Inspection II Price Shocker

[Cheburator]

Just had a quote from a well known BMW dealer in SE London for the imminent inspection II on my Z4MC... £1150 including the VAT!!! Cotswolds BMW have a set price of £650 inclusive of VAT.

Almost double - are labour rates in London that much higher? I am seriously thinking about getting the car down to CA Automotive or Bexley Motor Works and not bother with main stealers. Do you think it will affect the value come re-sale time? I am keeping it for another 2 years (at least)

 

[senwar]

Would definitely go main dealer - it may even affect the warranty if you don't?

But jeeeesus!

 

[Cheburator]

Would definitely go main dealer - it may even affect the warranty if you don't?

But jeeeesus!

It does not affect the warranty as long as the specialist is recognised by BMW. I am 100% sure that Bexley, Thorney or CA Automotive know a lot more about "S" prefix engines than the muppets at Stephen James Bromley who did my first oil service and were absolutely shocking in their lack of attention to detail...

 

[JayD]

I am fairly certain that if you go to Thorney or CA to get this done it will affect your BMW warranty. It has been discussed at length over on MTorque, go have a look under Service & Maintenance section.

London dealers take the piss IMO. Cotswold have done a number of cars over on MTorque at good prices compared to others.

Agreed though, they do know alot more than most dealers and have a greater respect for your motor!

 

[Starscream]

wow sod that,

Very happy BMW USA offers free maintenance

 

[Wondermike]

Cheburator, how many miles did this become due at?

 

[ovrkll]

Very happy BMW USA offers free maintenance

X2

 

[mikedav]

I am fairly certain that if you go to Thorney or CA to get this done it will affect your BMW warranty. It has been discussed at length over on MTorque, go have a look under Service & Maintenance section.

That was the case years ago but it's illegal now. As long as it uses approved BMW parts and is serviced to BMW specs, manufacturers can no longer void your warranty for not going to a main dealer (anti competitive). Bournemouth (Wood) charge around £1100 too...

 

[ewans]

mikedav is 100% right, as long as its BMW parts/specs you can get is serviced anywhere you like by anyone you like

 

[ianreeves]

for Costwold, I have always used them, there is also an indi of ex cotswold people just around the corner for those 'other' jobs.

Think they have the best spares department around as well.

 

[sixspeed]

Cotswold are definately the cheapest in the country, but still a long way from London!

 

[Andy]

i used robert stern in worcester recently for Inspection I as they were pretty much half the labour rates too.. can heavily recommend, but then i live there too... not too far from the cotswolds if you're ever over that way =)

 

[Curtis]

mikedav is 100% right, as long as its BMW parts/specs you can get is serviced anywhere you like by anyone you like

I agree! I service my Alpina and 330 myself over at Simpson Motorsport and it has in no way effected my warranty.

 

[Caddyshk]

Just had a quote from a well known BMW dealer in SE London for the imminent inspection II on my Z4MC... £1150 including the VAT!!! Cotswolds BMW have a set price of £650 inclusive of VAT.

Almost double - are labour rates in London that much higher? I am seriously thinking about getting the car down to CA Automotive or Bexley Motor Works and not bother with main stealers. Do you think it will affect the value come re-sale time? I am keeping it for another 2 years (at least)

Wow - You must be the first Z4M to approach the 100,000km benchmark!

Here in Canada there are many indpendents capable of performing both service inspections with zero impact to warranty. They're typically 50-60% of the Dealership price.

Here's a list of what's involved at both intervals.

http://www.performingimports.com/maint_deal.htm

 

[Caddyshk]

wow sod that,

Very happy BMW USA offers free maintenance

I doubt they cover inspection II - nice if they did because it should fall within the coverage period at 60,000 miles for the inspection?

 

[PaulN]

I am fairly certain that if you go to Thorney or CA to get this done it will affect your BMW warranty. It has been discussed at length over on MTorque, go have a look under Service & Maintenance section.

London dealers take the piss IMO. Cotswold have done a number of cars over on MTorque at good prices compared to others.

Agreed though, they do know alot more than most dealers and have a greater respect for your motor!

I cant believe people still think like this......

You can get your service done anywhere that is Vat registered and uses BMW parts.... It may not help when theres a grey area regarding warrenty work but how can you plan for that anyway.

Cheers

PaulN

 

[JayD]

Shows I dont pay attention doesn't it!!

I think I was getting mixed up with the extended BMW warranty rather than the manufacturers initial 3 year warranty from new.

 

[dgm]

Exactly JayD and that's the problem with servicing outwith the BMW network. If your car hasn't got a full BMW service history you can't extend the warranty beyond the initial warranty period and that's a big problem when it comes to selling them, most people will want that on a 3 year old Z4M. Additionally BMW can't sell it as an AUC which will cut the value if you're trading it in to them. Like it or not the car with a full BMW service history will sell more easily than one without especially at only 3 years old. Not as straightforward as some think.

 

[Curtis]

Like I've said before it's ironic. We all eventually find out that the dealers are a rip off and don't have a clue what they're doing nor do they give a sh*t about your pride and joy, however when it comes to buying a car we all want full dealer service history! Fortunately I always sell privately, I doubt the dealer would be interested in a car that's modded as much as mine anyway.

 

[dgm]

Couldn't agree more but I've no idea what the answer is. I dread taking my car to BMW dealers, they wrecked my interior on the last occasion carrying out warranty work. It's all sorted now but they exhibited an unbelievable lack of care and professionalism.