Exhaust flange repair?

Z

ZedFourM

Active member
 Hampshire
While my Z4MR was in Partridge BMW (formerly Scotthall Hampshire) on Saturday for a brake fluid change, they told me that the exhaust flange was cracked between the centre and the rear box. I've since had a call saying that the only way they would repair this is by replacing the whole centre section, at a cost of £848.40.

My knowledge of exhaust flanges is probably about the same as my knowledge of popular Venezuelan folk songs of the mid 18th century - i.e. about zero!

Does anybody here know whether this is something that a local independent could weld or otherwise repair for less money, or is the only option to hand over £848.40 to Partridge?
 
You'd be stone cold mental to hand over that sort of money. Any decent exhaust place could repair that in one of several ways they'll discuss with you for about a 1/4 of the price, TOPS.
 
I think inkey$ had the same issue. Sure he had it welded, be worth dropping him a PM if you cant find the thread.
 
the thingy that join's exhausts together at places like the back boxes. :thumbsup:
 
I did indeed have the same problem back in January. Here are the threads...

Problem thread....
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=46076

Review of the fix thread...
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=46812&p=676471&hilit=zero+exhausts#p676471

USed Zero Exhaust in Kent. Highly highly recommended. They completely removed both flanges on both sides and replaced with the new setup. Advise anybody with an M to check their flanges (so to speak).

Good luck, hope the above helps and keep us posted on how you get one.
 
mad4slalom said:
nothing worse than a cracked flange !!! :wink:
Click to expand...

Sand in your japseye must run pretty close like.

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Thanks for all the advice - especially inkey$'s experiences.

The car is going in to my local trusted garage next Saturday to see what they can do (over the phone, they said that they are not always happy welding exhausts). I'll bring a printout of the work that inkey$ had done to show them. If they can't do the job, then a guess that a trip over to Kent may be in order.

I'll update the thread once I hear what they have to say.
 
Result! Was in my local independent garage at 08:00 this morning, and out by 08:45, with the exhaust flange crack filled in and welded (and all my brake bleed nipples loosened off and retightened). Their advice was that the exhaust was now totally secure, was not blowing, and would pass an MoT. They also suggested that the reason that the BMW dealer had advised me of a rounded-off bleed nipple was that they had probably bled the brakes without removing the wheels, making it more difficult to get their spanner in there.

Total cost from the independent? £43. Total saving by not using the BMW dealer (who had quoted £848 for the exhaust and £65 for the bleed nipple)? £870.

(For anybody in Hampshire I can highly recommend Williams in Otterbourne. They don't specialise in any particular marque, but I have always found them to be helpful, honest, trustworthy and pragmatic. http://www.williams-garage.co.uk/).
 
srhutch said:
Nice result. Did they actually have to replace the brake nipple the dealer rounded off?
Click to expand...
No - they said that none of the bleed nipples were rounded off, so all they did was loosen and re-tighten all of them. Their suspicion was that the BMW dealer had replaced the brake fluid without removing the wheels (a reasonable thing to do, I guess, if you have the right equipment). Because of this, and the difficulty of access, the BMW dealer may have had difficulty opening one of the bleed nipples and had hence reported to me that it was rounded off.

I'm in a difficult position here - I'm haven't seen any of this myself, so I'm reporting what the service advisor at the independent garage told me his mechanic had guessed about what the BMW dealer's mechanic might have done. :dizzy:

Now that the weather is on the turn, I've a few outdoor jobs that I want to do on the car, some of which are wheels-off, so I'll have a good look at each of the bleed nipples myself at the time.
 
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