Thoughts on getting my new car repaired

danlightbulb

danlightbulb

danlightbulb

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Joined
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Birmingham
Hi all.

For those who remember my previous thread about my Mondeo dying, i went ahead and bought a 2005 BMW 325i estate from my friend at work.

He had it MOT'd and fully serviced before I picked it up.

We were both aware of an oil leak on the rocker cover gasket and oil filter housing gaskets. This is a common fault on these cars. It's not a bad leak, just needs the oil topping up from time to time and it makes the engine bay a bit unsightly. The price I paid was agreed with me doing this additional repair in mind.

There is also no service history on the auto gearbox. The advice my friend received from a BMW independent was not to disturb it if it's working ok. From another independent, I have had different advice that it is worth doing.

Both of these jobs are optional at this time. It's a £3.5k car, reflecting the market we are in right now is overpriced anyway. In all other ways the car has been looked after well, and it drives nice.

So in the one hand I am thinking it's worth spending this extra money on getting the gaskets replaced and auto box serviced, with the aim of keeping the car as long as I can and looking after it.

On the other hand it's a lot of money (c.£1k total), a £3.5k 100k mile car and should I run it as long as possible on minimum outlay i.e put up with these issues.

What would you do?
 
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Would you get a sound better car for the combined price? Is there any other work that needs to be done on the car in the near future? If not then pay the money and be happy with a fault free car that will be fine for the next 30-50k or more miles.
 
azazl187 said:
Would you get a sound better car for the combined price? Is there any other work that needs to be done on the car in the near future? If not then pay the money and be happy with a fault free car that will be fine for the next 30-50k or more miles.
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Not easily or without risk no. At my budget, buying from a garage or someone I don't know, there will always be something I think. It's normally gearboxes or cambelts that everyone neglects.
 
danlightbulb said:
Not easily or without risk no. At my budget, buying from a garage or someone I don't know, there will always be something I think. It's normally gearboxes or cambelts that everyone neglects.
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Then pay the extra money and get it all sorted. It may seem like a lot of money but the peace of mind you'll have is priceless.

Obviously there is a small chance of failure outside of predictions but thats just the way of the world
 
Out of the two I'd definitely get the box done. If that goes the car is scrap at that end of the market.

At least you know about the leak and what's causing it so you can keep an eye on it and hold off until it gets worse if you really want to keep outlay low.
 
It's a cambelt - not a chain ?

what's the cost break out, of the £1K for the box versus gaskets ... yes I think I'd have the box done, and watch the oil level too,
I have a minor weep on an 6 too, just had the catalyst replaced.
 
I'm really struggling to see how changing rocker gaskets (very easy DIY) and a fluid change on the auto box gets to a bill of around a grand, or is there much more going on with the box?
 
Rocker cover gasket
Oil filter housing gasket
Oil filter housing cooler gasket
Replacement aluminium rocker cover bolts
4-5 hours labour that job. £600.

Autobox service includes new fluid and replacing the integrated filter pan. £280 parts £75 labour.

All genuine parts being used (several YouTube videos advocate not using cheap Chinese parts here).

I've watched videos on the gasket job, there are quite a few. It's not a technically complex job but there are a lot of wiring to remove, bolts to get to. The YouTube videos on the job do corroborate that the job is approx 4-5 hours.

It's something I would love to have a go at myself, but this is my only car and it's finding the time, getting the parts, having the tools, and if something messes up half way through I'm stuffed.
 
I think you're having your pants pulled down a bit here tbh - how much are the gaskets? Can understand them being £150 for the set and can see how you wouldn't want to do it yourself but 4 hours labour shouldn't be more than what, £300? You aren't paying a main dealer.

Likewise a filter pan used to be (maybe this is the problem) around £90, then you just need fluid and let's say an hours labour to change

At £600 I'd get it and probably think that's the going rate if you don't want to do it yourself - £1k I'm still struggling with.

Regardless I guess to answer the original question - I'd at least have the box fluid changed, probably the filter too then consider the gaskets at a later date
 
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rodenal said:
I think you're having your pants pulled down a bit here tbh - how much are the gaskets? Can understand them being £150 for the set and can see how you wouldn't want to do it yourself but 4 hours labour shouldn't be more than what, £300? You aren't paying a main dealer.

Likewise a filter pan used to be (maybe this is the problem) around £90, then you just need fluid and let's say an hours labour to change

At £600 I'd get it and probably think that's the going rate if you don't want to do it yourself - £1k I'm still struggling with.

Regardless I guess to answer the original question - I'd at least have the box fluid changed, probably the filter too then consider the gaskets at a later date
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I got 4 quotes. BMW main dealer wanted over £1260 just for the gasket job. Didn't get quote for the autobox service.

Independent bmw specialist wanted £550 for the two gaskets. Didn't get quote for the autobox service or the third gasket.

2nd independent bmw specialist wanted £600 for the 3 gaskets as above (they suggested doing all 3 at the same time), and circa £350 for the autobox service (of which parts are £280).

A non BMW service centre local to me wanted £455 for the two gaskets. Didn't get quote for the autobox service.

All have said it's approx 4-5 hours job for the gaskets so all have been consistent in that aspect.

The place I've selected seems to be decent going off Google reviews, and they also restore classic BMW's to sell them.
 
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still a question of how much oil is being lost ? - whether the 600 is better kept for control arms/suspension refresh , brake lines, or other more critical issues down the line.
 
jpaul said:
still a question of how much oil is being lost ? - whether the 600 is better kept for control arms/suspension refresh , brake lines, or other more critical issues down the line.
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I'm not sure on the quantity yet, have only had the car a couple of weeks. It's enough that there is quite a dirty looking engine bay, and a smell of burning oil dropping on hot metal parts after a long drive. My mate who I bought
It from said a litre every couple months, but it might not be leaking all of that through the gaskets, being an older car it probably uses a bit in combustion too.
 
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danlightbulb said:
I'm not sure on the quantity yet, have only had the car a couple of weeks. It's enough that there is quite a dirty looking engine bay, and a smell of burning oil dropping on hot metal parts after a long drive. My mate who I bought
It from said a litre every couple months, but it might not be leaking all of that through the gaskets, being an older car it probably uses a bit in combustion too.
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a litre every couple of months is within tolerance for a lot of new engines (based on that being reasonable mileage and not just sitting on the drive leaking) so if it's that little I wouldn't worry about it, just keep an eye on it.
 
Ok so an alternative option is for me to do the oil filter housing gaskets myself, as that job is much simpler than the rocker cover gasket. Then keep an eye on the rocker cover for the future.

Im torn on the automatic gearbox job. I initially wanted to do it but am now seeing some 'experts' on youtube and other sites saying not to risk it if the box is working properly.

One independent recommended doing it, one did not.
 
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3.5k for a 2005 3 series, seems a lot. I sold my sisters 10 plate 320d, which was high miles at 165k, for only £1700. I know its a nice petrol engine, but it does seem a lot despite the crazy market!
 
You're right it wasn't a bargain price. But it seemed within the range of prices for a 6 cylinder petrol estate online. And it has had some expensive common repair work already done including water pump. So yeah, not the cheapest but then I do know it's been reasonably well looked after (these known issues aside of course). If it lasts me 5 years, +/- £1k isn't a big deal.
 
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