BMW gurus (or bmwguru...) What do you know about these cars? (Page 2/2)
nitroheadz28 OCT 16, 12:54 PM
German car maintenance costs give me goosebumps

Good luck!!
Monkeyman OCT 16, 01:31 PM

quote
Originally posted by Raydar:


The KBB that I found shows the 540i going for about $7200 for a private party sale in this area.




I went back to the same link I looked at when I posted that this morning. It was way out of date. My apologies.
Raydar OCT 16, 01:55 PM
No prob. I thought it might be a regional thing. Ya' never know...
weaselbeak OCT 18, 06:46 PM

quote
Originally posted by jaskispyder:


Where are you getting your cost of ownership information from? Curious.



Are you reading this thread at all? Guru just stated expect 1500-2500 in maintenance costs, I will assume that's normal. And if the car turns out to be less reliable than normal? My son has done the BMW dance, and it takes deeper pockets than I can handle. He was only playing with 325's. I really like German cars, I bought my daughter a VW convertable. When the alarm system went screwy it got bypassed because that alone was over a grand to fix. Use your google button, and get an education. German cars are way beyond the norm in repair costs, from what I've seen.
FieroMaster88 OCT 18, 08:49 PM
E39 540i is a good car. I have owned several BMWs and have never had any serious expensive repairs. Like any other car if you keep up on maintenance they are reliable. At work the only cars I ever see with outrageous repair bills are the abused and non maintained cars. The parts on BMWs really are not much more than a domestic vehicle. I currently work on BMWs at a BMW dealer and have worked for ford and Chevrolet so I have experience with what repairs on other vehicles cost.

[This message has been edited by FieroMaster88 (edited 10-18-2012).]

bmwguru OCT 19, 05:01 AM
The problem with German cars is more related to improper maintenance which in turn causes higher repair costs. It is very typical that they (BMW and Mercedes) wear out the thrust arms. If let go, the control arms wear out, then the tie rods.
Audi has 8 control arms in the front on their 96-04 models. The uppers wear out. If not attended to, or if you only relpace one, then you'll be buying a complete front end.

I've seen people install Bosch platinum spark plugs, and a few days later, I'm replacving their ignition coils. The best bet for owning a German car is take it in twice a year and pay for what needs to be done.

I can't say anything good about the new Valvetronic systems though. It is like an eccentric style cam that rotated and changes the valve lift and timing. I quoted the last guy $8,000 to replace his eccentric shafts....which is absurd on a car that had 110,000 miles. Not sure of the cause, but I've found that the owners that change their oil every 15,400 miles like BMW recommends, have much higher repair costs.

Dave
Monkeyman OCT 19, 06:42 AM
How much could it cost (even for a German car) to change the oil/filter?? Even if you HAVE to get it done at an authorized BMW/Mercedes dealer, I can't see it costing more than $150. Might as well do it every 5k miles or so. My bike has 5k mile oil changes but I can see doing it a bit less than that. Of course, I'll do it in my garage, but still......
bmwguru OCT 19, 07:23 AM
We charge $98.00 for a BMW 6 cylinder service. That is $56 for the oil, $12 for the filter and $30 for our time. It is a lose money job for us because we spend about 40 minutes going over the car, but we always seem to find other repairs. $30 is 18 minutes @ $100 per hour.

Dave
Fiero Thomas OCT 19, 10:59 AM
I had a 530 and loved it. sold it when it hit 270,000 and never put a penny in it after 200,000. WIsh I has the car back I miss it.

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1985 Fiero GT 4speed 1986 Fiero GT
1997 BMW 328 1984 Porsche 944

FieroNews

Monkeyman OCT 19, 11:45 AM

quote
Originally posted by bmwguru:

We charge $98.00 for a BMW 6 cylinder service. That is $56 for the oil, $12 for the filter and $30 for our time. It is a lose money job for us because we spend about 40 minutes going over the car, but we always seem to find other repairs. $30 is 18 minutes @ $100 per hour.

Dave



Seems reasonable if you're doing a comprehensive check at the same time. The local Victory dealer charges about that for an oil change with a similar check.