E46 Servicing - Main Dealer or Specialist
Discussion
My '99 E 46 318 is due for a service (not through mileage) bcos it has been almost 2 years since the last service. it has only covered 38,000 miles and the 2 prior services have been carried out with the main dealer. Is it worth keeping the service history with them or going to a specialist ? If it's any help I only to plan to keep the car until next Spring....
My view on this is also: how do you think you will sell the car?
If you're likely to end up part-exchanging it, the dealer it goes to won't be too worried about FBMWSH as they'll just want to offer you £x amount to meet their profit margins.
If you're going to sell privately then a full BMW history might be more worthwhile.
Either way, on a 7 year old car, I'd go independent. In fact, that's my plan for my 1999 E36 cab which has only done 36k miles...
If you're likely to end up part-exchanging it, the dealer it goes to won't be too worried about FBMWSH as they'll just want to offer you £x amount to meet their profit margins.
If you're going to sell privately then a full BMW history might be more worthwhile.
Either way, on a 7 year old car, I'd go independent. In fact, that's my plan for my 1999 E36 cab which has only done 36k miles...
Robertb said:
However, if any remedial work is required, I'd go along to a specialist.
Rob,
Just curious as to why. Perhaps I'm wrong but I guess that the prices would be similiar, the parts would be similiar and the experience would be similiar.
Therefore surely having the work done at an MD and having that MD stamp/invoice is worth something extra?
I'm interested as I've picked up my latest acquisition today - a 523, and whilst it's just been serviced and does not need any work doing (I hope), it's handy to know for future reference.
K
As stated the difference in labour rate between bmw and an independant will be pretty significant. Add to that, if you take the car to a recommended bmw specialist, you are likely to have the car worked on by someone who knows what they are doing, as opposed to the work experience lad bmw will set loose on your car.
Why people get het up about a book being stamped up by the dealer is beyond me. How much more do you think it'll be worth if it's stamped up by BMW over an Indie? £200, £300, £500?
Think of all the money you could've saved by going independant over the years (can be thousands) minus the figure you just gained.
Imaginary example.
Car 1, all BMW stamped up, sells for £2500. Total spend at BMW £3500.
Car 2, all Indie stamped up, sells for £2000. Total spend at Indie. £2600.
Total loss from going to BMW every time. -£400. This figure will only get bigger the older or more miles the car has on it.
All IMO.
Cheers,
Gwaredd.
Think of all the money you could've saved by going independant over the years (can be thousands) minus the figure you just gained.
Imaginary example.
Car 1, all BMW stamped up, sells for £2500. Total spend at BMW £3500.
Car 2, all Indie stamped up, sells for £2000. Total spend at Indie. £2600.
Total loss from going to BMW every time. -£400. This figure will only get bigger the older or more miles the car has on it.
All IMO.
Cheers,
Gwaredd.
Mines going in on monday for what will probably be it's last BMW service. Luckily, I do low milage so it only needs servicing roughly every two years. Intrestingly, It was my independant that spotted that my last BMW service was done wrong (1 instead of a 2) - took the service book back to BMW dealer and had a very sheepish and embarrassed look on his face.
At the time I had to get them to clean the area around the oil filter, because the "tech" who performed the "service" was unable to remove the lid from the oil filter housing and replace it without dripping oil everywhere.
I live in Milton Keynes, where you probably know there's lots of roundabouts. Said roundabouts can be sponsored by companies. I had to smile as I approached the roundabout for my local BMW dealer and noticed that it was sponsored by my local independant specialist - what a priceless piece of marketing!!!!
At the time I had to get them to clean the area around the oil filter, because the "tech" who performed the "service" was unable to remove the lid from the oil filter housing and replace it without dripping oil everywhere.
I live in Milton Keynes, where you probably know there's lots of roundabouts. Said roundabouts can be sponsored by companies. I had to smile as I approached the roundabout for my local BMW dealer and noticed that it was sponsored by my local independant specialist - what a priceless piece of marketing!!!!
Kinky said:
Robertb said:
However, if any remedial work is required, I'd go along to a specialist.
Rob,
Just curious as to why. Perhaps I'm wrong but I guess that the prices would be similiar, the parts would be similiar and the experience would be similiar.
Therefore surely having the work done at an MD and having that MD stamp/invoice is worth something extra?
I'm interested as I've picked up my latest acquisition today - a 523, and whilst it's just been serviced and does not need any work doing (I hope), it's handy to know for future reference.
K
I think because they have different objectives IMO- i.e a main dealer has targets to reach, a number of cars to get through a day. A specialist's main objective, aside from making a tidy living, is to retain you as a customer. Routine servicing for a modern car is very much a box-ticking exercise, changing the fluids and filters, so for menu priced servicing this is fine for a main dealer to attend to. Remedial work requires a bit more attention, and I'd therefore prefer to get it done by a specialist that cares.
However, I would concur that there are great main dealers and bad specialists though!
Rob.
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