Johanna

Johanna was born and raised in Glendale, CA with her parents and 2 older brothers. She met her future husband, Tim, when she was 10 years old and he and his family moved into her neighborhood. He was the same age as her oldest brother, and he had an energetic Dalmatian, Poncho. Tim paid Johanna to walk Poncho every day. She would ride her bike or roller blades and take Poncho with her all over the neighborhood. She loved it!

When Johanna graduated from high school, her greatest dream was to get a classic Mustang. With that goal in mind, her father helped her find a 1966 Ford Mustang. It was white and had blue Pony interior. It needed some work, so Johanna’s uncle, who loved classic cars and loved working on them even more, helped her to restore it back to its original condition. It was Johanna’s pride and joy. 

In her early 20s, Johanna became a mail carrier and supported herself with that job for 6 years. Even though she loved driving her Mustang, she knew she had to get a newer car for her commute to work, as she didn’t want to run the Mustang into the ground. She purchased a manual 2002 MINI Cooper and she loved that vehicle too. It was fun to drive, she was able to zip around everywhere, and it got much better mileage than her Mustang. 

After 100,000 miles, Johanna’s MINI Cooper began to have mechanical trouble, and she found out from her older brother that her longtime friend, Tim, had become a BMW and MINI technician. Tim checked out the MINI and found out it needed a new transmission, which broke Johanna’s heart. Tim helped Johanna to find a new vehicle, and she chose a newer manual 2007 MINI Cooper S. She loved it! Even better, it started the relationship between Tim and Johanna, and they opened up Bimmer PhD Motorsports shortly after. 

During this time, Johanna was still working at the post office, so she told Tim to focus his attention on the business and not to worry about the bills at home. It only took them 6 months before Johanna was able to leave her job at the post office and become the office manager of the business. Together they built up the business to now support 6 amazing employees and their families, and help the community with outstanding automotive repair. 

Johanna joined Tim on the board of directors for chapter 5 of the Automotive Service Council of CA in 2019. She loves to meet other shop owners and help the owners who need help and direction. Together with Tim, Johanna helps support new and upcoming students from the local colleges to get their feet in the door to start a career in the automotive industry. She finds it to be very rewarding to see fresh, young people in the industry thrive and succeed.