Newbie Intro....

[Jdubya]

Hello all! I am new to the forum and have recently purchased an 06 325i and am pretty excited.

This is my first beamer and am wondering if someone could enlighten me on the actual annual maintenance costs. I like to do oil changes myself along with non major maintenance. I have seen threads online with people trying to estimate the cost of annual maintenance and have seen numbers as high as $1,800. I cannot fathom this as I am searching for parts and from what I am seeing the parts may cost a little more than my domestic but nothing outrageous.

I realize the dealer labor is crazy high (as will all dealerships) but what makes the annual costs that high or am I correct in thinking that this number is heavily inflated.

Even if I take the car to the dealer for oil changes, I have read that the oil on average lasts up to 10,000 miles. In that case maybe two changes a year? What am I missing? :dunno

[DnA Diesel]

JW, congrats on your new Bimmer (many say a Beamer is a BMW motorcycle ;) )! I'm sure you'll like how it drives, sounds, etc...

Most high costs seem to be related to dealer servicing. I wrenched my E34 540i for 10 years, and it was oil, brake fliud (every other year), filters, one set of rotors and some thrust arms and bushings, etc... all told, less than $1500 or so, about $150/yr.

Regular oil, filters, tire maintenance, etc... goes a long way to keep things running smoothly.

Regards

[Jdubya]

JW, congrats on your new Bimmer (many say a Beamer is a BMW motorcycle ;) )!

Regards

OOPS, Sorry! Like I said I am new and have a lot to learn... :)

[DnA Diesel]

OOPS, Sorry! Like I said I am new and have a lot to learn... :)

Don't worry, it's more of a debating point than anything! LOL

Do you have pics?

[Jdubya]

No not yet, we pick it up tomorrow. That is if my Girlfriend doesn't talk herself out of it by then.

The BMW salesman was trying to sell her on one of the maintenance packages and he mentioned to her that replacing all of the brakes and rotors on the car could cost over $1,500 and that the $2,000 on the maintenance plan was a good deal. I have been trying to explain to her that the likelihood of replacing all four brakes and rotors at the same time is very slim but for some reason she would rather believe a pushy salesman than me....

[mryakan]

Actually on these cars, the chances of having to replace all 4 pads and rotors are more likely than not. My pads are almost due in a few thousand kilometers (both front and rear) and most times the rotors need replacing at the same time if they are below minimum spec.
That being said, the maintenance plan is not well advised even if you do not do the work yourself, unless you go through brakes like crazy, and even then the plan may have some restrictions.
As for maintenance costs, the major one in my opinion is tires. Plan of replacing tires roughly every 2 years or 20-30k miles. To prolong the life of the tires, you'd also want to get an alignment professionally done at least once a year or when needed.
There are many items that you can do yourself (alignment aside) if you are so inclined, but some items require you to reset the CBS, so keep that in mind.
Enjoy the car and welcome to the forum.

[Jdubya]

With your car almost at the point of needing brakes, how many miles do you have on them? (Or Kilometers, I can figure out the conversion lol). If this is something that has to be done every 2 years or so, I do not see this as a problem. Also, I noticed that the parts are reasonably priced, what drives the cost up, the Dealer Labor?

Also, can the CBS be reset in the car somehow? I had a newer Acura that had a similar system (not as elaborate though) and you could reset it with a key trick.

[mryakan]

With your car almost at the point of needing brakes, how many miles do you have on them? (Or Kilometers, I can figure out the conversion lol). If this is something that has to be done every 2 years or so, I do not see this as a problem.
I have 57-58,000 km (~36k miles). I'd say if you drive normally, then maybe every 3+ years. It all depends how you use/abuse your brakes.


Also, I noticed that the parts are reasonably priced, what drives the cost up, the Dealer Labor?
Labor is dependent on your dealer/location. Here, I can get all 4 done (pads+rotors+sensors+labor) for 800$ + tax, but with luck, I should be able to turn in my lease before that is needed anyway. Had I wanted to do it elsewhere, the savings will not be that big, but then my dealer has competitive pricing.



Also, can the CBS be reset in the car somehow? I had a newer Acura that had a similar system (not as elaborate though) and you could reset it with a key trick.
Do a search. I recall some people mentioned you can do it, but not sure if others were successful with that or if special equipment or a dealer visit was needed.

[Jdubya]

ok, so the car I am purchasing has 37,000 miles on it and still has a portion of the factory maintenance warranty available for a few months yet. What do you think the chances of me requesting a maintenance report to see if the brake pads and rotors were ever changed and if not request that they change them under warranty as part of the deal?

[DnA Diesel]

Bavarian Technic scan tool is what you want if you do look after your car "post-Dealer"

http://www.bavariantechnic.com/buy.aspx

You can reset things and also do diagnostics for less than $80/hr. :D

[Banny11b]

well first off welcome to the wonderful world of bimmers! and like most people have said above, with minimal tools and just some research you can do most of your own work, and as far as reseting the CBS just go into the dealership people like me and you dont have to hide that we do our own work on our cars because we have no more warranty, so i just go in and they reset it no charge

[mryakan]

ok, so the car I am purchasing has 37,000 miles on it and still has a portion of the factory maintenance warranty available for a few months yet. What do you think the chances of me requesting a maintenance report to see if the brake pads and rotors were ever changed and if not request that they change them under warranty as part of the deal?
You can try to negotiate anything you want when making a deal, whether they accept or not is a different thing. From BMW's perspective, they will not replace any maintenance item until the car asks for it (with exception of the annual low mileage oil change), so if the brakes are not due for replacement, the dealer will have to absorb the cost. Chances are if they accept that, then they will be making up for it somewhere else in the deal.

[AnimatedZombie]

Welcome to the forum. Pics?

[Jdubya]

soon