If you follow FCP's YouTube channel, there's a good chance you've seen me in some of the repair videos. Years ago I was the guy who would take his car to the dealership or a garage to have something simple like a headlight bulb replaced because I didn't know how to do it. Looking back at it, I think its hysterical that I did such things and can only think of how much extra money I spent when I didn't have to.
Ever since I could remember I've had a fascination with machines. Small or large, simple or complicated I have always been amazed at what people have been able to build. If it wasn't for my poor math skills I probably would have gone to school to become a mechanical engineer. Instead, I went to school to pursue my interest in business. While at college I joined the car club and found myself around people who built their cars, did their own fabrication, and spent a good part of their free time working on their cars. Despite being around people who knew their stuff and were constantly teaching themselves how to do more, I still had this voice in the back of my head that I couldn't do it. Up to this point I had only taught myself how to do basic things and only had a basic set of tools that I had received as a gift. If a repair had poor access or required the removal of a lot of parts I would avoid it like the plague. I had convinced myself that I couldn't do anything because I was afraid of screwing up.
Once I graduated college and moved out of my parents house I found myself living with a friend from college who had been a factory trained Volvo tech before deciding to go back to school to get a degree in accounting. He had worked for a local Volvo dealership for a while only to find out that he didn’t like the pay, didn’t like the hours, and didn’t like how work treated him. The house that we had just started leasing had a 2 car garage with lots of space for tools and everything else you could imagine. This room mate of mine had all the tools that you could ever need or want from his previous job.
The week before Christmas while I was driving home from work (I was not working for FCP at the time) my 2000 BMW 528i hit a bump in the road hard, really hard. Afterwards I could feel abnormal vibrations coming from the front. It almost seemed like the engine was going to fall out of the engine bay. Instantly I had the idea in my head that I was going to need to open my wallet wide, sell some organs, and sell blood in order to be able to pay for this repair. I was able to limp the car home and later dug up the courage to inspect the carnage. I couldn’t see a lot, but based on what I did see it appeared that a rubber engine mount had broken and it would need to be replaced. I had just put a security deposit down on the house I was currently living at and didn’t have a lot of spare cash on hand. The following day I did some research on RealOEM, and found the part numbers that I was going to need. I placed the order on FCP's website for two replacement engine mounts and awaited their delivery.
With the help of my roommate and his awesome tool collection and a few friends we were able to get the old engine mounts out in no time at all. Quite frankly, I was surprised at how easy it really was. The only downside to this first repair experience was besides the broken engine mount we also discovered that the engine support bracket had also shattered from this impact. What this meant is I had to order another replacement part from FCP and delay the completion of the repair. Looking back at it this was probably the best thing that could have happened because I had to finish the repair myself. Once I had the new engine support bracket and engine mounts in I was able to button everything else up, and I did it on my own.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUJpeSdiif8?list=PL691E5829632F8FF7&w=667&h=375]
I was proud of myself for completing the repair on my own and was even happier to see how much money it saved me too. For once, my BMW didn’t cause me to break my wallet (see what I did there?). There were many other positives that occurred from this experience. Because I had filmed the repair and put it on my YouTube channel I was later contacted by FCP to help them with their partnership program when they first started doing DIY videos. This unique opportunity allowed me to do the repairs that I needed to do as I was teaching myself how to do them. Little did I know that this partnership would lead me to start a career with FCP.
Since my first repair I have come to really enjoy working on and learning about cars. I’m not a professional technician by any means but I feel that I am pretty competent when it comes to the basics and I have also developed a pretty good knowledge pool in a short period of time. From my personal experience I believe that anyone can teach themselves how to work on their cars. I believe it’s best to start small by learning the basics such as replacing headlight bulbs, engine filters, spark plugs, etc and working your way up to more complicated jobs such as suspension work or more complex drivetrain work. You will be amazed at how much you can learn by starting with the basics. I am no longer afraid of taking my car apart because I am confident I can put it back together and I genuinely enjoy learning about cars by taking them apart. Few things have made me feel more satisfied or proud of myself than when I am able to make a diagnose and make a repair to one of my cars without help from anyone else. It has also saved me a ton of money over the last few years which is an added bonus.
About the Author
Gareth runs the BMW catalog at FCP Euro, he can be reached at gareth@fcpeuro.com
