Love My Z but HELL

S

scousefly

Member
 Sheffield, Halfway
There expensive sometimes :thumbsdown:

So far service 2 plus extra issues found with Ribbed drivebelt and swingarm bushes £620, 2 part worns of a member £85, fitting and balance plus rears rebalanced £50, 4 Wheel alignment plus adjustment £122 = £877 in the last 2 weeks. Plus I will need to renew F+R disks and pads when pads are low enough :headbang: :headbang: :headbang:
 
Was this at a dealer?

If so, I always take a dealers 'recommendations' with a big pinch of salt and always get a 2nd opinion. Mine's past 3 MOTs with the same bushes that BMW said were shot 3 years ago!
 
it always comes all at once, hopefully you will now have a very long spell cost free
 
I feel for you as Taz says it always comes once! I had a service, bushes, EGR valve, tyres, brakes and a lock on my Ford recently adding up to over £1,200 then the daughter did the clutch on 'her' motor for a few hundred more, and the Mrs ripped the front off her car, so the Zed's been the cheapest to run overall taking in to account all costs including depreciation. That's my story and I'm sticking to it Mrs Ewazix :lol:

BTW if you shop around for the parts and can do the brakes yourself you will save a fair bit.
 
mmm-five said:
Was this at a dealer?

If so, I always take a dealers 'recommendations' with a big pinch of salt and always get a 2nd opinion. Mine's past 3 MOTs with the same bushes that BMW said were shot 3 years ago!
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A garage told me that unless a bush has completely split or fallen out, it's not an MOT fail. I agree you shouldn't automatically believe what dealers tell you. I have also read that the biggest difference in feel between a new car and a used one is down to the bushes, might be worth splashing out mmm-five! :driving:
 
As others have said, hopefully you'll be trouble-fee for some time now. Had a similar experience with the wife's Honda in November 2010 - just hit 99k miles with no issues at all beyond a new battery... Then it needed 4 new tyres to even get to the MOT, when it got there they gave an advisory on rear discs and pads plus front pads - as we were going to Scotland for Christmas I just changed them out... Then the car wouldn't start to take it home (been dodgy for a while...) - new starter motor required, HAD to be bought from Honda as it's the only one that works. So, all good so far :thumbsup:

Then to top it all off, mid-December, she's driving back from picking my son up from school and there is a loud squeal / bang from the engine bay and the car limps to a stop. Water pump has siezed and as a result the drive belt has also shredded, que RAC recovery and more £££ :cry:

So, we get to 1 week before Christmas and a long trip up North which is expensive enough just in terms of fuel, we are in prime present buying time, and in total over 4 weeks we had to spend the best part of £1,600 on her car. Thing is, you just have to spend it, and once it's spent the pain fades quickly :D
 
Mine cost me quite a bit last month too :cry:

Road tax £260
Service £200
Rear springs £230
Discs / pads all round £220

So £910 in total :cry:
 
oli445 said:
might be worth splashing out mmm-five! :driving:
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An excessively worn bush can make your car fail an MOT - doesn't have to be split or missing.

But don't worry, I'm not avoiding anything that needs doing, but nor am I going to get stuff done simply because a dealership says so. I simply get a 2nd opinion when I'm told something completely needs doing when I've only gone in for a oil service. Don't forget the customer is subsidising those 'free' checks in their £120+/hr labour costs - which I don't believe they're doing anyway and just read from a script which - based on the average lifespan of a component - says:
  • at 10,000 miles tell customer their tyres are worn
  • at 25,000 miles tell customer their bushes/pads/discs are worn
  • at 35,000 miles tell customer their cat is worn
  • at 50,000 miles tell customer their widgets/thingamabobs/whatchamacallits are worn
  • etc.
Whether they are or not, and at the same time they don't mention a borderline tyre, very low coolant, or (on a previous car, not the Z4MC).

The car also gets it's fair share of extra maintenance (due to my experiences with my M5), so that it gets interim oil services, annual brake fluid changes, annual coolant system flushes, etc.

I'm used to an M5 eating bushes quite regularly (about every 20,000 miles), but the bushes in my Z4MC are checked by my indy at least twice a year, and he still says they're fine, despite him always going on about 'preventative' maintenance :P

The car some 'love' once it reaches the 60,000 milestone - possibly new springs/dampers/discs all round (they're not broken, but they can't be at their best after 60k) - especially as I'll have just come back from the 'Ring, so the discs will probably need doing anyway.

Also might put the Simota intake on if the group buy gets going - along with the silencer bypass pipes.
 
mmm-five said:
The car some 'love' once it reaches the 60,000 milestone - possibly new springs/dampers/discs all round (they're not broken, but they can't be at their best after 60k)
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My car is at 68k miles and due an Inspection 2 (I think :oops: ) in less than 1k miles. Not sure when it last had an oil service and brake fluid change, so I was thinking to do both of these plus the inspection 2, plus new discs and pads all round even though it only had new pads at it's MOT in September. Springs might be an idea too. I reckon I'll be pushing a grand of work with all that, but... What do you reckon, overkill or deserved love ?
 
Ivan you mentioin disc's n pads all round for just over £200 what did you replace them with?

Reason I ask is that I know my handbrake shoes need replacing and I already have them but I have been quoted £304 for the rear and £220 for the front. Brembo discs all round and I think stock pads but I dont know what they are. I was told the set up of the handbrake can be tricky :tumbleweed: but to be honest whilst I trust my indy Im getting pissed off with his prices.

Plan on doing my front discs myself but want a garage to do rears, appreciate any thoughts on good disc and pad combos from anyone :thumbsup:
 
scousefly said:
Ivan you mentioin disc's n pads all round for just over £200 what did you replace them with?

Reason I ask is that I know my handbrake shoes need replacing and I already have them but I have been quoted £304 for the rear and £220 for the front. Brembo discs all round and I think stock pads but I dont know what they are. I was told the set up of the handbrake can be tricky :tumbleweed: but to be honest whilst I trust my indy Im getting pissed off with his prices.

Plan on doing my front discs myself but want a garage to do rears, appreciate any thoughts on good disc and pad combos from anyone :thumbsup:
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Brembo prices for a 3.0si here: http://www.nextdaybrakes.com/info-part-finder?make=BMW&model=Z4&Car.x=18&Car.y=20&engine=3.0000&year=2006&search=Part+Number

Prices are for a pair, so don't go multiplying by 2 :P
 
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