Diagnostic Fee

T

tiglon

Senior member
 South West
Called my local Stealer, told them I found some oil in spark plug well, and on the engine casing just below the cam cover gasket. Told them I think it needs the cam cover gasket replacing, could they have a look and replace if I'm correct. £99 diagnostic fee.

With Ford Stealers where I sometimes take my other car, they charge even more for the diagnostic fee, but deduct that from the invoice for the repair work if you have it done with them. Makes sense, stops you from getting a free diagnosis with them and then taking it somewhere cheaper to get the actual work done.

Apparently with Coopers, that is not the case, and so I have actually paid them £99 to take the plastic cover off the engine and say "yes mate, there's oil there, looks like the cam cover gasket needs replacing". It's still the full circa £500 to do the work itself.

Is that normal with BMW Stealers? If I go in with a flat tyre will it be £99 to confirm that the tyre is flat plus the price for replacing the tyre??
 
Under manufacturer warranty they don’t charge said fee.
Extended warranty they do charge, but can claim it if they find the fault.
Out of warranty you get nothing. You could just say you know what the fault is and want said repaired without diagnosing and then the risk is on you.
 
That's one of the main reasons I only ever use BMW Indies these days!

Someone may be able to point you in the direction of one near you. :thumbsup:

Failing that here's a link to some recommended BMW Specialists on another website:- https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=72&t=796191
 
Thanks, appreciate the info. Will likely go elsewhere in future, every time I go there's something that irritates me! To be honest, not a lot of risk when the extent of their diagnosis is "yes mate, looks like there is some oil there" (they didn't even bother to look in the spark plug wells).

On this occasion I was also told that the depth of my tyre tread is actually increasing, so my tyres are.... growing? Or wearing faster inside the tread than on the part of the tyre that is actually in contact with the road? :?

"Is it possible your technician could have made a mistake when measuring?"

"Well it was our Senior Technician, sir, so I really doubt it"

Ok, we'll go with the magic tyre explanation instead then :tumbleweed:

Mr Tidy said:
That's one of the main reasons I only ever use BMW Indies these days!

Someone may be able to point you in the direction of one near you. :thumbsup:

Failing that here's a link to some recommended BMW Specialists on another website:- https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=72&t=796191
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There is one near me that I've used before, but they're always booked up minimum 2/3 weeks in advance (4+ weeks on this particular occasion!), whereas Coopers can always fit me in within a week. Coopers is also by far the closest of the options. I might have to start looking further afield and take the inconvenience on the chin, or just be more patient...
 
tiglon said:
There is one near me that I've used before, but they're always booked up minimum 2/3 weeks in advance (4+ weeks on this particular occasion!), whereas Coopers can always fit me in within a week. Coopers is also by far the closest of the options. I might have to start looking further afield and take the inconvenience on the chin, or just be more patient...
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There is probably a reason why Coopers can always fit jobs in whereas the good Indies are always busy! :lol:
 
Not sure what your issue is?

BMW main dealers have to go through a prescribed computer driven service and repair system.

Based on what the computer ‘sees’ determines the prescribed course of action.

Part of that may be covered by warranties or recalls.

So without doing a standard based methodology they would be wandering in the dark.

An Indy doesn’t have to adhere to those methodologies.

Depending on the Indy sometimes they are very cost effective, sometimes on more tricky matters some struggle.
 
B21 said:
Not sure what your issue is?

BMW main dealers have to go through a prescribed computer driven service and repair system.

Based on what the computer ‘sees’ determines the prescribed course of action.

Part of that may be covered by warranties or recalls.

So without doing a standard based methodology they would be wandering in the dark.

An Indy doesn’t have to adhere to those methodologies.

Depending on the Indy sometimes they are very cost effective, sometimes on more tricky matters some struggle.
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The invoice literally says all they've done is "removed plastic engine cover and visually inspected. Oil found around camcover gasket and misting on oil filler cap". No computers involved, no standard methodology, just a bloke looking at an engine for 30 seconds. For £99.

Thanks for your input, always appreciated :thumbsup:
 
Well if that’s what they actually and only did then they shot themselves in the foot….

The logic of hooking the car up is to:

Check to see what previous maintenance and repair work was done as that should be all recorded by each dealer

See what recalls and warranty work has been done

Check for current and previous errors

However for a main dealer given their hourly rates then £99 doesn’t seem out of place.

This is not to condone what’s happened, but back to the point what would you expect ?

It’s not the NHS where you go in with a complaint…they spend some time doing an initial assessment but don’t charge you…

To answer your flat tyre question..it’s relatively obvious looking at a flat tyre to see it’s flat..with a leak under an engine cover then they can’t just look at it without removing the cover…

Are you having a bad day? :tumbleweed: :rofl:
 
I paid an indie £65 for an hours diagnosis and I watched him hook up to the computer and the root around in the car for 15 mins.

Unfortunately £99 for 30 mins work may seem steep but this is what they will charge if they can get away with it
 
If you’ve got a 35 then you need to be good mechanically, have a good warranty or have a good indie.

It’s only a matter of time before one or more things on a 35 are going to need attention.

Age, a number of unique features,mileage and heat are against the 35.

It’s now 2 generations of engine out of date and one generation of chassis, most BMW dealers won’t want to touch it and will have declining knowledge of what was a niche product to support it.

Maybe now’s the time to buy a G29 !
 
Ive been using my local main dealer for many years now, its on my doorstep and unfortunately I'm not able to tinker about these days.
To be fair to the dealer, they have always treated me well. I have a good relationship with the service desk staff and the after sales manager.
 
I must confess , if I couldnt fix things myself , I would buy an older petrol Toyota , main dealer prices look crazy until you actually think about what it must take for them to actually open the doors on a Monday morning , their overheads must be crazy , rates , heating lighting , the building wages , sick pay , uniforms etc etc etc someone has to pay for it.
Normally the fee is deducted from the final bill , but if no work is undertaken a cost is still incurred , granted that does sound a bit steep , but half of it wouldnt be out of the way .
 
I have always done my own work on my cars and set myself up with diagnostics when I started with BMW's, used INPA and NCS Expert and also BMW Scanner 1.4 on a laptop, recently added a Creator 310+ handheld scanner to my collection of diagnostics. Money I have saved over resorting to dealers or independants has paid for all the diagnostics. Forums are great places for support, over on Zroadster.org there are groups of enthusiasts who run Zed Sheds between them who get together and fix their cars as and when problems arise, Z3 and Z4 are catered for. I am part of Zedshed Cymru here in South Wales and always up to assist other forum members. Anything done is obviously at owners risk and they suppliy any parts that may be required, donations for workshop consumables is down to the individual.
Other Zedsheds are located in Lincolnshire, Gloucestershire and the Reading area. We have nothing to do with the commercial Zed Shed in the Manchester area.
 
tiglon said:
Is that normal with BMW Stealers?
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Not necessarily. I instructed Sytner Tamworth to do some work on my E86 based on some diagnosis work carried out by an independent and wasn't charged to confirm what needed doing. To anyone reading that thinks this sounds backwards - the car was going to Sytner for a service and stamp in the book, the independent had previously done other work but didn't have the parts required for the rest of it, and I wanted to minimize garage trips at one point during the pandemic. After some back and forth, Sytner got sufficiently close to my independent garage's price so they did the work to save me a third visit to the shop with the zed.
 
The.Analyst said:
Maybe now’s the time to buy a G29 !
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My bank account disagrees :rofl:

Thanks for all the comments, sounds like my expectations were probably unrealistic! Not a problem, gasket to be replaced next week, followed by a roof-down 8 hour drive to Cornwall via Dartmoor :thumbsup:
 
My 335 goes into the dealership to have its headlight problem sorted- I’ve had to ok a £149 diagnostic fee today .
I have a BMW insured warranty and that and the repair cost will be refunded If the repair is covered under the policy.
 
Mr Tidy said:
That's one of the main reasons I only ever use BMW Indies these days!

Someone may be able to point you in the direction of one near you. :thumbsup:

Failing that here's a link to some recommended BMW Specialists on another website:- https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=72&t=796191
Click to expand...
Can cross one off the list shown there. Prestige German Cars, South Shields. Took my car there for an MOT and they failed it on two rear tyres. They wouldn't release it until I had them changed as they said it was unroadworthy. Their quote was way over the top so I got Black Circles to attend and change the tyres. When they arrived they said the tyres had at least another couple of thousand miles in them and were perfectly legal. A free re test ensued with a pass after a big row and several threats. Ran them for another thousand and Black Circles changed them on my drive.
 
Nanu said:
Can cross one off the list shown there. Prestige German Cars, South Shields. Took my car there for an MOT and they failed it on two rear tyres. They wouldn't release it until I had them changed as they said it was unroadworthy. Their quote was way over the top so I got Black Circles to attend and change the tyres. When they arrived they said the tyres had at least another couple of thousand miles in them and were perfectly legal. A free re test ensued with a pass after a big row and several threats. Ran them for another thousand and Black Circles changed them on my drive.
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Sorry to hear that. :(
 
I had thought of using them (Prestige German Cars) - Not now after reading this!
Do these people think they are dealing with idiots i wonder?
 
I did use DW Motors who are also quoted on that site and he was good but I think he has gone out of business as I don't get any responses to contact via his website. I was put in touch with a young ex BMW mechanic who has Plough motors at Boldon. He seems to know what he is doing and is fairly cheap.
 
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