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Sedans BMW 3-Series BMW 3-Series Maintenance and Repair
3958 messages, Last post on Aug 26, 2008 at 12:35 PM
You are in the BMW 3-Series Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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I have been rreading these forums for awhile and I would like to introduce myself. I have an alpine white 2003 BMW 325xiT that I purchased two years ago at 24,000 miles. It is my first BMW and I have really enjoyed the car. I now am at 52,000 miles and am about 2400 miles away from inspection II. So far I have only had to replace brakes, and tires. The only out of ordinary repairs have been a new thermostat, O2 sensor and a fuel sender wire that was gnawed by a mouse. My service plan for the car calls for oil changes every 7,500 miles (our half way through what the car recommends for an oil change via the OBC. I have the 3 month 3000 miles routine so ingrained with me I struggle waiting the 7,500 mile mark. I'll replace the inspection II items i.e. airfilter, cabin filter etc. myself and have a BMW indy mechanic look it over. My local dealer charges about $540.00 for inspection II which seems to be a glorified oil change. I plan on changing the waterpump after 60,000 miles as per Mike Miller's recommendations in the Roundel. On oil changes, how do you base your intervals on time or mileage? I've heard the 3 month 3000 miles for years and I drive this car about 14 K a year. Do you think half of the interval is sufficient? I had the oil changed last summer when the OBC was reading 7,500 to inspection II. Now I am about 2,400. Thanks, Mark
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the quote $850 is cheap. I had the insp II last year on my 2001 325i for 1111.41 plus they told me to replace thermostat, water pump... and I walked out with the bill of $3040.76. I think my car is a lemon. I just had it fixed the passsenger front door due to rain water leaking in and the rear passenger window has broken regulator ( to roll the window up and down) and today I found there is a pool of water near the driver door too after a long day and nite rain from the storm. Anybody has similar problem? I like the car but I am getting tired of leaving it at shop too often. M.
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Replying to: megrdh1 (Jan 05, 2008 7:01 pm) Sorry, but you got hosed, plain and simple. I hope the service manager kissed you and sent flowers the next morning. My local dealer doesn't charge that much more for an Insp. II on an E46 M3- which includes changing all drivetrain fluids as well as a time-consuming valve adjustment. As a matter of fact, a few years ago I put off changing a noisy idler pulley on my wife's 128K 1997 528i, and in late fall of 2004 my procrastination was rewarded by the pulley bearing disintegrating and taking out both belts and the fan shroud. I decided to let my independent BMW tech handle the repairs. While he had the car we decided to replace the radiator, the water pump, and the remaining idler pulley as a precaution. My tech also found and replaced a bad tie rod and had the car aligned. The total cost of repair? $1161. And one more data point: I had my dealer change the thermostat in my E36 3er just last month- $160
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Replying to: ultimgrocgettr (Jan 05, 2008 4:41 pm) Welcome! That's a great car; I almost picked up a five speed Touring on ebay, but I snoozed and lost...  On oil changes, how do you base your intervals on time or mileage? I've heard the 3 month 3000 miles for years and I drive this car about 14 K a year. Do you think half of the interval is sufficient? I had the oil changed last summer when the OBC was reading 7,500 to inspection II. Now I am about 2,400. I'm a bit more conservative than some of the other members on this board, so I also perform a 7500 mile oil change. Just be sure to use a BMW filter as well as a BMW Longlife 01 rated oil. Some commonly available oils that meet that spec are: BMW Synthetic 5W-30 Castrol Syntec 0W-30 Mobil 1 0W-40 |
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Replying to: roadburner (Jan 05, 2008 10:34 pm) You are right. My local dealer ripped me off. I guessed because I am a gal and know nothing about car so they easily scared me. Anyway, if you follow this forum you may remember a while back I asked for a referral to an independent shop in SF BayArea not only because of the high cost of maintenance at my local dealer, but I also feel they no longer treat me well.
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Here is an action shot of my E46 Touring at a local autocross event. I get some good natured ribbing about having a wagon and some of the local club members call it a grocery getter. I remind them since it is a BMW, it is the Ultimate Grocery Getter. I was autocrossing it using the stock 16" Michelins. Next season, I plan on using Bridgestone RE070 mounted on 17" E36 Style 24 rims. It should be interesting to see if the change in tires will improve my track times. This is a very fun car to drive and I am looking forward to the next season. I am participating in a BMW Winter Driving School in a couple of weeks. That should tide me over for awhile. |
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Replying to: megrdh1 (Jan 05, 2008 10:55 pm) Actually, your experience is more the rule, than the exception.. There is a reason that BMWs got their reputation for being expensive to maintain.. It's a dealer network that charges astronomical prices for dubious repairs.. You shouldn't have to have an intimate knowledge of the mechanical workings of your car, to avoid being ripped off by the service department.. But, in many cases, that's exactly what you need.. Good job seeking out an independent.. regards, kyfdx visiting host
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Replying to: kyfdx (Jan 06, 2008 10:01 am) After years of searching, I've only found two really great BMW shops in the Bay Area, one in San Rafael and one in Santa Cruz. I'm sure there are more. Some have good "reputations" but they are very ego-driven and snooty, another trait I don't care for in an BMW indy shop. One of my favorite indy BMW shops is run by a lunatic. If you catch him on a good day, he is BRILLIANT with these cars, but if he's on a bender, don't go near the place. LOL! |
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Hello everyone, Does anyone know offhand the size of the caliper brake line bleed valve? I have an E46 2002 330i. I'd like to drive to the hardware store without having to remove/replace the wheel to check. If I recall from the last time I did it, its either a 7mm or 9mm fit (I ended up using a box wrench that time). What I do remember is that it isn't one of the sizes that comes in the trunk mounted tool kit. Thanks. |
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I have a 2006 330i with sports package. Does anyone know where I can get the maintenance schedule online for this car? Thanks for the help.
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