Holy Inspection I prices Batman!

[Chaos]

Just got off the phone from the dealer - £675! :eek: I know they need it overnight to do the tappets but jumping bumcracks that's a crazy money number. :( Damn glad I asked for the price when I booked... Time to call my old dealer I think and see how many favours I can pull out of them.. :confused:

[BigFas]

If you can afford to take the time off. Drive to France. 40% cheaper on all servicing prices, still maintain service history and can get some booze on the way back.

[Chaos]

By the time I'd paid for the petrol, the ferry and the hotel for the night, prolly wouldn't be much in it I reckon bro. Or am I being pessimistic?

Just got off the phone from my old guys and they reckon they'll do it for 500 and toss me a 'decent' courtesy car. Probably not gonna beat that. I'm totally ok with paying more expensive service costs for more expensive cars, but damn that was a bit of a wake-up call is all..

[paulm3]

i took mine to my specialist, (he worked at the local bmw for 17 years) and charged £306, using oem parts and tws oil. so i was happy, :):)

[BigFas]

It's a MASSIVE difference between what you pay for the M3 and what I pay for my lowly 4-pot. I apid £198 for my inspection 1. That included a brake fluid flush and air-conditioner refill / service :) ah. The joys of entry-level motoring :D

[Chaos]

Fas... Remind me to spill my drink on you next time we go out. :p

[lee330sport]

£675:eek: What kinda mileage is inspection 1 then? Might by a Lada instead.:(

[peppernick]

Unfortunately so. M cars are always very expensive to service at a dealer. However, if you can supply your own oil, filters etc. You might be able to bring the price down. I know people on BM3W.co.uk doing group buys on 10W-60 engine oil and saved £80. Fuel filters, pollen filters are available on ebay especially ebay.de.

I may consider having mine done at an Independent that uses BMW parts to mantain the warranty.

[churchwa]

Or get one that is 4 years old and use theor 4 year plan.

That saves you quite a bit

[K3V HA]

LOL at 'Batman' quotes!! [crackmeup [crackmeup

Just out of interest, anyone know what oil a 320ci coupe uses?

And Nick, do M3's take 10/60w Fully Syntehtic??

[peppernick]

M3 takes 10W-60, normal petrol e46 10W-30 from factory but I tend to use 10W-40 full synthetic.

[paulm3]

yeah.. m3's take 10/60 castrol tsw oil... £12.50 per litre..:(:(
i think the 320 take 10/40 sinthetic..

[beemarman]

i took mine to my specialist, (he worked at the local bmw for 17 years) and charged £306, using oem parts and tws oil. so i was happy, :):)

The problem with using specialist dealers is that it does not come with the FBMWSH and will be harder to sell later on without the BMW dealer stamp.

My next service is inspection 2 at a cost of £1k :mad:

The problem is a lot of people dont realise that an M3 is an expensive car to run, it might be cheap to buy but petrol to me is the biggest headache.

18mpg in town that means £47 only last for 200 miles :mad: compared to my 330 that used to give me about 300-350 miles from £47 worth of petrol.

[Mits]

I paid £450 for a I and £650 for a II at the main dealer. Both times supplied my own oil and the dealer gave a 10% discount.
Been going to the same dealer for 10yrs, so loyalty counts.

[Chaos]

£675:eek: What kinda mileage is inspection 1 then? Might by a Lada instead.:(Inspections are every other service. On an M, which is usually driven pretty hard (else why buy one ;)), that means about every 12k-ish miles. Mine has done 20k but it seems to have had it's 15k service done just after 10k for some reason. If you follow the service intervals to the letter then you're looking at a best bet of every 30k miles starting at 30k.

[444bhp Ray]

:eek: Guys i got my inspection 1 done at Hall Mark in Maldon they are a independent and use BMW parts. i took my own oil and they done the rest and a bit more. :p how much did it cost you ask! wait for it :D £140 that was all,can't beat that my BM dealer wanted £710 :mad: any way as i said their in Maldon near Chelmsford,off the A12 A414 to Maldon,David and mark are their names hope this helps. [read

[444bhp Ray]

And dont forget you still keep your Warrenty if you take it to a independent and they must use BMW parts. :)

[Chaos]

Car's in today, how glad am I that it's under warranty...

2 alarm sensors faulty and need replacing
1 front suspension arm slack and needs replacing
2 broken shock cups on the rear need replacing
/quote 'Sundry other small issues' /unquote need doing, warranty covering them aswell

20k miles, not the greatest of service reports. Testament to why M owners always keep the warranty going...

They also mentioned that my rear tyres are almost down to the limit. Can't think why. http://sankeys.demon.co.uk/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[Mikedav]

Servicing is what put me off an M3, I sympathise! The 330Ci is a comparative bargain to run...its even giving me 30% better MPG than my old Bora V6 2.8....

Whats a 15,000 mile service (First service) on a 330ci gonna cost me guys? Its coming up on me fast

[Chaos]

The 15k service on my 325 last year cost me.... £134, including a £16 spare litre of oil in a nice leather pouch. :) I was shocked, and thoroughly pleased. Not bad value at all especially as it includes a free valet. ;)

[alpina527]

And dont forget you still keep your Warrenty if you take it to a independent and they must use BMW parts. :)

As Ray has said, Hallmark BMW are an excellent outfit. It's run by Ex main dealer tech's as well.

Trouble is, doesn't it invalidate the extended warranty? I thought you could use an indie for the first 3 years, but it must be back to the stealers for the extended warranty.

Does anyone have the facts?

[Chaos]

I think I'm right in saying that the extended warranty is supported by the dealer, so if that's the case then yeah I reckon you'd have to stay with that dealer. Nick's had some to's and fro's with this, I'm sure others have aswell.

In other news, I forgot the VAT. [bang Just paid £668 for it in total - ouch. And they didn't fix one item and freaked out over the halos. Oh well, it's all entertainment I guess.