[Topdown240]

My dealership just quoted me $757. Seriously. Not coils, just 6 plugs. 2.3 hours of labor plus the 6 plugs. Needless to say I "deferred."

[jLona240]

That's ridiculous. The longest part of the job is removing the plastic to get to cylinder's 5 & 6.

It is super easy to do if you have a basic socket set and a thin walled magnetic spark plug socket.

If you're not comfortable attempting it yourself find a local independent shop with good reviews.

[JMcLellan]

Originally Posted by jLona240

That's ridiculous. The longest part of the job is removing the plastic to get to cylinder's 5 & 6.

It is super easy to do if you have a basic socket set and a thin walled magnetic spark plug socket.

If you're not comfortable attempting it yourself find a local independent shop with good reviews.

Agreed. Cost me $90 bucks for the plugs plus the plug socket. Total of 1 hour install time with most being the work to get to the plugs. You'll need a torque wrench.

[dmaxdmax]

Very easy diy. Torque is light...a torque wrench is probably a good idea, otherwise go easy.

[Ajowhan]

quoted 120 to 250 labor only for install in socal. I went with the 120 needless to say. (Its a bmw specialty shop where majority of the car are bmw n well bsupraw)

[mecodoug2]

I did mine last Spring at around 50K miles. It was pretty easy, just be careful about removing the wire plugs from the coils. You need a small torx socket and a torque wrench. I recall paying a lot for the beru plugs - maybe $120 or so. Labor was about an hour.

[bcwalks2]

Lmao, 0% I pay that. I’d go back and tell the stealership to eat a big bag of shit. They should be in jail for that. $90 bucks and an hour in the garage is what mine cost me.

2.3 hours for labor…? They must have Stevie Wonder back there doing the job blind if it takes 2.3 hours.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by bcwalks2

2.3 hours for labor…? They must have Stevie Wonder back there doing the job blind if it takes 2.3 hours.

I'm guessing it's the flat rate manual that calls for 2.3 hours. That's the same book that results in such high labor charges for brake jobs that generally take significantly less time than the book calls for.

This means of charging for labor, and not just at the dealers, has been around since at least the 1970s. That's when I first had it explained to me by an auto shop owner I'd gone to high school with.

He'd replaced a fuel injection part on a 530i of mine and charged me $160 for labor. When I questioned it, he told me the same part went on certain VWs and Mercedes-Benzs. The VW owners paid $80 for labor and the M-B owners paid $240. Each job took the mechanics the same amount of time regardless of which car was having the part replaced. The only variable was the time in the book.

At the time, I didn't appreciate hearing that. By way of further explanation, the shop owner pointed out that each owner was being charged what he or she could presumably afford. That I did understand, having previously owned a 12-cylinder Jaguar and before that a Rover 100. Owning those cars introduced me to the concept of the more expensive a car's original purchase price, the more it was going to cost to own it. One example: I once paid the equivalent of a few months rent to have the clutch replaced in the Rover.

[bcwalks2]

Originally Posted by dradernh

I'm guessing it's the flat rate manual that calls for 2.3 hours. That's the same book that results in such high labor charges for brake jobs that generally take significantly less time than the book calls for.

This means of charging for labor, and not just at the dealers, has been around since at least the 1970s. That's when I first had it explained to me by an auto shop owner I'd gone to high school with.

He'd replaced a fuel injection part on a 530i of mine and charged me $160 for labor. When I questioned it, he told me the same part went on certain VWs and Mercedes-Benzs. The VW owners paid $80 for labor and the M-B owners paid $240. Each job took the mechanics the same amount of time regardless of which car was having the part replaced. The only variable was the time in the book.

At the time, I didn't appreciate hearing that. By way of further explanation, the shop owner pointed out that each owner was being charged what he or she could presumably afford. That I did understand, having previously owned a 12-cylinder Jaguar and before that a Rover 100. Owning those cars introduced me to the concept of the more expensive a car's original purchase price, the more it was going to cost to own it. One example: I once paid the equivalent of a few months rent to have the clutch replaced in the Rover.

Yeah, I am familiar with book rate. But this is just robbery. Stealerships wouldn’t have the poor reputation if they didn’t grossly take advantage of their “customers”. I am fine with companies making money, but this is so far in outer space. Realistically it probably takes the tech 1 hour to do and is less than $100 in parts. Just because a car is more expensive doesn’t mean it is more difficult to work on. The N55 and B58 engines are the easiest to do an oil change… easier than any Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, etc. yet they will charge a multiple to do it.

No one touches my cars, besides me. I keep my maintenance costs to virtually nothing and know that what is done is done right.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by bcwalks2

The N55 and B58 engines are the easiest to do an oil change… easier than any Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, etc. yet they will charge a multiple to do it.

A friend in North Jersey spends twice at an independent what I do at a dealer for an oil change. His car is a Cayman S, so he's entitled to the P-car tax.

Meanwhile, the wife's Mazda 3 costs $65 for a synthetic oil change at an independent.

[freakystyly]

I don't even think I can get oil for $65, thanks Canada.

It's true many independents have been increasing their hourly rates lately. It's getting tough out there.

[bcwalks2]

Originally Posted by dradernh

A friend in North Jersey spends twice at an independent what I do at a dealer for an oil change. His car is a Cayman S, so he's entitled to the P-car tax.

Meanwhile, the wife's Mazda 3 costs $65 for a synthetic oil change at an independent.

Used to have a Porsche Macan S, oil changes on that were actually a lot of work. I took it to an Indy and used to pay like $180.

Nail in the coffin for me was 3 weeks away from the warranty expiring the thermostat needed replacement… The engine on that is probably the worst design to work on. It was $3,500 to replace, luckily all covered under warranty. Went and traded it in and bought a X3 M40 instead. The X3 beats it in every aspect, minus the ride smoothness. The Macan was SMOOTH!

[bcwalks2]

Originally Posted by freakystyly

I don't even think I can get oil for $65, thanks Canada.

It's true many independents have been increasing their hourly rates lately. It's getting tough out there.

How much is a jug of 5 quarts of oil by you? I get the Castrol full synthetic European formula here for about $25 USD from just about anywhere.

[freakystyly]

Castrol Edge (not sure if euro formula) is $72

Pennzoil Platinum Euro Synthetic is.. $67.99

They usually do go on sale and places like Walmart may be a bit cheaper... the Canada tax is real.

Edit: found some on "sale" for $40 so that's not as embarrassing.

[bcwalks2]

Jesus! Is that largely due to taxes, what is the base price?

Here at Walmart its like 24 and change, then like 2 bucks for tax.

[freakystyly]

That's before sales tax, which is 13% in Ontario. The exchange rate for the dollar plays a bit of a factor too, google's saying it's 1.36 CDN for 1 USD.

Either way, DIYing where possible and saving some money goes a long way vs. going to the shop. I'd have to check the shop receipt but since my guy buys oil by the drum I'm sure he's getting a good deal and I don't feel bad for going to him in the winter months.

[RollzM235]

Check out Fritz on YouTube. I have never worked on my engines just got my F23 dealer quoted me $700 for just spark plugs. Seemed outrageous.

I bought the spark plugs from the dealer already gapped and ready to go in. I think it was $165

All you need is some socket wrenches 10mm and 14mm and a revers torque socket for the strut bar. A torque wrench maybe $40 on Amz and get an extended magnetic socket for your spark plugs. They are specific by year.

Any way I prob spent $220 the first time now all I need to do is get spark plugs and I have all the tools. Plus once you learn to do it you can now do your coil packs too when needed. BMW stealerships throw out crazy prices.

[bcwalks2]

Originally Posted by RollzM235

Check out Fritz on YouTube. I have never worked on my engines just got my F23 dealer quoted me $700 for just spark plugs. Seemed outrageous.

I bought the spark plugs from the dealer already gapped and ready to go in. I think it was $165

All you need is some socket wrenches 10mm and 14mm and a revers torque socket for the strut bar. A torque wrench maybe $40 on Amz and get an extended magnetic socket for your spark plugs. They are specific by year.

Any way I prob spent $220 the first time now all I need to do is get spark plugs and I have all the tools. Plus once you learn to do it you can now do your coil packs too when needed. BMW stealerships throw out crazy prices.

Next time consider parts from online, the stealership marks up the cost of their parts a lot. Good on you for going on YouTube and figuring it out! Fritz has a lot of great videos on there for the 2 series.

[harma24]

Years ago, I had a former car in at a national chain for a new alternator. They called me to tell me that the serpentine belt was worn, so I told them to replace it. When I got there to pay, I found out that they were charging me something like $80 more than the quote for the alternator. When I questioned it, the tech told me that was the cost of the new belt ($30) plus labor ($50) according to the computer.

The manager apologized profusely and gave me the belt for free when I *rather loudly* pointed out that in order to replace the alternator they had to remove and replace the serpentine belt so there was no need to charge me labor for it a second time just because they put on a new belt instead of the old one. But I bet the next time this came up, they just blindly followed what the computer said again, and if the customer didn't know any better, they'd have paid an extra $50 for nothing.

[SoftShoe]

At 30k miles, two independents told me that annual maintenance would include plug change. Both wanted $700 (plus).

Dealership didn’t mention plugs (because the book says they’re not due for another 30k miles, but wanted >$400 to change air filters).

My kingdom for a reasonable honest mechanic.

[Nickies]

Originally Posted by bcwalks2

Next time consider parts from online, the stealership marks up the cost of their parts a lot. Good on you for going on YouTube and figuring it out! Fritz has a lot of great videos on there for the 2 series.

Since many years, I buy parts on Ebay from several BMW dealers. They are very competitive with sometimes prices that are very surprising.

Last week, I got a quart of coolant from a major BMW dealership located on the East Coast for less than $12.00 including free shipping to the West Coast. All other options from other OEM sellers were about $60.00 with shipping for the same product. I live about 100 miles from the nearest dealer so pick up is not an option.

About 6 months ago, I got a second set of MPerformance floormats for a far better price than everybody else selling OEM parts. I can go on and on with like wiper blades, engine and cabin filters for regular maintenance.

When time will come for sparkplugs, I will do exactly the same........ shop on Ebay and check for the same BMW dealers I regularly buy from.

This is not my first BMW product and I always had very good deals with these dealers in the last 5 years.

[Nickies]

Originally Posted by freakystyly

I don't even think I can get oil for $65, thanks Canada.

It's true many independents have been increasing their hourly rates lately. It's getting tough out there.

The only oil and filter to put in a BMW is OEM if you want to keep it top notch and you do it at about 6 - 7K. This is peace of mind for somebody who owns from new. Of course this is not cheap at about $120 for the kit including shipping but owning a BMW is expensive.

Everything else is crap. Castrol is cheap and Pennzoil even worse. Both don't meet BMW standards. BMW kits include 7 quarts oil, oil filter, copper washer and plug.


I prefer to do it the right way than being sorry later.