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      05-08-2018, 11:13 PM   #1
tranquility
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Go w/ OEM or aftermarket struts and brakes?

So I was hit with a MASSIVE estimate, my front shocks are leaking, I guess due to hitting too many severe potholes, tech recommends changing the rear set as well. My brake pads and rotors are at the bare minimum and need replacing also, all 4 are worn. I'm looking at over 5K including tax.

Did anyone do these jobs and have any advice? I'm close to 200,000kms and these are my original shocks. I can't remember re the brakes, I think so though. TY.
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      05-09-2018, 10:18 AM   #2
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First off wrong forum in case you were looking for e89 specific answer

That said the items you mention are pretty standard and you’ll save a ton on parts if you buy directly. I see you’re in Canada but I find FCP Euro and ECS to have best prices. FCP even offers life time warranty even on wear n tear.

Brakes are pretty standard so you might try tackling yourself. Suspension + alignment by good indy shop should go for $450USD.
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      05-09-2018, 10:35 AM   #3
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Aftermarket struts are approximately $300 ea. You'll also need to replace your shocks too, ~$150 ea. The sDrive 35i rotors are compound rotors, with aluminum hats and iron discs. Very expensive and hard to manufacture. They're around $300 ea for the front, $200 for rears. Plus $150 for brake pads per axle. Just PARTS alone:

Front strut: $300 x 2 = $600
Rear shocks: $150 x 2 = $300
Front rotors: $300 x 2 =$600
Rear rotors: 200 x 2 = $400
Pads: $150 x 2 = $300
Sensor: $20 ea x 2 = $40

Not to mention all the ancillary hardware like bolts that are one use only on the suspension. Let's just be generous and call that $50 in hardware.

$600 + $300 + $600 + $400 + $300 + $40 + $50 = $2,290 in parts. Typically mechanics charge a 15% up-charge on parts, unless you supply your own. We'll "round down" to $2,600 for parts.

Let's use a reasonable hourly rate for an independent mechanic. $100/hr. By the books, the brakes take about an hour each axle. The rear suspension is easy, 1 hour. But the front require disassembling the strut assembly to replace. Now, I've done this multiple times, and I can tell you that it's about 4 hours total.

Brakes: 2 hours
Rear shocks: 1 hour
Front struts: 4 hours

For a total of 7 hours on the books, at $100/hr, that should be about $700 for labor alone. Let's just assume that you'll also need to flush your brake fluid and just round it off to an 8 hour job by the books. Labor: $800. Plus $150-200 for 4 wheel alignment.

So your average, honest mechanic should charge for this job $3,600 on book rate. Convert that to Canucks bucks, that's around $4,650. So the $5K estimate is a little on the high side, but that's not out of the norm depending on the shop's hourly rate.

I suggest, if you intend on keeping the car, to keep to a regular maintenance schedule. Rather than wait until the component breaks and need to be replace, replace them proactively throughout the year to spread out the cost.

Or learn to do all this yourself. Although the cost saving on the labor is but a small portion of the overall cost.
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      05-09-2018, 03:23 PM   #4
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I haven’t pulled the prices myself but if Bilstein B4 is an option, I would go with those as they’re generally priced below OEM. And for rotors, cheap generic blanks from ATE or Zimmerman are typically $250 for all 4 corners.
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      05-10-2018, 11:44 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 3002 tii View Post
I haven’t pulled the prices myself but if Bilstein B4 is an option, I would go with those as they’re generally priced below OEM. And for rotors, cheap generic blanks from ATE or Zimmerman are typically $250 for all 4 corners.
If going all aftermarket:

Front strut: $150 x 2 = $300
Rear shocks: $120 x 2 = $240
Front rotors: $200 x 2 =$400
Rear rotors: $100 x 2 = $200
Pads: $75 x 2 = $150
Sensor: $12 ea x 2 = $24

About $1,300 for parts. Let's also assume that the shop doesn't go by book hours and quotes for a more aggressive timeline. Honestly, if I have the right tools I can probably do the whole front and rear suspension in 3 hours, and all the brakes in 1.5. I've seen shop hourly rates as low as $80. So optimistically, a friendly indie could potentially charge $400 total for labor, and $150 for 4 wheel alignment.

Total comes out to be about $1,850 US dollars, or about $2,400 Canadian. That's probably going to be the low-end of the estimate if you provide your own sourced parts. Either way, the parts are still a large bulk of the cost of repairs.

The front rotors on the Z4 sDrive 35i is a compound, 2 piece rotor with aluminum hats. They're not cheap. If OP want to save another hundred bucks or two, one CAN swap in E9X one piece iron rotors. They're much cheaper and technically FIT.
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      05-10-2018, 01:58 PM   #6
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^^ agree on all counts
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      05-11-2018, 09:47 PM   #7
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TX for the info guys. I know nothing about this stuff, so not as simple as just replacing the brake pads...Has to be everything?

The shocks I can understand, the front ones are crazy leaking and car's not as stable. Still, wondering if I hit another massive pothole, could it potentially kill my newly replaced shock?

Actually, did the use the wrong term? Does my car have struts?
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      05-12-2018, 10:15 AM   #8
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Struts in the front, shocks in the rear.

Based on your mileage, rotors should be replaced with the brake pads. Unless the rotors have been replaced before. There’s a minimum thickness spec stamped on the rotor hat, you won’t know if they need replacing too unless you measure.

Rule of thumb is, BMW rotors need to be replaced for every 2 sets of pads. They’re low in carbon count and are on the SOFT side. If your rotor is warped, I.e. the surface is out of round enough to cause vibration while braking, and not caused by pad deposit, they need to be replaced regardless of thickness because BMW vented rotors are too thin to “turn” and lathe.

As to whether or not the new shocks or struts will blow again if you run over a pothole, that’s all up to you. But on the busted strut, when you run over a pothole next time, because the strut can no longer effectively dampen the forces generated by the spring compacting upon impact, the damage will be extensive and will likely lead to tens of thousands of dollars in a cracked strut tower and bent control arm and whatnot. IMO a good working damper is a good insurance against that sort of catastrophic pothole damage.

In my PERSONAL opinion and experience, by putting off regular maintenance on you car (any car) like new brakes and shocks, you’re basically inviting a significant risk in a far more costly failure down the line. Skipping a $500 repair in the hopes that said part won’t fail catastrophically is only going to increase the chances that WHEN said part fails, it’ll cost you 5-10x the money to repair the aftermath.

In fact that’s pretty much true in ALL aspect of life.
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      05-12-2018, 04:33 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The HACK View Post
Struts in the front, shocks in the rear.

Based on your mileage, rotors should be replaced with the brake pads. Unless the rotors have been replaced before. There’s a minimum thickness spec stamped on the rotor hat, you won’t know if they need replacing too unless you measure.

Rule of thumb is, BMW rotors need to be replaced for every 2 sets of pads. They’re low in carbon count and are on the SOFT side. If your rotor is warped, I.e. the surface is out of round enough to cause vibration while braking, and not caused by pad deposit, they need to be replaced regardless of thickness because BMW vented rotors are too thin to “turn” and lathe.

As to whether or not the new shocks or struts will blow again if you run over a pothole, that’s all up to you. But on the busted strut, when you run over a pothole next time, because the strut can no longer effectively dampen the forces generated by the spring compacting upon impact, the damage will be extensive and will likely lead to tens of thousands of dollars in a cracked strut tower and bent control arm and whatnot. IMO a good working damper is a good insurance against that sort of catastrophic pothole damage.

In my PERSONAL opinion and experience, by putting off regular maintenance on you car (any car) like new brakes and shocks, you’re basically inviting a significant risk in a far more costly failure down the line. Skipping a $500 repair in the hopes that said part won’t fail catastrophically is only going to increase the chances that WHEN said part fails, it’ll cost you 5-10x the money to repair the aftermath.

In fact that’s pretty much true in ALL aspect of life.
Thanks for the valuable info. Will need to get it done then. Yup, definitely not putting off if there's a bad downside. Just found out about this mess. TX again.
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      11-07-2018, 02:14 PM   #10
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I just reading this post and truly amazed by help you guys providing to Z community, great job
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