Bradan BMW collision repair training.

[Bradan]

Bradan is proud to announce we have been sponsored for BMW collision repair training. This will give us direct access to BMW's collision repair training centers and programs. Our frame jig bench, measuring system, welders and paint are already OEM approved by BMW. BMW is a brand we have always been enthusiasts and long term customers of, making it a natural choice for us in addition to a few other OEM programs we will announce when finalized. This means accident damaged BMWs will be brought back to pre accident condition using strictly OEM parts and procedures that directly comply and follow BMW's engineer's strict standards. You have a choice to which collision repair facility you allow to fix your vehicle; don’t let insurance companies steer you to one of their direct repair shops, or tell you how it should be fixed. The adjuster's job is to minimize the claim payout, which often means pushing to use recycled or aftermarket parts. This leaves your car worse off then it was originally and possibly a diminished value claim. We guarentee our repairs as long as you own or lease your vehicle and will even cover your rental car if it exceeds your policy limit.

Our first day of training was held at BMW of North Americas Woodcliff Lake, NJ which is home of not only their headquarters; but also their repair and collision center. The building is divided into smaller workshops that teach everything from the BMW step apprentice program, motorcycle repair, Rolls Royce, paint, and structural repairs. BMW uses their own brand of paint manufactured by Axalta in water based form. Notice the additional fans for air movement in the corners of their Global spray booths. Their mixing room is similar to ours in that it's directly linked to the side of the spray booth; allowing paint to be mixed and then move into the spray booth without passing through the workshop (avoiding contamination). For structural repairs they use a combination of Cellete, Car-o-liner, and Carbench which is the same frame jig bench we use.

The first training class I attended and was certified in is “High Voltage Vehicle Body Repair." This applies to their hybrid vehicles that show how to correctly disarm the electrical system. This avoids a possible fatal shock in an accident, or damaging the vehicle's electronic systems during repair. We look forward to continuing our education and training. If you have any specific questions please don’t hesitate to email us at Bradangroup@gmail.com or call 631 585 8600.

[Bradan]

More photos.

[Bradan]

Our most recent BMW factory training was based on glass repair. We were shown how to repair standard stone chips and cracks with resin repair tools; it's a process I never fully understood until now. It's unnerving hitting glass with hammers and drilling it out to clean it, but the repair process works fairly well. We were educated on actual glass replacement and the difference between factory glass and aftermarket, and shown photos of actual glass failures. The new spyder tool uses a plastic cable that's designed to break and fail if it creates too much pressure. This is a huge improvement compared to the older metal wire that would break and cut into it anything it touches. On carbon body cars there are cases where a glass installer cut into the carbon body with a metal cable removing old glass. Any small cut or crack in the carbon tub results in a total loss of the vehicle. The plastic cable method would work well on vintage cars that have irreplaceable glass. Most of the common issues with installation such as wind noise, water leaks, gaps, etc were all explained and provided with factory tools to confirm a successful glass installation. Even the silicone glue bead is set to a particular height and pattern to avoid glue spilling into the interior during install. After taking this glass training and getting certified, I would never trust a standard glass installer on our customers vehicles again. It's one of those situations where they don't even know what they don't know. Nor do they realize how serious a minor installation era can become. We accept all glass insurance and use only OEM glass and adhesives.