$950 to replace E46 starter?!?!

[MontereyDave]

Please let me know if this estimate is fair - I need to replace the starter on a 2003 325i and the friendly neighborhood European repair shop quoted $960 and the dealer quoted $939 with a 3-yr/50k mile warranty. Holy crap, why so expensive to replace a starter?

[danewilson77]

nooooo......they think your pocket is deep....thats complete bullshit...

Expensive cause you have a Bimmer...

Also...the starter is buried down on the tranny...around the 2 o clock position...so I am sure the are counting 5-6 hours labor on the job...at $120.00/hr.

Plus the starter costs....



01 Rmfd- STARTER MOTOR1,4KW109/2002 12417578684 $283.02



It mounts right there where that half moon is...

$270.52 here...

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/12417578684/ES30036/



$161.75 at http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/...-7-578-684-M14

Not sayin its an easy job...but you can do it. Do you have manual or auto....?

[pegcity]

im looking on ebay and seeing them for around 40-100 dollars depending on if they are new or rebuilt

[danewilson77]

mmm...ebay

[Smilez]

It's a pain but I did it for a friend for 240 with parts.

[danewilson77]

It's a pain but I did it for a friend for 240 with parts.

See...that's what I'm talking about...

[MontereyDave]

nooooo......they think your pocket is deep....thats complete bullshit...

Expensive cause you have a Bimmer...

Also...the starter is buried down on the tranny...around the 2 o clock position...so I am sure the are counting 5-6 hours labor on the job...at $120.00/hr.

Plus the starter costs....

...

01 Rmfd- STARTER MOTOR1,4KW109/2002 12417578684 $283.02

...

It mounts right there where that half moon is...

$270.52 here...

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/12417578684/ES30036/

...

$161.75 at http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/...-7-578-684-M14

Not sayin its an easy job...but you can do it. Do you have manual or auto....?

Thank you all for the great feedback. My car is an auto; does that make the task harder or easier?

[MontereyDave]

nooooo......they think your pocket is deep....thats complete bullshit...

Expensive cause you have a Bimmer...

Also...the starter is buried down on the tranny...around the 2 o clock position...so I am sure the are counting 5-6 hours labor on the job...at $120.00/hr.

Plus the starter costs....

...

01 Rmfd- STARTER MOTOR1,4KW109/2002 12417578684 $283.02

...

It mounts right there where that half moon is...

$270.52 here...

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/12417578684/ES30036/

...

$161.75 at http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/...-7-578-684-M14

Not sayin its an easy job...but you can do it. Do you have manual or auto....?

Thanks for the great help guys. Mine is an auto; does that make the task harder or easier?

[02325]

im looking on ebay and seeing them for around 40-100 dollars depending on if they are new or rebuilt

somethign like this I would not go the ebay route. this is not an wasy job, so if you get a JUNK one your will do it all over again. Now if you bought one from tha dealer and it quit 1.5 years later tha dealer repalces it free of charge to you. BMW covers the labor and part if defective.

[Brian328i]

950 bucks doesnt seem obsurd especially if your going to specialized BMW garages or even the dealership, especially if that includes the part.

I've never taken the starter off my BM and I wouldnt want to, and I've done some pretty labourous jobs on my car. That thing is in one of the most awkward spots ever.

And to think of it its the first time I hear of a starter going on a BMW doesnt really seem like a common thing, are you 100% sure it needs to be changed?

[GR330ZHP]

Hah if you think thats bad how about this? I got quoted $1200 to have the OEM BMW alarm installed on my 330i at my dealer. Haha i laughed in the guy's face and left...

[danewilson77]

950 bucks doesnt seem obsurd especially if your going to specialized BMW garages or even the dealership, especially if that includes the part.

I've never taken the starter off my BM and I wouldnt want to, and I've done some pretty labourous jobs on my car. That thing is in one of the most awkward spots ever.

And to think of it its the first time I hear of a starter going on a BMW doesnt really seem like a common thing, are you 100% sure it needs to be changed?

I guess you are correct and I was absurd as compared to diy....

[Lsixer]

Hi Dave,

I dont know how much the chilton will help you, but, this is what I use.

http://www.bentleypublishers.com/isb...775/index.html

My bentley has saved me some coin over the years. I suppose the DIY has to be measured not in difficulty, but, in how much time you have to work on the car. If it is your daughters DD, then having significant downtime may not be an option. Eg, rental car costs, lack of a full day or two on your part to do the work, etc .....

I have had a few things done to mine by the dealership just because I weighed the cost savings of doing it myself against the value of my time spent crawling around on the ground for several days, waiting on parts, etc ....

The only advantage I have is that my car is a garage queen and spends 360 days a year in the garage with a car cover on it anyway.

I'll post this up on TAL also.

Adam

[MontereyDave]

Thanks for all the great advice guys.

[yonmoor]

I can't believe there isn't a DIY for this. I need to replace my starter soon because it doesn't disengage properly on cold startups. If I get around to it in the spring I'll consider making a DIY (assuming I figure out how to do it).

[Brian328i]

To remove and replace the starter the first thing you need to do is:

1) Disconnect the battery.
2) Open the hood and remove the microfilter assembly, and the filter housing holder from the firewall. (4 T30 torx hold that in place)
3) Remove the plastic cover of the firewall, the one that covers where the AC blower is. (2 T30 torx)

Now that should give you enough room to look down between the firewall and the engine where the intake is to see the starter on the bell housing. The starter is held in place by two E12 torx bolts.

4) Using a long E12 wrench snake it down to the top bolt of the starter, patiently start loosening, its a very tight fit but it fits.
5) Go under the car and using an extension start loosening the bottom bolt.
6) Now you can start disconnecting the wires there are 4 in total, take a picture to remember which goes where. There are two small wires and two larger wires.
7) The starter is ready to be removed, and might be jammed there for all the years. Stick an extension to a solid surface on the starter and using a hammer give it a good whack.

With the starter removed you are now ready to reinstall your new starter, start first with wiring it up and then get the bolts started a little once both are on torque down equally.

[yonmoor]

Have you done this before? You pulled it off without removing the intake or dropping the transmission?

[Brian328i]

No I havent done this myself but I know for sure with 100% certainty that you do not have to remove the transmission, if you had to remove the transmission you would pay 2 grand to replace the starter. Taking out the intake would really be unnecessary in my opinion, it wont give you anymore room.

[MontereyDave]

Thanks guys. I am not mechanically inclined enough for a DIY this difficult. But, I do feel a little better today. Instead of $960 or $939, I took it to a much friendlier and seemingly more competent Firestone Service Center on El Camino Real in Sunnyvale/San Jose and they replaced the starter (new, not rebuilt) and replaced the front brake pads & rotors and gave me a synthetic oil change for $1,100. Still seems like a lot of money but the brake job is worth a few hundred so I think it's better than quote from the Euro repair shop and the BMW dealer.

[Brian328i]

Well as long as your happy.

[bmwill831]

Thanks guys. I am not mechanically inclined enough for a DIY this difficult. But, I do feel a little better today. Instead of $960 or $939, I took it to a much friendlier and seemingly more competent Firestone Service Center on El Camino Real in Sunnyvale/San Jose and they replaced the starter (new, not rebuilt) and replaced the front brake pads & rotors and gave me a synthetic oil change for $1,100. Still seems like a lot of money but the brake job is worth a few hundred so I think it's better than quote from the Euro repair shop and the BMW dealer.

Damn, I live in santa cruz. I wish I would have seen this earlier to help you DIY

[alanpaul]

A master mechanic at my dealer said it would take him two hours and me eight -- they charge at the book rate of 5 hours.

He says the easy way in (!) is to remove the intake manifold.

[beermedude]

holy crap.

a starter for my Fairlane costs $99 (AND,....I get a $25 core return credit). Any shop can put mine in for 20min work (if that)...(i'd do it myself, & have done so,...twice, in the past 35 yrs)....but 5-6 hrs?....are these guys SMOKIN some good BC Bud?

[meangreen94z]

Its a job thats much easier to do on a lift. You can get away with unbolting just the transmission cross member and dropping the tailshaft of the transmission down enough to reach the bolts with a long extension and universal E12. To remove the starter you have to unbolt the bushing end of the left control arm from the body. The rest is pretty straighforward.

[beermedude]

wow. what a nite-mare. I remember just shimmying under my 66 Fairlane in the driveway & undoing the 2 9/16 starter bolts + the positive cable. 15-20 minutes tops, couple bruised knuckles.....maybe getting a hangnail or 2.......but that was that.

Guess this is the cost of having a BMW.