M3 Valve Clearances

[FOG]

My M3 has one irritatingly noisy tappet and so I trolled along to local BMW dealer. Service advisor said very unusual for tappets to need adjustment between major inspection services but quoted about £480 for check and adjustment, pointing out that adjustments are not catered for under the new warranty. Unfortunately, he said, we have to do all 24 valves to identify the culprit and this takes 4 hours. Is this true ? Later he said we can offer 25% reduction because the car is low mileage. About £360 to reshim one tappet !

[M5Dave]

I wouldn't be surprised if that was the cost, I know that's why the inspection services are a fortune on these cars, because of the need to check the valve clearances.

How close is the car to needing an inspection service? If it's fairly close and the noise isn't too bad, I'd be tempted to leave it till then.

[FOG]

Next inspection is Jan 08. I'd hope to get it perfect condition for a private sale in 4th quarter to part finance a new V8 M3. However, after hearing about DCT coming in March I might wait and so have to go through the service.
I find it very odd that they're releasing DCT maybe 6-months after the first manual cars. Can't believe its just an accident of planning.

[M5GT]

HI I AM A MECHANIC AND OWN A GARAGE WE HAVE WORKED EXTENSIVELY ON THESE SORTS OF CARS. THIS ADJUSTMENT IS A RELITIVELY SIMPLE BUT VERY TIME CONSUMING PROCESS, THEREFORE AT BMW HOURLY RATE "WHICH IS EXTORTION" YOUR PROBABLY GETTING A DEAL. A GOOD BACKSTREET GARAGE COULD DO THE SAME FOR ABOUT £150.