OK, everyone wants to know why I dont recommend RMS, so I figure this is a good place to put this, here it goes.



June 2001
After picking the car up from RMS, the car pulled well, but had a flat spot around 3-4K. Power seemed to just drop. After getting it dynoed (without a/f logged) the chart was not smooth at all. Even though the smoothing was off, it was very obvious that something wasnt right. So I brought it back for a retune

After retuning, Osh tells me that he turned the VANOS off. I asked why, and he said something like having the intake and exhaust valves open at the same time reduces power. So being clueless on how BMW engines work, I said OK. After that, car ran better, pulled harder with the obvious dead spot. EvoSport was kind enough to offer me a free dyno with a/f logged. After dynoing, the chart was much smoother, but still all rocky at the top. What was worse was that my a/f was jumping all over, and it was considered lean at high RPM's. I was getting married the next day, so whatever, worry about it later (aug 2001)

Get back from the honeymoon, I decided I had enough of RMS, so NickG was kind enough to offer me his services. So I had nick retune, and the a/f curve was smooth and where it should've been, and the power and torque curves were way smoother. (around Nov 2001)

Late january, engine pops. I thought initially the blower failed, cause there was a puddle of oil under the blower. I called RMS about their 3 year warranty, and they tell me its only on pieces that they make (ie: brackets, intake stuff, etc) and I need to go through Vortech. They wouldnt even cover labor to get my blower removed. So I did it myself.

I call vortech and ask about sending the unit it. I gave them the serial #, and guess what I found out? THE UNIT WAS USED AND PREVIOUSLY RETURNED FOR SERVICE!!! Well how do you like that? Call RMS up, and Osh doesnt ever return my calls. I continuously get handed to someone else. A different reason of why I got a used blower turns up every week.

I asked them if they would cover any of my repair work, and they said that Osh was willing to give me a "killer" deal on a stroker engine. Im sorry, but would you bring your car back to RMS after this? They replaced the blower with a brand new one and offered their apologies, but never any compensation. I was offered an oil cooler kit for $400, but that was to cover their cost. They werent willing to sacrifice anything.

So, thats about it. Now there's a 3.2 installed, retuned by Nick. Runs amazingly well, and never had a check engine. Part throttle drivability is perfect, and there are no dead spots at all. So needless to say, I've had a very bad experience with RMS. I've also heard stories from ex employees that make mine sound tame, but those arent my stories to tell.

ex employees from RMS???

wow... i was even think to get a supercharger at RMS....

so you lost an engine because of them.. and all you got was a new blower?

I would of sued

I would of sued too..

The guy who hooked me up and helped me the most with mine at RMS was named Victor, he was great, but he recently quit, which I have to admit gives me some pause, cuz he was so helpful to me, and since he has left, no one there has been of much help with answering some common questions I have here and there... :(

Chuck, sorry to hear about your experience. I was burned by RMS too, mainly by their software. Car was not running at the level I expected, VANOS was turned off (yuck!!!), A/F was not optimal, etc. I have been honest with most people that ask me about my experience. Their hardware is of great quality (if it is not used or serviced, etc.), it is the same equipment Dinan uses and other manufact.'s do to. The software is what really makes the kit and RMS is lacking in that dept. heavily. There customer service is not the greatest either, just depends on who you are dealing with. Hope this helps anyone else thinking about buying from RMS.

I wanted to sure, but I really had no basis to sue on:
1) impossible to prove it was RMS's fault that the engine blew. At least not in a court I think

2) I could've sued over the used blower, but they offered to replace it for free, so that was out.

I cant sue them just for being a bunch of crooks. Wish I could

And everyone wonders why I dislike RMS; now you know! (that used SC thing is really what did it)

Nick should set up a business.

Many have suggested that, and I have contemplated it. The thing is, it's a hobby right now, thus, it's fun. Making it work takes the fun factor out of it.

Originally posted by jsp98m3
Nick should set up a business.

You know, I caught a ton of shit for bad mouthing RMS during my group buy with ESS. Everyone said they are good, I want an american company, blah blah blah.

I guess I people just have to do their homework and hopefully more people will see posts like this while researching.

Sorry to hear about your experience. Hope ESS comes through. It would be nice to have some other SC company compete with Dinan.

Did you sign a waiver or statement of indemnification against future action when you took the new blower? If not, you can still sue.

Selling you a used part as new, apart from the injury caused by the replacement, is also a contract undertaken in bad faith, and there are a number of ways you could seek corollary damages associated.

And while proving their mala fide work was responsible for your engine going might be difficult, it would not be impossible. You would only have to demonstrate reasonably that there was a connection to recover damages associated with this as well.

Man thats b.s. sorry to hear that.. I almost got screwed by them too. they were going to beta on my car but luckily pulled out. Man im soo glad i did.

Originally posted by deeznuts
Man thats b.s. sorry to hear that.. I almost got screwed by them too. they were going to beta on my car but luckily pulled out. Man im soo glad i did.

Damn...Me too. Glad I got my money back!

I say we start a ANTI-RMS website! :mad:

I also got the "BIG STIFF ONE", IMHO, by RMS. Read the following thread for more information:

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30823

Well,

One happy customer says something nice about us and we get creamed. Well one good deed never goes un punished they say.

Charles, I am very surprised to hear some of what you are saying here. I definately worked my butt off to get you your blower replacement as fast as was humanly possible. The 400 dollar quote you recieved for the oil cooler was on a device we charge 1300 dollars for. I also offered you a free short shifter kit and told you I would continue to offer you discounts on any other products you needed for your car.

We at RMS are very concerned whenever any of our customers cars has a problem. As I told you at the time Charles, I took over as head of operations after your bad experience. And RMS had been having customer service problems. This happens when a company is experiencing a dramatic rate of growth. I am not making excuses for the mistakes made by RMS in the past, but I am making sure people understand we are now operating in a different fashion.

My job at RMS is to take care of situations that have occured in the past and to see to it they don't happen in the future. If any of you would like to discuss any problems that you have expereinced with RMS in the past or with a concern you have regarding any products we make or sell, My line is always open as is my door.

Please call me at the office anytime and I will make time to chat with any of you.

Charles, once again my offer of assistance is still on the table. Lets chat again and see if there is some additional way I can try to make you happy.

Thanks everyone for your time.

Jeff Zusman
Director
Sales & Marketing
Race Marque Systems
(818) 778-6106

Jeff,

It's nice to see that RMS cares enough to come out and post. I commend you for that.

However, the facts are facts. RMS clearly put a used/serviced supercharger on psk145's car. I believe that's ethically wrong.

I'm not here to thrash RMS. I'm just hoping RMS would make things right for the people that were treated wrong.

Like I mentioned earlier, I had a $3k deposit with RMS for a SC kit but had to take my money back because of the way RMS treated me as a customer. I hope other new customers don't have to do the same.

Thanks,
Mike

Jeff, let me first say Welcome to BimmerForums!! Next, let me say thank you for taking the time to register here and post in what could be a heated debate of sorts. Also, I have defended RMS in the past based solely on my personal experience with RMS-- which was a good one.

I recommended RMS to Phillip here (aka "///M Roadster" ) and he's happy as a pig in a slop with his set up.

I welcome you here, and invite you to speak with myself as a Moderator or any of the other Mods or Admins here, we'd love to have RMS as a supporting vendor. Please PM me for details.

Again, welcome to BimmerForums, and thank you for addressing items in this thread and a few others that might be floating around here.

I know some folks in the pasthave had bad experiences with RMS, I can only speak for myself, and my experience was pretty good. :)

I am very happy and pleased with my RMS product. I will line up next to any Dinan or ESS or ERT equipped M Roadster any day.

Jeff, there was another thread that shed very positive light on RMS here. So, know that you do have satisfied customers.

Mike,

We feel badly that we upset you and your other friend who also had a deposit down on a system. Yes, it took us longer than expected to get the production kits out to the public for the E-46's. We even offered you an additional discount to wait a little longer.

For the wait we do apologize and of course we recognize your right to go to any BMW tuner. We also wish you and your friend the best as you build out your cars. As Ta's friends, we didn't want to put pre-production kits on your cars. So unfortunately we took too long to get yours done and for that we are sorry. If you find yourself in need of any help we are still very happy to work with you guys.

Dave and Phillip,

thanks for the welcome. I am looking forward to hearing the good and the bad. My job at RMS is to find the bad and fix it. As I write this I am in Florida meeting with an older customer who has had difficulty with his suspension set up he purchased from RMS. I am here to see that its installed correctly the second time around.

Two weeks ago, Osh flew to Colorado on our dime to tune a car that was not running right. At 7000 feet altitude the computer has having trouble with the stage 2 super charger programming. That car is now running very well and very fast.

RMS is trying as hard as we can to make every customer a happy one. We, like all business's, fail from time to time. Those failures and the way in which we handle them are why Osh asked me to join the company. Race Marque Systems is looking forward to our relationship with bimmerforums.com and to learning what more we can do to fullfill our customers wishes.

Thanks,

Jeff

Originally posted by SilverStreak
Jeff, let me first say Welcome to BimmerForums!! Next, let me say thank you for taking the time to register here and post

Ditto...

I called RMS a few days about for some info. The person I spoke to was going to round up the info I was interested in and fax it to me or call me back. He said, "I will be getting back to you today..." in a pretty confident tone.

I haven't heard anything since. I realize RMS may be very busy, but that doesn't inspire me to plunk down $6k on your system.

Jeff, Welcome to bimmerforums.. :)

Originally posted by JeffRM
Mike,

We feel badly that we upset you and your other friend who also had a deposit down on a system. Yes, it took us longer than expected to get the production kits out to the public for the E-46's. We even offered you an additional discount to wait a little longer.

For the wait we do apologize and of course we recognize your right to go to any BMW tuner. We also wish you and your friend the best as you build out your cars. As Ta's friends, we didn't want to put pre-production kits on your cars. So unfortunately we took too long to get yours done and for that we are sorry. If you find yourself in need of any help we are still very happy to work with you guys.



Hey Jeff,

I wasn't offered a discount and you guys couldn't wait to get the kit on my car. I refused.

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to apologize. That does make a world of a difference. I do hope that I have a need for your services in the future. Knowing you're there, makes me feel a lot better about RMS.

Thanks!

Hi Jeff,

As any other business, they all have ups and downs.

I understand your position, perhaps you can give insight to any changes (if tangible) that have been made within RMS to make it an even friendlier company?

As an enthusiast, I'm always looking for the next big bang for my car, welcome to the board!

Jeff at RMS was extremely helpful in working with me to resolve some of my issues. Although I wasnt 100% satisfied with the results, he did everything he could within his authority. I hope Jeff will turn RMS's service around because they do have a great product.

Mike,

If my information as to pricing for your two systems was incorrect then the error is mine and I do appologize. As for what we would be willing to do for you and your buddy, give me a call if you wish and I will make a special arrangement for the both of you. The price would be just for you guys to correct the poor customer service you received.

let me know,

Jeff

Mr. Madhatter sir :),

Thanks for asking the question. RMS's biggest problem for the last 2 and 1/2 years has been it's growth.

We could sit here and make excusses all day long why cars took too long or why phone calls were not returned and even as we see from just a post or two back we are still not getting to everyone in a timely fashion, but those would only be excuses.

Osh, has gotten woefully tired of making excuses. So he asked me to stop being a business consultant and take on RMS's problems full time.

To give you some back ground on me, here are a few of the company's whom I have helped : The Walt Disney company, Terminex/Rose Exterminator Inc., PPW Inc., X-Drive.com Inc., Murphy O'brien Communications Inc., Pioneer Laser Systems Inc., The Jet Propulsion Labs, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.

I have been very fortunate to have been able to work with some of the brightest folks in a broad selection of fields. But they all have the same customer service issues that stem from rapid growth.

RMS is no different except in one area. That area is Osh himself. Untill I came on board Osh was chief cook, bottle washer, waiter and cashier. Over the years he has tried many times to find good quality people that could handle the business side so he would be free to get research and development under control. Unfortunatly, for many different reasons most of the people he tried in the business role did not do the job well.

One main reason for the staff failures is that simply Osh is a very very nice guy. In fact he is too damn nice. He doesn't know when to say NO and that leads to customers who get delivery promisses that are not possible for RMS to fullfill at that given time. Osh never intended to mis-lead anyone he just didn't want to tell anyone NO. So now we say "no" when it needs to be said. Eventually as the growth continues we hope to get to a point where we never have to say "no" to anyone about anything.

So your question really was what have we changed. The answer is pretty simple. By hiring me and walking away from this side of the business, Osh has made it clear he understands what the problems are and that to cure them he has to do what he does best and let me and my new staff do what we do best.

There will still be folks who, like Mr. Jones above, will fall through the cracks for a short while. But in the long run RMS will give fantastic customer service, respond when called and ship products when we say we will.

For anyone in business today customer service is the key to success. We at RMS recognize this and our previous failings as well. Give us a chance and we will come through! That is my personal guarentee.

My line and door is always open to any customer who is either happy or mad. I will do whatever I can to make everyone's experience with us a great one!

Lets face it we are all here cause we love our cars and the joy they give us when we drive, race, or show them. I am a huge BMW fan, I drive a beat to death 1990 325 ix daily and I am building a 500 horse 1997 M3 for fun. I know the pain and frustration a poor experience with the car can cause. I too have had less than happy expereinces with tuners over the years. Those bad customer experienced and the lessons we continue to learn will only make RMS better. We are not the only game in town, we know that. What we want to be is the first choice when people need products for their Ultimate Driving Machine.

I hope I have answered your question and thanks very much for the chance to tell a little bit of what we are trying to do. RMS wants to be the BMW tuner that everyone can afford and likes to do business with.

Thanks,

Jeff

Thanks again, Jeff. And welcome! :buttrock

its good to hear that the necessary steps are being taken to improve the product and most importantly customer service...if those who have good experiences have the same kind of zeal in spreading that news as those who have had bad, then rms' tarnished image can be improved by your efforts and the rest of rms' staff...

as a suggestion i would revamp your website to present the products you have in a better fashion...i've visited it numerous times over the last couple of years and beyond a change in design awhile ago it has stayed pretty much unchanged...

welcome!
hopefully you'll have enough time to participate on the various boards...

Originally posted by rukman

as a suggestion i would revamp your website to present the products you have in a better fashion...i've visited it numerous times over the last couple of years and beyond a change in design awhile ago it has stayed pretty much unchanged...

welcome!
hopefully you'll have enough time to participate on the various boards...


Ditto. The RMS official website is not the easiest or friendliest to navigate.

Thanks guys for the great suggestions RE the web site. It's one of those need to do things that keeps not getting done. We have a pretty good web guy but since we pay him with car work, we are not #1 on his list.

We are working on an online store as well to make purchases easier with faster shipping.

Any other suggestions please let me know! I really appreciate all of your input!

Jeff

Originally posted by JeffRM
Thanks guys for the great suggestions RE the web site. It's one of those need to do things that keeps not getting done. We have a pretty good web guy but since we pay him with car work, we are not #1 on his list.

We are working on an online store as well to make purchases easier with faster shipping.

Any other suggestions please let me know! I really appreciate all of your input!

Jeff

i suggest a "back to basics" style on your website with a content driven theme and handling those customers that need more info via the phone

As a customer I want information!!!...specifications...prices.....we want "DETAILED" information on the products and services you offer....this would serve not only to educate your potential customers as to your product, but cut down your need to answer the same questions over and over again...we want content over flash...real usable info!!!

also...don't put links to sections of the website where it ends up being highlighted as "coming soon"...more often than not these pages never materialize...

an online store is a great idea when used with the appropriate products...i might argue that certain things such as superchargers are not best served by having them bought online via a website(at least at this point of your "turnaround")...more often than not the customer will contact you directly anyway...

i think that good customer experiences will begin to turn the tide for RMS. Even though i've heard some horror stories I am still considering RMS due to the good experiences of two people on here...

If I had to do it all again, I would STILL go with my RMS kit.

Understand my frustrations were borne out of having to wait for my pieces to come in, essentially, customer service issues which are now being addressed. I NEVER had a problem with the products themselves. My dyno chart is proof in the pudding. Dave's numbers are proof as well.

I like my #'s very much, thank you... :D

i dont think any compay can make every single customer 100% satasified. But i do agree that the used charger is pretty crappy and is not acceptable. But i could sit here and tell you a hundred things that ESS has done to me. I think my story with ess could turn out to look alot worse then psk145's is. But i am trying to get them to help me still and i dont think me bad mouthing them will get me anything. Also if i made a post here i am sure ess would say nothing in return. I think it is pretty cool how Jeff has came here and will talk about it out in the open for everyone to see. I think that shows rms is truly trying.

matt