BMW Servicing

Bluelion

Mucho gracias! Thats what I wanted to know. Im going to be purchasing a used car so im hoping as we hit 2009, the 2006 models will drop in price.

oldagetraveller

Bluelion wrote: »

Im in a similiar position to leon where im planning to buy a 320d in 6 months time. For bmw owners out there, are there any additional costs I should be thinking about when I do finally purchase one? I have car insurance, mot, tax disc and fuel covered. Am I missing anything?

Breakdown cover, after all it is German?:p

thescouselander

oldagetraveller wrote: »

Breakdown cover, after all it is German?:p

I think you are getting mixed up, it's Japanese cars that are reliable, not german ones.

Bluelion

Hehe, um on a serious note...what car brands do have a reputation for being reliable? I was under the impression (from people around me) that french cars were unreliable and german/japanese cars were a costly yet reliable.

thescouselander

I've had two jap cars that were completely reliable. I currently have a bmw which has had a few niggling faults since I bought it. My OH has a Renault which I seem to have to fix every other week!

Bluelion

Any jap cars equivalent to the 3 series I should take a look at?

AdrianHi

In November 2005 I took delivery of a new BMW 320d which I have paid the servicing for to date covering 42,000 miles. I consider routine servicing to be very reasonable especially considering the long intervals.
Non-routine repairs can get a bit scary, I've bought an extentended warranty with £100 excess for £349 from BMW.
From new this is the servicing costs I have actually paid:
19,000 miles first oil service £138 of which about £70 is for the synthetic long life oil.
At 2 years old brake fluid change about £100-£115
36,000 miles Inspection 1 plus I had the oil service due at 40,000 miles doen a bit early to avoid going back to the garage so soon - £215

It's true that labour rates are up to around £100 depending on where you are in the country, so if you can find an independant garage you trust who will use genuine parts and the right standard of consumables it's a good move. I would still have routine servicing done at the dealer, so any recall work gets picked up, and perhaps repairs done and the independant (if I had not got the extended warranty).

On the newer 2005 320d (and other diesels) the crank case breather has been redesigned so it does not clog up like the old ones used too causing all
sorts of problems.

There is an Inspection 2 service that comes up on the car at around 50,000 miles, I beleive this is the expensive one at around £250-£300.
Services go like this:

Oil service
Inspection 1
Oil service
Inspection 2
and the cycle repeats plus brake fluid change ever 2 years.

Run flat tyres are a bit more expensive, usually 15%-20% more than the same size standard tyre.
On a 320d SE the standard tyre is 205/55R16 and should cost you no more than £90-£100 but you will find people selling them in the £120-£140 range too. How long a tyre lasts depends on driving style. Shorter journeys can result in outside edge wear on front tyres, you might only get 10-15,000 out of them. Mostly longer journeys 20,000-25,000 miles is the best to expect. There is a reason for this wear behaviour, but that's another long story....

AdrianHi

Bluelion wrote: »

Any jap cars equivalent to the 3 series I should take a look at?

In my opinion the next best thing to a 3 series is a Mazda 6 if your a driving enthusiast. Forget Audi / Merc, not as entertaining. The Lexus IS220d is thirsty with poorly set out gear ratios and a more cramped interior. Looks good though.

overlander

On a car that age i would not bother with a main dealer, find a good independent. For reliability it has to be the Japs BMW reliability is mediocre to average at the best of times. Mercedes and Audi are also about the same but for luxury reliability i would have a look at the latest lexus's. That way yu get the reliability and a nice car thats a little bit different afterall BMW is the new mondeo.

Shimrod

The latest which? magazine rates BMW average overall for reliability, but the 3 series is 6th for reliability (beaten by the civic, volvo s60, Merc C class, Avensis and prius).

The lexus is200 is a nice car but even more expensive to run than the 3 series, especially if you do a lot of miles - the service interval is 10,000.

Anyway, here's my servicing costs over 130,000 miles in a 2001 325 model. These are nearly all main dealer prices. Repairs I've had done (from memory) are a water pump and front control arm bushes. There's £700 of new wheel in there thanks to our great British roads!:
Date Work cost mileage
24/03/2004 insp1 212.48
19103 27/03/2004 1 rear tyre 170

17/07/2004 front tyres 274.08

14/10/2004 oil service, mot,brakes 710.82
33787 22/11/2004 rear tyres 338.87

23/05/2005 insp2 359.26
48324 27/05/2005 brake fluid & antifreeze 168.11
48615 01/12/2005 oil service 171.17
63577 17/12/2005 front disks(ats) 181
64500 10/03/2006 all tyres 530

25/03/2006 rear disks(ats) 184
72000 25/07/2006 insp1 253.94
77908 02/08/2006 repairs 446.9
78377 13/10/2006 MOT 44.15

22/12/2006 front tyres 230.77

30/01/2007 oil service 172.03
92542 21/05/2007 front wheel and repairs 550

05/07/2007 rear wheel 400

13/09/2007 insp2 & MOT,front disk 622.29
108150 16/12/2007 rear tyres 296

12/04/2008 front tyres 230.77

06/06/2008 Service 219.99

13/06/2008 all rear brakes 299.99