[Delta0311]

Originally Posted by Gizm0

BMW dealership prices are a joke... The plugs cost about $80 for parts and will take you an hour max to replace. The cabin filter takes 3 minutes to replace and costs $25. The brake light bulb is a few bucks and takes 5 minutes to replace. Wipers like you said $20... Brake fluid change, have an indy do it, not the dealership. They'll charge you about $100 depending on where you live.

I was at the dealership a few months back and they charged a guy $400 to replace one the low beam HID bulb. One D1S bulb from Phillips is like $80 and take about 30min to replace if you do it yourself.

[hockeyplayer]

Originally Posted by bpham001

thank you all for all of your input!

update:
the Otto's BMW Stealership were kind enough to give me a list of things that i "need" to do to my car.

$530 for a rear tire that i see on tire rack for $270
$460 for the aforementioned spark plugs
$420 for a front tire that i see on tire rack for $230
$220 for a brake fluid change, i see them for $70. does this even need to be changed at 50k miles?
$210 for an alignment, i see them for $80
$140 for cabin air filter, i see them for $25. is this a hard job?
$140 for a CBS Vehicle Check...probably the same as the $80 i flushed for the "vehicle CBS Standard Scope"
$110 for a brake light bulb, i see them for $.99
$95 for wipers, i see them for around $20...i think theyre working fine

for simple things like alignment and brake fluid change, are places like pepboys frowned upon? or should i just go to a reputable mechanic?

just did the math and they were trying to charge me around $1,600 more than prices that i googled! LOL. i know that theyre the dealership, but i never knew it was such highway robbery! then again, my old car was a Lexus IS300 and all i had to do with that was oil changes and brake pads!

1) you can get the Cabin Air Filter on Amazon for about $20. Its seriously a 5 minute job and VERY easy

2) You need one front tire and one rear? That sounds very odd to me. Call tire rack & get your tires shipped to an Indy for installation (they will tell you who in your area is an authorized installer). If you currently have Run Flat tires you might want to consider switching to normal tires…the cost difference is significant.

3) if the wipers are working fine don't do anything

4) seriously do the light bulb its very easy

5) don't ever go back to that STEALership unless you have to

6) look around for a good Indy in your area. Use the internets & read reviews, etc. They could probably help you with the alignment and brake fluid flush for much cheaper than the dealership.

[Gizm0]

Originally Posted by Delta0311

I was at the dealership a few months back and they charged a guy $400 to replace one the low beam HID bulb. One D1S bulb from Phillips is like $80 and take about 30min to replace if you do it yourself.

I hope they used this on the poor guy...

[Delta0311]

Originally Posted by Gizm0

I hope they used this on the poor guy...

BMW no longer supplies the lube. Apparently they where going through gallons off it every day.

[Gizm0]

Originally Posted by Delta0311

BMW no longer supplies the lube. Apparently they where going through gallons off it every day.

Lol! Gotta bring your own now... I'm glad I can DIY most of the shit on my car. When my rear turbo went out, they wanted $4800 to replace it!!!

[Delta0311]

Originally Posted by Gizm0

Lol! Gotta bring your own now... I'm glad I can DIY most of the shit on my car. When my rear turbo went out, they wanted $4800 to replace it!!!

At the rate BMW is going a trip to a good plastic surgeon will be cheaper then a oil change at the dealer.

[ctuna]

Wait till you see what they will charge for a battery.

If you want to get costs down DIY as much as you can then
go to a Indy for the rest.
Car repair costs are seriously high now even for the common cars.
Most Auto shops charge near 100 bucks and hour and many dealerships
are closer to 150 and hour.

Get rid of the Runflats and buy from Tire Rack for reasonably priced
tires that will last twice as long .
You can buy parts from Autozone or Pepboys but I wouldn't trust them to work on a BMW you need to find a BMW Indy and its
a good idea to understand your car a read the DIY's even if you
don't do them so you know what's involved and don't get hussled
or BS'ed.

Brake Fluid should be changed based on time or water content.
There is a test for it. If you live in a humid or wet climate it should
be changed more often. I think an Indy price would be between 100 and 200 bucks probably toward the middle.

BMW Indy = A non dealership shop that specialized in BMW repair often
the mechanics are ex dealership mechanics and the better ones even send
there Techs to BMW certified training schools.

I would DIY air filters for starters.
If you want to do this stuff your self you need some good tools and lifts
and some one to mentor you the first few times you do it.
Remember not to over tighten stuff especially with the aluminum bolts they
have on cars these days.

[bhmax16]

100k miles is the recommended interval for a 328. I did mine at 70k simply because I was pulling the valve cover and such to fix a gasket leak anyway (but kept the old plugs because they're still like new). The correct plugs will set you back $70-$100 depending on where you shop. Easy job and honestly the longest part of the job is just moving all the crap out of the way to remove the plastic engine cover to give you access to the coils.

[GB-335xiCoupe]

Originally Posted by bpham001

$220 for a brake fluid change, i see them for $70. does this even need to be changed at 50k miles?

for simple things like alignment and brake fluid change, are places like pepboys frowned upon? or should i just go to a reputable mechanic?

I agree with everything others said above. To answer your questions:
Brake fluid should be changed about every two years, not based on mileage.
Pepboys etc, can do the work, although I personally have trouble trusting them. I am blessed with a good local indie that I trust. But even so, I do everything I possibly can do myself.

Brake fluid flush DIY the FIRST time, can cost $65-80 because of the purchase of a bleeder bottle and catch jar. http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/Site...uid/ES2765515/

After that, on subsequent flushes, just the fluid, which is about $16. You can actually purchase the DOT 4 from the BMW dealership at a reasonable price believe it or not.

Also, ANY time you go to the BMW dealership for parts if you are in a crunch, ask their parts department to match ECS Tuning's price. Or BavAuto.com. You'll be surprised what they do.

[ctuna]

Be careful with brake fluid.
It can ruin paint really fast.

[GB-335xiCoupe]

Originally Posted by ctuna

Be careful with brake fluid.
It can ruin paint really fast.

Very good point! Cover your driver side fender. Also any spills into the engine bay, wipe up right away.

[hockeyplayer]

Originally Posted by GB-335xiCoupe

Very good point! Cover your driver side fender. Also any spills into the engine bay, wipe up right away.

Just nitpicking here but please don't WIPE any brake fluid if you get it on the paint! Hose it down with water thoroughly and let it dry off.

[MGT81]

Find a good independent shop and say fuck the dealer. That's what I'm planning to do now that my CPO warranty is up.

[markus037]

Sent you a PM op. Im a mechanic and im always looking for sidework!