Cost of Replacing Brake pipes and Front Lower Suspension Arms

billabongmac · Post by **billabongmac** » Thu Dec 13, 2018 3:51 pm

I have had a quote from my local garage to replace the following parts due to it failing its MOT.

I was a bit surprised at the labour cost for replacing the corroded brake pipes N/S & O/S "front to rear" totally 4 hours work at £300. Is it really that much work to do this job?

In terms of the labour for replacing N/S & O/S front lower suspension arms, and replacing "rear" rubber bushes with Poly bushes (powerflex bushes) the labour cost for this job is 2 hours work at £175.

Parts:

The brake pipes cost £40

The suspension arms are £115 each along with the poly bush kit costing £55

Any thoughts or advice on whether this seems over priced would be appreciated!

markplant · Post by **markplant** » Thu Dec 13, 2018 4:50 pm

You could ask dlv, he's done a few brake pipe replacement

andyf1140 · Post by **andyf1140** » Thu Dec 13, 2018 4:58 pm

I think the amount of time they are quoting to replace the rear brake pipes is a high. If they are replacing the rear sections (by adding a joiner) it should only take a couple of hours. It can be done without dropping the tanks unlike the 3-series.

Sidewaze Samm · Post by **Sidewaze Samm** » Thu Dec 13, 2018 7:37 pm

If you're near the NW give Mike at Zed4Mods a call. He did my pipes a whole lot less than that!

Mr Tidy · Post by **Mr Tidy** » Thu Dec 13, 2018 10:26 pm

Mike (aka Ducklakeview) did mine last October for £100 all in - but that was before he got his premises so it may be a bit more now.

He can be contacted here:- https://www.facebook.com/ZedShedNW/

My understanding is that you do need to drop the tank to fit OEM pipes because they're already shaped and flared so you can't just push them through the clips on the rear bulkhead - but to be fair I didn't actually try!

But if the OP has been quoted £40 for the pipes that doesn't sound like a BMW price, so £300 sounds plenty for labour. I wonder if they are going to cut the originals under the cover and fit connectors there or run them all the way under the car?

andyf1140 · Post by **andyf1140** » Thu Dec 13, 2018 11:42 pm

Mr Tidy wrote: ↑Thu Dec 13, 2018 10:26 pm Mike (aka Ducklakeview) did mine last October for £100 all in - but that was before he got his premises so it may be a bit more now.

He can be contacted here:- https://www.facebook.com/ZedShedNW/

My understanding is that you do need to drop the tank to fit OEM pipes because they're already shaped and flared so you can't just push them through the clips on the rear bulkhead - but to be fair I didn't actually try!

But if the OP has been quoted £40 for the pipes that doesn't sound like a BMW price, so £300 sounds plenty for labour. I wonder if they are going to cut the originals under the cover and fit connectors there or run them all the way under the car?

That's the point if you use the OEM pipes it's going to be expensive, if you replace the whole run rather than putting a joiner in it's also going to push the price up. IMHO both are unnecessary.

enzed4 · Post by **enzed4** » Fri Dec 14, 2018 12:13 am

On a semi-related note, has anyone else noticed Mike's been very quiet on the forum recently? Fair enough if he has a business to run and things are busy, but I hope everything's ok with him.

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