BMW Service Price

Soldato
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Ive just had my 328 Coupe serviced at tainers in swansea. It was an oil service and i asked for a maintenance check, and they changed the indicator bulbs and the windscreen wipers. Total was £240

It also needs:

Break fluid - £60
Coolant - £80
Rear disks and pads - £250
Somethign wrong with the accelerator cable - £90.

Does that sound about right for a bmw garage?

Also is there anywhere i can get all the above things for cheaper, or is it best just to stick with the parts direct from the dealer?
 
Soldato
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:eek: Unless it needs the whole brake system draining, £60 is extortionate!

Same with the rear discs and pads... £250!!!!! You could buy the parts yourself for £50!

I'd definitely get it taken to somewhere else. Those prices are stupid.
 
Man of Honour
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You paid top whack for that oil service. Mine was £139 but I asked them not to bother with the Microfilters. We just had an Inspection 1 on the 530d for what you paid for the Oil Service.
 
Soldato
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agw_01 said:
:eek: Unless it needs the whole brake system draining, £60 is extortionate!

Same with the rear discs and pads... £250!!!!! You could buy the parts yourself for £50!

I'd definitely get it taken to somewhere else. Those prices are stupid.

I think those prices are ricidulous - £80 for a coolant change! And I'm assuming that's a full change, not just a system top up. To drain, flush and refill the coolant system shouldn't take a proper mechanic more than 20-25 minutes, and the actual coolant will cost a few quid at most.

Main dealer prices constantly amaze me, and what's more - their standard of work often isn't as good as the local village garage down the road...
 
Soldato
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I got quoted £250 for an oil service and brake fliud change yesterday.

Rydale in Oldbury.

Pretty shocking but it's not due for 2,500 miles so plenty of time to try other dealers and see whats what.

Quite chuffed actually - I thought it was due an Inspection 2 but it's only an oil service. Cool how they can tell everything from your car key - just plonked it into their reader and it tells all. :cool:
 
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Just had an oil service in our 318Ci which cost £140. I rang round Sytner, Coopers and they were all the same price as my local dealer (Stratstone). I'm sure as these bigger companies buy more and more dealers they are fixing prices a lot more with each other.
 
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Soldato
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NitrogenY3K said:
They charged me £40 for wiper blades.
I thought it was a bit expensive, so best bed is just to go to another garage then. Where can i order all these parts online? anyone got any ideas?

I just bought some wiper blades from the local pound shop!

I was looking around for some Bosch or PIAA Silicone wipers, but wasn't prepared to pay £20 for a set. I needed some wipers for the MOT and these were the cheapest and crappiest wipers I found.

Let's see how long they last for. There was a definite improvment over the old (worn) wipers anyway.

Ordering parts online... hmmm. You could try brakeparts.co.uk for the brakes. Not the best quality stuff, but for the rear brakes, I don't think there's really a need for grooved and drilled discs on a 328 :)

For the other parts (coolant/brake fluid), find out exactly why they've stated you need them. If it's just to top them up, get down to Halfrauds or a motor factors and pick up a bottle of the stuff for a couple of quid.

Regarding the throttle cable, again, find out what's wrong with it. It's been serviced by BMW right, so will have the stamp in the book? Get the car taken to an indy to get the cable fixed.
 
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Soldato
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agw has the right idea.

get the stamp in the book from the BMW dealer so it all looks cosha.

Then any actual fixes needed - go to an independant or diy.

That way the history is bang on and your wallet is not crying.
 
Soldato
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timbob said:
Main dealer prices constantly amaze me, and what's more - their standard of work often isn't as good as the local village garage down the road...
Some garages maybe but I saw a survey recently that said the general level of workmanship from independent garages wasn't up to the same standard as main dealers.

I do get the feeling that a lot of the small "village garages" treat all modern cars as if they were Ford Escorts from 20 years ago and pay no attention to the intracacies of modern engines and mechanicals. Modern engines usually need very specific fluids and I wonder how many of them use the correct ones rather than just tossing some oil in from a huge vat round the back.

Independent specialists with good knowledge of particular makes - fair enough, but I wouldn't be taking a modern car to the local grease monkey for servicing.
 
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Vertigo1 said:
Some garages maybe but I saw a survey recently that said the general level of workmanship from independent garages wasn't up to the same standard as main dealers.

I do get the feeling that a lot of the small "village garages" treat all modern cars as if they were Ford Escorts from 20 years ago and pay no attention to the intracacies of modern engines and mechanicals. Modern engines usually need very specific fluids and I wonder how many of them use the correct ones rather than just tossing some oil in from a huge vat round the back.

Independent specialists with good knowledge of particular makes - fair enough, but I wouldn't be taking a modern car to the local grease monkey for servicing.
I would never take my car anywhere near a village type place or a service all brands place.
I would only consider specialists who see these cars day in day out, or a main dealer.
 
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jamoor said:
I would never take my car anywhere near a village type place or a service all brands place.
I would only consider specialists who see these cars day in day out, or a main dealer.

I take my car to an indy garage, quite far from my house.

My mum has used him for years. I took my old 214 to him when it needed the belts and whatnot changing. Sure, he might take a few days to complete the job, and charge a bit extra (I think it cost me £250 to have all the belts changed, new front discs and pads and the waterpump fitted) but he does a great job and checks all the little things that you'd never find from most other places... torquing the wheel nuts correctly for instance.

He also shows you the old parts and talks you through what he's done.

My 220 went into him today. I'm not expecting to pick it up until Monday, but when I do, I'll know that it's been well looked after.
 
Soldato
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I go to an independent garage as well, and I know they are ok because they were recommended to me by several people and my nan taught the guy who ran it many moons ago.

I guess on BMW's, even older ones, if they have BMW service history it can be worth a lot more to maintain a BMW FSH?

See on my Honda I just thought sod it and when I look around at used ones, having full Honda service history doesn't seem to count for much. But I've saved a lot of money on servicing.
 
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merlin said:
agw has the right idea.

get the stamp in the book from the BMW dealer so it all looks cosha.

Then any actual fixes needed - go to an independant or diy.

That way the history is bang on and your wallet is not crying.
Or do like I do, and have friends in high places that can knock off a large chunk of the £££ :)
 
Soldato
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merlin said:
I got quoted £250 for an oil service and brake fliud change yesterday.

Rydale in Oldbury.

Pretty shocking but it's not due for 2,500 miles so plenty of time to try other dealers and see whats what.

Quite chuffed actually - I thought it was due an Inspection 2 but it's only an oil service. Cool how they can tell everything from your car key - just plonked it into their reader and it tells all. :cool:

If there's a Sytner near you, get a quote off them first. In my experience, they are the cheapest.
 
Soldato
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merlin said:
agw has the right idea.

get the stamp in the book from the BMW dealer so it all looks cosha.

Then any actual fixes needed - go to an independant or diy.

That way the history is bang on and your wallet is not crying.

This is what I do too :D
 
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Don
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[TW]Fox said:
Not that much cheaper than a main dealer, an Inspection 1 INCLUDES an Oil Service.

Ahh, I misunderstood the document outlining the service :)

I think i had some other bits done too, i dont have the paperwork to hand, but its a very highly reccomended BMW independant which i would far rather take my car to, other than any BMW dealer :)
 
Man of Honour
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I'm going to maintain my full BMW service history. At £140 for an Oil Service, £249 for an Inspection I and £349 for an Inspection II its hardly worth messing around.

Plus I find the whole big glass showroom thing rather nice :o
 
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