Who doesn't go to the dealer to have work done on their BMW?

Question

Is it cheaper? Also, can independant garages do a good job on your BMW just as if you were at the dealer? what are the price differences? Is the results just as good as the dealer, or are you putting your car in jeopardy?

Answer 1

You do not necessarily need to send your car to the dealer for every kind of work; unless your car is still under the free-maintenance program.

After that, you can either use a specialized BMW shop or do simple maintenance yourself (a $16 Haynes manual will be essential).

Of course you will save money, but you need to be careful who you send your car to. Make sure the people know what they're doing and has other regular customers sending in their BMWs. If they know their stuff, of course the results would be just as good.

The main killer with BMW dealers is their labor rates can go up to $100/hr; whereas outside regular labor rates go for about $60-$70 depending on where you live. BMW also charges high markups for parts; using an outside shop, if you are friendly to the guys, they may allow you to bring in your own parts; which you can source online for much cheaper.

If you are good with your hands, you can do oil changes yourself. This alone will save you a big sum of money over the years.

For example, I use 7 quarts of Mobil 1 0W-30 which I bought on sale for $4.50/qt a while ago. I got my oil filter online for $6. That's all the material I need. So material cost is $37.50. BMW will probably charge more than double the price.

For tools: you can buy a Peake reset tool from eBay for $50; (a small investment) or you can ask an outside BMW shop to do it for you for $5 each time. A set of plastic ramps from Walmart, an oil drain pan from Walmart, a 17mm socket wrench (part of my $20 Sears ratcheting wrench kit) for the oil drain plug, and a 36mm socket from Advance Auto Parts (around $5), and a socket adapter. These essential tools will serve your BMW well over the years.

Answer 2

I do most of the work myself... just pickup a bentley manual for e36's (not the one you get at autozone.) The Bentley manual is about $60 (BAVAUTO.COM).

Anything I can't do, I have a bmw specialist do for me.

I have never had the dealer do anything.

Bad part is you don't know about the BMW mechanic, some will have BMW certifications (mine used to work for BMW). You should ask around and see about their reputaions. If you see a BMW driver, ask them where they take theirs... if it's not the dealership they can give you a good idea of what to expect from the independent mechanic.

If you check with other BMW drivers you should be able to easily avoid the bad places.

PS - independent mechanics are better than the nation wide chains of mechanics, make sure you go to a BMW place.

Answer 3

Whoever instructed you this is partiall perfect... The bmw broking has particular bmw wheel jigs that purely greater healthful bmw wheels. The alignment shop has familiar wheel brackets that bypass on the periphery of the rim. even however they are distinctive i doubt that they'll provide distinctive outcomes from that. the huge distinction is that your bmw ought to be aligned with the vehicle weighted so as that the suspension is compressed at rigidity height while the alignment is finished. this is finished via putting a one hundred fifty lb weight on the drivers seat, on the passenger seat, contained in direction of the rear seat, and a seventy 5 lb weight interior the trunk; then you align the vehicle. maximum self reliant shops will bypass this step, or while you're status next to them while the computer asks then in the event that they have weighted the vehicle, they'll at as quickly as bypass via those monitors confirming all the questions that the alignment device asks them. this is the adaptation from getting it accomplished on the broking.

Answer 4

BMW dealers charge $10 for bolts and $4 for nuts, and lie to your face about major known structural defects. Small BMW specialty shops, and there are many very good ones, don't have to support thousands of multimillion dollar executive salaries. They're usually made up of folks who just want to do honest work for an honest buck. Find one where a few ex-BMW employees work, and you'll have trustworthy service from guys who detest lying to customers about life-threatening safety issues for the pleasure of uber-morons. Better advice, better service, half the price.

Answer 5

If you're still under warranty go to the dealer because it's free. More and more warranties are starting to allow "other" qualified shops do warranty work though so look into it with your warranty!

I have gone to a NON Dealer mechanic for the last 9 years because his quality of service, knowledge, pricing and most importantly "Trust" is superb. Hard to find just anywhere so I recommend doing your research and getting referrals from others.

Answer 6

All the work that has been done to my BMW since I've owned it has been done by meself or a friend. If I were to take it to the mechanic, it wouldn't be the BMW dealership, but the 70 year old Polish immigrant a few miles away who seems to know ebverything imaginable about European cars.

Answer 7

The mechanics at a dealership are specialized in BMW's and they know them inside and out. A independent mechanic works on all types, That is alot of cars and they are all built differently. Also a dealership can work on your older bimmer as if the independent probably could not, If they do not specialize in that type of car.

Answer 8

The parts are expensive- I use a garage guy who is good- the dealer is expensive

Answer 9

The primary aim of a dealership is to sell cars,repairs are something they have to do.Next is selling parts. The guy who owns the dealership didn't buy it so he could fix automobiles. Remember that. Independents are in business of repairing.

Answer 10

People that don't have alot of money.. And yes there are alot of excellent independent shops that will do a better job than
the dealership because they dont have to deal with corporate
drama..