Inspection 1

M

Merrsh1

Member
 Teesside
Looking for advice/ guidance...

Car is due its inspection 1 and there is an independent local to me who has a brilliant reputation for M cars and was recommended to me by a mate as well.

Rang up and was quoted £220 for the inspection. This to me seems VERY cheap but the guys rock solid. Thoughts from anyone...

Also what exactly should be completed in an inspection 1?

Without prompting he said:

Oil
Oil filter
Air filter
Microfilter
Valve cover gasket
6 x plug socket gaskets
 
Maxsam said:
Has he quoted for parts etc... can you supply your own oil...
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No, he supplies everything. I actually challenged him on the phone and said parts alone would be £150 but he said he buys in bulk so its cheaper. As I say, he has a topnotch reputation but in my experience if its too good to be true...
 
What should be done is written in the back of your service booklet, does sounds fairly cheap
 
Liam-O said:
What should be done is written in the back of your service booklet, does sounds fairly cheap
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Cheers, never thought of it.

I think ill go with him, looked on pistonheads.com and a few beemer sites and all seems kosher.
 
There's no mention of the valve clearance check, which is a couple of hours work even if nothing needs changing.

So unless he charges £25/hour then he's losing money somewhere.

Don't forget that the BMW version will include time for checking bodywork, brake disc/pad thickness, handbrake, etc. They all add time to the job, so that's why they take over 4 hours (at about £150/hour) to do it.
 
Good value doesn't mean he won't do a great job, it means he's got a lower overhead, no free coffee and no halfwit scratching, sorry cleaning your car - if he has a good reputation and you trust him then go for it I say :thumbsup:
 
Merrsh1 said:
Rang up and was quoted £220 for the inspection. This to me seems VERY cheap
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Too cheap, poor chap must make buttons the oil alone is a third of that figure!
 
mmm-five said:
There's no mention of the valve clearance check, which is a couple of hours work even if nothing needs changing.

So unless he charges £25/hour then he's losing money somewhere.

Don't forget that the BMW version will include time for checking bodywork, brake disc/pad thickness, handbrake, etc. They all add time to the job, so that's why they take over 4 hours (at about £150/hour) to do it.
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I'll double check the valve clearance is done too, I'm sure he mentioned it. I would question 4 hours to check discs, brake and body work, I could do that and it wouldn't take 4 hours, that smells like dealer bullshit. I'd also say he probably is billing £25 an hour....

I'm not averse to paying top whack but the guy is incredibly well recommended and well thought of so why pay more?

I've always question figures of 500 to 800 for what is (snob alert) a fairly manual and routine task. They aren't maintaining jet fighters are they :?

Simon_P said:
Too cheap, poor chap must make buttons the oil alone is a third of that figure!
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I'm in the north remember, different economic climate, even outside of a recession. Mechanics charging £75 an hour wouldn't last long...
 
Even down here in the saaaaf my local Indy only charges about £60 an hour incl. VAT. Does seem cheap though, as mmm-five says (and from what I have read on here) the valve clearances are a really important part of the service.
 
Well I decided against using the original guy and decided to go for Teesside AutoTech for £425 all in. The clincher for me was that he didn't do the valve clearances as 'they don't need checking'...

I also rang Teesside BMW who said they would do the inspection 1 for £305 but they dont do valve clearances either !!!

I did explain it was supposed to cost much more; but such rank incompetence was the nail in the coffin of taking it to a dealer. The BMW guy also said BMW no longer do inspection 2 for any vehicle? Is this also nonsense?

Why do so few people do a good job anymore? In this country everywhere you go is shite customer service and toss pots. ARGGHHHH!!! :headbang:
 
Had the inspection done and was very impressed. The guy who owns Teesside Autotech was very knowledgeable and new his M cars inside out. On arrival there was a poorly Z3M roadster on the ramp and on pickup a brand new M5 was in too.

Got a handful of paperwork covering what was done and a walk through what it all meant too. A++.
 
That last bit always slightly worries me - it was all on my invoice as inspection etc, with as a result "none needed" when I asked. You almost feel cheated or think they did not do anything ...
 
No single answer, varies everywhere and you can negotiate.

I got 100s off from my last Insp1 services.
 
mmm-five said:
Did it need any shims?
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Nope. He gave me a sheet with all the values and he said a couple were close but still within tolerance. Only downside of the experience was having to leave the car overnight!

Cant recommend enough.
 
Popey said:
What are mean dealer prices for:
Oil Service
Inspection 1
Inspection 2
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Oil Service - £130 (via MainDealerDiscount) to £300
Inspection 1 - £500 (via MainDealerDiscount) to £800
Inspection 2 - £700 (via MainDealerDiscount) to £1200

Got mine booked in for an oil service tomorrow for £129 (Lloyds Blackpool). After that it'll be going to my specialist in Essex as it's next service will be an Insp1 at about 105k miles - so no further value in keeping Mondial warranty or BMWSH, and I want to start doing some tasteful mods to the car next year which I assume dealers/warranty won't look favourably on.
 
mmm-five said:
Popey said:
What are mean dealer prices for:
Oil Service
Inspection 1
Inspection 2
Click to expand...
Oil Service - £130 (via MainDealerDiscount) to £300
Inspection 1 - £500 (via MainDealerDiscount) to £800
Inspection 2 - £700 (via MainDealerDiscount) to £1200

Got mine booked in for an oil service tomorrow for £129 (Lloyds Blackpool). After that it'll be going to my specialist in Essex as it's next service will be an Insp1 at about 105k miles - so no further value in keeping Mondial warranty or BMWSH, and I want to start doing some tasteful mods to the car next year which I assume dealers/warranty won't look favourably on.
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Thanks very much for that :)

Lloyds is just round the corner from me :)
 
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