A Visit to the Black Forest
A Remarkable Facility
I first became aware of Black Forest LLC by the innovative and creative ads it runs in The Star. Then I started to hear the buzz on all the great things the company does for MBCA and its members.
Finally, I noticed that The Star listed Black Forest as Technical Specialists for all 1998 and newer Mercedes-Benz models, and owner Michael McKinney as the newly designated MBCA Technical Specialist for all SLs.
Milwaukee is not far from where I live, so I decided to visit Black Forest in person. What I found was hard to believe and even harder to categorize. In its 13,000-square-foot building, Black Forest has two distinct workshops, with a specific foreman and specific techs for each. Each of the two workshops is approximately 5,000 square feet, and they are divided by roughly 3,500 square feet of offices, a customer lounge, a reference library, a parts room, and a brightly lit clean room for engine and transmission assembly that has been furnished almost exclusively with Hazet tools, tool trolleys, and bright-blue perforated-steel wall panels for hanging even more tools.
The front workshop is the Classic Workshop, and it does exactly what the name suggests. Foreman Keith Powers leads a dedicated crew of technicians who work on Mercedes-Benz vehicles 20 years old and older. Powers runs a full-service shop that handles repairs, maintenance, and restorations. The rear workshop, the Service Center, services all modern Mercedes-Benz models. Jeremy Albright, the Service Center's foreman, oversees a talented and dedicated crew as well.
Between the two workshops, it is not uncommon to see Mercedes-Benz vehicles from six decades on hand any given day. Black Forest has a simple motto for its two workshops: If Mercedes-Benz built it, they will work on it; if Mercedes didn't build it, they won't. The latest addition to the Service Center's menu is a complete Sprinter service department that can perform all repairs and scheduled maintenance. Black Forest even has Mercedes-Benz vehicles available as loaner cars.
McKinney got his start years ago, purchasing distressed Mercedes-Benz vehicles, repairing them, and reselling them as a hobby. As his talent and experience grew, he took on bigger and bigger challenges. Finally, about 10 years ago, he made repairing Mercedes-Benz cars his profession and subsequently opened Black Forest. He decided that if he was going to pursue it as a career, he would make his business something special. From there the trajectory has been nearly vertical, with no signs of slowing down.
The Classic Workshop offers complete restorations as well as machine shop services, upholstery services, special tools, general repairs, and maintenance. An authorized Bosch Service Center, the employees especially enjoy working on older fuel-injection pumps. For those who live too far from Milwaukee, they offer bench repair of the pumps. They also rebuild engines, swing axle assemblies, transmissions, vintage brake boosters, and complete front axles for their clients and other restoration shops nationwide.
The new-car Service Center is equally talented. All of its techs are M-B trained, and they use the same tools and equipment you would find at any Mercedes dealership. A particular point of pride is the center's state-of-the-art Hofmann Geoliner 4-wheel alignment system, which can work on any vehicle (in Black Forest's case, as long as Mercedes built it). The Hofmann setup enhances the center's ability to perform the myriad adjustments required for the complex suspension designs found in Mercedes-Benz classics. Just like the other departments, the Service Center focuses on cleanliness, accuracy, organization, and technology.
Black Forest offers a particularly interesting service, the unique online Client Service Center. Every customer is assigned a user ID and password. With that information, customers can access a private area on the blackforestllc.com website that lists a history of all services performed on their vehicles, copies of past invoices, and digital photos of work that has been done or should be done.
Black Forest's attention to detail is particularly evident in its customer lounge, which features a gourmet snack station and espresso machine, a customer workstation with computer, and Wi-Fi access. If you want to relax rather than work while you wait, the area boasts a flat-screen TV with cable and a DVD player. Adjacent to the lounge is an elaborate display of M-B parts and accessories, a Hazet tool showcase, and an interesting exhibit of Becker radios that traces their evolution through the years.
In its Parts Department, Black Forest offers a complete line of reconditioned Becker radios as well as parts, repairs, and exchanges for all Becker models. The company also serves as the exclusive stocking dealer of Hazet Tools in the U.S. Hazet, a venerable German toolmaker, makes some of the finest tools and toolboxes available anywhere. Vredestein tires are another big seller at Black Forest, which stocks a wide range of Vredestein series and sizes, with the 185HR14 Sprint Classic a popular choice for 280SL owners. It features a vintage tread design, a curbing rib, and is constructed in a nonaspect ratio to give the proper vintage appearance.
In addition to the brand-name products it sells, Black Forest markets its own custom-made products. Popular sellers include fender covers and tool kits. Its fender covers are model-specific, designed to cover the entire fender, and lined with Polarfleece for maximum protection. They are available in many color schemes to match or contrast with a vehicle's color. Black Forest's tool kits are custom assembled to include the tools customers need. If, for instance, a client wants to be able to do a valve adjustment on a diesel, Black Forest assembles a custom kit with just the tools required to perform that function.
McKinney is a passionate supporter of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America. So far this year he has sponsored more than 30 new members. As an incentive, he offers a 10 percent discount to MBCA members. Effectively, the discount means that if you spend more than $450 on maintenance and repairs in a year, your membership fee pays for itself. Black Forest also hosts an annual tech session attended by more than 100 members. Held in the spring, the event features a prominent M-B celebrity as lead speaker. The Milwaukee Section's new-member party and wine tasting is held at Black Forest as well.
Black Forest is a remarkable operation that really impressed me. My only regret is that it is not located closer to my home. Fortunately, McKinney has plans to expand some day, so the future may hold additional Black Forest locations around the country. One of the most significant things I learned during my visit is that all of Black Forest's print ads in The Star, the ones that originally caught my eye, are produced in-house by Keith Powers, the Classic Workshop's foreman.