Westside BMW Bodyshop
While the Germans are the world’s dominant prestige auto manufacturers, they are now making their presence felt as premier bodyshop designers.
A trip down prestige repair lane will draw you into a world of aluminium repair booths, specialised tools and hospital-like surroundings. To be an approved repairer for a German prestige auto builder is no mean feat, especially when it comes to stocking up on specialised equipment, creating new or improving standards of shop appearance and servicing every customer’s whim.
The Westside BMW bodyshop is the newest in a group of prestige repair shops to become BMW approved repairers. It initially concentrated on lighter repairs, with heavy hits going to another shop at Windsor. But with the new group now reorganised, both heavy and light work can be handled by either shop.
The Westside BMW bodyshop is the key to the prestige side of the business with director, Gerry Raverty overseeing the construction and streamlining of the impressive BMW approved corporate colours and design imperatives.
The result is a slick, modern building housing Lowbake dual preparation bays, and IRT infra-red rail systems that help with the drying processes required by Standox Standohyd finishes.
The shop is also equipped with an Elektron M100-Control inverter welder as part of BMW-specified tooling. Car-O-Liner equipment is utilised throughout the workshop. The equipment all has to be available worldwide to conform to corporate repair design guidelines and is an imperative to achieve BMW approved status.
The global BMW corporate identity, therefore, has become an important part of the new building, evident in its interior design incorporating BMW artwork. In reception, even the office furniture has been custom-built to BMW requirements.
The Westside shop is currently repairing 30 vehicles a week but this will be increased in the future. Westside BMW MD, Martin Roller, says that while his shop is first and foremost for BMWs, it is open to repair all prestige vehicles to the same high standard. The fact that it is the only approved BMW repairer in the western suburbs and one of only two in Brisbane means, in his words that “we’ve raised expectations of what a bodyshop is.”
Director, Scott Wiseman, is also enthusiastic about the operation, particularly its new water-based Standox refinish products.
“This is the first BMW Approved bodyshop to introduce new Standohyd water-based paint to significantly reduce the amount of paint solvents and contaminants released into the air,” he says.
“The shop also uses dustless sanding in the repair bays and dry-rubbing in the refinish department, eliminating the amount of water used and the amount of contaminants entering the water re-cycling system.” The shop is fitted with energy efficient lighting and using as much natural light as possible through skylights. Artificial lights are used for only two hours per day.
Wrights View
Westside BMW is an impressive illustration of how a bodyshop should be, clean, well organised and equipped with all the right gear to fix customers prestige vehicles. The manufacturer corporate look in bodyshop design is a steadily increasing trend for Approved Repairers and provides a glimpse of what solid investment by auto makers can do.