Fix or swap?

slick rick said:
You could probably get that lot done for a grand.
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Easily, the only potentially expensive bit there is are the drive shafts.

Break service - £300ish
CV gator - £30
Replacing suspension arms - £200

The places where you'll save the money
door handle/carrier - bit of a fiddly job but probably 1-2 hrs to sort plus the part so lets guess at £75
Drive Shafts - these are likely to be a few hundred each plus a time consuming job to fit. You could use second hand parts and get a quote from some one, i would have thought this job isn't urgent.
Parking Sensors - I would get the fault diagnosed and a quote, but again i don't see this as a priority.
 
Is there a case for getting sick of the bills on this car and upgrading? Yes.
Is there a case for getting sick of the bills on this car and upgrading to something similar for £7.5k? No. You are setting yourself up for the same thing again.

I wouldn't go as far as callipers from a breakers yard - utterly pointless when a reconditioned one from ECP is not expensive - but the work could be completed for a heck of a lot less than £2500.

Either upgrade it properly or keep it. Upgrading it to a £7.5k car achieves nothing really.
 
Archeum said:
Take it elsewhere and get a quote.
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This all the way.

My Golf had a few issues which Arnold Clark messed up on more than one occasion (Under warranty...). Bit the bullet and went to VW who finally sorted out the problem, but also done a full inspection of the car. Front and rear bushes were needing replacing and both rear disks/brake pads as well as rear tyres. They quoted me £1300 for the lot! Went to a local repair shop and the work was done for just over £300. I bought most of the parts myself, so all in all around £400 it cost me in the end.

Look around for quotes, you will always save yourself money.
 
My X6 was needing new discs and pads for 3 services and every time I pointed out there were a few thousand miles on them they just said we need to warn you. They were never changed as there was nothing wrong with them. Typical money making dealers, check them yourself to see if the pads are worn out or if you have a lip on the disc itself.
 
No.

I swapped a Calliper on my E39 5 Series, which is essentially the same car. It took less than hour and did not require either new pads or discs.
 
Would it be a fair assumption to say you're not the most mechanically minded or have I got that wrong about you? Therefore, is it a straightforward job for someone like me who needs step by step instructions?
 
I'm not great but it wasn't that hard, though I did have a helping hand from a more experienced DIY mechanic :D

But it's simple enough that if you didnt fancy it, then it won't break the bank at a decent enough independent.
 
monkey_boy said:
Would it be a fair assumption to say you're not the most mechanically minded or have I got that wrong about you? Therefore, is it a straightforward job for someone like me who needs step by step instructions?
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Check out ChrisFix on YouTube (Calliper change https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbdJGCi29nQ ), he's got a lot of good videos regarding car maintenance and repairs. That way you can get a rough idea whether or not you are confident enough to tackle it yourself.
 
monkey_boy said:
Would it be a fair assumption to say you're not the most mechanically minded or have I got that wrong about you? Therefore, is it a straightforward job for someone like me who needs step by step instructions?
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Tbf with the other work that needs doing you might as well let a garage tackle the caliper as they will have access whilst doing both the control arm and drive shaft.

I would recommend picking up a font suspension arm kit, a second hand/refurb drive shaft (this should have a CV boot on it) and a re manufactured caliper. If you know a good garage they should be able to do this for you at a reasonable cost anyway. This can all be tackled at the same time and is probably an afternoons work.

As you said you don't do many miles im sure you can put off a set of pads and disks until your next service.

These certainly aren't car ending repairs. 2.5k for a few serviceable items and some light repairs is way ott.
 
As above.Not sure how they kept a straight face when quoting you £2500 for that.

Bet the brakes don't even need doing and can't imagine why you need to replace a driveshaft? Have you had any of the "problems" BMW flagged on any previous MOTs. The only reason I ask is because the excessive play in suspension bushes thing is very subjective and I can imagine BMW err on the side of caution (for whatever reason that may be...). I've had a garage list "excessive play" in bushes which unbeknown to them had been replaced 2 months previous and which all other garages have said were obviously fine.
 
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Last MOT had no advisory notes so I was surprised. The car was stolen and recovered a couple of years ago and I felt that the steering was dodgy after that. I know that they replaced the steering rack then and a good chunk of the front suspension. I couldn't say for certain but I think both the control arms were done then so shouldn't be that worn now.

I've asked BMW to do the door handle and carrier because I had an Indy do that 1 or 2 years ago and it fixed it at the time but has gotten progressively worse again so thought that having an OEM part and the right people to do it would be beneficial.

For the rest of it, I've got it booked in to a local indy to have to calliper done (£180) and I'll get them to see what else they think needs doing and see what matches with what I've been told.
 
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