[redfred18t]

Hey just curious, what are you guys paying for starter replacement jobs at the dealership vs an independent shop? I got a quote for about $1,000 at the dealer and I just want to see if I'm getting hosed (most likely). I did a quick search and have read between $800-1,200.

The car wouldn't start on Monday, so I had it towed to the dealer. I probably should have towed it straight to an independent shop, but I figured the dealer deals with the newer ones more often, where as I've never even seen an e90 at the indy shop I go to. They replaced the distribution block on the battery (which I was skeptical of it being the root cause of my problems). Within a day of picking it up, it was already dead. When I picked it up, it became more sluggish to start each time. I'm just glad I was home when it decided to crap out. Anyways, they are going to credit the $1,000 starter job w/ what I paid for the distribution block install (so about $700 net) otherwise I'd probably tow it straight to an indy shop and have them do it.

[badmega85]

$1000 is exactly what they quoted me to replace a starter that worked perfect till. when i had it towed in to a dealer for a hpfp failure problem. dont know what they did to it but im fighting with bmw right now to try and get them to pay for it

[gobbell1]

$145 total.

I did it myself

5 hours to take out, 5 hrs to put back in.

[TheTal0n]

Originally Posted by gobbell1

$145 total.

I did it myself

5 hours to take out, 5 hrs to put back in.

damn, do elaborate please.

[redfred18t]

Originally Posted by TheTal0n

damn, do elaborate please.

seriously. considering a reman starter from tischer is over $300 lol

[Shadow007]

Damn bro, I just got mine back from the stealership this week for the same thing. My car died on me last week, as I was getting off from work. I had it jumped started, which allowed me to get home, but the next morning, when going to work, it died on me again. I tried to get it jumped started again but that didn't help. So I ended up buying a battery hoping that would have fixed the problem, but it didn't. So I had it towed to the dealership, which they quoted me a price of 488 euros which is equivalient to about $647 usd. Its shitty that germany doesn't honor US warranties after 2 years of the orignal purchase of the car. So I had to come out of pocket on this one.

[mike3000fl]

laugh if you want but when mine died, i went to autozone.

bought a duralast for $145 with a lifetime warranty. http://www.autozone.com/autozone/par...45396_23521_0_

its just a starter, not some secret BMW proprietary technology, all cars have them and a non-OEM starter does not bother me at all.

[jacobsed]

Did you replace the intake manifold gasket too?

[mike3000fl]

yea, it's a bmw set of 6 o-rings. not a traditional gasket.

bought new starter bolts too. aluminum bolts have to be replaced.

[TheTal0n]

Originally Posted by mike3000fl

yea, it's a bmw set of 6 o-rings. not a traditional gasket.

bought new starter bolts too. aluminum bolts have to be replaced.

when did the starter go out on you?
Was it a pretty hard DIY?

[mike3000fl]

it went out around 156,000 miles, which is fine by me.

to be fair though the first 100,000 were mostly highway, so there were not many start cycles. i imagine that if those miles were in town, doing short runs here and there, the starter would have seen a lot more use in those first 100,000 miles.

anyhow i found a great diy that apparently came from BMW. i will try to attach it to this post. it got vague at the end though with wiring harnesses and the vents for the crankcase to manifold.

i never was able to remove the intake manifold completely, i just moved it enough to get access to the two bolts you need to get to for the starter.

i ended up using a ratcheting wrench i had that was the correct size to remove the rear starter bolt (tight fit down between the bellhousing and firewall). i used sockets and two extensions (with a u-joint between them) to reach the front starter bolt. real pain in the ass. it took 3.5 hours total which wasn't bad but it did suck. almost cracked one of the crankcase vent hoses because the clips to remove them were hard to figure out.

label every harness you disconnect and remember to plug it all back in. don't let anything fall in the intake.

[jacobsed]

Just ordered a Denso reman from Advance Auto delivered for $108. It has a lifetime warranty too. There is a $48 core charge on top of that but no big deal since i'll get it back.

Then I ordered the manifold gasket set and starter bolt set from www.rmeuropean.com for a total of $36.90 delivered. So for ~ $145 and my time I'll have a new starter. Beats the crap out of the stealership wanting $1000!!

[jacobsed]

I have a friend who is a mechanic and he looked this job up and the book time is 3hrs. So you did pretty good!

Originally Posted by mike3000fl

it went out around 156,000 miles, which is fine by me.

to be fair though the first 100,000 were mostly highway, so there were not many start cycles. i imagine that if those miles were in town, doing short runs here and there, the starter would have seen a lot more use in those first 100,000 miles.

anyhow i found a great diy that apparently came from BMW. i will try to attach it to this post. it got vague at the end though with wiring harnesses and the vents for the crankcase to manifold.

i never was able to remove the intake manifold completely, i just moved it enough to get access to the two bolts you need to get to for the starter.

i ended up using a ratcheting wrench i had that was the correct size to remove the rear starter bolt (tight fit down between the bellhousing and firewall). i used sockets and two extensions (with a u-joint between them) to reach the front starter bolt. real pain in the ass. it took 3.5 hours total which wasn't bad but it did suck. almost cracked one of the crankcase vent hoses because the clips to remove them were hard to figure out.

label every harness you disconnect and remember to plug it all back in. don't let anything fall in the intake.

[mike3000fl]

Originally Posted by jacobsed

Just ordered a Denso reman from Advance Auto delivered for $108. It has a lifetime warranty too. There is a $48 core charge on top of that but no big deal since i'll get it back.

Then I ordered the manifold gasket set and starter bolt set from www.rmeuropean.com for a total of $36.90 delivered. So for ~ $145 and my time I'll have a new starter. Beats the crap out of the stealership wanting $1000!!

nice. you will feel like you have earned the difference when you get done. it's a tight fit getting to the starter bolts, especially the rear one. I honestly don't think i could have got a regular socket on it, the ratcheting wrench made all the difference.

[jacobsed]

Thanks for the tip. I've done quite a bit of auto repair work over the years. I've read the DIY paper and have the bentley manual. After looking under the hood and reviewing all the information this is doable for sure.

Originally Posted by mike3000fl

nice. you will feel like you have earned the difference when you get done. it's a tight fit getting to the starter bolts, especially the rear one. I honestly don't think i could have got a regular socket on it, the ratcheting wrench made all the difference.

[jacobsed]

Can you elaborate on the crank case vent hoses? How exactly do you detach?

Originally Posted by mike3000fl

nice. you will feel like you have earned the difference when you get done. it's a tight fit getting to the starter bolts, especially the rear one. I honestly don't think i could have got a regular socket on it, the ratcheting wrench made all the difference.

[mike3000fl]

Originally Posted by jacobsed

Can you elaborate on the crank case vent hoses? How exactly do you detach?

i never did figure it out, one came off and i suspect the connector broke, it pushed back on and has been holding up so i left it alone.

the hoses attach underneath the intake manifold and run toward the firewall. you will see what I mean when you get to it. i read up about the hose afterwards and a lot of people have said they get old and crack when removing the intake.

[mhenry7]

Mine went out recently. Paid my Indy $505 and he put in a reman Bosch. Thought about doing it myself, read the forums and my Bentley and decided the $350 to have it put in was money well spent.

I replaced my battery first thinking it was original. Got it out and it had a 7/2010 date on it. Damn. It's sitting in my garage on a tender if anyone in Chicago area needs one to get through the winter.

[jacobsed]

Do you really ned to disconnect it if the manifold only needs to move up a little to get the starter in and out?

Originally Posted by mike3000fl

i never did figure it out, one came off and i suspect the connector broke, it pushed back on and has been holding up so i left it alone.

the hoses attach underneath the intake manifold and run toward the firewall. you will see what I mean when you get to it. i read up about the hose afterwards and a lot of people have said they get old and crack when removing the intake.

[John 070]

Originally Posted by gobbell1

$145 total.

I did it myself

5 hours to take out, 5 hrs to put back in.

Yikes$112 for ac delco new and 30 min diy on my nissan. Bmw seems to always be over the top for repairs....

[mike3000fl]

Originally Posted by John 070

Yikes$112 for ac delco new and 30 min diy on my nissan. Bmw seems to always be over the top for repairs....

three cheaper starters (a couple are just over $80)....

http://www.autopartstomorrow.com/par...-reman-starter

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/sk.../MPA19431.html

http://www.amazon.com/Quality-Built-.../dp/B0031HY06O

[luckydawg003]

I replaced the starter myself. Got it at advance for $100, but had to pay like $50 at dealer for a new oil vapor hose since mine snapped in half when I was putting the intake manifold back on. I didn't replace my intake gaskets, but did replace the aluminum starter bolts. It wasn't that hard of a job.