@ Bill R. : your ideal tool set for BMW

[Bill R.]

Sometimes I wonder who buys this stuff, really $400 for a 1/4" drive set, better come with dancing girls.
Then I wander into the local BMW/MB/Porsche store service dept. where some of the toolboxes are as large as a Tokyo apartment

I can tell you exactly who buys it... A friends shop that i use when i need a lift has a few other shops right next door to him and when the snap on guy comes rolling up its always the young kids just starting out that are buying the tools from him...Us older guys rarely buy any from him, mostly just warranty.
Snap on offers those weekly payment plans for new mechanics/"techs" and i see these poor kids buying an 8 k roll around box, no tools just the box.
I shouldn't talk really because my first set of tools was snap on but it was just the basics and was a lot cheaper relatively than it is today. And usually you learn quickly to buy snap at the used tool store/swap meets or you buy the returns from the snap on man. With these payday payments there are a fair amount of repo's by the snap on man..

Snap on is still great stuff but the much cheaper competition has gotten much better over the years also and the market is much more crowded now.
If i were just starting out now there is no way i'd start with snap on, and thats a shame because i would prefer to support an american tool company if possible.

Edit, i actually know of one guy who's wife divorced him over his "tool" habit and in my mind she was justified.

[Tiger]

LOL... yeah I know what you mean. My friend is a mechanic too... he too spent alot of money on the Snap On tools and he is always broke! Can you imagine that? He still is broke today... 14 years later. Hell, at least he stopped buying tools.

[Kibokojoe]

My friend/mechanic has > $80,000 USD in his tools but don't tell his exwife :-)