[E7J3F3]

Got a quote for $2200 @ $200/hr labor to do clutch and motor mounts. Now they have the car, they want $3600 for those two jobs, and another $2000 for the oil pan gasket! That's a total of 28hrs of labor...I brought in my own parts. They also want to do new tires and brakes for $2800. I really don't want to get screwed here; what should I do?

[CTinline-six]

Did you have a brake light on the dash? Chances are if the wear sensor didn't trigger the light the brakes are not worn down yet. Tires and brakes for $2800 is very high. If your car is AWD, that is about right for the oil pan gasket at a dealer, but with that said the oil pan gasket is more of an annoyance than a requirement in most cases, since it will just drip onto the ground and not hurt anything. Most of the time they just weep a bit of oil and don't even leak enough to drip on the ground.

Most likely they are trying to upsell services that you'll potentially need in the future. My advice would be to find an independent shop that specializes in BMWs and avoid the dealer.

[Efthreeoh]

How many miles are on the car?

Having a BMW dealership replace a clutch, replace brakes, and replace tires is not a good choice. All three jobs are routine maintenance items that most any professional mechanic can handle, better yet a certified BMW specialist (BMW Indy shop). Any tire shop can replace tires. The dealership will only replace the tires with run-flats because that are the BMW spec tires that came from the factory.

Any chance you can post the $2,200 quote you received from the dealership, so we can analyze the price? It's hard to understand how the clutch price increased by $1,400 (63%) unless the dealer is adding in a new dual-mass flywheel. If so, then they are giving you a discounted price for the part and installation labor. Also, I cannot think of any BMW dealership that would agree to installing owner-supplied parts, so you'd have to explain that, because I'd be interested to understand how they agreed to it. And I hope you realize they will not provide a warranty for the clutch job and engine mounts because you supplied the parts.

CTinline-six's advice regarding the oil pan and brakes is spot on. Have an indy look at it for a pan leak and brake evaluation. Unless a previous owner wired the sensors, if the brake system has been maintained correctly, the pad replacement light is the telltale sign the brakes need refurbishment.

My advice is have the clutch job finished at the dealer and leave the rest including the engine mounts to an independent BMW mechanic.

[E7J3F3]

Here is the quote I was given yesterday. More info: the car has been sitting with a bad DMFW for the past year. I discovered it had a mouse in there and I had the dealer look at that also. No damage, bullet dodged.

I'll do brakes & tires elsewhere. My beef is with being quoted 10hrs for 2 jobs and now it's 18hrs for the same, plus 10hrs more for the oil pan gasket (not AWD) when that job is 1hr extra on top of the motor mount job. I've had it replaced by itself before for $800.

I also am supplying all parts including replacement hardware. The only thing I don't have is the oil pan gasket, I didn't know it was leaking.

Also, the "gear shift" is a UUC evo3 short shifter and DSSR, and a shift bushing kit. No idea what that would take to install. My issue is I live in a rural area, and the dealer is the closest shop by far. And I thought I was gonna get a square deal from the quote beforehand.

Edit: don't know why this pic turned out bad. This is the detailed quote from yesterday.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by E7J3F3

Here is the quote I was given yesterday. More info: the car has been sitting with a bad DMFW for the past year. I discovered it had a mouse in there and I had the dealer look at that also. No damage, bullet dodged.

I'll do brakes & tires elsewhere. My beef is with being quoted 10hrs for 2 jobs and now it's 18hrs for the same, plus 10hrs more for the oil pan gasket (not AWD) when that job is 1hr extra on top of the motor mount job. I've had it replaced by itself before for $800.

I also am supplying all parts including replacement hardware. The only thing I don't have is the oil pan gasket, I didn't know it was leaking.

Also, the "gear shift" is a UUC evo3 short shifter and DSSR, and a shift bushing kit. No idea what that would take to install. My issue is I live in a rural area, and the dealer is the closest shop by far. And I thought I was gonna get a square deal from the quote beforehand.

Edit: don't know why this pic turned out bad. This is the detailed quote from yesterday.

Okay, so that explains the brakes. I live rural too, so I fully understand the finding a good shop thing. I've DIY'd the oil pan; I have a lift and it still is a time-consuming job. I went slow because it was my first time in pulling the subframe, but it is certainly not just an extra hour on top of engine mounts. I'm pretty sure engine mounts can be removed without dropping the subframe, just lifting and supporting the engine is all that is necessary.

[E7J3F3]

On the oil pan, I didn't know the subframe had to be dropped. I will take that job somewhere else, though. So is $4600 worth clutch & flywheel, motor mounts, shift linkage, mouse hunt, and battery?? All parts supplied except battery. Plus their .02, cute.

[Suvorovo]

Is a clutch even necessary? I'm nearly at 127k miles and the original clutch is still going strong. Very slight rattle noise from DMFW at idle. I had to learn to drive stick when I bought the car, stalled it a few times and probably put too much stress on the old flywheel.

Engine mounts/engine bracket bolts were an emergency for me (bracket bolt broke), had to go to an indy. I was charged around $500 for new mounts/bolts/labor on an xdrive which involved lowering the subframe slightly. Took them 3hrs, estimating time from when I dropped the car off to when they said it's ready. It seemed like a fair price based on the quotes I was getting from various indy's. I think that would put me somewhere at $90 per hour on labor, mounts, all bracket bolts are hard to get to.

[CTinline-six]

From looking at the quote, I'm curious what they mean by "brakes rusted through". Do they mean the rotors are rusty? My sister got a quote for $1000+ for brakes on her Jetta, and they too stated the brakes were rusty. When I inspected the car for her, the brakes had plenty of life left, the rotors weren't warped, but they did have a bit of surface rust, which won't hurt anything.

[whyzee125]

If they haven't torn into it yet, you could always pick it up as is and go somewhere else. Otherwise Efthreeoh's advice makes sense, do the clutch there then everything else somewhere else. Oil pan gasket and motor mounts can be done together so essentially no labor should be paid for the mounts. Unless you have a rusted through brake line, I seriously doubt they're rusted through. Makes sense if it's been sitting a year that your rotors are probably very rusty but your brakes may in fact be fine.

[Efthreeoh]

I still find it difficult to believe a BMW dealership will install customer-provided parts. I think their 2-cents comment was a poke in the eye...

[E7J3F3]

Update: They tried to give the car back to me, but it's messed up. The shifter is catching when I try to push it into a gate. The clutch feels like it's slipping when I tested it. The tech says this bronze clutch fork pivot is the problem; that it's too long. https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...ga-21511223328 The reviews state that it is more difficult to install compared to OEM, but nothing about length issues.

Any advice on this? Thanks.

Tech also said my UUC short shifter was incorrect model and did not fit. Working with UUC to check; receipt says I bought the right part.

[dailyis]

Depending on where you live I can recommend you good mechanics that don’t overcharge that crazy amount