair mechanic/​shop owner. I firmly believe in supporting small local businesses and this is one business I support. I am over the moon thrilled to find my forever mechanic and to not feel like I paid a mortgage sized bill at the end of my service. My car runs beautifully and I am one happy and relieved driver. It’s gotta say/​mean something when you read all the outstanding reviews on CS Motorwerks. Thank you, Christian.

Christian is knowledgeable and professional. I find him honest & trustworthy in repairing my 04 325. He is a little quiet at first and warms up quickly.

Best place to bring your Beamer! Chris is an awesome dude and gives it to you strait no bullshit! Excellent service!!!

After trips to a few other «specialized» mechanics and dealers who could not fix my BMW’s rough idle I found CS Motorwerks. Christian the owner was very quick to diagnose the real issue and got me back on the road. If you are looking for a BMW guru who operates Fast, Honest and Reliable then this is the shop.

I brought an 06 325ci by CS Motorwerks for a pre-​purchase inspection. I called the day before to ask if the shop might have a chance to take a look at it, and Christian said ‘no problem — bring it in’. I drove up around noon, and although they had a full garage, he said he would be done within the hour. I left to find a cup of coffee — which was a little hard to walk to because the garage is in sort of an business office corridor — but whatever, I found a $ 7 coffee at the Four Seasons Hotel across the street.
An hour later I returned and as promised, he had completed a *meticulous* inspection of the car. He explained to me what he had discovered and his opinion of the mechanical and cosmetic quality of the vehicle. The price for the inspection was less than I had expected relative to what I’ve paid previously. Critically, the effort, care, and thoroughness he put into his inspection was exceptional.
Wait — $ 7 coffee !!! I’ll pay that every time to bring my BMW back to CS Motorwerks. Hell, I’ll bring him a coffee too next time. I more than made up the cost in my confidence in the quality of the work, and the time I saved because he finished when he said he would.
Good and trustworthy mechanics are hard to find. Those that also are affordable, especially for imports like BMWs and like are even more rare. Add in someone that will also take the time to explain their work and you’ve found a winner. In my opinion, this shop is exceptional.

Holy smokes! What a find! Thank you Unilocal community for bringing me to this place! I’ve always taken my Z4 to the dealer — where I always feel like I’m spending so much more than I’m actually getting in return for maintenance and repairs.
Finally decided to try this place and my car feels and drives even better than when I first bought it!
Christian did an overall inspection; he will offer advice as to what’s necessary and what can wait. He also took the time to explain in layman terms /​show me what was causing the squeaks and leaks. And his pricing is pretty darn reasonable!
This is how you get repeat business, folks!

Best BMW repair shop in Thousand Oaks. Professional and honest. So hard to come by these days. Thank you Christian.

CS Motorwerks is by far the most honest and best BMW shop to work with! I wouldn’t think about ever going anywhere else. I highly recommend!

After having grown tired of driving all the way out to the valley to get my car serviced, I recently decided to give this place a try for an oil change and possibly more as the needs arise. I was a bit reluctant and nervous because the whole area is known to be on the pricey side. Well I am happy to report that it was actually less than what I was paying in Reseda! Christian greeted me in the office and has that perfect balance of professionalism and casualness that is necessary to make clients feel comfortable. I always worry about trying new car places out because I am a woman and have many times been taken advantage of the fact that I really know nothing about cars.
CS Motorwerks did exactly what I went there for and didn’t finish by giving me a list of things I «need» to fix right away. Christian let me know normal wear & tear things to keep my eye on and when I asked about pricing for a bung window I have, his quote was like half of what I thought it’d be. Nice, peacefully quiet location. Clean and courteous staff. I am officially their «regular» customer. If you’re wondering if you should try them out, I will guess that you won’t regret doing so :)

Christian Snaidy is a true professional and expert when it comes to BMW!

CS Motorwerks is a gift from above for those of us with BMWs that are out of the dealer service period — in my case an ’04 M3. These cars can start getting expensive to maintain, especially the M3 with its periodic valve adjustments.
CS Motorwerks isn’t cheap, but they charge considerably less than a dealer, for much more diligent work. Christian and his team have all the BMW certifications and training, but are focused on delivering value to their customers, not to a large dealer. They will do what needs to be done, not what will make them money. They will do it very thoroughly and well, and they will do all this at a lower rate than a dealer would charge.
Having found CS Motorwerks (conveniently only about a mile from my house), I feel like I’ll be able to keep my car for a few more years, knowing that it’ll be well taken care of.

This is hands down the best BMW shop to go to. I have had several things done to my 2005 325ci over the last 2.5 years including Inspection I service, new starter, front bushings replacement, body control module replacement, diagnostics etc. The dealerships have always given me the run around and talked to me like I didn’t know what I was talking about because I’m a woman.
Chris was very upfront and honest from the very beginning, he went above and beyond to resolve my issues and costs so much less than the dealerships. He even told me that my non-​return valve need to be replaced but that it was covered under my warranty and that I could take it to the dealership.
I trust Chris so much that I used to drive from Orange County 70 miles to him to have my car serviced there and I recently moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and now drive 400 miles when I come to southern California to have my car repaired because I haven’t found a shop up here that I can trust yet. Chris is always available to answer my questions and give me great honest advice. I recommend everyone with at BMW to see him even the ones that also live far away because it’s WORTH it!

I took my 2008 Mini Cooper there for it’s first non-​dealer service as my 3 year/​36k maintenance warranty had run its course. It needed a 45k oil change and Christian completed the work in 30 minutes as promised, and charged 44% less than what the dealer quoted.
He also provided some useful advice about servicing my car and getting things fixed that were still covered under the 50k warranty. He’s worked as a mechanic at at least 3 of the large LA BMW-​Mini dealerships and provides competent service w/​o the steep prices.
Highly recommended.