[hems77]

Can anyone recommend an independent BMW specialist in the Coventry and Warwickshire area?

My 07 E90 320d M Sport is due a service, went to the dealer to find out which items need doing and was quoted over £500 - just ridiculous! It needs oil change, brake fluid, micro filter, air/intake filter and fuel filter. I asked why it was so much and was told the fuel filter makes up most of the cost, it isn't changed every service and is probably the first time it needs doing on my car.

He bought the price down a little but even so it's still quite a lot. My car is out of warranty now so I can go elsewhere, just wanted to check what items needed doing. Have it booked in next week, if I can find anywhere else i'll have to settle for this.

anyone???

cheers

[briers]

Seems ridiculous

I had all of those done on my 335d apart from the fuel filter.

£315 all in, supplying own oil. Was 10% discount due to renovation but 15 mins ringing around to price matching saved me nearly £100.


Have a look here : http://pistonheads.com/gassing/topic...MW+Specialists

I'm fairly sure the fuel filter is behind some plastic panelling under the car, not as easy to access but £200 doesn't make sense.

[uzi9mm]

Which dealer did you get the quote from?

PM me I`ll try and get you a better price from Sytner Cov if you wish.

[xenon]

Try Autotech in Warwick.

[hems77]

thanks guys for the replies.

i thought i was right, just seems stupidly high!

i have heard of autotech in warwick will give them a call.

uzi9mm - thanks. i will send you a pm! how are you connected with sytner coventry?

[LexS]

Try VRS in Coventry. Probably the biggest garage in the area.

[xenon]

VRS are just a "normal" garage as opposed to a BMW-specific independent. Used them once but I won't again.

[uzi9mm]

Got the price below £400 for you @ Sytner Coventry. Which should be worth the dealer stamp. lol

[LexS]

Originally Posted by xenon

VRS are just a "normal" garage as opposed to a BMW-specific independent. Used them once but I won't again.

What problem did you have with them, I know the owner is a cock but have only heard good things about their work in the past.

There is a specialist on Jackson Road behind Body Fix gym, knows his stuff but very much one man band so not sure if that's what you'd want?

[MattOz]

Autotech in Warwick are ok, but almost as expensive as a main dealer. Rybrook in Warwick has always been "good value" for a main dealer, in my experience. A good mate of mine runs Vastec in Warwick and whilst not BMW specialists, you'll struggle to find better mechanics/technicians in the area.

Matt

[Sir_Pigley]

I am going through this exact same thought process.

My car needs and I have been quoted:

Front Pads: £228.65 or £435.16 if discs also needed
Rear Pads: £236.18 or £404.18 if discs needed
(Should discs be needed at 52k miles?)

Brake Fluid: £91.97
Microfilter: £50.09

Engine Oil due in 4k miles
Fuel Filter due in 4k miles
Air filter due in 4k miles

Has anyone experience of Crackley Garage in Kenilworth?
http://crackleygarage.co.uk/

Any thoughts on these prices? These are from Rybrook in Warwick.

[NFS]

Originally Posted by jdcampbell

I am going through this exact same thought process.

My car needs and I have been quoted:

Front Pads: £228.65 or £435.16 if discs also needed
Rear Pads: £236.18 or £404.18 if discs needed
(Should discs be needed at 52k miles?)

Brake Fluid: £91.97
Microfilter: £50.09

Engine Oil due in 4k miles
Fuel Filter due in 4k miles
Air filter due in 4k miles

Has anyone experience of Crackley Garage in Kenilworth?
http://crackleygarage.co.uk/

Any thoughts on these prices? These are from Rybrook in Warwick.

The pads are very hard wearing (you can easily get 40K miles on the fronts, but probably 25K on the rears). This means that the discs wear at a similar rate and 52k for discs seems quite reasonable to me.

The prices are high though. I paid just under £700 for new discs and pads all round on my 330i.

£90 for the brake fluid is normal, but the mircrofilter should be £40 or so.

[MattOz]

Prices seem high JD.

You shouldn't need discs at 52k.

Try getting pads from GSF as they do OE Texstar pads, which are essentially the same, minus the BMW logo. Changing the pads isn't a big job and shouldn't take more than 30 mins. IIRC, pads for my 535d were £170 ish from BMW, yet £60 or so from GSF for the same thing with sensor(s).

Matt

[LexS]

+1, do pads and discs by yourself and save a massive amount of cash, pretty impossible to get it wrong. Brake fluid you can always leave to the dealer if your not confident, but again its a 30 min job.

[verma]

Cov Sytner have quoted me £100 to re-gas my air con..is that pricey? I've done some calling around but unaware of any other bmw specialists in cov.

[Sir_Pigley]

Originally Posted by LexS

+1, do pads and discs by yourself and save a massive amount of cash, pretty impossible to get it wrong. Brake fluid you can always leave to the dealer if your not confident, but again its a 30 min job.

Are there any complications in the process of pushing the pistons back into the caliper? Is brake fluid likely to overflow from the reservoir as it is pushed back in?

What about the sensor replacement etc?

Anyone done this before?

Pads from GSF are only about £45 per pair so it looks like the saving by DIY would be around £350, which is not to be sniffed at if it is a simple job.

[MattOz]

Originally Posted by jdcampbell

Are there any complications in the process of pushing the pistons back into the caliper? Is brake fluid likely to overflow from the reservoir as it is pushed back in?

What about the sensor replacement etc?

Anyone done this before?

Pads from GSF are only about £45 per pair so it looks like the saving by DIY would be around £350, which is not to be sniffed at if it is a simple job.

I've done it before, so if you want a hand let me know. I'm only down the road in Warwick, so not too far to travel. It's not a complicated thing to do and chances are doing it yourself will mean that things get cleaned up and wire brushed to a better standard than at a dealer.

Matt

[xenon]

^ totally agree. It's very easy, no special tools required, and you will do a better clean-up job than the dealer who just gets a gopher to bang them in.

[LexS]

Originally Posted by verma

Cov Sytner have quoted me £100 to re-gas my air con..is that pricey? I've done some calling around but unaware of any other bmw specialists in cov.

£100 seems a little steep unless they're doing the cabin filter at the same time. Expect to pay £50 inc VAT from anywhere sensible, there must be 5 or so places down by the arches at Spon End who could do it for you being a job that is the same on every car.

[Vanos1]

Originally Posted by jdcampbell

I am going through this exact same thought process.

My car needs and I have been quoted:

Front Pads: £228.65 or £435.16 if discs also needed
Rear Pads: £236.18 or £404.18 if discs needed
(Should discs be needed at 52k miles?)

Brake Fluid: £91.97
Microfilter: £50.09

Engine Oil due in 4k miles
Fuel Filter due in 4k miles
Air filter due in 4k miles

Has anyone experience of Crackley Garage in Kenilworth?
http://crackleygarage.co.uk/

Any thoughts on these prices? These are from Rybrook in Warwick.

Hi,

I can definately beat these prices and also the Aircon price as mentioned below, please contact me for further details.

Kind Regards
Vanos1

[gt1trainer]

Originally Posted by LexS

What problem did you have with them, I know the owner is a cock but have only heard good things about their work in the past.

There is a specialist on Jackson Road behind Body Fix gym, knows his stuff but very much one man band so not sure if that's what you'd want?

yep they are real good at vrs some great ex bmw techs too !!
which owner you talking about
mark tony phil simon or alex ????
mark and phil were useless and long gone
simon is an expert tech , winning loads of uk awards as did the top tech roy
but tony everyone thought he owned it but he just worked there

[gt1trainer]

Originally Posted by gt1trainer

yep they are real good at vrs some great ex bmw techs too !!
which owner you talking about
mark tony phil simon or alex ????
mark and phil were useless and long gone
simon is an expert tech , winning loads of uk awards as did the top tech roy
but tony everyone thought he owned it but he just worked there

ps i trained them on the gt1 dealer level tool
matt and simon are real good on it
so was their tech chris but hes moved to scotland