BMW Service

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Firefly

Registered User
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Hi all,

Just bought a 2001 318i. Can anyone recommend a good independent mechanic that won't cost the earth but knows beemers??

Many thanks,

Firefly.
 
Not independent but Conlon's in Rathangan are an official BMW dealership that are a lot cheaper than those in Dublin

What part of the country are you in?
 
I'm in Dublin, sorry forgot to mention. Does anyone know how much a full service costs - without replacing anything, just the service?
Firefly
 
Well including replacing things like oil and air filters plus new spark plugs, oil change and a few other small things i paid €200 total earlier this year. Granted i went and got the parts myself (easy to do online) but the service itself is a quick enough job. Good time to get various other bits checked out (aka inspection 2 style in a dealer). Dealer prices can be insane.
 
Firstly is it due a service? service intervals have gone as far as 50K between services on modren cars. Spark plugs as far as 100K until you change em.
also what do expect to pay for a service ?

typical labour rates in Dublin range from €85 to €130 per hour ...
a minor service may take up to 2 hrs then you have the cost of filters, oils etc and then throw the VAT on for good measure . What you rpaying for is to have the vehicle lifted up off all 4's and checked throughly.

you could be talking 300-400 as a norm.

If you think this is expensive...then you shouldnt have bought a beamer.
Parts are also crazy price, the NCT repairs could say goodbye to your few pints at the weekend.
 
One other thing to bear in mind, Firefly, if the car has thus far a full main dealer service history then continue to do so. It'll probably be money well spent when selling.

Unless you're a heavy driver it's not something you'll get done often during the ownership of your car.
 
Dave T said:
Firstly is it due a service? service intervals have gone as far as 50K between services on modren cars
Click to expand...

Which manufacturer states that ?

Also, it is usually a combination of kms and time, like "every 15k kms or 12 months which ever come first."
 
20,000 miles .....or 32,000kms simple oil change for the 318i 2001
off course this 'BMW's recommendation'
And there not in the business to make money on parts and service

with careful driving theres no reason why a car should exceed this limit.
There are so many long drain oils on the market at the moment.

Check out some of the oil suppliers sites Esso , Texaco, Elf.....theres lots to choose from to suit your vehicle and increase the oil change interval saving you money in the long run.
BMW are in bed with an oil supplier and taking their cut and moving it on to the consumer charging an arm and a leg.
This is the same for all manufacturers this is how it all works. They have small margins on the sale of cars due to competitve pricing , put the hidden extras for parts etc its where we all get stung ....this is why some choose to have long drain intervals some dont.
BMW dont ...I wonder why.
 
bacchus said:
Which manufacturer states that ?

Also, it is usually a combination of kms and time, like "every 15k kms or 12 months which ever come first."
Click to expand...

The current SAAB 93 is 30k KM or two years.
 
Thanks for that..bought the car from an independant garage..will go through the service history to see when last serviced. It's more precautionary than anything...
Firefly
 
[broken link removed]

Very reasonable and know everything there is to know about BMW
 
smcgiff said:
The current SAAB 93 is 30k KM or two years.
Click to expand...

Not that straight forward with SAAB.... The 9-3 features so-called adaptive service intervals whereby the car decides when it needs a service and these can be anything up to two years/18,500 miles apart.

Not 100% sure about the logic SAAB uses as it is a combinasion of many parameters, but you will get roughtly something like
If you don't drive the car, it is 2 years.
if you have driven 15k KM, it is one year.
if you have driven 30 k km, it is now....
 
Dosen't the BMW have a similar system? I remember on one I used to own there were 5 green lights which went off one by one and then a yellow light came on meaning a service was due which eventually went red. It was not strictly based on miles or time but a combination of various wear and tear factors I think.
 
what oil would you put in a bmw? any regular ones you can pick up at any garage?
 
Firefly,

I know a mechanic in Newtown Mount Kennedy in Wicklow, he is a German guy that worked for BMW and he now specialises in German cars over here. He is an exceptional mechanic, so much so that he recieves cars from all over the country including the North of Ireland. A full service which includes Oil, Filters, Labour and other minor sundries is about €450 in Maxwell in Blackrock. This guy did my full service for less than half the price, ran a diagnostic and reset the service interval indicator as well as stamping the log book. I also bought my 318 Coupe in the UK and he did a lot of reapir work for an awful lot less than any other BMW would even consider. If you PM me I will send you his contact details.

Cheers

Sambo
 



Have tried to PM Sambo. Does anyone know who/where this mechanic in Newtown is based?
 
Why buy a "luxury" car if you cannot aford to service it correctly?

Dont start the whole "taking for a ride, main dealer thing" it's an expensive car, it cost money to maintain it correctly. Don't buy it if you can afford it.

I've also met a lot of these so called trained mechanics from other europeen countries and further afield, they are not trained near what they ususall say they are, why go to a person you have no come back with.

It's like buying DVD's in a market V's HMV etc. You have the choice to do either right or wrong, people think there doing great by getting it cheap buy your getting a bad deal.

Price around your Franchise main dealers but your better off to stay in the network for and I do mean hundreds of reasons.

The "Fred in the shed" makes more profit from each service that a main dealer does overall. Your actually helping people to avoid the Tax man, why should he benifit from it and you still have to pay income tax etc?
 
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