Bent Over In Front of the Dealer - How Bad Can It Be?

[exMGB]

LOL, took my '97 Z3 1.9L in to the dealer to get the a/c fixed. I bought it used from sis with 60k miles three months ago. It had been sitting for 5 years in her garage (loooong story).

Anyhow, I've got it running nice. Even did the seat fix with the Whalen bushings and the glove box fix, of course, all new fluids and filters throughout plus a starter and fuel pump.

Anyhow, when first run, a/c was great....but went downhill quick. I'm guessing bad compressor seals. I quit using the a/c immediately, it's been a month and a half, and just took it in for service hoping there's refrigerant left in and I don't have to replace the whole system.

Any guesses what the damage will be?

[kostverloren]

Because most dealers go with "Don't fix..Just replace" You don't want to know.

[HellrotZ]

well we charge 25$ per lb for freon at my shop and 8.95 for a leak detector and 95 for the service so its not too bad, just dont take it to the dealer take it to a basic repair shop, the labor rates are always cheaper than a specializing shop...just my 2cents.

[jbbrown9]

Yeah, around here there's a good A/C-only shop that does good work for reasonable rates. I'd take it to a place like that if there's one close enough. Dealer will screw you fo sho.

[exMGB]

Well, I took it to a local shop I've used a lot when it wouldn't start. It took them 2 months to replace the starter and fuel pump. Even, so it still had a gas leak which I had to fix.

It's already at the dealer. I just want it fixed right in a reasonable amount of time. Replace parts no doubt will be the order of the day, but hey, it's 10 years old and I got it for a song.

I took it in at 5:00 pm and got a loooong phone message while eating dinner from a service salesperson at the dealer about all the good maintenance work available. You know, the 60k mile whatever. The car, like I said has sat for 5 years, so I guess they figure it's past due. Of course, I wiped the maintenance minder clean with my Peak before I went in.

Oh well, I've not got a good feeling about this. Problem is, aside from the a/c, the thing runs perfect. Doesn't even have door ding one and has a fresh top. Maybe I'll tell them, just fix the a/c cause I'm trading it in on a z4?

[IslandS62]

Contact someone in your local BMW CCA chapter and seek out a good BMW specialist repair shop.

[exMGB]

Little update. dealer service evacuated the system, put in dye and recharged. Couldn't see a leak. Found a great link on BOBIS THEOILGUY in the Mechanical Tips Forum on the latest in auto a/c technology with R134.

So, I think the dealer was square up. Problem is, latest technology has a hard time finding small leaks.