Discs and Pads

C

chrissrush

Member
My M is in having an Inspection 2 service this morning :-(

I just had a call from the indy garage telling me the front Pads & Discs need doing.

Their quote discs £186 ea, Pads £100 1.2 hours labour all plus vat.

To me that doesn't sound too bad as I'd thought a pair of discs was about £600 alone.

They've also confirmed that having had it overnight and started it from cold that they don't believe it needs any work on the tappets.
 
Discs & pad prices look fine, as does the labour - but ask for disc & pad measurements as they may have meant to day that the discs and pads are 'worn' yet have not reached their wear limits. This is why you should try to do some of the basic checks yourself before you hand over the car, as once the pads/discs have been replaced you'll have now way to tell how 'gone' they were.

The can't simply tell by listening if 1 shim out of 24 is outside of tolerance, or just tight (and quiet). The only way to tell is to measure them. However it looks like they don't want to spend the time doing so. If they don't want to spend the hours on the clearance check, then are they going to reduce the inspection 2 price for not doing the clearances (and warrant any engine failure for the next 15k miles), or did they naughtily quote you an I2 price without the clearances in the first place?
 
x2 with mmm-five.

I'd definitely insist on a valve clearance report (unless you've previously agreed not to do one).

Price for brakes looks about right. Munich Legends quoted me a very similar price.
 
Prices quoted were with & without depending on need.

Allegedly listened using a stethoscope!

I've told them to leave the brakes since that will just take me a couple of hours to do when they're needed. Which isn't yet!

Oh and they've driven it a couple of miles so now it's not cold to measure the clearances anyway!
 
Can't advise you on which way to go as you've been given both options/prices.

But, can you really count it as a proper inspection (and honestly have an I2 stamp in the service history) without the clearances being properly measured, and would you by happy if they said they didn't change the oil/air filter/spark plugs/etc. because they 'looked okay'? As a buyer, I want to see the shim measurement sheets (which of course you won't have if you only listen, or if you don't ask for them) when I buy as I want to see if there's a trend of certain valves requiring regular shimming.
 
Also, given Jimmybell's recent issues (which have been attributed to improper valve clearance adjustments at a prior inspection) with his ///M, I'd be insisting on getting the valve clearances properly measured/ adjusted not just "listened to". Not worth the risk of a failure / consequential damage in my opinion.
 
as above really - its such a simple thing to check, lift the cover off, spend 5-10 minutes slotting the valve clearance measuring tool in each of the 24 gaps.. its not a huge job, but can cost dearly if not done (there's a reason it's in the M Insp's, not the others..).

100% ask for a valve clearance report detailing their findings (how far out each one is). I'd be very surprised if NONE were, the impression i got is that usually a few are at least, and those ones (and really all the others) should be inspected for wear on the cam followers.

All that a stethoscope will tell you is "its not f*cked", rather than "its in good health", which is what you want to know.

Insp1 / Insp2 detail this check as a requirement, not having it properly done would make your logbook rather useless.

Just my two cents.
 
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