Service contract??

[ZEEFOUR]

Called my service advisor today to schedule appointment for oil service, found out that my service agreement expired last week, he informed me that i could extend it and connected my with finance.\

Finance said yes i have up to 1 year and then it cost more. $2,195 for 2 years 100K miles, not sure if its worth it in my case. My SA gave me the following prices for services, Oil service $450, inspect 1 $ 750, inspect 2 $1,100 (i can do brakes and rotors myself).

I put 13K on it last year, but i normally average around 8K per year on my cars. What do you all think?????????

[Godspeed]

Never, ever buy extended warranties or service agreements. They are huge profit centers for stealers. You only begin to save after you've gone through $2195 worth of service - not repairs, an extended warranty is different. I've not spent that much on maintenance in my 20 years of driving.

If you're capable of doing your brakes then that implies you're also capable of doing the oil changes and the other incidentals associated with I1 and I2.

And a $450 oil service is the most insane thing I've ever heard of. Not doubting the price, it's just plane insane.

[ZEEFOUR]

Originally Posted by Godspeed

Never, ever buy extended warranties or service agreements. They are huge profit centers for stealers. You only begin to save after you've gone through $2195 worth of service - not repairs, an extended warranty is different. I've not spent that much on maintenance in my 20 years of driving.

If you're capable of doing your brakes then that implies you're also capable of doing the oil changes and the other incidentals associated with I1 and I2.

And a $450 oil service is the most insane thing I've ever heard of. Not doubting the price, it's just plane insane.

Thats what i was thinking, with service every 15K miles, i would have to drive 60K in the 2 year period to make it come out ahead

[takedown8]

Who charges $450 for oil service? Does that mean you pay $450 to have free oil services over a period of 2 years? Oil change at the stealers should only be $115 or so.

[epbrown]

Depends on your hourly rate. At my dealership, the hourly rate is $155, half hour minimum. An hour for an oil change, plus materials (oil and filter) at dealer rates puts you over $200. But hey, they include a half-assed car wash with that.

[takedown8]

I don't know what kind of scam they're running down there. The BMW Canada website has the price for a Z4 3.0i oil change as $116 CDN. It should be standard at all stealers. If that's not the case in the U.S., then that sucks. The hourly rate at my local stealer is $86.

[Godspeed]

Or you could show your zed you love her by poking around in her private areas and changing her fluids yourself. Zeds respond well to intimacy. And you'll save money.

[ZEEFOUR]

Originally Posted by takedown8

I don't know what kind of scam they're running down there. The BMW Canada website has the price for a Z4 3.0i oil change as $116 CDN. It should be standard at all stealers. If that's not the case in the U.S., then that sucks. The hourly rate at my local stealer is $86.

Not oil change, but oil service, which is just a glorified oil change with a lot of check check inspect inspect. I think $450 is a little bit steep too.:mad:

[takedown8]

Originally Posted by Godspeed

Or you could show your zed you love her by poking around in her private areas and changing her fluids yourself. Zeds respond well to intimacy. And you'll save money.

You don't save that much more IMHO given the amount of time, materials, messiness involved. But to each his own.

Zeefour, how much inspection is worth an extra $334? That's like 4 hours worth of inspecting time!

[Godspeed]

Originally Posted by takedown8

You don't save that much more IMHO given the amount of time, materials, messiness involved. But to each his own.

Zeefour, how much inspection is worth an extra $334? That's like 4 hours worth of inspecting time!

How much are you paying for your materials?

7 qts of Mobile 1 @ $4 = $28
1 Filter @ $15
Shadetree Oil Change = $43
Quality time with your zed = Priceless

I can change the oil in less that 30 minutes. And it's a minimum of 3 hours using the dealer including travel time. But I enjoy that kind of stuff so it's a positive thing for me.

[ZEEFOUR]

Originally Posted by Godspeed

How much are you paying for your materials?

7 qts of Mobile 1 @ $4 = $28
1 Filter @ $15
Shadetree Oil Change = $43
Quality time with your zed = Priceless

I can change the oil in less that 30 minutes. And it's a minimum of 3 hours using the dealer including travel time. But I enjoy that kind of stuff so it's a positive thing for me.

I agree, dealer probably charges $6-7 per quart and 1/2 hour of labor at $105 per hour, so your looking at $70 - $100 for just an oil change. I have 3 BMW dealers in my area i called another one today and they gave me the following:

Oil service $203 vs 450
inspect 1 $564 vs 750
inspect 2 $732 vs 1100

more reasonable, the labor rates in the DC area are inflated, i actually ride my motorcycle to York Pa for service because the labor rate is $49 vs $100.

[ZEEFOUR]

able to reach the third dealership so here are the 3 prices:

Oil service $203 vs 450 vs 350
inspect 1 $564 vs 750 vs 550
inspect 2 $732 vs 1100 vs 800

locations are Rockville MD, Silver Spring MD, and Arlington VA

They also quoted $700 front or rear or around $1300 for pads and rotors.

It cost me around $115 for front and rear axxis pads, and you can get OEM rotors for around $70 frt and $52 rear so the labor does get expensive...

[GP20]

$2195 for the extended maintenace warranty? Sounds like a rip-off to me. I know that E46 M3 owners have been paying like $1400 for the extra 2 year, 50K mile maintenance warranty. But the thing is that technically one needs to extend the maintenance warranty while the warranty has not expired. So your dealer might act like they're trying to cut you a break but will also have to charge you a premium. In this case, $2195 is NOT worth it. For an oil change, I used to pay about $75 to have it done at Seattle BMW.

[GP20]

Originally Posted by Godspeed

Never, ever buy extended warranties or service agreements. They are huge profit centers for stealers.

Well, not trying to argue with you. But a few dealers actually offer extended maintenance at about $1200~$1400 (and you can buy extended warranty from ANY BMW dealer; it doesn't have to be from your local dealers so shop around). For that price, the brake job (rotors and pads) alone is worth the $1200~$1400.

[561design]

Originally Posted by takedown8

You don't save that much more IMHO given the amount of time, materials, messiness involved. But to each his own.

I'm sorry but that's silly. Time is about 30-45mins if you're lazy. Materials will run you a little over $50 for oil and filter. Messiness is really not that bad and it's especially not worth and additional $400 they would change for an oil change.

Next time I do an oil change I'll take pics and do a complete write up of materials and parts I used so you can all join in on the fun.

Depending on how often you drive your car and how little you actually want to work on it. The service contract can be a lifesaver. Shoot, if some people are willing to pay $450 for an oil change then $2k should be nothing for them.

[Godspeed]

Originally Posted by GP20

Well, not trying to argue with you. But a few dealers actually offer extended maintenance at about $1200~$1400 (and you can buy extended warranty from ANY BMW dealer; it doesn't have to be from your local dealers so shop around). For that price, the brake job (rotors and pads) alone is worth the $1200~$1400.

If $1200 for brakes seems reasonable then I agree that a service contract is a good value. The real cost of brakes is less than $200 plus your labor (add for rotors, bearings, and calipers) or maybe twice that for a private shop. I guess there is an altered sense of reality when talking BMW shop prices. I just can't ever see taking my car into any shop for brakes, oil changes, etc.

[Ski]

Originally Posted by ZEEFOUR

able to reach the third dealership so here are the 3 prices:

Oil service $203 vs 450 vs 350
inspect 1 $564 vs 750 vs 550
inspect 2 $732 vs 1100 vs 800

locations are Rockville MD, Silver Spring MD, and Arlington VA

Whew, those are some high $$'s for oil changes..

[GP20]

Originally Posted by Godspeed

If $1200 for brakes seems reasonable then I agree that a service contract is a good value. The real cost of brakes is less than $200 plus your labor (add for rotors, bearings, and calipers) or maybe twice that for a private shop. I guess there is an altered sense of reality when talking BMW shop prices. I just can't ever see taking my car into any shop for brakes, oil changes, etc.

Show me where you can buy rotors and pads for the Z4 for $200.

OEM rotors and pads alone cost about $1K.

[Godspeed]

Originally Posted by GP20

Show me where you can buy rotors and pads for the Z4 for $200.

OEM rotors and pads alone cost about $1K.

As I stated in my post, I wasn't counting on rotors, calipers, or bearings. Nor was I counting on OEM. I only turn/replace rotors when there is a need. I'm sure there are schools of thought that rotors always need to be turned but if they're running true then I never do. All rotors become used rotors and the pads bed just fine as long as there are no flaws in which case you'd know before you replaced the pads. Most shops replace the rotors automatically because it prevents callbacks. The ultimate driving machine doesn't need new rotors every job any more than my truck does.

But... Tire Rack has Brembo's rotors starting at $100-125/axel front/rear. Pads average $75 per axel. So for $375 you can have pads and new rotors. If tolerances allow, NAPA turns rotors for $15 each.

Real OEM shows the discs at $101 each for the front and $78 for the rear with pads running $82 for the front and $72 for the rear. So even if you're talking OEM you're at $512 for parts.

[takedown8]

Originally Posted by 561design

I'm sorry but that's silly. Time is about 30-45mins if you're lazy. Materials will run you a little over $50 for oil and filter. Messiness is really not that bad and it's especially not worth and additional $400 they would change for an oil change.

Next time I do an oil change I'll take pics and do a complete write up of materials and parts I used so you can all join in on the fun.

Depending on how often you drive your car and how little you actually want to work on it. The service contract can be a lifesaver. Shoot, if some people are willing to pay $450 for an oil change then $2k should be nothing for them.

Like I said before, all BMW Canada dealerships charge $116 CDN for an oil change for the non-M Z4. I change my oil once a year since I drive less than 15,000 miles per year. You're telling me that it costs $50 US for materials plus the cost of the oil extractor device. So essentially, I would save a maximum of $60 per year doing my own oil changes and it would take 45 minutes, and I have to dispose of this used oil.

IMHO, it's not worth it. It may sound silly to you, but it sounds silly to me to have to do all that to save $60 per year. If you change your synthetic oil every 5000 miles on the other hand, I could see it being worth doing yourself.

[Ski]

Silly silly, cheese please..

[ZEEFOUR]

I think the bottom line is that a lot of bmw owners seem to be do-it-yourselfers when it comes to routine maintenance. BMW service has always been expensive, but with the extended intervals on most components, it makes you wonder why. Seems prices vary from dealer to dealer so its best to shop around. The dealer i purchased my Z4 from seems to charge the most, so i'll shop around when its comes time to take it in. But i'll still change the oil, brakes and rotors myself since its pretty easy to do and saves a few bucks too.