Inspection 1 Dealer Cost

[Planman1975]

Hi, newish member, bought a carbon black coupe 18 months ago from BMW Stratstone in Harrogate. Looking to book an Inspection 1 service and had 2 quotes from local dealers of over £900!

For that neither of them were offering to check the valve clearance. Is £900 the going rate???

 

[-Tom-]

Hi, newish member, bought a carbon black coupe 18 months ago from BMW Stratstone in Harrogate. Looking to book an Inspection 1 service and had 2 quotes from local dealers of over £900!

For that neither of them were offering to check the valve clearance. Is £900 the going rate???

ins 1 should always include the valve clearance checks, it's in the service breakdown; so I wouldn't be so sure they've got the price right if they have that info wrong already

 

[survivalist]

Hi, newish member, bought a carbon black coupe 18 months ago from BMW Stratstone in Harrogate. Looking to book an Inspection 1 service and had 2 quotes from local dealers of over £900!

For that neither of them were offering to check the valve clearance. Is £900 the going rate???

ins 1 should always include the valve clearance checks, it's in the service breakdown; so I wouldn't be so sure they've got the price right if they have that info wrong already

This mirrors my experience of BMW Dealers close to me. When getting quotes did you speak to the service manager, or one of the customer services representatives that books cars in? Reason for asking is that in my experience they have little or no technical knowledge and are just reading off the same website you are.

That said, my local dealer wanted £1200 for an Inspection II and even though they stated it included valve clearances they said they would collect and return the car in a single day. It's my understanding that the car needs to be stone cold to do the valve clearances and as such it should be left with the garage the night before.

It's for these reasons that I'd rather use a well regarded specialist. Obviously it still comes down to trusting that the work is being done, but often you can have a chat with the person who's actually doing the work and get a feel for their expertise.

These days main dealers seem to be designed around performing basic service items on new and nearly new cars, which makes sense from a business perspective - you can have junior mechanics performing repetitive tasks (e.g. sucking out engine oil with a vacuum) at a low cost while still charging reasonably high prices. Keeping mechanics with the skills and knowledge to service older cars like ours is expensive and only represents a small % of their business.

 

[Planman1975]

Thanks for the responses. There looks to be a national BMW pricing option a fair bit cheaper(£619), but no mention of the valve clearances!

https://www.bmw-service.co.uk/##service-options

 

[dan yeates]

If you're anywhere near the south coast, I'd recommend Iridium: https://iridiumengineering.co.uk/

They're the best specialist I've ever used for any marque. Brilliant, nice friendly guy, very knowledgeable, communicative and informative. When he did my Inspection 2 he said to me the engine had to be completely stone cold so it would take 2-3 days to do everything. They found an issue with my brake caliper and offered to send me a walkaround video via youtube to explain the issue, demonstrating on the good wheel and the bad wheel to see the difference.

Well priced and very thorough. You get a 5 page list of what has been done, what parts replaced, what has been inspected and what has been adjusted. He gave me before and after measurements on the valve clearances and even gave me back the old shims!

 

[srhutch]

Other than the valve clearance, there is nothing different on an Inspection 1 over a standard 3 litre, so that price is just daylight robbery if it's not included.

 

[Mister T]

Thanks for the responses. There looks to be a national BMW pricing option a fair bit cheaper(£619), but no mention of the valve clearances!

https://www.bmw-service.co.uk/##service-options

Just speak to the service manager, BMW North Oxford checked the valve clearances as part of my recent Inspection I.

I dropped the car off at 8am and they did the work late that afternoon. Plenty of time for the engine to cool down.

 

[mmm-five]

If had about equal amounts of bad service to okay service (nothing I’d call ‘good’ though), in my costly dealer servicing experience of 2 M5s and a Z4MC.

In some of my cases, when I questioned the 200% difference between a non-M and M service, I was told it was because a Master Tech has to work on the car. But when I got it back and the oil cap was not fitted back on, I was told that anyone could have done it and the Master Tech just signs it off. The service advisor/manager just couldn’t undertstand my concern that I was paying a premium, and that an apprentice & Master Tech had both fooked up.

So I’d stay away from main dealers, as most of their experts on the S54 will have left and set up on their own, and I doubt BMW are providing an further training on the S54 as the youngest engine will be 10 years old.

The only reason I’d take it to a dealer was if I didn’t have a choice, through breakdown or warranty restrictions.

 

[Truth]

Hi, newish member, bought a carbon black coupe 18 months ago from BMW Stratstone in Harrogate. Looking to book an Inspection 1 service and had 2 quotes from local dealers of over £900!

For that neither of them were offering to check the valve clearance. Is £900 the going rate???

You based round Harrogate mate. I’m going to try peter van der veer for my next inspection in Huddersfield

 

[Rombbb]

Is doing valve clearances not a nice diy project ?

Planning on watching youtube and reading up and doing it myself. Doesn't look too hard.

Probably I'm just paranoid, but I have a hard time trusting garages. Went to this semi-official BMW shop with good rep. The guy I talked to was knowledgeable and a master mechanic. First time everything went right, 2nd time they overfilled the oil with half a liter (or didn't drain it properly, because they only charged for the correct 5,5 liters) and going by the colour of the oil I drained afterwards I'm doubting whether they renewed it fully at all. It was very dark already (but maybe that's just the 10w60 ?). They also have young learning chaps working about and I guess those can just as well also work on your car.

Gonna do oil, diff, gearbox oil, filters and valve clearances myself. Am no pro at all but it seems doable and it will give the piece of mind knowing for sure that it has been done fully and correctly.

I mean if they can't even correctly change the oil, how am I to trust them with valve clearances ?!

 

[buzyg]

I paid £900+ at a Stealer, for my first Ins 1. The Zer came back dirtier than it went in. Never been back to a Stealer since. Find a good indie and pay half that for a better service.

 

[Nev]

Hi Planman. I've just DIY'd my own Inspection 1 including valve clearance check. Cleaned out the Vanos solenoid whilst i was at it too. There are a lot of very good DIY guides online. The one I used was this:

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/...M-Valve-Adjustment-amp-Spark-Plug-Replacement

All the BMW part numbers are listed so you can get them all from them or from eBay/carparts4less so it'll save you a fortune! I bought the valve shims from the US rather than get them from the stealer. If you do it yourself at least you know it's been done properly too. I see you acquired your car from Harrogate. I live NW of Bradford if you need some moral support/tools to borrow.