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Gulf Coast - Alignment & Balancing

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    Gulf Coast - Alignment & Balancing

    Went to Gulf Coast in SHJ (near Sahara Center, first car shot on the way to Sharjah past the Sahara Center) upon being recommended by a friend.

    Car was in bad shape of an alignment and the guy who balanced my new set of sumitomo's seemed like he did it by guess alone, so needed a proper balance as well.

    Staff seemed extremely knowledgeable, shop was in good order, and the equipment was new and in very good shape.

    They put the car up, and attached the alignment reflector doodads (technical term, I'm sure) and as I thought, car was badly aligned. They explained what they'd be doing, and gave me a quote of 1,200AED and 300AED for balancing all tires, so 1,500AED all out. It was to take about an hour and 15 to do all work completed. Wasn't sure if the price was good, but had a good vibe about the shop so agreed.

    Was treated to tea and had good conversation with one of their managers (forgot his name, sorry!) and the car was done in about an hour. He went through the results of the re-test and showed the improvements, in both the alignment and balancing, and explained what all was done, including photographs.

    Took the car out onto the highway and wow, felt like a brand new car. Was very pleased. Received a phone call an hour later asking how the ride was, and to make sure I was satisfied (nice touch, it's like a friendly hug after a mugging).

    Price good or not? NOT!!! but happy about the service and the end product. Definitely NOT a recommend. Maybe an arabic speaker would fetch a more reasonable price. (I.e. no "white-guy tax")
    Last edited by Dirksqjaw; 28-03-2011, 12:27 AM. Reason: acknowledging the fact I was robbed
    -Dirk
    2004 545i, Gulf Spec, Sports Suspension, RPI Cat-back exhaust, LCI Hella Tail lights w/V6 cable, Ipod adapter, Pro-Nav Retrofitted, Shadowline trim, Elite Motorsports Stage II LED Angel Eyes Upgrade, M166 OEM wheels (M6 offsets), xenon fogs, LCI iDrive knob and looking for Mtech front and sides!
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    #2
    Was there any parts replaced?

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      #3
      dirk this is by far the most expensive tire balancing i've seen in my entire life :D

      Dirk holds the record guys :bow:

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        #4
        Yea, for a moment I was looking to see if you were running on 22"wheels or something. That price is way high dude!!


        Project DVS
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          #5
          Sorry for the misunderstanding whats included in the 1500 ?

          300 is very expensive for balancing mate, I had mine done for 80 on Umm Suquiem road opposite Lulu and have no probs with any vibration :)
          07 E64 650i Silver

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            #6
            mmmm...AED 1500/- is toooo much!!! i dont know what they did exactely but i was dreaming to find somewhere costly than the Agency, i think u find the place :D
            BTW my car was in AD motors and they take almost one whole day to make a proper alignment by their machine and guess what.....its coat around AED 900/- if its not less, tom ll check the invoice.

            E60 M5: LCI OEM Tail Light, CF Front/Side Grill, Bright White Angel eyes"
            E46-Sold: OEM MtechII, Eisenmann exhaust (2x83mm), Bilstein sport shocks, H&R sprot springs, 18” OEM rims (F:225, R:255), M3 auto folding/heated mirrors, clear (LEDs tail lights/corners/sides), Orion V2 angel eyes, Xenoflo HID bulb (6000K) low beam, CF (interior/knob/steering wheel trim/doors handles/grille), Alcantara (gear boot/hand brake)

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              #7
              I suspected the price was high! And no, no parts replaced - just adjustments for the alignment (it was very bad), and all four tires balanced.

              At least the tea was good :doh!:

              Forgot to mention that I called AGMC for alignment price and they said I needed to book an appointment, bring it in for them to price it for sure. Figured they'd end up breaking something, as they usually do, and the visit would end up costing me 20k aed or something.

              Sucker born every moment, and this time it was me! I rescind my recommend hah. At least I'm happy with the results...
              -Dirk
              2004 545i, Gulf Spec, Sports Suspension, RPI Cat-back exhaust, LCI Hella Tail lights w/V6 cable, Ipod adapter, Pro-Nav Retrofitted, Shadowline trim, Elite Motorsports Stage II LED Angel Eyes Upgrade, M166 OEM wheels (M6 offsets), xenon fogs, LCI iDrive knob and looking for Mtech front and sides!
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                #8
                no worries bro. :D u enjoyed the tea (which is cost u min. AED 500, kidding bro.) and more important is that ur ride is fine and returen to its life

                E60 M5: LCI OEM Tail Light, CF Front/Side Grill, Bright White Angel eyes"
                E46-Sold: OEM MtechII, Eisenmann exhaust (2x83mm), Bilstein sport shocks, H&R sprot springs, 18” OEM rims (F:225, R:255), M3 auto folding/heated mirrors, clear (LEDs tail lights/corners/sides), Orion V2 angel eyes, Xenoflo HID bulb (6000K) low beam, CF (interior/knob/steering wheel trim/doors handles/grille), Alcantara (gear boot/hand brake)

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                  #9
                  Damn!

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                    #10
                    By far, the most expensive tea in world :D

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                      #11
                      You are running Sumitomos on your M5?

                      How much did they cost? Also, how is the ride quality and traction?
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                      http://www.youtube.com/user/hashaikh11

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                        #12
                        I could do the same job with the same technology for 180 dirhams including rod alignment + wheel balancing ...and in Dubai not in Sharjah ...

                        you would have asked before you did the job ,, anyway please post your quires on the forum before you do any job .. the experts here are very helpful ..

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                          #13
                          Considering similar assholes in Sharjah Industrial Area charged me AED 300 for a ****** balancing, I can imagine why you feel conned.

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                            #14
                            it's ok as long as u r happy with what you got.

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                              #15
                              Yes, 500aed tea.. that's how I roll. Baller baby! :(

                              I wish it was an M5, it's a 545. Anyway, the Sumitomo's are actually really nice so far. I wanted to save some cash so I could buy really expensive tea, and decided to not get the Potenzas...

                              But in all seriousness, I've put less than 1,000k on the tires but so far I'm very pleased. The road noise is very very light, which is a big deal to me, the tread pattern is aggressive and good looking (don't ask why that matters to me, I'm weird), and best of all, it feels responsive in corners. I love the entrance to the Palm very early in the morning - no traffic, nice curves, decent road surface. Tires felt very good, had lots of confidence in the response.

                              I don't track my car so my needs are a lot less than otherwise - I need quiet, smooth ride, price, durability, and of course good performance when I do push a little. So far so good with the Sumitomos.

                              Just replaced a set of Kumho's, which I loathed - bad road noise, and felt squishy. Two blow outs in 4 months. Had Yokohama's before that, and loved those for like two weeks, and then they became slippery as hell. Had PSP's before that and they were great, just lasted like 6 months and were crazy expensive. Those replaced Conti run-flats which were awful.

                              Tired of spending loads of cash on tires, so just want something that's good enough for the price. Hoping the Sumitomos are it. 650aed for fronts, and 725 for the rears.

                              Fronts are 245/35-19 and rears are 275/30-19.

                              Actually shopped around for the price of the tires, and they (Juba Tyres) were by far the cheapest for those - made sure they were late 2010 production date as well (tried to sneak an older one in the set, but I made him change it, bastards).
                              -Dirk
                              2004 545i, Gulf Spec, Sports Suspension, RPI Cat-back exhaust, LCI Hella Tail lights w/V6 cable, Ipod adapter, Pro-Nav Retrofitted, Shadowline trim, Elite Motorsports Stage II LED Angel Eyes Upgrade, M166 OEM wheels (M6 offsets), xenon fogs, LCI iDrive knob and looking for Mtech front and sides!
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