[BallHog5873]

Hi guys Im excited to be moving to Portland from LA this summer and cant wait to get my M2 out on some beautiful Oregon roads. I was wondering if you could pass me some info on some of the following in the Portland area:

1) A good BMW shop/mod shop for basic maintenance and mods.

2) A good body shop for PDR/PPF/Ceramic coating

3) Some good go to driving roads within a short drive of the city. I heard historic Columbia River Highway is a good one.


thanks for any info. Hope to see you guys out there.

[TwoTwentyBlue]

Originally Posted by BallHog5873

Hi guys Im excited to be moving to Portland from LA this summer and cant wait to get my M2 out on some beautiful Oregon roads. I was wondering if you could pass me some info on some of the following in the Portland area:

1) A good BMW shop/mod shop for basic maintenance and mods.

2) A good body shop for PDR/PPF/Ceramic coating

3) Some good go to driving roads within a short drive of the city. I heard historic Columbia River Highway is a good one.


thanks for any info. Hope to see you guys out there.

Welcome to the Pacific Northwest. Normally Californians aren't very welcome but I'll make an exception since you're a fellow M2 owner.

For 1 and 2, I would recommend 503 Motoring. Their quality of work and attention to detail is phenomenal in my opinion. The only downside is they don't do regular maintenance.

For 3, I frequently drive through the West Hills and would second the recommendation of the old Columbia River Hwy. I would also suggest Hwy 219 between Scholls and Newberg.

[BallHog5873]

Originally Posted by TwoTwentyBlue

Welcome to the Pacific Northwest. Normally Californians aren't very welcome but I'll make an exception since you're a fellow M2 owner.

For 1 and 2, I would recommend 503 Motoring. Their quality of work and attention to detail is phenomenal in my opinion. The only downside is they don't do regular maintenance.

For 3, I frequently drive through the West Hills and would second the recommendation of the old Columbia River Hwy. I would also suggest Hwy 219 between Scholls and Newberg.

Sweet thanks! Hope to see you out there!

[EtotheD]

Welcome to the PNW! +1 on 503 Motoring as well, they did a great job on my PPF and ceramic coating earlier this year. As for drives 101 along the coast and 26 to 35 Mt. Hood are nice drives. I always leave early on nice days, makes the drives more fun with less traffic.

[Bumpinjeep]

Drive up to WA, we have some nice roads up here as well.

[BallHog5873]

Thanks guys! What about a body shop for PDR and other repairs and touch ups? Do you guys take it to dealer in Portland or is there a good independent shop?

[WagonR]

Randy at PDR Solutions 100% for sure. Great experiences with him. Heard good things above him from everyone I've chatted with in the body shop side of the business. One guy with 20+ years in field said "Randy's the only guy I'd let touch my car" when talking about PDR.

I take my cars to Kuni BMW for oil changes ($100 for the M2, $200 on the M3), which is damn near the price of the supplies. Other items I do myself or there's Matrix Integrated that specializes in euro cars and is a bit more enthusiast based. Had the rod bearings done there for a pretty reasonable price based on the other places I called that actually had experiences with it.

[BallHog5873]

What are the front plate laws like there? Do I just have to bite the bullet and put one on? I have the Carbonio no-drill I can throw on if I need to.

[bri1042]

Originally Posted by BallHog5873

What are the front plate laws like there? Do I just have to bite the bullet and put one on? I have the Carbonio no-drill I can throw on if I need to.

I've had a lot of friends try going plate-less over the last 20 years here, and overall it's gone badly for them pretty much universally.

Enforcement ranges from apathetic to fanatic, depending on where you are in the metro. Parking on the streets downtown without a plate isn't worth the risk, but there are so many parking structures that you can avoid the issue most of the time. Hillsboro cops LOVE to pull over plate-less folk, and are often seriously rude about it...and not known for being very nice in general. Beaverton also has a bit of a reputation. I can't speak to the east side of the river.

[WagonR]

I agree with bri1042, that it's not the most friendly. I think Hillsboro and Beaverton police are worse than Portland because they probably have fewer other issues to deal with and are more focused on traffic in general.

Downtown street parking will get you a ticket for sure. It's not the police that give it, it's the meter maids that do. People that I know that have given up the good fight got tired of the fix it tickets ($80) from street parking downtown. Personally, I'm trying to find a garage or a lot most times anyways, because people are generally trash at parallel parking and I like the paint on my bumpers.

That said, I don't run a front plate on my M3 and haven't had an issue in the past two years. I also don't have a front plate on the M2, but I don't daily it, so that doesn't really count. I do have a front plate on the X3 since I think it's less obtrusive to the design, and I'm sure the wife doesn't want to deal with the potential of being harassed over it.

[DanG]

Seattle is like downtown Portland were meter maids give tickets for expired plates and no front plates. I gave up and have a front plate on both our cars.

[marcw]

I second hwy 219 from Scholls to Newberg. This stretch of road is known to many enthusiasts and it's not uncommon to run into exotics here stretching their legs. Closer to the coast there is hwy 53 from Nehalem to hwy 26.

I had my PPF done by Adrian at Northwest Pacific Film. He used to work for xpel and really knows what he's doing. He is a standup guy and does quality work for a reasonable price. 503 Motoring is a great shop, but they will charge you an arm and a leg.

If you need any suspension work or track prep there is none better than AR Motorsports.

[ESB]

Originally Posted by DanG

Seattle is like downtown Portland were meter maids give tickets for expired plates and no front plates. I gave up and have a front plate on both our cars.

Really?? I've been running without a front plate since moving to Seattle in 2013 and never had an issue in Seattle or Bellevue or Redmond.

The only time it ever came up was when I got pulled over for speeding and the cop decided to give me a plate ticket over a speeding ticket. He pointed out it wouldn't count as a moving violation. I honestly was expecting a speeding ticket because I had been given a warning within the last 12 months or so.

Anyways. Seattle has always seemed pretty lenient at least in my experience.

The car I had before M2 was a 135i from 2013-2020

[ESB]

I've even been pulled over for expired tags/stickers before (learned my lesson) and even then the lack of a front plate wasn't ever mentioned.

Dan I wonder if you've just gotten unlucky and caught officers or meter maids on a bad day

[DanG]

Originally Posted by ESB

I've even been pulled over for expired tags/stickers before (learned my lesson) and even then the lack of a front plate wasn't ever mentioned.

Dan I wonder if you've just gotten unlucky and caught officers or meter maids on a bad day

We’re I use to live meter maids went by every day looking for expired plates and no front plates. I am currently in Blue Ridge and never see a meter maid.

But if you park on the street near downtown watch out.

[BallHog5873]

Originally Posted by marcw

I second hwy 219 from Scholls to Newberg. This stretch of road is known to many enthusiasts and it's not uncommon to run into exotics here stretching their legs. Closer to the coast there is hwy 53 from Nehalem to hwy 26.

I had my PPF done by Adrian at Northwest Pacific Film. He used to work for xpel and really knows what he's doing. He is a standup guy and does quality work for a reasonable price. 503 Motoring is a great shop, but they will charge you an arm and a leg.

If you need any suspension work or track prep there is none better than AR Motorsports.

I cant find a Northwest Pacific Film, can you shoot me an address when you have a chance. thanks for the info!

[BallHog5873]

For front plate what does everyone prefer? Front centered no drill, front centered drill ( doubt I'll do this ) or offset tow-hook location?

And what is the brand that makes the offset tow hook one?

[bri1042]

Front-centered no-drill. I have symmetry OCD. I've done Carbonio mounts on both my M's.

[marcw]

Originally Posted by BallHog5873

I cant find a Northwest Pacific Film, can you shoot me an address when you have a chance. thanks for the info!

My bad. It's Northwest Protective Films https://pdxclearbra.com

[marcw]

Originally Posted by BallHog5873

For front plate what does everyone prefer? Front centered no drill, front centered drill ( doubt I'll do this ) or offset tow-hook location?

And what is the brand that makes the offset tow hook one?

I went with the new style Sto-N-Sho. There are two versions. One requires drilling the other does not. https://stonsho.com/2019-2020-bmw-m2...cruise-sns213/

[Economatic]

I have the Carbonio mount and it works well. And with all the no-so-terrible license plate options we have in Oregon it makes it less painful to have a front plate.

I agree with what others have said about the enforcement of no front plate in Oregon. An Audi dealership warned me about parking on the street in downtown Portland when I worked there. And last October a Bend motorcycle cop broke my 22 year streak of not getting pulled over because he said he didn't see a front plate on my car.

[A.F.Krueger]

Another vote for 503 Motoring! Just had the track pack done on my M2 a few weeks ago, looks perfect.