Peter Schmid Transmissions, MZF

Here’s a before and after review.
5÷10÷2013
BEFORE:
So I take my 2006 Audi S4 Avant (tiptronic 6 speed auto trans mfgr’d by ZF) into my trusted guys who have been doing my service work for years now to get my 110k service done.
Upon driving the car home all the sudden my car is shifting really harshly. I decide to run it a bit and see if what they might have done smooths out. 3 days later my car is slamming into gear on the 2 to 3, 4 to 5 upshifts and 4 to 3 downshift. Crazy. Feeling like someone’s slamming the car with a sledgehammer.
I take it back to my guys. 3 or 4 days later I get the estimate for $ 6,900 on a complete trans R&R. Are u kidding me?!!
I do some heavy thinking. My reverse investment of upwards of $ 70k for a station wagon no less, which is only worth $ 15.5k now if in PERFECT condition (KBB) needs $ 7k for a new transmission which was working perfectly until it got serviced… Humm, I’m wondering what exactly happened during that post service test drive?
Anyway, I call ZF and speak with Chris and he suggests I take the car to PST. I called and spoke with Dirk and he had a few ideas on what might be wrong and the bottom line is that I might not need an entirely new remanufactured trans after all, but maybe some proper inspection/​diagnosis and hopefully $ 1k or less expense.
Fingers crossed here. I’ll come back and let everyone know how it went. 5 stars for now…
7÷8÷15
AFTER:
Weird, I thought for sure I had posted a report all about my experiences after the work was complete. Must have been dreaming bc I have no record of it! So, sorry for the huge delay in completing this review everyone. Here’s how it went down:
5 stars are not enough for the experience of dealing with PST. They are simply a great bunch of people, they do excellent work and I’d give them 10 stars if available. I worked with Dirk and Wolfgang and they led me through a graduated repair schedule that attempted to get my tranny operational at least cost. They first checked an often troublesome seal that can lead to symptoms like what I was experiencing. The seal was not it. They did not even charge me for this 1hr of work up on the rack!
We tried the next step of replacing the solenoid pack. They ordered the parts from Germany and did not even ask for a prepayment! When the parts came in they worked on the car and unfortunately this too was not the problem which was a bummer because the next step was DEFCON 5: complete tranny overhaul to get to the torque converter and clutch packs. But what is so cool about the PST option is that I at least had the opportunity to save money vs. my regular servicer who just out and said I needed a new tranny and fork over $ 6.9k.
So it all got finished in October of 2013 and I had my badass S4A back and working like new at 117,022 miles at a total cost of $ 5,600 (a $ 1,300 savings vs. my Audi servicer!!). By March of 2015 I had 130k miles on the car, 13k after the rebuild, and the tranny was bulletproof, perfect and just as you would have wanted it, shifting almost imperceptibly and correctly without reservation.
Sadly I sold the S4A in March and picked up my 4^th Audi: a 2012 A4A S-​Line with a slightly larger interior, which is good for the kids.
I miss my S4A, what a great car.
What I learned about the MZF tranny’s from this episode: Don’t believe the Mfgr’s recommendation that the fluids in the tranny and transaxle are «lifetime». I say change every 75k at minimum. Put in a real good anti-​friction additive like Energy Release everywhere: motor, transmission, transaxles, bearings and AC system. Energy Release site:
. $ 50 worth of ER probably would have saved me $ 5.6k!
Hope this info helps,
James

I’m a BMW fan, my 330i manual never had a problem and they serviced it for many years with oil and filter changes. I got an early X5 and they are notorious for transmission issues after 100k miles. I knew what I was getting into when I bought it so I got the extra insurance. Sure enough after 20k miles of owning it the transmission blew. BMW SF wanted $ 10k for a new one and the insurance wanted a repair, so I took it to Dirk at MZF and he essentially rebuilt the entire thing for ¼ the price with warranty. Shame that BMW says no oil changes for the early X5 transmissions, but now they do the service for the new ones. We are very lucky to have ZF trained mechanics in the Bay Area. I do have a friend in Holland that drives to the ZF factory in Germany to service his 7 series BMW. Very professional and reputable, they are trustworthy for something that other mechanics can take advantage of you. 5 Stars!

I wish I didn’t have to write this, but I am kinda disappointed by the treatment I got from the lady who answered the phone today. If I wasn’t a satisfied customer before having been to this shop years ago, I would give them 1 star, but I refuse to go to any service provider that has the front line with a rude and confrontational attitude. It goes to show most likely if things don’t go the way you expected they would come out of their shell and give you that attitude. Life is too short to be filled with drama and frustration with people who can’t be a bit more courteous or polite.
I called to check if they can do a transmission service on my car which is due for a fluid change per the manufacturer’s recommended interval. I’ve been doing my shopping around because it is a simple routine preventive maintenance to change the fluid as recommended but of course I want to go to the place I trust and get the best value. The lady comes off as though I am just wasting her time when in fact I’m just straight to the point asking whether they can do my fluid change if I already have the parts. I feel she’s wasting more of my time because she can’t just answer what I want to know.
I always come prepared because these universal transmission shops usually don’t stock the exact type of fluid and filter kit for my car so I make sure I have the right parts for them to do the labor and I don’t need to wait for any special order of parts. I ask the lady if they can do it if I have the parts and she gets upset because I’m more prepared than she would expect me to be, so she asks me in a probing voice «where am I from» and I say san Francisco, and she tells me isn’t there a place in SF that can do it for me?
And I tell her I want you guys to do it because I had a good experience in the past here and I know from that experience you guys know what you’re doing and do a good job. So she abruptly tells me to hold on for a second in a rude tone, and just drops the phone. Meanwhile it was more than a second, 4 minutes to be exact, and I am wondering should I just hang up or it seems like I’m being punished or tested if I really am serious or just pulling their chain. She grabs the phone and says ok come in tomorrow after lunch OK in a demanding voice. I say so how much will it cost? she said it’s one hour. And I say how much is 1 hour, and she tells me do you want to do it or not? and I say I need to know the price so I can see if it’s worth it. She chuckles in a rude voice $ 125.
At that point I get it that most likely she thinks they don’t need my business and because she is in a position of power to turn away customers like that I figure I don’t want to give it to them anymore. They only want customers that will praise them for work that reaps them the most profits because they want the least educated customers about cars. Those that don’t ask the right questions that show the owners know what they’re doing. Ironically the two father and son owners were very nice and kind enough to teach me in the past about the right time in changing fluids and flushes. They take the time to give the customer the right information to make the proper decisions, but now I’m hesitant on going back.

Wolfgang and Dirk know and stand behind their work! I had my transmission replaced here almost two years ago and just recently it began shifting hard. I took my car back and they replaced the entire transmission without question. They care about their clientele and I would highly recommend them to anyone!!!

In October 2014, I took my 2007 Mercedes Benz S550 to this company to have my transmission repaired after being highly disappointed by Mercedes Benz of Oakland. I called and spoke with the owner Wolfgang who made me feel like we have known each other forever. I later had my car towed to their shop and they rebuilt my transmission. While my car was in the shop, the owner Wolfgang trusted me enough that he let me borrow his car until they finished the repair work. I later met Wolfgang’s son Dirk who put the finishing touches on my vehicle which now runs like a charm!!!
The professionalism of Peter Schmid Transmission, MZF is incomparable to most shops in the Bay Area. The price they charged me was half the cost Mercedes Benz of Oakland was charging and they also provided me with a two year warranty. Wolfgang and Dirk were two of the most professional mechanics I have every me and they didn’t elevate their prices. I highly recommend this company if you ever need your transmission repaired. Thanks again Wolfgang and Dirk, you guys are the best!!!

The service here is AMAZING! They always take care of me and I’m 100% confident in their work. I have a 2005 BMW X5 so its been needing some extra TLC lately. There guys are professional, timely, and they always diagnose the problem and correct it so I feel safe driving down the road knowing that experts have done the work on my car. A+++++ Excellent!

This shop specializes in repair/​replacement of Mercedes transmissions. They have deep expertise and are the source of transmissions for all the other shops. The owner Wolfgang is a master Mercedes mechanic as is his son Dirk. They quickly diagnosed that due to a known manufacturer defect, radiator coolant leaked into the transmission on my 2003 CLK 500, corroding the seals and clutches. They replaced the radiator with an improved version and put in a rebuilt transmission, with a 2 year unlimited miles warranty. Got it done quickly and for half the cost you’d pay at the dealer. Plus, these folks are the friendliest and most straightforward you could ever hope to meet in the auto repair world.

Came here for an issue I had with my W202 not properly shifting into gear. Boy was I glad I came here! Dirk saved me at least couple hundred dollars in diagnostics!
I told him my symptoms and agreed to take it for a drive around the block to replicate the issue. Of course the issue did not replicate when I bring it to a shop! Dirk then put it on the lift to check my shifter bushings, all intact! But taking a look under there he found the shifter linkage rod was a lot looser than he normally sees and gave it a quick tighten. Shifter definitely feels a lot firmer and now the issue is completely gone!
I recommend this shop for all your MB transmission related issues. Highly honest guys and willing to help customers in need!

Took my BMW 323ci here a couple of years ago. They were great. Fast, and it cost less than they quoted me for, which was very reasonable to begin with. They also picked me up from the BART stop and were very friendly. 5 stars!

MZF transmission for my Mercedes SL 500 failed after 10,000 miles and 2 years 4 months. However MZF still stood by their 2 year warranty and replaced with new rebuilt transmission at no cost to me.
I award 5 stars for their high integrity.

Excellent service and Honest people a+++++

I needed to replace my transmission in my 1995 Mercedes E320 and settled on MZF after some research. I now have almost 30,000 miles on it without any problems. I could have bought a transmission for about 200 or 300 less but I opted for MZF and I’m happy I did. The staff was great and prompt.
If I need another transmission for another Mercedes, I’ll go here first.

I was having transmission issues in my 2002 Audi S4. And searched the bay area for a certified Audi transmission shop. Found Peter Schmid and gave them a shot at fixing my Audi transmission. After they took my transmission apart. They found most of my clutch packs were worn and I also needed a new torque converter. They gave me two options on fixing my transmission issue. I decided to just do the complete rebuild. Four days later got my car back running good as new with a 2 year warranty. Dirk and they guys at Peter Schmid Transmission know there stufff.

I had the transmission on my BMW replaced by Schmid for $ 3800 when the car had about 100K miles on it. I received a two year warranty. After about 2.5 years and 20K miles the diagnostics light came on indicating an issue with the transmission. The light was reset and stayed off, but it came back on after a couple of months. Now after about 3.5 years and 30K miles I’m told the torque converter is bad and would be at least close to $ 1000 to fix… a death sentence for the beamer. I thought the car would die for other reasons related to age after having spent that money on the transmission. Giving them two starts for the fact that the price seemed reasonable at the time.

Wow… This place deserves far more than just four stellar reviews.
While driving on the freeway the RPM on my 2005 SLK 350 suddenly jumped up. When I got off the freeway and restarted my car, it wouldn’t let me get out of first gear. I was frightened that it was going to cost me an arm and a leg… and it almost did when I went to another mechanic who told me the diagnostic computer gave him two error messages indicating that I would need to rebuild my transmission and replace some valves. The cost $ 5500.
I decided to get a second opinion and was sooooo lucky to have met Dirk. He said all he had to do was reprogram/​restart (not sure) the computer and that it’s working fine now. He suggested that I may want to get my fluid and filter replaced which I knew I needed to do. It was only $ 200 plus the $ 60 to tow the vehicle. Can you imagine, the first place quotes me $ 5500 and the second place only charges me $ 260! wowsers… I love Dirk… thank you, thank you, thank you.
I’d also like to note that I told Dirk from the start that the other mechanic told me I needed to rebuild the transmission and that I was simply hoping to get a better price. He could have easily charged me $ 3000 for a fake fix but he decided to be honest. If he’s not going to take advantage of an Asian woman who clearly doesn’t know anything about cars, he won’t take advantage of you. Dirk is the best.

I’ve had several Mercedes Benz cars serviced (in various scenarios) by Peter Schmid Transmissions (MZF-​Bayer) over the years and recently. Their reputation as a foremost knowledgeable professional for this car brand stands uninterrupted.
Their knowledge base covers vintage Mercedes cars and the most current models. Integrity and honesty is the most valuable quality.
I give them the highest and most well deserved rating !

Brought in my E320 wagon when I had trouble with the trans installed by a Sunnyvale transmission shop. The Schmid price was competitive and they’re more knowledgeable about MB parts than general transmission shops. Good, friendly service.