Running costs

[buzyg]

... which is wrong as Insp 1 is mileage based, not time.

So what are the correct mileages for the 1st ins 1 and ins 2? I've had both mine done although the supplying dealer paid for the ins 1 and I'm on less than 40k mls.

Mileage varies a bit depending on the use of the car, but should be around 23- 25k for Insp 1. Don't know Insp II as I doubt I will ever get there

Until you hit that mileage, you just keep doing the Oil service / Brake Fluid every two years.

Your spot on, I had 22k miles on the clock and needed an oil, filter and brake fluid change as the car hadn't been used much for 18 months before I bought it. So I had the inspection 1 done a little bit early.

If I'd known more before I bought the car, I'd have insisted the oil and brake fluid were done before I picked it up and had another 1-2k before my inspection1. Never listen to the dealer.

 

[Herminator]

They can be quite reasonable to run, however, when they start to get older the costs can mount. In the the last few months I've spent £780 replacing all 4 brake discs and pads, £730 on an Insp II, £30 for new wiper blades and £170 on a new battery. Road tax is due in January at circa £440. All the parts fitted are OEM but only the service was carried out by a BMW garage. New summer tyres are imminent too. The BMW warranty has covered other items like a faulty wiper motor and 2 faulty parking sensors.

The car has just hit 40,000 miles and 5 years old. Hopefully I'll not have to pay out anything like the above for the next few years if I keep it, which I probably will.

By the way James_G, depreciation of £4-5,000 pa on cars of this type and value is par for the course and that's not a recent development due to the economic situation. In fact it's probably better than average. Buy them with your eyes open in this respect.

Where did you get an insp II for that price?
Seems pretty reasonable if it was BMW and mine I'd due soon.

 

[sammyz]

Herminator, get a price from Batemans BMW in the Lakes. They were the cheapest in the North West when I had my Inp 1 done. Also, they were very good with the car and their 'M' mechanic seemed to know his stuff.

 

[original guvnor]

if you are planning on doing £12k miles a year you might want to factor into your running cost calculations the BMW Insured Warranty. There has been a lot of debate on here about whether it is necessary or not but I think most of us have it on the M. It doesn't come cheap - for the zero excess 'Comprehensive' option it is circa £87 per month or £900 pa depending on how you wish to pay.

Personally when I was doing that kind of mileage I considered it essential because the cost of replacing major parts is eyewatering - I think a new engine is about £16k, diff £5k, gearbox £6k etc !! You might not cover your costs in warranty repairs each year but so far in my first year I've had an O2 sensor replaced which is approx £500 at a main dealer.

Now my mileage has dropped to 3-4k pa I may decide to either do away with it or change to 'Named Component' or vary the excess level.

 

[dgm]

They can be quite reasonable to run, however, when they start to get older the costs can mount. In the the last few months I've spent £780 replacing all 4 brake discs and pads, £730 on an Insp II, £30 for new wiper blades and £170 on a new battery. Road tax is due in January at circa £440. All the parts fitted are OEM but only the service was carried out by a BMW garage. New summer tyres are imminent too. The BMW warranty has covered other items like a faulty wiper motor and 2 faulty parking sensors.

The car has just hit 40,000 miles and 5 years old. Hopefully I'll not have to pay out anything like the above for the next few years if I keep it, which I probably will.

By the way James_G, depreciation of £4-5,000 pa on cars of this type and value is par for the course and that's not a recent development due to the economic situation. In fact it's probably better than average. Buy them with your eyes open in this respect.

Where did you get an insp II for that price?
Seems pretty reasonable if it was BMW and mine I'd due soon.

Douglas Park BMW at Hillington just outside Glasgow. That was after asking for prices from the 3 Douglas Park Dealerships in the Glasgow area, Harry Fairbairn in Glasgow and Menzies in Stirling. The prices quoted started at about £930 and after asking for discounts went down to £730 at Douglas Park Hamilton. The Hillington branch, which I prefer using, matched that so I went with them.

Might be worth the trip up the road for you Herminator, depending on the prices you're being quoted locally.

 

[bluestreak56]

These were my approximate calculations for me on the M.

They dont take into consideration things like tyres / batteries but the rest is there:

You could adapt it for your use?

 

[Herminator]

Herminator, get a price from Batemans BMW in the Lakes. They were the cheapest in the North West when I had my Inp 1 done. Also, they were very good with the car and their 'M' mechanic seemed to know his stuff.

I'll try them for a price, Glasgow is a little more handy though as I can visit my sister at the same time.

My local BMW dealers has been good in the past too, but I'm not sure I'll get them down to the £700's

I was also considering a couple of indipendant BMW specialists, but the smaller the gap to dealership prices, the more I'm inclined to keep the full BMW history.

 

[daz05]

Re - the service intervals debate.

Not sure I get this, what you guys are saying could result in a scenario where plugs etc were not changed in like 5-6 years if mileage was really low.

Maybe one additional oil service per time would be ok, do we have this in writing anywhere from BMW? My understanding was that you did what the car told you to do.

Why are dealers performing Inspection 1's on some AUC cars when an oil service is acceptable?

 

[mmm-five]

Why are dealers performing Inspection 1's on some AUC cars when an oil service is acceptable?

Maybe they're just saying they've done an inspection and stamping the book without actually doing so, after all who's to know - and a warranty company will only use the (possibly false) dealer record to verify the history anyway

That's why all my ///Ms have had interim services, interim valve clearance checks, and interim plug replacements. Don't think my e34 M5 went more than 3000 miles between oil services, or 10,000 miles between valve clearance checks. Have doubled that interval for the Z4MC though as it's a more modern engine and the first one or two valve clearance checks didn't show any movement.

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you