Just got my car serviced at Bluebell BMW, Crewe

Dads203

Member
 North Wales
Nice to have good service, all went well and the price was good, I had my inspection 1 and brake fluid done at the same time.
Cost was £741, Also picked up some instructions from Karl in the parts department for some retro-fit items, very helpful indeed :thumbsup:
 
Just had my Jeep Wrangler 'Sahara' (3.8l petrol) serviced here in the UAE at a franchised dealer - new brake pads (original parts), oils (branded synthetic), all filters, a/c re-gassed, plugs etc - £210......! So why do we pay so much in the UK?
 
AlanJ said:
Just had my Jeep Wrangler 'Sahara' (3.8l pertol) serviced here in the UAE at a franchised dealer - new brake pads (original parts), oils (branded synthetic), all filters, a/c re-gassed, plugs etc - £210......! So why do we pay so much in the UK?

Tax, cost of living, transport costs, supply and demand, macro economics. The list goes on. The previous owner of my 944 was a pilot and he got all his brake parts from an auto-factors in Oman (I think) and I had loads of invoices in arabic script that I couldn't read :)

Still good news for the OP that he received the service commensurate of a BMW dealer. Shame really that it's newsworthy - in an ideal world we'd all receive excellent service, every time.
 
AlanJ said:
Just had my Jeep Wrangler 'Sahara' (3.8l pertol) serviced here in the UAE at a franchised dealer - new brake pads (original parts), oils (branded synthetic), all filters, a/c re-gassed, plugs etc - £210......! So why do we pay so much in the UK?

Dunno Alan?
£550 of my invoice was labour ,£80 for parts and the rest in VAT, I should of become a BMW mechanic :?

My local dealer wanted £880 alone for a Inspection 1 so the trip to Crewe was worth it, I also treated the Zed to a Front Strut bar which will be arriving on friday and hopefully fitted on Saturday :thumbsup:
 
Dads203 said:
AlanJ said:
Just had my Jeep Wrangler 'Sahara' (3.8l pertol) serviced here in the UAE at a franchised dealer - new brake pads (original parts), oils (branded synthetic), all filters, a/c re-gassed, plugs etc - £210......! So why do we pay so much in the UK?

Dunno Alan?
£550 of my invoice was labour ,£80 for parts and the rest in VAT, I should of become a BMW mechanic :?

My local dealer wanted £880 alone for a Inspection 1 so the trip to Crewe was worth it, I also treated the Zed to a Front Strut bar which will be arriving on friday and hopefully fitted on Saturday :thumbsup:

Because the Labour government crucify through the tax and VAT system anyone who is willing to work....... those clever people who sit back and live off benefits are happy as Larry while the rest of us chip away at the massive defecit that the bankers created. Controversial ?
 
Don't forget UK M Servicing at a BMW dealer is about expensive as it gets outside of Ferrari or Lambo.

Z4M and E46 M3 cost more than a 911 to service (fixed price menu servicing...20,000 mile service on a 997 C2S is under £500 IIRC).

BMW labour rates don't help
 
If you're on the south coast near any of the ferries, then it's probably cheaper to have a day/weekend trip over in France, Belgium, The Netherlands or Germany, stock up on beer/wine and get the service done for the same total cost as just the service from the dealers over here.
 
jamiez said:
WOW - that is CRAZY money. how different is an insp 1 on the ///m vs say my 3.0si ?

Vast.......inspection 1 at my local dealer, i was quoted £887.00 and Inspection 2 £ 1211.00
The above prices are why I looked further afield and settled on Bluebell in Crewe and their Inspection 1 was sub £700 my bill included a brake fliud change as well,
been quoted by Bluebell £800 for the Inspection 2 when it comes around.

My preveous car was a 330CI coupe and from memory the servicing costs were Inpection 1 £248 (ish) and Inspection 2 £378 (ish).
I think the Z4 3.0si and my old 330CI have the same engine so servicing should be about the same?





R's

Dan
 
My Insp 1 was £600, got Wood to price match Cotswold BMW but local dealers were quoting £700-£1050.

Lots more than the 3.0 and a total rip off.
 
Haven't started looking for prices yet but my Insp 1 due in the next 2,500 miles. Williams, Halliwell jones and Bowker are nearest to me but Crewe isn't too far if it saves me enough £££s. Nice to know they did a good job, did you drop the car off the day before as the tappets have to be stone cold to be checked properly?
 
sammyz said:
Haven't started looking for prices yet but my Insp 1 due in the next 2,500 miles. Williams, Halliwell jones and Bowker are nearest to me but Crewe isn't too far if it saves me enough £££s. Nice to know they did a good job, did you drop the car off the day before as the tappets have to be stone cold to be checked properly?

Hi Sammyz,

They pointed out that the car needed to be cold before they would start any servicing work, dropped the car off at 08:20 and picked it up at 2pm, the service girl took time to explain what work had been carried out when I picked it up and then explained what would done on the inspection 2 when it needs to be done (She was very Knowledgeable on the M's) :thumbsup: .
It was also nice too see a few other M cars coming in for servicing tht morning as I spent a few hours on site. I phoned a few dealers in my area for prices including Halliwell jones, they were the most expensive out of the bunch and were not too interested in price matching any other dealers. Idid look at an indi ( Trenics BMW in Shotton) which I normally use and they quoted me £345 for an inspection 1and £650 ish for an inspection 2spo once the warrenty has expired I think the Zed will get serviced with them.

R's

Dan
 
How did they get the car stone cold for the valve clearance check (overnight, or 8 hours minimum BMW say), then do the check (2 hours BMW say) and have it ready for 2pm.

I wonder if they were cheap because they didn't bother to do the valve clearances?
Saves them 2 hours of labour (£200+) and some only do it if they assess (by listening) it needs doing :thumbsdown:

Did they offer you the valve clearance measurement sheet - if not, phone them back and ask for it. If they can't/won't provide it then they've probably not done them.
 
When I chatted to Pete the BMW specialist in Stafford he said he expected cars in first thing then did tappets last job and used compressed air jet to get top of engine down to below 25 degrees C if it was taking time cooling down on a hot summers day. Car in all day though.

It is p**s poor that you can pay a dealer £800 and they may not do all that they've been paid for. I wouldn't mind if they said they'd listened to engine and were happy tappets were Ok so they'd knocked £150 off the bill. Not much chance of that!

I think mine are a little noisey so I'll be expecting them to be checked, I'll mark the cam cover as well :)
 
mmm-five said:
How did they get the car stone cold for the valve clearance check (overnight, or 8 hours minimum BMW say), then do the check (2 hours BMW say) and have it ready for 2pm.

I wonder if they were cheap because they didn't bother to do the valve clearances?
Saves them 2 hours of labour (£200+) and some only do it if they assess (by listening) it needs doing :thumbsdown:

Did they offer you the valve clearance measurement sheet - if not, phone them back and ask for it. If they can't/won't provide it then they've probably not done them.

I'll give them a buzz tomorrow and ask, these cars are expensive enough to keep on the roads so I want to make sure I'm getting my moneys worth
 
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