E46 oil change - is it acceptable to supply my own oil??
Discussion
Girlfriend's E46 318Ci needs an oil change service, and I've been quoted £180 by the local BMW dealer.
I didn't mind paying £270 for the last Inspection 1 service, but this seems v. expensive for the work involved (as I understand, the oil change service consists of oil and filter change, plus brake disc inspection, and not much else).
I'm told the main reason the service is so expensive is the cost of the fully-synth oil used. Is this correct?? Or does the oil change service involve other work that I'm not aware of?? I wouldn't object to paying £180 if the service involved more work.
I didn't mind paying £270 for the last Inspection 1 service, but this seems v. expensive for the work involved (as I understand, the oil change service consists of oil and filter change, plus brake disc inspection, and not much else).
I'm told the main reason the service is so expensive is the cost of the fully-synth oil used. Is this correct?? Or does the oil change service involve other work that I'm not aware of?? I wouldn't object to paying £180 if the service involved more work.
Depends on the relationship you have with your dealer. Mine was quite happy for me to supply the oil. Remember that dealers have good margins on consumables like oil etc and almost all will point out the cost of the synthetic oil when asked to justify the high cost of an oil service. This is to distract you away from the high labour charges.
A cautionary note though - Don't be tempted to scrimp on the quality of oil to be used - false economy in the long run! Find out what oil (brand & type) that should be used and in most cases you can source it cheaper. The only thing is that this will only save a small proportion of the service cost as a whole. It's just the price you have to pay for having that main dealer stamp in the service book come resale time. Remember that service charges can vary quite markedly between dealerships and it can sometimes pay to shop around between them.
A cautionary note though - Don't be tempted to scrimp on the quality of oil to be used - false economy in the long run! Find out what oil (brand & type) that should be used and in most cases you can source it cheaper. The only thing is that this will only save a small proportion of the service cost as a whole. It's just the price you have to pay for having that main dealer stamp in the service book come resale time. Remember that service charges can vary quite markedly between dealerships and it can sometimes pay to shop around between them.
Thanks for the advice.
I'm well aware of the benefits of fully synthetic oil. Seems a bit like overkill on a humble 318Ci, but I suppose it still benefits a (mostly) town-bound car on 15k service intervals.
Have taken the car to the same dealership for the previous two services and have a good relationship with them, so will have a chat with them and see if they're OK with me supplying my own oil...
I'm well aware of the benefits of fully synthetic oil. Seems a bit like overkill on a humble 318Ci, but I suppose it still benefits a (mostly) town-bound car on 15k service intervals.
Have taken the car to the same dealership for the previous two services and have a good relationship with them, so will have a chat with them and see if they're OK with me supplying my own oil...
I had exactly the same qualm with mine.
It's due an oil service and I too was quoted £180 which is frankly laughable.
I went to an indy specialist who quoted £120 - still a bit steep for 30 minutes work. Upon asking for a quote if I supply my own oil - £80
If they give you any grief, just say that you're a bit fussy about oil and would rather supply your own - they should be fine.
I know I've bought an expensive car so the bills will be higher, etc, etc but it's still a car with an internal combustion engine the same as any other. The labour charge for an oil change should be the same as if it were anything else
It's due an oil service and I too was quoted £180 which is frankly laughable.
I went to an indy specialist who quoted £120 - still a bit steep for 30 minutes work. Upon asking for a quote if I supply my own oil - £80
If they give you any grief, just say that you're a bit fussy about oil and would rather supply your own - they should be fine.
I know I've bought an expensive car so the bills will be higher, etc, etc but it's still a car with an internal combustion engine the same as any other. The labour charge for an oil change should be the same as if it were anything else
muzzer79 said:
I went to an indy specialist who quoted £120 - still a bit steep for 30 minutes work. Upon asking for a quote if I supply my own oil - £80
Fair enough, but decent quality fully synth oil is going to cost £40, so not really much of a saving.
Have found a couple of decent indy garages in my area, but none of them open on Saturday mornings. As my g/f needs the car during the week to get to/from work, I think I'm just going to take it to the franchised dealer and bend over and take the financial shafting.
Thanks for all the comments. Am glad that I'm not the only one who thinks that £180 for an oil change is a pisstake.
gwaredd said:
It's a very basic 1.8 engine. Why take it to the dealers for an oil change? Any local garage would do it £30 if you were to supply your own oil, £40 if you use their oil.
Actually Gwaredd, it's a two litre Valvetronic engine, and it has always been run on fully synth up until now. With 15000 miles and 15 months between services, I'm happy to pay extra for fully synthetic oil.
Backstreet garages are great, but will they be able to reset the service indicator?? I don't want the car flashing "0 miles to next service" at me all the time. Also, most of them are closed on Saturdays, which is no good to me.
Almost every 'backstreet' garage round here is clean, well presented & fully stocked with all the latest diagnostic gear. Snap-on don't just sell spanners. They also stock at least 3 different grades of oil (normal, performance & diesel) usually a decent brand (like Castrol)They rely on doing a good job & getting a good name to survive, unlike a dealers who'll get business regardless because of the holy grail official service stamp needed for any decent resale value!
Hell, when I was doing my apprentiship 14 years ago, we were re-setting BMW service indicators back then!
Find a decent Indy, & use that. And what I meant by basic, was that it's not exactly a performance engine, like an M3 or a highly strung Vtec lump. No offence
Hell, when I was doing my apprentiship 14 years ago, we were re-setting BMW service indicators back then!
Find a decent Indy, & use that. And what I meant by basic, was that it's not exactly a performance engine, like an M3 or a highly strung Vtec lump. No offence
many of the newer bmw's use longlife synth oil, my 540 uses LL01 spec - hence the ~15k service intervals. Opieoils list that as £13.29 a litre, mine takes 6+ litres i think - bmw charge a very similar price for it.
You can use cheaper oil non longlife oil, but have to change every 10k though.
You can use cheaper oil non longlife oil, but have to change every 10k though.
andyconda said:
muzzer79 said:
I went to an indy specialist who quoted £120 - still a bit steep for 30 minutes work. Upon asking for a quote if I supply my own oil - £80
Fair enough, but decent quality fully synth oil is going to cost £40, so not really much of a saving.
I have to confess that my old man's in the trade therefore gets me 6.5l of fully synth oil for £20...A realtively small saving but a saving nonetheless and a saving of £80 against the main stealer...
You're best off finding a decent indy near to your girlfriend's place of work - any company worth their salt will either come and collect it for the work or drop you off/collect you at the end of the day. These guys are basically main dealers without the logos (and most know quite a few, ahem, shortcuts that the dealer won't tell you) so you've no worries about service indicators and the like.
Give them a call - you can only ask and the worst that can happen is they'll say no.
So everyone,if say I was to charge £90 for an oil service what would be the reaction...I ask because im going to leave BMW/MINI and do it my way...Im interested to hear how many would consider specailst to dealer-I am a MASTER tech so I know BMW and what customers expect.So I would offer the same from the technical side(on a smaller scale).
Ps a dealer cant refuse you suppling your own oil,as long as its the correct type...The oil will be taken out of the price and will be noted on the reciept.
What BMW wont do is fit non genuine parts of any type-so if you supply duckhams oil they can refuse to use it
Ps a dealer cant refuse you suppling your own oil,as long as its the correct type...The oil will be taken out of the price and will be noted on the reciept.
What BMW wont do is fit non genuine parts of any type-so if you supply duckhams oil they can refuse to use it
muzzer79 said:
andyconda said:
muzzer79 said:
I went to an indy specialist who quoted £120 - still a bit steep for 30 minutes work. Upon asking for a quote if I supply my own oil - £80
Fair enough, but decent quality fully synth oil is going to cost £40, so not really much of a saving.
I have to confess that my old man's in the trade therefore gets me 6.5l of fully synth oil for £20...A realtively small saving but a saving nonetheless and a saving of £80 against the main stealer...
You're best off finding a decent indy near to your girlfriend's place of work - any company worth their salt will either come and collect it for the work or drop you off/collect you at the end of the day. These guys are basically main dealers without the logos (and most know quite a few, ahem, shortcuts that the dealer won't tell you) so you've no worries about service indicators and the like.
Give them a call - you can only ask and the worst that can happen is they'll say no.
Muzzer, i've sent you a mail
Just had a look at my bills for my e46 330i. It gets serviced by the independent dealer that I bought the car from. They have the diagnostics gear and follow the same BMW procedures (they have the same ticksheets that tells them what needs doing).
The total bill for the oils service and new rear pads and sensors was £214.66 inc vat.
The oil service require new oil, filter and pollen sensor.
The oil+filter was £48 and the labour was £23.50, pollen filter was £26.50 so £98.00 for the oil service. Book stamped, service indicator reset and a fully completed check sheet accompanied the invoice.
The total bill for the oils service and new rear pads and sensors was £214.66 inc vat.
The oil service require new oil, filter and pollen sensor.
The oil+filter was £48 and the labour was £23.50, pollen filter was £26.50 so £98.00 for the oil service. Book stamped, service indicator reset and a fully completed check sheet accompanied the invoice.
Seany88 said:
Where's the cheapest place to buy oil? Blackspider, do you sell the stuff?
Check out this thread:
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?p=1&f=23&t=237642&h=0
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