[330iNDEED]

I took my 2002 330i with 106k miles on it for it's 100k Inspection 2. The shop called back with additional work. The car runs well, the engine light comes on every once in a while. The inspection was $619, but with the additional work is coming out to $2,450 (I'm in LA). What would you do if this was your car?:

Replace Front Control arm bushings ($352)
Replace Serpentine Belt ($133)<-WHAT IS THAT?
Replace Rear Brake Pads ($225)
Replace Brake Fluid ($86)
Rear diff mount is starting to crack ($370)<-Is this covered by BMW?
Replace Thermostat ($262) Never seemed to have a problem

WWYD?

 

[makecopies]

Tell them You are going to do it your self.
I would do the Belt,Pads, & thermostat myself.
There is a lot of DIY's on here.
You could use that money for parts and have some money left over.

 

[lucas_pln]

Replace Front Control arm bushings ($352) DIY + pay for alignment
Replace Serpentine Belt ($133)<-WHAT IS THAT? - DIY
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=522832

Replace Rear Brake Pads ($225) DIY
Replace Brake Fluid ($86) DIY
Rear diff mount is starting to crack ($370)<-Is this covered by BMW? Shop
Replace Thermostat ($262) Never seemed to have a problem - DIY

Estimated savings ~ 60% of total price.

 

[lucas_pln]

remove

 

[JoeVert]

Tell them You are going to do it your self.
I would do the Belt,Pads, & thermostat myself.
There is a lot of DIY's on here.
You could use that money for parts and have some money left over.

yea, belt, pads, and thermostat are easy DIY's. I bought new control arm bushings already pressed in for $80 and replaced them myself for my first DIY on my car and it wasn't that bad either. Save the money if you have garage space and some basic tools.

 

[jbeurotech]

Its a fair price if you don't want to do the work yourself. Obviously you can save money by doing it yourself. If you can't DIY then the prices are reasonable.

 

[Kubica]

Its a fair price if you don't want to do the work yourself. Obviously you can save money by doing it yourself. If you can't DIY then the prices are reasonable.

I see about $300-400 worth of parts listed. Since when is a days work for a mechanic worth $2k? We get that you run a shop, but this work would be less than half that price on a non-luxury marque. It's not a fair price. If your wife or girlfriend came home one day and said she dropped $2,500 to get this stuff done to her car, I highly doubt you would be ok with it. You would freak out and say "I could've done all that in six hours at the shop for $350".

 

[lucas_pln]

I see about $300-400 worth of parts listed. Since when is a days work for a mechanic worth $2k? We get that you run a shop, but this work would be less than half that price on a non-luxury marque. It's not a fair price. If your wife or girlfriend came home one day and said she dropped $2,500 to get this stuff done to her car, I highly doubt you would be ok with it. You would freak out and say "I could've done all that in six hours at the shop for $350".

Agree. It's like that with everything. Someone will charge you 280$ for fixing computer (15 minutes of work) but you will pay cause you are happy it works again.

The trick is, that you always think it is expensive when you have to pay. When you receive the money - you always have this feeling that people want to bargain about every 20$ ...

Anyways, I really think that dropping over 2g's for all that maintenance labor is really, really high.

People on this forum are aware of the issues, procedures, parts prices etc, that is why it seems to be so expensive every time we are quoted to have something done on the car. Then there is also the "trust" factor ... you never know you got what you paid for and that feeling just sucks !

 

[bmwstephen]

I think what people ARENT aware of is that not every maintanence procedure is predictable and straight forward... because in the real world thats not the case. In fact that rate is fair because i bet you the shop is charging based on labor unit... (like most services these days) so if, for example, a 30 min oil change will requires an additional 2 hours (considering its $90 per hr) i will still only have to pay .5 units (half an hour'ss worth: $45) in that event.

Now before you call me an idiot for taking 2 hours to change the oil, IMAGINE when the bolt on your oil pan strips because of neglect from the previous owner. What used to be 30 mins now took longer, at least when such a situation occurs, I am at least still locked into the initial labor rate for the oil change - paying no more or less for what is to be done despite the additional time and resources rquired from the mechanic. I'd like to think of this as insurance.

Additionally, they have every right to charge whatever the hell they want because, like any other person that specializes in a field, the mechanics invested their time, capital, and effort to learning how to properly perform the procedure by the books. If you want their prices to deflate then obviously the only way to do so is to open a shop next door so one mechanic would compete for business price-wise. This is why you never see 2 BMW specialized mechanic shops next door to each other, or even within the same city in most cases.

 

[e4sixsin]

that must set you back a bit, if you are mechanically inclined do it, or if you have a buddy that would work.OUCH

 

[jbeurotech]

I see about $300-400 worth of parts listed. Since when is a days work for a mechanic worth $2k? We get that you run a shop, but this work would be less than half that price on a non-luxury marque. It's not a fair price. If your wife or girlfriend came home one day and said she dropped $2,500 to get this stuff done to her car, I highly doubt you would be ok with it. You would freak out and say "I could've done all that in six hours at the shop for $350".

Prices are similar on non luxary cars. It's pretty simple it's not a cheap business to run. Just like anything if you have to pay it seems expensive. Ever had a do for bill without the insurance covering. I had stitches one time no I durance was in and out in 20 min. 900 poorer ouch but I didn't have a choice I guess I could have stichted myself up

 

[davidwarren]

Prices are similar on non luxary cars. It's pretty simple it's not a cheap business to run. Just like anything if you have to pay it seems expensive. Ever had a do for bill without the insurance covering. I had stitches one time no I durance was in and out in 20 min. 900 poorer ouch but I didn't have a choice I guess I could have stichted myself up

I was with you all the way up until your words stopped making sense Seth.....



J/K....

 

[jbeurotech]

I was with you all the way up until your words stopped making sense Seth.....



J/K....

Lol stupid phone does not type well will fix it when I get back to a real computer. Kubica is constNtly attacking any thread about mechanics frankly it gets tiring.

 

[Kubica]

Lol stupid phone does not type well will fix it when I get back to a real computer. Kubica is constNtly attacking any thread about mechanics frankly it gets tiring.

Attacking? I just think your prices are way too high.

It gets old when you come into every thread and agree with the shop's inflated prices.

Besides, none of the work he wants done is very complicated. When i worked at the stealer, all the techs would brag about how they could do a 4 hour book job in 40 minutes. One tech even made $120k+ per year, and you know what? He definitely wasn't the first into the shop in the morning and the last to leave. I took your side of the argument when i worked at a shop, because they paid me to. On the forum, I tend to sympathise with the driver/consumer more than the shop.

 

[lucas_pln]

Now before you call me an idiot for taking 2 hours to change the oil, IMAGINE when the bolt on your oil pan strips because of neglect from the previous owner. What used to be 30 mins now took longer, at least when such a situation occurs, I am at least still locked into the initial labor rate for the oil change - paying no more or less for what is to be done despite the additional time and resources rquired from the mechanic. I'd like to think of this as insurance.

That's weird, because I was charged more for additional work.
They always call me though. They tell me that something happened, or needs extra part or more time, blah blah blah.

I was charged more without prior notification only once, I didn't like it but liked the service so didn't complain.

 

[GoingNuts]

Lol stupid phone does not type well will fix it when I get back to a real computer. Kubica is constNtly attacking any thread about mechanics frankly it gets tiring.

Surely my constant allegations of dealer/shop jiggery pokery deserve a mention too, no ? Your single handedly trying to defend the motoring trade is commendable but impossible to succeed. Anti-dealer/shop sentiments will always strike a cord with too many people who were at the receiving end of less than sterling practices.

As for OP's repair list, I'd say he should seek a second opinion. I would further bet with more than 50% confidence his belts don't need replacing because there aren't any cracks in them. Since the shop is unlikely to have the service history of the car, they are unjustified to perform random 'preventative' maintenance.

 

[Comanche5]

It always makes me laugh when paupers buy BMWs and have to do the repairs themselves.

 

[GoingNuts]

It always makes me laugh when paupers buy BMWs and have to do the repairs themselves.

Then you are laughing at the vast majority of people here who do their own things not because they can't afford to pay someone. Rather, they don't want to because of the poor workmanship. Are you sure you want to laugh ? It seems to me, you have put yourself in a big hole. How do you plan to dig yourself out ?

 

[jbeurotech]

Attacking? I just think your prices are way too high.

It gets old when you come into every thread and agree with the shop's inflated prices.

Besides, none of the work he wants done is very complicated. When i worked at the stealer, all the techs would brag about how they could do a 4 hour book job in 40 minutes. One tech even made $120k+ per year, and you know what? He definitely wasn't the first into the shop in the morning and the last to leave. I took your side of the argument when i worked at a shop, because they paid me to. On the forum, I tend to sympathise with the driver/consumer more than the shop.

Actually I only defend when the shops prices are inline with the industry average.

When they are out of line I also say so. You could search my posting history and you would see some posts syaing those prices are high or need a second look.

It goes both ways

 

[330Lover_]

I think Serpentine belts are like timing belt and ac belt. How come you only replace one? You should replace both. I recommend to replace water pump along with thermostat. If you had tight budget like me, you might replace the water pump first instead of the thermostat. GL