BMW service price

obi604

Hi,

I have a 2006 BMW 523i, 2.5 litre petrol automatic. N52 6 Cylinder engine.

It was last serviced 8,000 miles ago.
It has 75,000 miles on the clock.
It has 8 services in the book so far.

The spark plugs were done at 60,000 miles.

I got a quote from an independent mechanic for a service. cost came in at 394 Euro.

Does this seem excessive?

Voodoomelon

For an oil, oil filter and air filter change, exceptionally excessive.

For the above, plus plugs, brake parts, suspension parts etc, not at all.

What did he quote for?

mikeecho

Phone up your local main dealer, and ask them how much for a service pack.

After hearing that, you'll think that indy quote is cheap.

Btw.. What does that indy quote include ?
The fuel filter and air filters are expensive, then add the correct spec oil and a bit of labour .. it's never cheap.

Also is the indy doing a flush of brake fluids?

obi604

hi,

includes this:

Air filter
Oil filter
Pollen filters
6.5 Lt Motul SAE Longlife 5W30 LL04
Environment charge
Screen washer fluid
Sump washer

obi604

mikeecho wrote: »

Phone up your local main dealer, and ask them how much for a service pack.

After hearing that, you'll think that indy quote is cheap.

Btw.. What does that indy quote include ?
The fuel filter and air filters are expensive, then add the correct spec oil and a bit of labour .. it's never cheap.

Also is the indy doing a flush of brake fluids?

no mention of the brake pad flush

Voodoomelon

obi604 wrote: »

hi,

includes this:

Air filter
Oil filter
Pollen filters
6.5 Lt Motul SAE Longlife 5W30 LL04
Environment charge
Screen washer fluid
Sump washer

An absolute rip, unless the environment charge is €200.

obi604

mikeecho wrote: »

Phone up your local main dealer, and ask them how much for a service pack.

After hearing that, you'll think that indy quote is cheap.

Btw.. What does that indy quote include ?
The fuel filter and air filters are expensive, then add the correct spec oil and a bit of labour .. it's never cheap.

Also is the indy doing a flush of brake fluids?

is it just cause its a BMW that its expensive?
spending 400 euro for a service on a 12 year old car seems a bit much though

mikeecho

obi604 wrote: »

hi,

includes this:

Air filter
Oil filter
Pollen filters
6.5 Lt Motul SAE Longlife 5W30 LL04
Environment charge
Screen washer fluid
Sump washer

Ok... that's a expensive for what you're getting.

Find someone else to service your car.

GerryDerpy

obi604 wrote: »

hi,

includes this:

Air filter
Oil filter
Pollen filters
6.5 Lt Motul SAE Longlife 5W30 LL04
Environment charge
Screen washer fluid
Sump washer

Used to own one of these.

Air filter is about 15
Oil filter 10
Pollen filters 40
Good oil 50
Screenwash 2

So yeah, he is expensive for the labour.

Voodoomelon

I just checked, you can get the exact same service from BMW themselves for €380 for your E60.

An independent shouldn't be more than €200-€250 with genuine parts, VAT paid etc.

You can do it yourself for about €120 with genuine parts and oil.

grogi

obi604 wrote: »

hi,

includes this:

Air filter
Oil filter
Pollen filters
6.5 Lt Motul SAE Longlife 5W30 LL04
Environment charge
Screen washer fluid
Sump washer

First of all, go with BMW LL01. LL04 is ok, but it is formulated not to damage dpf. You have petrol, so no worries there, LL01 is simply better in that case.

Secondly, that is a mad price...

Wibbs

Voodoomelon wrote: »

An absolute rip, unless the environment charge is ?200.

+1. A quick google and youtube session would show you how to change out the Air and Pollen filters. Not difficult jobs at all. Screen washer fluid? Seriously? Buy small bottle of fluid for a couple of quid in any petrol station, drop into screen washer bottle, add water from the tap and fill it up. Jobs OXO. For the price of a bottle of coke.

obi604 wrote:

spending 400 euro for a service on a 12 year old car seems a bit much though

It is Obi, but that's the market. Fewer and fewer car owners even look under their bonnets and if they do usually get The Fear(tm). A generation ago the majority of men would laugh in a mechanics face at the cheek of charging for filling up a screen washer bottle. Jaysus.

Oh and another quick google would show you how to do your own oil change. Once learned, easily repeated and far cheaper. The oil I'd reckon would stand you about the 60-80 quid mark, a filter is what, a tenner and a sump plug washer they'll likely throw in for nothing if you're buying the other stuff.

If the idea of that worries you and I can understand that if you don't feel "handy" enough, then I'd do the washer fluid and change out the air and pollen filters. Get someone else to do the oil. IMH you're gonna save a couple of hundred quid at least.

CeilingFly

2012 520d service with indy in kildare, €250

obi604

grogi wrote: »

First of all, go with BMW LL01. LL04 is ok, but it is formulated not to damage dpf. You have petrol, so no worries there, LL01 is simply better in that case.

Secondly, that is a mad price...

you sure on this?

a lot of people have told me to use LL04.

and oil website checkers say LL04.

grogi

obi604 wrote: »

you sure on this?

a lot of people have told me to use LL04.

and oil website checkers say LL04.

Yes, I am. But if you are hesitant, stay with LL04. Not the best thing to blindly trust a guy on the Internet...

obi604

grogi wrote: »

Yes, I am. But if you are hesitant, stay with LL04. Not the best thing to blindly trust a guy on the Internet...

lol. thanks.

will have a look around about LL01 all the same

grogi

obi604 wrote: »

lol. thanks.

will have a look around about LL01 all the same

That's a snap from official BMW documentation:

http://www.oil-club.ru/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Longlife-04-approved-oils.pdf

Longlife-04 oils are only approved for spark-ignition engines in Europe (EU plus Switzerland, Norway and
Liechtenstein). They must not be used outside this area as problems are often encountered with fuel quality.

So, LL04 is approved for petrol car if you have very good quality petrol. You should be fine with LL04 in Europe, but LL01 is safer to use.

obi604

grogi wrote: »

That's a snap from official BMW documentation:

http://www.oil-club.ru/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Longlife-04-approved-oils.pdf



So, LL04 is approved for petrol car if you have very good quality petrol. You should be fine with LL04 in Europe, but LL01 is safer to use.

I see this one: https://www.micksgarage.com/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=1214863

says this: "BMW LL-04 – and BMW LL-01 retroactive applicability"

what does this really mean?

grogi

obi604 wrote: »

I see this one: https://www.micksgarage.com/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=1214863

says this: "BMW LL-04 – and BMW LL-01 retroactive applicability"

what does this really mean?

Means that LL04 can be used where LL01 was originally required.

dbs103

Did the OP ask the mechanic for a breakdown of the price of parts and labour costs. A genuine mechanic should have no problem with such transparency.

Incase anyone is interested...

A lifetime ago I worked for a franchised BMW dealer. At that time, can't speak for now, every job was given an amount of FRUs (flat rate unit) mandated by BMW. An FRU was equal to 5 minutes. The amount of FRUs were job specific and strictly enforced. There was a chart.

The dealership had some say, I've no idea how much though, in what an FRU cost. A sign was clearly visible as to what an FRU cost. When people would ask the price of a certain job it would be looked up in a catalogue and the stated FRU time would be calculated at the particular cost of an FRU. This information was always stated to the customer.

I assume that the whole point was to have a uniformity across the BMW dealers. If a job took longer than the stated FRU, more could not be charged. If it took less, then more profit was made. Variation in price between different dealers would then be down to that particular dealers FRU rate.

I can't speak for any other dealers but where I worked appeared to always be up front and honest with informing customers of the system in place and the cost of any job.

Mark-ups on accessories and parts seemed to be a different story though. But the FRUs were always honest and straight forward from my experience.

obi604

dbs103 wrote: »

Did the OP ask the mechanic for a breakdown of the price of parts and labour costs. A genuine mechanic should have no problem with such transparency.

Yep. I have that breakdown.

commited

Crazy price on servicing OP!

First of all, I would suggest tackling air & cabin filter yourself, very very easy:
http://www.mister-auto.ie/en/pollen-filter-cabin-air-filter/bosch-1-987-432-402_g424_a0301!987!432!402.html (amazing deal for pair of carbon cabin filters)
http://www.mister-auto.ie/en/air-filter/mann-filter-c-30-139_g8_a004C!30!139.html
€31.20 (+ €8 delivery if you don't buy below)

You then have 2 options: BMW oil service @ €180 or DIY if you want

DIY:
Oil filter OEM is Mann but Bosch should be excellent also http://www.mister-auto.ie/en/oil-filter/bosch-1-457-429-269_g7_a0301!457!429!269.html
Oil:
http://www.mister-auto.ie/en/engine-oil/castrol-157ef0_g3224_a207157EF0.html
& 2x http://www.mister-auto.ie/en/engine-oil/castrol-157eef_g3224_a207157EEF.html
€81

If you can't be bothered crawling under the car, I'd go with BMW service @ €180 & do air filter/cabin filter DIY.

*Zero affiliation with Mister-auto, just ordered a load of this stuff last night to service my own E60 and they appeared overall cheapest!

dbs103

obi604 wrote: »

Yep. I have that breakdown.

Did you compare to other quotes?

Not trying to give you a hard time, but when it comes to general servicing, prices and quality can vary hugely.

Best to arm yourself with some knowledge of what needs to be done. The more knowledge you have, the less likey you are to be ripped off.

Things like oil cost, filter cost etc can be checked online.

Arm youself with this and you'll have an idea of if the mechanic is charging you a resonable price

obi604

dbs103 wrote: »

Did you compare to other quotes?

Not trying to give you a hard time, but when it comes to general servicing, prices and quality can vary hugely.

Best to arm yourself with some knowledge of what needs to be done. The more knowledge you have, the less likey you are to be ripped off.

Things like oil cost, filter cost etc can be checked online.

Arm youself with this and you'll have an idea of if the mechanic is charging you a resonable price

Im waiting on a couple of more quotes back.
I just got this quote in yesterday as my first one and seen the price and then decided to ask you knowledgeable people about it, as to me seemed way too expensive.

obi604

This is the pricing of the original quote.

Air filter €34.24
Oil filter €12.99
Pollen filters €88.96
6.5 Lt Motul SAE Longlife 5W30 LL04 €51.93
Environment charge €7.00
Screen washer fluid €1.60
Sump washer €1.10
Labour €147.00

biko

Voodoomelon wrote: »

You can do it yourself for about ?120 with genuine parts and oil.

This

Years ago I brought my Saab for a dealer full service.
400 euro later I decided to always do my own services...

Money saved since then, 1000's

goochy

that's fine if you are competent , also theres one thing changing filters but being able to give car a going over is another thing.

obi604

hi

I see the word pollen filter AND cabin filter

Are they the same thing?

biko

Yes, they are the same and is often easily accessible behind the glove box.
On your car it's here

Should you be interested in DIY I can move this to the dedicated forum/start new thread there.

grogi

commited wrote: »

If you can't be bothered crawling under the car, I'd go with BMW service @ €180 & do air filter/cabin filter DIY.

Personally I take the car for oil change to a garage around the corner and supply the oil and filter. It might be messy when the oil spills on the driveway, not really worth my €30 to climb under the car and mess with the screws.

The rest of the filters I can do myself, typically it is 5-10 minutes job. Plenty of Youtube videos to illustrate the process for particular car.

SBPhoto

biko wrote: »

This

Years ago I brought my Saab for a dealer full service.
400 euro later I decided to always do my own services...

Money saved since then, 1000's

No everyone have the facility (Space) or knowledge to do their own service.

grogi

SBPhoto wrote: »

No everyone have the facility (Space) or knowledge to do their own service.

To change the dry filters you don't need anymore than a parking space.

Voodoomelon

goochy wrote: »

that's fine if you are competent , also theres one thing changing filters but being able to give car a going over is another thing.

Yep, this is true. But never underestimate how little a mechanic will do to the average car when in for a service. Up on the ramp, drain the pan, swap the oil and filter, air cabin filter, check all the bottles under the bonnet, quick look at lights and a glance at brake pad/disc thickness. Job done.

Any many a mechanic won't even look at your cabin filters, brake fluid or plugs unless you tell them to.

obi604

obi604 wrote: »

This is the pricing of the original quote.

Air filter €34.24
Oil filter €12.99
Pollen filters €88.96
6.5 Lt Motul SAE Longlife 5W30 LL04 €51.93
Environment charge €7.00
Screen washer fluid €1.60
Sump washer €1.10
Labour €147.00

do these figures look way OTT?

mickdw

Is there vat on top of those figures?

obi604

mickdw wrote: »

Is there vat on top of those figures?

Yes

mickdw

400 quid for only oil change, air and pollen filters.
It's nuts.

Wibbs

grogi wrote: »

To change the dry filters you don't need anymore than a parking space.

Ditto for the screen wash refill. That staggers my mind that this is even in a service TBH. Who doesn't know how to keep an eye on and fill when required their screen wash bottle? As for knowledge, these days there is little to no excuse for not being able to source such knowledge like an oil change, what with the internet and all. Hell, if the OP was near me I'd show them how and how easy it is. Even easier if you have one of those oil pump yokes(don't even need a spanner for the drain plug in that case). 15 minute job. The oil filter is a piece of piddle to access on those Beemers too.

Bit circled below in red.

The washer bottle is the blue tubed yoke sicking up on the top left. Unscrew cap, add washer juice, level up with water. Done. The air filter housing looks to be accessible on the lower righthand side. Undo a couple of clips, old one in bin, new one installed. Done.

Now I can well understand folks baulking at going near the more complex oily bits. I'm not suggesting anyone rebuild their gearbox on the kitchen table(cue divorce ), or swap out suspension components, but there should be no excuse for baulking at doing extremely simple maintenance jobs like air/pollen filters and basic fluids checks and top ups where required. No tools but one's hands required. Maybe it's a generational thing? Growing up I knew nobody's dad(and the occasional mam) who wouldn't tackle these basic jobs of a weekend morning.

obi604

Wibbs wrote: »

Ditto for the screen wash refill. That staggers my mind that this is even in a service TBH. Who doesn't know how to keep an eye on and fill when required their screen wash bottle? As for knowledge, these days there is little to no excuse for not being able to source such knowledge like an oil change, what with the internet and all. Hell, if the OP was near me I'd show them how and how easy it is. Even easier if you have one of those oil pump yokes(don't even need a spanner for the drain plug in that case). 15 minute job. The oil filter is a piece of piddle to access on those Beemers too.

Bit circled below in red.

The washer bottle is the blue tubed yoke sicking up on the top left. Unscrew cap, add washer juice, level up with water. Done. The air filter housing looks to be accessible on the lower righthand side. Undo a couple of clips, old one in bin, new one installed. Done.

Now I can well understand folks baulking at going near the more complex oily bits. I'm not suggesting anyone rebuild their gearbox on the kitchen table(cue divorce ), or swap out suspension components, but there should be no excuse for baulking at doing extremely simple maintenance jobs like air/pollen filters and basic fluids checks and top ups where required. No tools but one's hands required. Maybe it's a generational thing? Growing up I knew nobody's dad(and the occasional mam) who wouldn't tackle these basic jobs of a weekend morning.

Regarding the windscreen washer, I'm bad but I'm not that bad

It's an absolute sham that they even mention or charge for this, but they all seem to be at it now, I've actually told previous garages to not bother with it.

As for the rest of the things, I'm sure they are handy enough........IF you know how. YouTube is handy etc but I'd be afraid of making a b@lls of it and end up having to go to a mechanic to fix my mistake. Then I could order the wrong part or totally forget to do something I'm meant to do but don't know I'm supposed to do it due to my lack of knowledge etc etc

Wibbs

I figured the washer thing wasn't a problem for you. Yeah mad they include that. Clearly is a problem for enough people. :eek: Seriously though OB, though I do take your point, but I guarantee you are well capable of doing that service yourself. And won't make mistakes. It's very simple stuff. You could do everything but the oil change in your sleep and you could do that the first time half asleep. I realise this is a community made mostly of petrolheads, but if you did it yourself, you'd stand back and think "really? is that it?". *fastforward six months and OB is sat in the kitchen with the gearbox in pieces, thinking I'm gonna kill that wibbs prick" :pac:

obi604

Wibbs wrote: »

I figured the washer thing wasn't a problem for you. Yeah mad they include that. Clearly is a problem for enough people. :eek: Seriously though OB, though I do take your point, but I guarantee you are well capable of doing that service yourself. And won't make mistakes. It's very simple stuff. You could do everything but the oil change in your sleep and you could do that the first time half asleep. I realise this is a community made mostly of petrolheads, but if you did it yourself, you'd stand back and think "really? is that it?". *fastforward six months and OB is sat in the kitchen with the gearbox in pieces, thinking I'm gonna kill that wibbs prick" :pac:

Oh yeah, I think the filters thing could be an easy enough job alright.

Feck, you have me thiking now might try the filters myself and just get the mechanic to do an oil service and overall check.

How many filters are involved here:

1. Air Filter
2. Oil filter
3. Pollen/cabin filter
Edit 4. Fuel filter ?

How many of each?

Should the oil filter only be fine when oil is changed ?
Are there anymore?
How do I know if they need to be replaced? X amount of miles etc?
Where is best to buy?

Toyotafanboi

Washer fluid is added at every service because for every motor enthusiast on boards there is 20 hopeless female drivers who don't even know where the bonnet release is and 10 more males who bring their car to be fully serviced so they don't have to look under the bonnet. Whether that be right or wrong.

In addition to that, most modern cars have a warning message or light come on the dash to let you know the level is low. No mechanic worth his salt will let a car out from a service with such a simple to clear warning message on the dash; but if they did, don't you know their customers would be on boards immediately "left my car in for a service, paid €150 for it and they didn't even top up my low screen wash... incompetence, how can I prove that my oil was actually changed?", etc etc.

For the sake of €2 would you not just accept it? Or should mechanics not do any small jobs during services? Any blown fuses or bulbs should be ignored, punctures ignored etc.

The €2 screen wash isn't what's making this fellas service cost €400.

commited

obi604 wrote: »

Oh yeah, I think the filters thing could be an easy enough job alright.

Feck, you have me thiking now might try the filters myself and just get the mechanic to do an oil service and overall check.

How many filters are involved here:

1. Air Filter
2. Oil filter
3. Pollen/cabin filter

How many of each?

Are there anymore?
How do I know if they need to be replaced? X amount of miles etc?
Where is best to buy?

I answered this post above! Have a look, link to cabin filter set & air filter.
Cabin filter is changed every service (your car will tell you but generally 24months/25000km) and the air filter is due every 3rd service I believe.

Don't change the oil filter independently of oil but not a bad idea to test the water if a mechanic will just charge you labour if you buy the parts.

obi604

commited wrote: »

I answered this post above! Have a look, link to cabin filter set & air filter.
Cabin filter is changed every service (your car will tell you but generally 24months/25000km) and the air filter is due every 3rd service I believe.

Don't change the oil filter independently of oil but not a bad idea to test the water if a mechanic will just charge you labour if you buy the parts.

When I YouTube POLLEN filter, it shows me videos of the 2 long filters up near windscreen. Seems easy.

But then when I YouTube AIR filter, it brings up the exact same videos.

Are AIR and POLLEN also the same ?

commited

Nope, 2 different types.

Pollen filters - you're right, very easy!

Air filter is easy too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw-4nibD4jk

Harcrid

What's the minimum you need to get done by BMW to maintain warranty status at service time?

Rgb.ie

obi604 wrote: »

Hi,

I have a 2006 BMW 523i, 2.5 litre petrol automatic. N52 6 Cylinder engine.

It was last serviced 8,000 miles ago.
It has 75,000 miles on the clock.
It has 8 services in the book so far.

The spark plugs were done at 60,000 miles.

I got a quote from an independent mechanic for a service. cost came in at 394 Euro.

Does this seem excessive?

Was this in Dublin? Which part? ( is dublin 1, dublin 7, dublin 11 )

obi604

Rgb.ie wrote: »

Was this in Dublin? Which part? ( is dublin 1, dublin 7, dublin 11 )

Nope. Down the shticks in Galway.

obi604

commited wrote: »

Nope, 2 different types.

Pollen filters - you're right, very easy!

Air filter is easy too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw-4nibD4jk

Is there a FUEL filter also ?

Wibbs

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Washer fluid is added at every service because for every motor enthusiast on boards there is 20 hopeless female drivers who don't even know where the bonnet release is and 10 more males who bring their car to be fully serviced so they don't have to look under the bonnet. Whether that be right or wrong.

TBH I'd be calling wrong on that TF(I suspect you would too). Personally I'd make basic fluid level checking and topping up part and parcel of the driving test. It's an actual safety issue. Going further if a driver doesn't know where his or her bonnet release is I'd make them sit the driving test again. IMHO they shouldn't be in command of a potentially dangerous vehicle with that level of ignorance. As I said I'm not suggesting people should be replacing layshaft bearings on their kitchen table, but knowledge of the basics like checking vital fluids and levels and tyre pressures should be a legal requirement.

mickdw

Wibbs wrote: »

TBH I'd be calling wrong on that TF(I suspect you would too). Personally I'd make basic fluid level checking and topping up part and parcel of the driving test. It's an actual safety issue. Going further if a driver doesn't know where his or her bonnet release is I'd make them sit the driving test again. IMHO they shouldn't be in command of a potentially dangerous vehicle with that level of ignorance. As I said I'm not suggesting people should be replacing layshaft bearings on their kitchen table, but knowledge of the basics like checking vital fluids and levels and tyre pressures should be a legal requirement.

I believe it already is part of the driving test.