[hwa786]

Hey guys, I got the indicator for the brake fluid service. I talked to the dealer. My car is out of the 4yr or 50k miles so now I have to pay for it. He told me $115 for that and he also recommends the cabin air filter to be changed which is $170. Does that all seem correct?

[Buckeye85]

I think it is a good price for brake fluid...I think my dealer charges $200. Change the cabin air filter your self, buy online and save $150. Takes 2 minutes to change. then reset the service light. I'm thinking you may have the prices reversed, I would think the brake fluid change would always be more.

[seande]

If the dealer wants to charge you $170 for the cabin filter, I would find a new dealer...

[BKV122]

Make sure they do a brake fluid flush for that price. Ive heard some dealers just suck out the fluid reservoir and top it off with new fluid.
The cabin filter should deff do it yourself for $20 for the filter itself.

[gatoman39]

Cabin filter should be 20-30 bucks and you can do it in about 5 minutes. Anyone can change brake fluid in your car, there's nothing special about BMW's.. Go to an Indy, I can't imagine it being more than 70-80 bucks to do.

[JuppiOne]

the brake fluid change is about on par, however, my dealer only charged my $89 to have the fluid change, I hope they did a flush, honestly, i don;t know if they did or not, although, that was suppose to be part of the service, I have no reason to doubt it. the cabin filter, just get one online for $20-$30 and change it yourself, its is 10 minute DIY

[Wrngway]

You can find good prices on the cabin filter at several vendor sites. I know ECSTuning carries it. I believe I've also seen the OEM filter on Amazon.

[wynnnj1977]

How to reset that light? Because it shows both mileage and month, i was holding BC button, but it didn't reset at all.

[JuppiOne]

Originally Posted by wynnnj1977

How to reset that light? Because it shows both mileage and month, i was holding BC button, but it didn't reset at all.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=360706

[Clifton]

$115 for a full hydraulic flush is a fair deal. As other mentioned, confirm they flush and not just replenish. Done properly, it should be hooked up to the BMW computer (GT1) and from there it is an interactive process.

DIY on the cabin filter.

[hwa786]

Thanks for the responses, looks like I am going to get the Brake fluid flushed from the dealer and buy the cabin air filter and do it myself. I am guessing the dealer should turn the Brake fluid sensor off when they are done with their work.

Also, my SA recommended the cabin air filter to be changed, so after how long should that be changed? And where is the best place to buy the cabin air filter?

Thanks

[BKV122]

Originally Posted by hwa786

Thanks for the responses, looks like I am going to get the Brake fluid flushed from the dealer and buy the cabin air filter and do it myself. I am guessing the dealer should turn the Brake fluid sensor off when they are done with their work.

Also, my SA recommended the cabin air filter to be changed, so after how long should that be changed? And where is the best place to buy the cabin air filter?

Thanks

Yes the dealer should reset your light. As for the filter reminder you can do it your self or change it out once a yr. I usually let the filter go a little longer bc last time i changed it it was that dirty, i usually wait for a nice spring or fall day to do it.

[hwa786]

I just had a talk with one of my friends who is a Mechanic. He usually charges brake fluid flushing anywhere from $30-$50! Will it be safe to get it done from him instead of going to the dealer and paying $115

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by hwa786

I just had a talk with one of my friends who is a Mechanic. He usually charges brake fluid flushing anywhere from $30-$50! Will it be safe to get it done from him instead of going to the dealer and paying $115

It is best to understand the process/procedure of the repair or maintenance item to assess the amount charged for it.

The cabin airfilter was explained. The brake flush wasn't. The procedure for flushing the brake system and changing the fluid involves:

- remove the old brake fluid from the master cylinder reservoir and replenish with new fluid
- Put the car on a lift
- remove all four wheels
- Open the bleeder screw (valve) on the brake caliper
- Push/Pull the old fluid through the brake line out of the caliper (there are several ways to dothis)
- Repeat the fluid extraction for each of the other three brakes
- Top off the fluid in the reservoir
- Replace the wheels (maybe throw in a tire rotation just for the heck of it)

A professional mechanic with the proper tools can perform the procedure in less than 1/2 hour but should charge no more than an hour of labor and $20 in material. It is ideal to have the car connected to a BMW service computer so the hydraulic pump and valves in the ABS module can be exercised to remove the minuscule amount of brake fluid in the module, but it is not critical to do so.

[Surly73]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

A professional mechanic with the proper tools can perform the procedure in less than 1/2 hour but should charge no more than an hour of labor and $20 in material. It is ideal to have the car connected to a BMW service computer so the hydraulic pump and valves in the ABS module can be exercised to remove the minuscule amount of brake fluid in the module, but it is not critical to do so.

I'm not sure that it's so miniscule.

My thoughts on the matter are that the necessity of connecting the computer depends on how far you push the service interval. Generally I try to flush brake fluid annually, even though I generally use top notch, "long life" fluid like ATE Type 200/Super Blue.

If you're already pushing a 3-4 year replacement interval on your fluid, the "old" stuff trapped in the ABS/DSC loops is really quite old and potentially nasty. Without the computer cycling you're still leaving that stuff in there until the system activates naturally during driving.

If you replace your fluid "early", then you're not pushing it's service life limits and the stuff in the DSC/ABS loops isn't all that old. Natural winter-time activations etc... should be sufficient to keep the average condition of the fluid throughout the system in good shape.

So, for the past 11 years with my E39 I didn't worry about activating the ABS/ASC/DSC during the bleeding and just made sure that at least once each winter I really made the systems activate and circulate lots of fluid. On my new-to-me E90, however, the fluid was at or just past the full 3-4 year service interval and I'm a little more anxious to get everything replaced.

[wynnnj1977]

Originally Posted by patrickch

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=360706

It was all set. Thank you very much

[jon328i]

Wow, this got me worried! I just had my brake fluid flush a week ago under warranty, I checked at the fluid reservoir brake fluid looks clean and i hope they really flushed the old fluids out. It took them just an hour to do the service...

[hwa786]

Originally Posted by jon328i

Wow, this got me worried! I just had my brake fluid flush a week ago under warranty, I checked at the fluid reservoir brake fluid looks clean and i hope they really flushed the old fluids out. It took them just an hour to do the service...

thats what the dealer told me as well, it takes an hour to do the service

[Agent11br]

Originally Posted by hwa786

thats what the dealer told me as well, it takes an hour to do the service

Erhard? Just curious as my flush service light just came on too.

[Brad from the OC]

I think the dealer was really saying that the brake flush is $115 and if the cabin air filter is replaced on that same service the total bill would be $170. That sounds more reasonable as the cabin filter retails for about $30, so that would make labor $25 for a total of $55 to change the cabin air filter. Some owners who changed their own cabin air filter failed to make sure the filter housing was installed properly and the seals on the housing was misaligned.

Water leaked into the filter cavity and shorted out the blower motor. When the blower motor is not working, you will not get air exhausting out of your vents which means that your AC and heater, and front window defroster will not function properly. This is a big problem and a safety issue also for not doing a simple 5 minute job properly.

[WWM3]

How much brake fluid to do you need for a flush and replenish?

[Brad from the OC]

I used a little less than one liter. I bought the ATE Super Blue Racing DOT4. My old fluid was amber color, so when I flushed with a blue color, I knew when the entire brake line was emtied and flushed. You don't want to run out of fluid when you have your car up on jacks and doing the flush job, so it's nice to have a little extra fluid rather than run out in the middle of the job. You can always save the extra fluid to top off your reservoir later.