Audi - BMW - Mercedes - MINI - Porsche - VW

Over 30 years of German automobile maintenance, repair, modification and customization, specializing in everything from your routine daily drivers to racecar preparation. No repair is too big or too small!!

We change the way people care for their cars by providing convenient and innovative repair and maintenance solutions, allowing our clients to safely enjoy their vehicles fully and with great peace of mind.

Bavarian Rocket Science Car Club, Maintenance Program, Concierge & Consulting

Computer Diagnostics
High Performance Suspensions
Computerized 4 Wheel Laser Alignments - Street & Track
Corner Balancing
Engine Repair & Rebuilding - Routine to Radical
Fuel Injection Tuning
Transmission Repair & Rebuilding
Electrical & Charging Systems
Air Conditioning
NYS Inspection Station
Preventative Maintenance
Oil Changes & Scheduled Seasonal Services
Wheel & Tire Mounting & Balancing
Vehicle Storage
Vintage & Classic Hard to Find Parts

2 Reviews

Phil11 years ago

R&D , repaired my w126 class Benz with ease. It was a daily driver at over 125k miles and in need of shocks and suspension attention. Most drivers neglect that part of routine checks and maintenance and as with multiple cars it was getting harder to stay on top of my logs for each car. When I scheduled the work, Rick put the Benz back in ship shape in such a condition that it rides as a smooth sailboat on the calm seas. He pointed out some other key points to having the work done and I thank him for having a watchful eye.

He additionally "found" a bolt that a previous mechanic (MB?) had simply placed near the rear wheel well and it provided one of those unanswered rattles when traveling over a bump, never considered looking past the obvious points. Rick test drove the car twice to pursue the noise - on his time - and like a bulldog with rag in its' mouth would not let go until he closed the book on this rattle. When he emerged with the bolt, it was like finding a prize in the popcorn box. I wanted to have the bolt framed. Thanks to R&D Mercedes repair.

1991 Mercedes-Benz w126-420sel

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Michael Cioffi13 years ago

I brought my 1998 Mercedes Benz E-300 Turbodiesel to R&D Automotive after for routine glow plug replacement. I had spoken to Rick Dobush,the owner, beforehand and he assured me that he has done many of these jobs and it should take approximately 4 man hours. This seemed reasonable as my wife's E-300 Turbo had the same issue and Keeler Motor Car, our local Mercedes Benz dealer, had changed her glow plugs for about $600.00.

I checked on the progress daily and Rick said he was having problems extracting the glow plugs from the head. After three weeks of this news and no progress, I called a tow truck and had the car brought to Keeler. They found that R&D had broken four glow plugs off in the cylinder head. They had to extract the broken glow plugs and re-bore the head to accommodate the replacement glow plugs. The cost of labor alone to repair the damage was $1800.00.

I went to Rick and asked for compensation as the job cost $1800-$600=$1200 more than it should have. He refused to compensate me for the additional cost.

1998 Mercedes-Benz Turbodiesel

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Tom Dobush11 years ago

Thank you very much for the review, we really appreciate the feedback. While we never want an unsatisfied customer, sometimes unrealistic customer demands are beyond our means. We were originally apologetic for the delays; however the root cause for these delays was not mentioned in the negative review.

We hope readers of this response will appreciate the emphasis we put on the importance of regularly scheduled maintenance and also the possible side effects of modifying your vehicle to use biodiesel as an alternate fuel source.

This particular vehicle was retrofitted to burn biodiesel as a fuel by the customer. Biodiesel is a cheap alternative to conventional diesel fuel made from recycled deep fryer vegetable oil. However as this case illustrates, biodiesel has some drawbacks associated with it as well. Biodiesel is not nearly as well refined as conventional diesel fuel and therefore burns differently inside the engine. This causes excessive build-up of carbon in the combustion chamber, essentially fusing the glow plugs to the cylinder head from the inside. This, combined with a lack of regular maintenance, caused the glow plugs to snap off when attempting conventional removal. This “damage” was caused by the burning of biodiesel and created the need for an entirely different type of repair that is much more labor intensive and therefore more expensive. All of this was explained to the customer previously.

After having this more intensive repair performed somewhere else, the customer again came back to us for diagnosis of other issues the vehicle was having, which we agreed to diagnose for free as a sign of good faith and our commitment to customer service. However after diagnosing several issues stemming from a lack of proper maintenance and overall neglect, the customer insisted we repair all the issues for free and also include a complimentary oil change.

While we were sympathetic to our customer’s situation, we explained that overall neglect and lack of proper maintenance on his part simply was not a sufficient reason for us to perform free service. Needless to say, we declined his unrealistic request and asked him to find another mechanic. We at no time charged this customer for the original repairs performed or the later diagnosis.

Phil11 years ago
R&D , repaired my w126 class Benz with ease. It was a daily driver at over 125k miles and in need of shocks and suspension attention. Most drivers neglect that part of routine checks and maintenance and as with multiple cars it was getting harder to stay on top of my logs for each car. When I scheduled the work, Rick put the Benz back in ship shape in such a condition that it rides as a smooth sailboat on the calm seas. He pointed out some other key points to having the work done and I thank him for having a watchful eye.
He additionally "found" a bolt that a previous mechanic (MB?) had simply placed near the rear wheel well and it provided one of those unanswered rattles when traveling over a bump, never considered looking past the obvious points. Rick test drove the car twice to pursue the noise - on his time - and like a bulldog with rag in its' mouth would not let go until he closed the book on this rattle. When he emerged with the bolt, it was like finding a prize in the popcorn box. I wanted to have the bolt framed. Thanks to R&D Mercedes repair.
1991 Mercedes-Benz w126-420sel
Was this review helpful?
Michael Cioffi13 years ago
I brought my 1998 Mercedes Benz E-300 Turbodiesel to R&D Automotive after for routine glow plug replacement. I had spoken to Rick Dobush,the owner, beforehand and he assured me that he has done many of these jobs and it should take approximately 4 man hours. This seemed reasonable as my wife's E-300 Turbo had the same issue and Keeler Motor Car, our local Mercedes Benz dealer, had changed her glow plugs for about $600.00.

I checked on the progress daily and Rick said he was having problems extracting the glow plugs from the head. After three weeks of this news and no progress, I called a tow truck and had the car brought to Keeler. They found that R&D had broken four glow plugs off in the cylinder head. They had to extract the broken glow plugs and re-bore the head to accommodate the replacement glow plugs. The cost of labor alone to repair the damage was $1800.00.
I went to Rick and asked for compensation as the job cost $1800-$600=$1200 more than it should have. He refused to compensate me for the additional cost.
1998 Mercedes-Benz Turbodiesel
Was this review helpful?
Tom Dobush11 years ago
Thank you very much for the review, we really appreciate the feedback. While we never want an unsatisfied customer, sometimes unrealistic customer demands are beyond our means. We were originally apologetic for the delays; however the root cause for these delays was not mentioned in the negative review.
We hope readers of this response will appreciate the emphasis we put on the importance of regularly scheduled maintenance and also the possible side effects of modifying your vehicle to use biodiesel as an alternate fuel source.
This particular vehicle was retrofitted to burn biodiesel as a fuel by the customer. Biodiesel is a cheap alternative to conventional diesel fuel made from recycled deep fryer vegetable oil. However as this case illustrates, biodiesel has some drawbacks associated with it as well. Biodiesel is not nearly as well refined as conventional diesel fuel and therefore burns differently inside the engine. This causes excessive build-up of carbon in the combustion chamber, essentially fusing the glow plugs to the cylinder head from the inside. This, combined with a lack of regular maintenance, caused the glow plugs to snap off when attempting conventional removal. This “damage” was caused by the burning of biodiesel and created the need for an entirely different type of repair that is much more labor intensive and therefore more expensive. All of this was explained to the customer previously.
After having this more intensive repair performed somewhere else, the customer again came back to us for diagnosis of other issues the vehicle was having, which we agreed to diagnose for free as a sign of good faith and our commitment to customer service. However after diagnosing several issues stemming from a lack of proper maintenance and overall neglect, the customer insisted we repair all the issues for free and also include a complimentary oil change.
While we were sympathetic to our customer’s situation, we explained that overall neglect and lack of proper maintenance on his part simply was not a sufficient reason for us to perform free service. Needless to say, we declined his unrealistic request and asked him to find another mechanic. We at no time charged this customer for the original repairs performed or the later diagnosis.

R & D Automotive - Bavarian Rocket Science

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2 Reviews