BMW Service Costs

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’ve decided to start a thread to provide some actual figures to service costs on a BMW. The Bimmer I drive is a 2000 328Ci. I bought it new in November of 1999. It went out of its warranty sometime in 2001 (4-year/50k) due to my longish commute at the time. It currently has 122,000 miles.

So, I’ve brought it to dealer AND private mechanics.

Yesterday, I paid the following at a private mechanic:

Air conditioner compressor, accompanying hoses, and a recharge: $1380.
Brake system bleed, front driver’s caliper connector repair: $350
2 idler pullies replaced: $150

A few months ago in my driveway:

Water pump replacement (and belt): $85

A few months ago at a dealer:

Steering control arms replaced: $1200

A year ago at a dealer:

Hazards/Power door lock switch replacement: $150

Oil change (synthetic): $120

As you can see, it’s exorbidant. But what’s my alternative? Buy a different car? So far, in the 8+ years I’ve had the car, it’s cost me about $5000 in maintenance. So there you go, true numbers.

If you have numbers for your own BMW (or otherwise expense import), please share them…

2

I’d peg that as “slightly spendy” but not exhorbitant by any stretch. You’re also mixing repairs with maintenance - replacing the air conditioner compressor probably isn’t on the normal maintenance schedule. If I had a car with over 120,000 miles on it, and the AC went out, I probably would not spend $1400 to fix it, and would just get used to rolling down the windows.

$85 for a water pump and belt? Even as parts-only, that’s cheaper than what I’d pay at Kragen for my Dodge, and the idler pulleys are over $75 for the set as well.

3

I had a 3 series BMW and my wife still has hers. She had problems last week and racked up $1800 in repair bills but it was fixed same day. The problems were all over the place but centered around the front end. Hers is a 2003 with 170,000 miles (she has a really long commute) but it looks great inside and out and drives like new. I would love to have my own BMW again but the repair costs are always a factor. What bothered me sometimes is that need a BMW specialist to work on them or you are asking for trouble. Jiffy Lube can barely do an oil change on one and they can’t reset the computer.

4

We have a VW and it’s a TDi.

Maintenance yearly, according to the schedule, is approximately $1500.

We got a fantastic warranty when we bought it (2004) and at 4 years old and about 140,000 km’s, we’re still under warranty for a good deal of issues that crop up. We also purchased an extended warranty to cover additional potential issues and increase the years/mileage on the original warranty.

However, for the past year we’d been having trouble with it stalling all the time (every time we drove it). We took it in to three dealerships. The first said it was an EGR valve, so the DH replaced it himself since neither our regular or extended warranty covered it (Fancy that, eh? And yes, I DID read the entire contract to double check.). This didn’t fix the problem.

The second dealership couldn’t find anything wrong and couldn’t duplicate the problem (!!), so we were stuck with $350 of a mechanic’s time and no resolution.

The DH did some research he concluded that it was the in-tank fuel pump. He told this to the second dealership and they disagreed and wouldn’t even look at it again. The third dealership suggested the regular fuel pump and replaced it (covered under extended warranty, yay!), but it didn’t fix the problem. FINALLY, they agreed to check the in-tank fuel pump and replace it.

Guess what. And it was covered under the extended warranty (expect the labour costs, which are $100/hr here).

Wrapping up, I’d say the biggest issues we’ve had with having a foreign vehicle are that there are not enough dealerships around to look at the problem (there are three here, and two of them have 2 month+ waiting lists), and there are not enough experienced mechanics (high turnover).

The extended warranty was worth it though. Ordering foreign parts can get really expensive.

5

Mine is a 1994 525 I with right around 132,000. In the last 2 years I have put in new brake pads, which I think cost around 350$ The cooling system broke, he had to put in a bunch of parts 1000$. New struts cost me around 850$. All these include labor. There was something else…

I got hit on the driver side fender, and got an estimate but did not fix it, the body guy said it would be 400$.

I never take it to the dealer.