Can anyone tell me Why or for what reason the control arms would need to be replaced?

Question

I have a 1989 325i BMW. It was a 1 owner car, very well taken care of, garaged ect..
I bought it 5 years ago. I took it to my mechanic for a driveshaft replacement and 7 weeks later & $5500.00 lighter he returned my car informing me I need a steering rack cuz mine has an internal leak. Without informing me he replaced 400.00 worth of hoses & belts, a new muffler, which I did not need. He did call to let me know that he was replacing the cam, rocker arms.I told him not right now & he informed me it was too late, the head was on it's way back from the machine shop. Also he replaced timing belt, water pump, control arms & sway bar link.
What I want to know is was all this work really necessary? My car was running great,
my oil pan had a little leak & my head gasket was weeping but we're talking about a 1989 325i. It books out TOPS 4000.00. I only drove to store & back. Is this normal to have all this work done on this type of car with 169,000 miles & very well kept??

Answer 1

Regardless whether the repairs were needed or not, your mechanic has no right to perform any repairs without your prior authorization.

You have every right to refuse payment. If he gets nasty, get a lawyer.

As for control arms, they need to be replaced if the ball joints were worn (BMW ball joints cannot be replaced separate from the control arms), or if the car has hit something severe enough to bend or damage the arm or mount.

Answer 2

if the head gasket was indeed leaking, the the head does need to come off to replace the head gasket, and the head surface milled to restore the sealing surface. the cam and lifters were likely replaced due to excessive wear. everything else is maintenance, except perhaps the control arms, but bushing and ball joints do wear out, and most of the time they are not serviceable as individual items, but rather an assembly. besides at 169k miles, and just being driven to the store and back is hard on a car. if you read your owners manual you will find that severe duty driving is stop and go city driving, and not the highway driving that most people think it is.

Answer 3

I think your mechanic is trying to milk you for money, he cannot replace or repair anything without your expressed permission, furthermore for 169k miles it shouldnt need that much work, the heads on these cars dont really need that much of tear down till about 250k miles.

I would advise to get a lawyer and see what your options are becuase him charging you that much as well as unauthorized repairs, has to have some legal ramifications.

Answer 4

Here in California we have the Bureau of Automotive Repair. Comsumers go there to check out mechanics to see if they have a lot of complaints. If you threaten to report a shady mechanic to the B.A.R. they usually relent very quickly, because B.A.R. complaints are VERY bad for business. I hope you have an organization like this in your locale. All you have to do is say the word "B.A.R." and mechanics make an evil hissing sound and start to melt like the wicked witch.

Answer 5

if your mechanic has done all the repairs properly,it will take you another 45,000 miles without major expenses.
U pls take your car to another workshop away from this area,to check on the suggested repairs by your last mechanic and ask them the quotation for all those repairs.
Also ask them how soon you have to carry out.then u decide.

There are good and also crooks in this repair field.sorry to tell this.

Answer 6

You might need to talk to a lawyer about your mechanic...

As for control arms... they shouldn't need replacing unless they are bent. My mechanic told me I needed to replace them.... I didn't listen to him because I knew I was right... I replaced the control arm bushing and it fixed the entire problem.

Just look under the rear of your car... look at each side and see if you see a difference, if you see a difference one is probably bent.

price all the parts on bavauto.com to compare to what he charged you.

You could have got another e30 for the price of all the money that you have sunk into it.

Answer 7

your mechanic saw you coming---They can't by law do any work you did not authorize and then expect you to pay for it!!!I work for a service dept. and I always have to have a written estimate,time and date you spoke to the customer and if it is over $2000.00 we need the last four of your social security number---I would not pay him for any repair you did not authorize and I doubt that car needed that much work all at once--I'm sure it wasn't that critical if your car was running. Dont let them get away with this

Answer 8

for one a spring compressor could be a good thought... ive seen them take off a hand till now. the bushing will choose grease and u can ruin out with basically changing one administration arm.

Answer 9

I GUARANTEE you it needed all of that if you haven't done it in 5 years. Is it worth it to you? Depends on how long you want to keep the car. Value in older BMW's is with regard to its value to how long you want to drive it, not selling price.