BMW Part Prices

[richjant 0]

I bought a 1996 BMW 323i (japanese import) a year ago and love it. The problem is I've had a lot of negative feedback from the average mechanic about having a BMW. I live in Taupo and there is no real speciality BMW vehicle service centres here. But I have found a local general service centre who has a BMW mechanic working there, they don't have a BMW computer but he does know how to work on them. I took it in for a 10,000 km service last week (it has done 149,000 total) and I mentioned that I have to go easy in the first few gears as otherwise it seems to slip gears and asked him to check how the transmission fluid looked while it was in there. The service was done and the following recommendations and prices for the work needed were supplied to me:

Transmission Flush (as trans fluid very dirty and he said the trans is slipping between 1st-2nd gear)

Pollen filter to be replaced, RF outer ball joint & LF rack end worn, they contacted BMW who said it is cheaper to replace whole tie rod rather than just the rack end, then a wheel alignment.

Parts Prices (all excl GST):

Pollen filter - 119.02, LH Tie Rod - $203.69, RF Lower Ball Joint - $89.63, Trans Kit & Gasket - $223.72 so these parts all total $636.06.

Labour:

1hr for Trans, .4hr for pollen filter & LH tie rod, 1hr for RF lower ball joint & then the wheel alignment.

The labour seems well justified but what worries me is the parts prices. When I phoned Euro Italian in Auckland for prices on these parts I was given the following OEM prices:

Pollen filter - $48.00, LH Tie Rod - $188.50, RF Lower Ball Joint - $55.00, Trans kit - Filter $55.00 & Gasket $28.50 ($83.50 for both) and these parts all total $375.00.

So the difference in parts price is around $261.00.

What bothers me is that this service centre is just contacting "BMW" and getting top dollar prices for parts when there are other companies around who obviously supply cheaper OEM parts. I would like to approach this service centre and ask if they will allow me to supply the parts and still pay for their BMW mechanic to do the work as quoted. I'm a bit nervous as I'm not sure what reaction I will get? Has anyone else been in this position with a BMW vehicle? Apart from the transmission oil, is a filter and gasket all that is needed to do the trans flush? It's just that on the quote I got from the service centre they stated "trans kit & gasket".

My husband is not very mechanically minded so I have had to do some "googling" on the net to try and learn about how to deal with the ongoing maintenance on my BMW, hubby has a Toyota Prado so he doesn't encounter the negativity that I seem to strike with my vehicle. I also read on your forum that it may be advisable to get my transmission reset on the computer back to factory defaults to get it to learn my driving style (and I do drive like a nana!) we live on a lifestyle block and I travel 13kms on SH 1 to work each day so is different than the previous owners that probably lived in cities and used the lower gears more. Sorry for such a long winded post for my first one, but I need some good advice! And I am determined to keep my BMW and not give in to the negativity that seems be associated to BMW's from some sectors but I also don't want to be ripped off in parts prices at the same time.

[kiwi535 538]

i guess you have found that genuine parts prices are expensive.They carry a large overhead to help support the rest of the business i guess.i dont see why you cant approach your garage and ask the question.The other approach would be to give your garage the info where you got the parts prices from.

I have heard that Toyota Prados arent exactly cheap to run either(sister has one)

Edited May 12, 2010 by _Mark_

[pureboiracer 0]

you are well within your rights to supply your own parts, but by the sounds of it they are getting genuine parts, just keep in mind that if you supply your own parts and the the part fails there is no comeback on the garage, also aftermarket parts dont usually hold up as well as genuine or have the kind of warranty that genuine stuff does... not always but quite often. so if i were you i would check to see what kind of parts they are pricing and check the warrantys of the aftermarket parts that you want to supply.

[RMC 0]

I had a Japanese 96 bmw before, the first time I took it back to BMW dealer for service, I asked them what type of work they will be doing on my car and how much it would cost. I ended up paying 600 something.....which I initially thought was quite expensive.

I kept driving that car for another 10k and I took it to another independent workshop(I am not gonna name the workshop here,not to frame an argument.), which told me they would charge me $2500 for this and that, I refused to pay of course.....then I cut the price down to about $1000.

From my experience BMW's quality has no doubt ,is the best among all european brands.

However you also have to understand it is a 2nd hand car, there is no point to follow every single point to make it a 100/100 car.

BMW is a great car, my one worked perfectly and I cant complaint.

But BMW does have a lot of little things that you need to pay attention at.

I would suggest you to buy a mechanical warranty, at least it is better than none. And also find a reliable mechanic, not all independent work shop provide cheaper services.

[richjant 0]

Yes maybe I will just contact the service centre and suggest I supply the parts, but just afraid they will treat me like a cheap skate and "lecture" me about using "inferior" parts. The guy I spoke to at Euro Italian said these parts were the same as all the other BMW parts except they don't come in the fancy packaging. I didn't ask him what the warranty was on them but I intend ringing him back and asking this. But it made sense to me because when we owned a computer shop and custom built computers we could buy "OEM" parts to build the computers and they were just the same parts as the ones in the retail packaging that we bought for the shelf in our showroom, except for the packaging. So that's why it seems logical to me that the same applies to car parts. But I may be wrong.........thanks so much for all your feedback I really appreciate it. I may be blonde but I'm really just a brunette in disguise!

[richjant 0]

I've never had a mechanical warranty on a car before, can you tell me a bit about how they work? What company offers the best one? Would I still be able to get one on my car now even after owning it for a year? Surely they would want a report done on the mechanical state of the car before they would allow me to buy a warranty on it?? Sorry for sounding so dumb about this!

[greenday-rulz21 5]

Thats exactly right Jan. If you take out a mechanical warranty the issuer would require an inspection so they know they're not covering a car which problems worth mega bucks. Its quite hard and expensive to get a mechanical warranty for a car that has done 150k's. You've got to decide whether its actually going to be worth it.

Theres absolutely no problem asking to source your own parts or even if they're willing to source the parts from Euro Italian. Gavin is a great guy and supplies quality products. Theres no problem wanting to source the same parts for half the cost! The garage obviously doesn't really care as they just charge the customer.

[richjant 0]

Thank you so much, I will have a talk with the service centre tomorrow and see what arrangement we can come to regarding parts, I don't want to lose their support in maintaining my BMW as in Taupo, as I mentioned, there are not a lot of choices, and I know how important it is to have a mechanic work on it who is a trained BMW specialist. That is the one main thing I have learned so far! And I do believe that it is important to do the maintenance that is needed on any vehicle, as in the long run it pays off. Cheers, Jan

[RMC 0]

I've never had a mechanical warranty on a car before, can you tell me a bit about how they work? What company offers the best one? Would I still be able to get one on my car now even after owning it for a year? Surely they would want a report done on the mechanical state of the car before they would allow me to buy a warranty on it?? Sorry for sounding so dumb about this!

There are a few options available. I don't really know which one is the best....but this one works with the BMW dealer so I guess it is worth to have a look at.

http://www.protecta.co.nz/Section?Action=V...;Section_id=153

A mechanical warranty will require you to do service once a year/per 10000km.....

In a case that your vehicle breaks down on the road, they will pay for the repair cost to ensure it runs again or they will pay you the full value of your vehicle.

At the end of the day, it is up to you to decide whether you will pay for labour+parts or a mechanical warranty, I would suggest you to give them a call first and get a quote.

A warranty, at very least, helps you fix your car when it breaks down, and all you have to pay is the access fee.

Access fee usually starts from $100 per claim.

You should also look at how much they will pay per claim and what is not covered.

Ex.some warranty covers lights,some don't.