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BMW 3-Series Maintenance and Repair

5349 messages,  Last post on Apr 30, 2013 at 3:31 PM

You are in the BMW 3-Series Forum.

What is this discussion about? BMW 3 Series, Sedan

    
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Messages Page 39 of 536

#376 of 5349 eyeballs by div2

Apr 21, 2002 (7:54 pm)

Service costs are quite reasonable once you find a good independent BMW tech who offers a BMW CCA discount. Example: I just had the Inspection II(Major) service performed on my wife's 1997 528iA. The independent shop did everything called for except the cabin filters(which I do myself)and they also replaced the fuel filter(which isn't called for but I think it is a good practice). The shop also replaced the front pads as well as a worn tie rod. Total price-including an alignment and seven quarts of Mobil 1 15W-50-was $440. In contrast, a friend got charged $1100(!) at a dealer for just the Inspection II service.

#377 of 5349 eyeballs by rascal8

Apr 22, 2002 (12:38 pm)

This is my second BMW (2001 325ci). My personal experiences with BMW have been very good. These cars tend to get criticized often because of the intense brand loyalty to BMW by people like myself and the fact the price they carry is a bit out of reach for people who would otherwise own them. I think it would be hard for me to purchase any other car at this point, and this car does stretch my budget a tad. The combination of performance, comfort and reliablity is hard to equal as I see it.
I believe you will find the service cost to certainly be more than your average Toyota or Honda driving appliance; however, like the previous poster recommends you can find a quality independent shop to save money. I think it also depends on specifically the type of service you are having done. Just budget yourself for normal service costs and you should be ok. If you kill the transmission for some reason...well that may be a different story. The M3 service may be quite a bit higher than the 330, you had better check it out first. Oh, and pleeeeease don't buy an SUV, even if it's a BMW G'luck.

#378 of 5349 help!! 1997 328i turning/steering problem by tai_tai

Apr 23, 2002 (8:47 am)

help!!
am i the only one with this problem?
just bought a 97 328i used with the sports package (16" wheels). my tires are all 225/50/16.
nothing wrong when i turn right. when i turn the wheel all the way to the left and start going slowly, there's some rubbing sound as if the left tire was touching the mud-guard.
moreover, on the steering return path, i hear a very low noise underneath left side of the steering column. it sounds like some electronic was being reset or something. the noise is very low and only happens once, but it's very distinctive and annoying. anyone know how to fix this?
also, am i the only one without a steering wheel adjustment?
thanks.
tai

#379 of 5349 it's in the shop for the 1st time by njdriver1

Apr 23, 2002 (5:47 pm)

and, wow, am I bummed. I'm 6 months and 6,700m into a 330i auto and the "check transmission" light came on. Service had the car all day and no conclusions. Any guess how long this might take?
 
Could this be the result of hard driving through deep, standing water on highways monday?
 
And another thing, when in reverse, the car makes a strange moan while turning. Seeing how much I love the car, I'm freaked at the thought of the dealers not being able to figure out whats wrong.

#380 of 5349 njdriver by kdshapiro

Apr 24, 2002 (5:22 pm)

Yeah Monday was tough. I took it easy on the roads as I found myself going through rivers of water. Good luck and let us know what if anything turns up.

#382 of 5349 6 months old by njdriver1

Apr 26, 2002 (9:53 am)

and in the shop 4 straight days. It took a 1.5 days to diagnose for a new valve body for the transmission and 2 days to get the part. Now I'm waiting for the results and when can I pick it up. Pretty aggravating to have a new car spend 4 days in the shop.

#383 of 5349 Break-in period...RPM and top end (long) by innkeeper40

Apr 28, 2002 (6:10 am)

What is the more critical variable during the BMW vehicle break-in period...RPM (keeping them below 4,500) or top end (not exceeding 100 MPH) for the first 1,200 miles? While picking up my 330i last month in Munich I spend several miles in the 105 to 110 MPH range but never exceeded 4,000 RPM...My rep at the ED delivery center only told me about the RPM limit (which he told me was 4,000). I don't recall him ever telling me not to exceed 100 MPH. At that point, I had not had time to read the owners manual. Do you think I did any damage to the engine? Thanks.

#384 of 5349 innkeeper40 by sgrd0q

Apr 28, 2002 (8:35 am)

Well the short answer is - Both can be equally damaging, however breaking any of these limits will very unlikely damage the engine. In fact you can start red-lining the car from day one and drive at full throttle on the autobahn for hours, and still be fine.
 
Now the long answer as to which is more damaging. It really depends on the car. Revving the engine is intuitively worse, as it creates a lot of racket. (But intuition is not always right - for instance lugging the engine is actually worse - it creates the most stress on the engine.) Driving at high speed is also stressful for the engine - the engine has to do a lot of work. So prolonged driving at high speed (even at low revolutions) is not easy on the engine. However, the most important factor in the equation is the engine. In other words there is no magical speed that applies to all engines. If the engine has to struggle to reach 100mph (as was the case with me a month ago when I traveled to Germany and rented a small POS Fiat) then that is worse. Any 6 cylinder BMW (even the 2.5 liter) will be fine at that speed. If you have the 3.0 liter or M3 engine, then 100-110mph is definitely not too hard on the engine.

#385 of 5349 njdriver by kdshapiro

Apr 28, 2002 (6:22 pm)

I don't know what a transmission valve body is, but it sounds like one of those $.99 parts causing the whole mess.
 
Ken

Messages Page 39 of 536

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