BMW and M Power Owners

Damien. said:
Im not sure if this is actually true but I was once told that if your BMW is more than 3 years old then you get a less than premium experience.
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Very much dealer dependant, to many your an inconvenience with a brand new one never mind older cars to others they bend over backwards.

When I take my e38 into Blue Bell BMW Crewe I get treated absolutely fine even though it’s 18years old, same group different dealer from my local one (Knights Stoke-on-Trent) which just isn’t interested just wants volume through both sales and service.

Back in the day my father was still taking his e39 to BMW at 10+ years old and getting 750iL’s and M5’s as courtesy cars, the dealer was relatively small back then (Howarth Newcastle-under-Lyme, formerly Hartshill BMW) and they couldn’t do enough for you, once that dealer was sold and morphed into the massive Knights site the service went down the pan.

He now drives a Mercedes and the service he gets from his dealer (MB Stoke) is great, they put Knights to shame.

Ironically all the above dealers I’ve referred to are part of the Lookers group yet the service/experience varies wildly between sites so ultimately it’s down to local management.
 
My car is in for the inspection now, the health check report says it needs a new rib belt for £198.88. This appears to be £20 on Amazon, what gives, is it super labour intensive to fit? Also in the Red-urgent section centre wheel caps :D
 
MoRT489 said:
My car is in for the inspection now, the health check report says it needs a new rib belt for £198.88. This appears to be £20 on Amazon, what gives, is it super labour intensive to fit? Also in the Red-urgent section centre wheel caps :D
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A genuine one is well over £60 from a dealer and they can be a pig to fit depending on application, so given dealer labour rates I’d say that sounds about right.
I’d personally be dubious of a £20 jobbie off the Internet..,.
 
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There’s nothing wrong with a rib belt for £20 depending on its size. They are super expensive from a dealer for no good reason. So long as it’s a decent OEM brand.
 
Scania said:
A genuine one is well over £60 from a dealer and they can be a pig to fit depending on application, so given dealer labour rates I’d say that sounds about right.
I’d personally be dubious of a £20 jobbie off the Internet..,.
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You make it sound as though BMW make the belts themselves. They are just rebranded from an OEM, as long as the online one is from a reputable belt maker then i do not see the difference.
 
Scania said:
A genuine one is well over £60 from a dealer and they can be a pig to fit depending on application, so given dealer labour rates I’d say that sounds about right.
I’d personally be dubious of a £20 jobbie off the Internet..,.
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On my old E39 I got a Continental belt for 20 quid from ECP. They are hardly an unknown brand, I wouldn't be surprised if they were the OEM supplier.
 
If the £20 belt is oem quality rock on, my dubious comment was on some generic part which that amazon one could well have been.
I read his post as asking if it was expensive (which it is) but given dealer rates and parts prices then the price he was quoted sounds right for a dealer job.
 
MoRT489 said:
My car is in for the inspection now, the health check report says it needs a new rib belt for £198.88. This appears to be £20 on Amazon, what gives, is it super labour intensive to fit? Also in the Red-urgent section centre wheel caps :D
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I think you have an E93 M3? If so, easiest job I've done on the car.

Literally two screws to take off the air intake scoops which lift out. Then just need a spanner to put on the tensioner to relieve the tension, remove the belt then .put the new belt on. The end. Takes no more than 30 minutes. Pretty sure I could do it in 15mins now.

I should think INA will be the OEM for this as they make all the pulleys in the system, but a Continental or Gates belt are quality alternatives. Total cost for the belt will be about £12-20
 
Anyone know what's covered by a Vehicle Check? I thought my car was due e service in 2000 miles so took the key to the dealer, booked what I assumed was a service but when mentioned a few minor things to check they said £120 an hour for investigation work and stated they don't look at components during a vehicle check. I thought it was due a service so assumed one of concerns would have been looked at when they checked the brakes, one of my concerns was a one off braking problem earlier this week - wobble under under braking after the icy weather last week. Car is fine now and has been for days so now wondering what the heck the vehicle check is if they don't even check stuff like brakes. The car is only worth about £7k trade in now so wondering if it even needs that check, I'd rather keep to servicing now, not underbody checks etc.
THey gave me a print out and in 1926 miles it's due this vehicle check, then engine oil, fuel filter, air filter etc after at 8700 miles, so only 6700 miles after the vehicle check.
Car is on nearly 54k miles and well out of warranty and probably even body warranty too (late 2011 car).
 
The vehicle check is a visual inspection of the car and various components, it goes up on the ramp etc and they look underneath and check stuff.

It used to be what they did in an Inspection 1 and 2 service but with condition based servicing this element was stripped out so you don't really have a big service anymore, more lots of little ones..
 
My 118 went in for a vehicle check before going to BMW(end of pcp). Basically said one of the front tires is slightly feathering at the side, cleared the service indicator & £40 + VAT please. Glad i used an independent BMW garage rather than dealer @ £79 for the same thing.
 
Shoei said:
My 118 went in for a vehicle check before going to BMW(end of pcp). Basically said one of the front tires is slightly feathering at the side, cleared the service indicator & £40 + VAT please. Glad i used an independent BMW garage rather than dealer @ £79 for the same thing.
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An end of warranty check (presumably car was 3?) is free of charge.
 
[TW]Fox said:
More fool you then, as the entire point is to get stuff done free under a warranty whilst you still can :p
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I suppose but then again I had a load of stuff done to the car in Feb, this check would have been in March, under warranty so it didn't seem worth the hassle especially as my nearest dealer is quite a way away.
 
Is the free end of warranty check garage specific or should all BMW garages provide the service. Having done a quick google it looks like something that is only advertised by certain garages.
 
Most should do it but be warned the level of service from my experience does vary. As it’s warranty work they get paid a lower internal rate so some are loathe to do any work and others don’t mind but it all depends how busy they are with other work that will net them more.
 
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