What service do I need?

godinman

godinman

godinman

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26 Feb 2007
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Hi All,

As a few of you know, I've recently bought my parents E46 328i (2000).

Now, it's due an MOT at the end of the month, and hasn't been particularly well serviced in the last few years, there two receipts from a local 'specialist', but they aren't dated, one is for some filters and stuff, the other is just marked 'Parts' and 'Labour'. Great, isn't it? There are no other receipts, but it has been serviced a few times, and has had *some* bushes replaced.

So, I'll be ringing my local BMW this morning, as the only other specialist I can find has some pretty poor reviews.

My question is, what should I ask them? What I want them to do it have a good look around, replace any dodgy bushes and give the engine a full service, inc cambelt as apparently it's been done, but I have no date or receipts for it.

It's on 88k miles, and the service indicator says it's 1.5k due for a service:o, is there a particular service it's due for, inspection 2 or some such?

How much do you think all of this will cost?

Long shot, but has anybody used a indy around shrewsbury they'd recommend?

Thanks for any help, I'm willing to spend a bit to get this car up to scratch, is there anything else I should be doing? Coolant system?..
 
Sounds like you might as well stump up for an Insp II, seeing as you don't really know it's current service status.

It shouldn't be too costly given the fixed priced servicing, but you might want to get an indy to do the RTAB/Suspension.

As for the cambelt, what cambelt? I'd not be trusting whatever garage said they've changed the cambelt on the chain-driven M52 engine.

Oh and definitely budget for a cooling system refresh.
 
paradigm said:
Sounds like you might as well stump up for an Insp II, seeing as you don't really know it's current service status.

It shouldn't be too costly given the fixed priced servicing, but you might want to get an indy to do the RTAB/Suspension.

As for the cambelt, what cambelt? I'd not be trusting whatever garage said they've changed the cambelt on the chain-driven M52 engine.
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Haha, wait, yes, chain. Let's gloss over that bit.

So, inspection 2 and an MOT, although I think some buses may be on the way out, I guess I'll just stick it in, and see what needs doing it. Am I right in thinking that they could just change a failed bush and re-test without doing a full test again?
 
In theory, yes, you should be able to just get the failed part re-tested after repair.

It's now 12 years old and likely requires a refresh of most of the suspension components, and possibly even the steering track-rods/ends.

As I said, get the car down to a decent BMW indy after it's Insp II and have them assess the condition of the suspension (particularly the rear trailing arms). Likely it needs a full refresh to feel "tight" again, but you might get away with just the basics of replacing what has actually failed.

With it being an early 6-pot e46, it's probably also worth getting the rear subframe looked at just to be sure that it's not starting to crack/tear as was common with the e36 and early e46. And potentially replace the propshaft donuts if the car knocks on engaging 1st/2nd.
 
Okay, I've just gotten off the phone to them, prices are -

Inspection 2 - £339
MOT - £54.85

Apparently the car qualifies for their value service thing, which is good. They'll also check the car over and give me a report telling me if bushes, brakes etc need looking at, so if they service it first, then they can pre-empt any MOT failures I suppose, which I'll get them to fix straight away, and then give me a price for the rest.

I'll have a feel and see if it knocks in 1st/2nd, as I say, some bushes have been done, so hopefully it wont be a 'full' refresh.

Excellent, how does the service price sound? Doesn't look too bad to me...
 
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i think it depends on what you want to achieve from the car.

if you just want to spend money on servicing for the hell of it, go right ahead.

if you want to turn it back to uber reliable, drive like new, last forever, make it quicker etc then there is loads you can do.

at that age its going to want most of the suspension done to get the best from it, cooling system changed. id be surprised if the rubber brake likes were still at their best.
 
Prices are about right, of course the "sting" will be whatever labour costs the car generates whilst being inspected. A few bushes here and there or a replacement part of the cooling system and you're already looking at 2-3 hours of "BMW" labour.
 
Matt82 said:
i think it depends on what you want to achieve from the car.

if you just want to spend money on servicing for the hell of it, go right ahead.

if you want to turn it back to uber reliable, drive like new, last forever, make it quicker etc then there is loads you can do.

at that age its going to want most of the suspension done to get the best from it, cooling system changed. id be surprised if the rubber brake likes were still at their best.
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What I want to achieve - a tidy, reliable, nice example of a standard E46. The rear brake lines have been replaced, not sure about the front, I guess I'll find out after the service..

paradigm said:
Prices are about right, of course the "sting" will be whatever labour costs the car generates whilst being inspected. A few bushes here and there or a replacement part of the cooling system and you're already looking at 2-3 hours of "BMW" labour.
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I might ring back and ask what their labour charges are then, this once I probably don't mind, as anything they do will be to get it through the MOT, and I'd be happier having BMW check it over, as they guess they know what they're doing...I hope!
 
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I find the best method is BMW for scheduled servicing as its cheap and convenient and an Indy for anything that requires diagnosing etc as BMW costs can get silly when that's required.
 
[TW]Fox;22385067 said:
I find the best method is BMW for scheduled servicing as its cheap and convenient and an Indy for anything that requires diagnosing etc as BMW costs can get silly when that's required.
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That sounds like a plan, the main difficulty is going to be finding an independent I can trust.

I assume getting bodywork done by BMW would be eye-wateringly expensive? Or are they surprisingly cheap and do work to a high standard? (ha).
 
godinman said:
I assume getting bodywork done by BMW would be eye-wateringly expensive? Or are they surprisingly cheap and do work to a high standard? (ha).
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9 times out of 10 a main dealer will outsource bodywork to one of their "approved" bodyshop suppliers anyway, and isn't "BMW" work as such (although it will be warranted by BMW). As such it's far more poignant to cut out the middle man (BMW dealer) and go straight to a bodyshop that has a reputation locally for good work.
 
paradigm said:
9 times out of 10 a main dealer will outsource bodywork to one of their "approved" bodyshop suppliers anyway, and isn't "BMW" work as such (although it will be warranted by BMW). As such it's far more poignant to cut out the middle man (BMW dealer) and go straight to a bodyshop that has a reputation locally for good work.
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There's one we do some work for, they've got a good rep, so will go with them, once the other work's finished anyway.
 
They are likely to farm it out to a local bodyshop anyway but charge you profit on top of the bodyshops profit. In short i'd just find someone you trust to sort it out
 
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