[Slipperyshoe]

Have to have my first paid for service and baulked at price. Car has £63k it and is 2.5 yrs old. I've had 3 services under service pack but now outside it. Apparently this is a big one, which is oils air and micro filter plus inspection (even though I will have an MOT in 6 months!

Really peed off as my dealer has been taken over by Barron's and I've been asking them for a price since last week. Car is booked in for this morning and they've only just called to give me said price!

Crazy amount of money for a few filters.

[matty81]

Id go to an independent garage personally when my service pack runs out, it will be half that price, BMW don't do anything special

[Goneinsixtyseconds]

Some dealers offer to price match independents. Coopers do according to their website and so do Stratstones.

With my last car, an Audi A6 I went to an independent and said I would go there for brake pads, discs etc if he did me a written quote for my services. He agreed, my 3 services cost between £150 and £180 as opposed to the £480 each quoted by Audi.

[Nobby Clark]

Originally Posted by matty81

Id go to an independent garage personally when my service pack runs out, it will be half that price, BMW don't do anything special

I wouldn't. When I sold my last BMWs (one of which was 12 years old), the only think people really asked about was did it have a BMW service history.
Now I'm not saying it's great economics to pay BMW prices on a 12 year old car but for younger models it certainly improves saleabilty. In addition, if anything ever goes wrong with the car, BMW will not be understanding in any way if its been serviced elsewhere.

My experience is also that BMW will negotiate on price.

[ahmedb]

Originally Posted by Nobby Clark

I wouldn't. When I sold my last BMWs (one of which was 12 years old), the only think people really asked about was did it have a BMW service history.
Now I'm not saying it's great economics to pay BMW prices on a 12 year old car but for younger models it certainly improves saleabilty. In addition, if anything ever goes wrong with the car, BMW will not be understanding in any way if its been serviced elsewhere.

My experience is also that BMW will negotiate on price.

As long as OEM parts have been used for servicing, warranty would not be voided and BMW have to be understanding if things do go wrong with the car (in or out of warranty).

Having FBMWSH does aid selling a car but having FSH is the next best thing and would only warranty a slightly lower selling price. Definitely worth going independent over servicing with BMW when you are being quoted £500+ for a service

[SteveChester]

Why do you think we call them the Stealers!!!!

[Slipperyshoe]

Yeh rip off merchants. Phoned a few and lowest is £482. I own the car and will prob change in 12-18 months time so I figure I will prob have this and one more service. Therefore if I went indi at half the cost it'd be a £500 ish saving. I'm going to lube up and stick with dealer as £500 will probably pay back come sale time.

Thiefs tho, must be £150 worth of parts and oil. k

[Slipperyshoe]

If I was in Pcp and giving back it'd be a no brainier on Indi.

Best thing was from Synter Chigwell who did the old insurance company trick of asking me if I'd had any other quotes, how my price was and what price was I hoping for. Politely told them I was looking for best price without being ripped off. They were most expensive at £651. Thiefs.

[simon the pieman]

I paid around £500 for my e90 330i about 4 yrs ago. It was the big service which included spark plugs. They were £20 each x 6 that's £120 without labour. Things quickly mount up.

[NISFAN]

Just for your reference, Barons charged me a special price of £10 /litre of oil.

A major inspection is around £70 from memory.

And tell them to skip the cabin filter, that will save around £70.

[higher_powered]

Originally Posted by Slipperyshoe

Have to have my first paid for service and baulked at price. Car has £63k it and is 2.5 yrs old. I've had 3 services under service pack but now outside it. Apparently this is a big one, which is oils air and micro filter plus inspection (even though I will have an MOT in 6 months!

Really peed off as my dealer has been taken over by Barron's and I've been asking them for a price since last week. Car is booked in for this morning and they've only just called to give me said price!

Crazy amount of money for a few filters.

My local bmw main dealer in Bedford elms has recently changed to barons the customer service is appalling I've been to other dealers Fairfield bmw in Leigh on sea was exceptional and so was sytner in Birmingham

[ahmedb]

P.S. I take it you have had a look at the bmw service website for info?

https://www.bmw-service.co.uk/

[Kal101]

Here's a thought.

With Bmw charging approx £100 per hr or so for labour I imagine, and it must take at least 20 mins or so of sponge monkey time to "valet" your car.

Has anyone ever managed to get them to knock down the price as you don't want your car valeted by them ?

[Slipperyshoe]

Originally Posted by ahmedb

P.S. I take it you have had a look at the bmw service website for info?

https://www.bmw-service.co.uk/

Yes but you can only get fixed cost for cars over 3 years. No prices quoted for those in warranty.

I have bitten the bullet and gone to local stealer.

[Mustard3]

Originally Posted by higher_powered

Fairfield bmw in Leigh on sea was exceptional and so was sytner in Birmingham

Glad to hear that. I've used them in years gone by and had some poor service, but believe they are in new ownership now and hopefully things have improved.

[ahmedb]

Originally Posted by Slipperyshoe

Yes but you can only get fixed cost for cars over 3 years. No prices quoted for those in warranty.

I have bitten the bullet and gone to local stealer.

Well that's fantastic of them isn't it, have a trawl through Autotrader and find an equivalent 335d which is over 3 years old and input the mileage of your vehicle, that should give you a benchmark figure. If this benchmark figure is below the £549, I'd fight for the lower price.

[ahmedb]

Originally Posted by Kal027

Here's a thought.

With Bmw charging approx £100 per hr or so for labour I imagine, and it must take at least 20 mins or so of sponge monkey time to "valet" your car.

Has anyone ever managed to get them to knock down the price as you don't want your car valeted by them ?

Sounds like a great idea in principle but I bet they will come out with "the valet is a complimentary service" and as such, no savings for giving it a miss

[Steve_M_Sport]

Originally Posted by NISFAN

Just for your reference, Barons charged me a special price of £10 /litre of oil.

A major inspection is around £70 from memory.

And tell them to skip the cabin filter, that will save around £70.

Sytner Leicester charged me almost £20 per litre for oil - robbers !

[Manivxr]

It's part of the privilege of owning a premium brand. You have to pay premium prices which go to pay for the flashy dealership and complimentary coffee and valet...

This is my third bmw, and It's always been the same. High prices and On one occasion telling my that my discs needed replacing when they didn't. So over the years I have just learned what to expect.

I have other premium brand cars. Best service experience was with Mercedes and decent prices. Lexus next best.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by Slipperyshoe

Have to have my first paid for service and baulked at price. Car has £63k it and is 2.5 yrs old. I've had 3 services under service pack but now outside it. Apparently this is a big one, which is oils air and micro filter plus inspection (even though I will have an MOT in 6 months!

Really peed off as my dealer has been taken over by Barron's and I've been asking them for a price since last week. Car is booked in for this morning and they've only just called to give me said price!

Crazy amount of money for a few filters.

Does that price include the anal lube?

[Randolph13]

I have made similar complaints in another thread. My first service coming up and neither local bmw garage want to give me a firm price although after browbeating one of them I did get oil and filter changes down from £320 to £288 but it took 3 phone calls to do that.

My advice is get at least 2 quotes if you can and then negotiate

[Kal101]

Originally Posted by ahmedb

Sounds like a great idea in principle but I bet they will come out with "the valet is a complimentary service" and as such, no savings for giving it a miss

Bit like the swirl marks with the valet