Service History AUC
- Thread starter bensz4mc
- Start date
Hi, just joined and only read this thread last night, feel a bit bad as this is about the same car I bought just over a week ago.
I hope Ben gets himself sorted out with another one shortly. I see on another thread he now wants to buy privately.
I stretched myself a little to buy this car and so just haggled and got cash off. No deals on brakes /servicing asked for. Out of interest I received 12mths warranty but it was sold as a Sytner not BMW approved car (they did advise me of this and it was due to the time between the last two services).
I took a bit of a punt with the car, but it may have paid off as checking with Sytner Newport about having the big end shells done it seems from the chassis number, that the following work has already been done by BMW:
Big end shells.
Piston rings.
Inlet and exhaust Vanos
Clutch
Both rear springs
This seems to be most of the expensive and trouble some issues hopefully already done.
I'm waiting for the print out, so do not know at what mileage the work was done at, but I'm thinking that I'll get the Gearbox and diff oil done for now and leave the other work until the full INSP2 in 2 years time. Plugs and valve clearances do not seem things that age alone and not miles would affect too much. May be wrong though.
Going to take the advice from here of doing interim oil changes around 6-7K miles from now on. Anyone recommend a good oil change pump? Also stick with low revs when cold until 75degC oil temp or only 1 or 2 orange rev limit lights left on. Cheers Scotty
I hope Ben gets himself sorted out with another one shortly. I see on another thread he now wants to buy privately.
I stretched myself a little to buy this car and so just haggled and got cash off. No deals on brakes /servicing asked for. Out of interest I received 12mths warranty but it was sold as a Sytner not BMW approved car (they did advise me of this and it was due to the time between the last two services).
I took a bit of a punt with the car, but it may have paid off as checking with Sytner Newport about having the big end shells done it seems from the chassis number, that the following work has already been done by BMW:
Big end shells.
Piston rings.
Inlet and exhaust Vanos
Clutch
Both rear springs
This seems to be most of the expensive and trouble some issues hopefully already done.
I'm waiting for the print out, so do not know at what mileage the work was done at, but I'm thinking that I'll get the Gearbox and diff oil done for now and leave the other work until the full INSP2 in 2 years time. Plugs and valve clearances do not seem things that age alone and not miles would affect too much. May be wrong though.
Going to take the advice from here of doing interim oil changes around 6-7K miles from now on. Anyone recommend a good oil change pump? Also stick with low revs when cold until 75degC oil temp or only 1 or 2 orange rev limit lights left on. Cheers Scotty
wouldn't bother me tbh...... if your even slightly worried, theirs so many available right now just look at something else. Judging by the above it may not have been such a bad move to buy, looks like it may have been a worry free experience for some time, which is always nice with an s54 !
scotty4321 said:
So there's another oil change there when they did the shells that maybe isn't a service stamp as such. Interesting to know if the shells were done because of the failure to change the oil in 4 years or if that was ages ago hence the oil only now perhaps needs to be changed again. Either way seems not as bad as it 1st looked. I use a Pela pump for the oil. I'm only doing 2K a year now but I slip in an interim oil change myself every year in-between dealer stamped changes every 2 years. Overkill maybe but for £60ish and 20 mins effort it's worth it.
Warm up don't go by the orange lights.That's coolant I believe. Wait for the oil to properly warm up. I stay under 3K until the oil temp is up. I'd guess a lot of cars in their early life's won't have been treated with that sort of respect so you don't know what damage is already done but with those new parts guess you'll be just fine. Enjoy the car.
Welcome, Scotty! If all of those things have indeed been done then it sounds like you might have gotten yourself a good score! While the 4 year service had isn't ideal, I wouldn't lose sleep over it, especially seeing as the big end bearings have been done.scotty4321 said:
Piston rings is an odd one - certainly not a common S54 issue that I'm aware of.
Plugs and valve clearances are indeed purely mileage based (and note that plugs are changed half as frequently as valve clearances). I found that the stock NGK plugs on my car were shagged well before their scheduled replacement though (giving me occasional misfires, which cause the DME to shut down the cylinder).
Keep under 4k RPM until the end of the street. 5k RPM under 75 degrees and don't approach the redline until the oil temp is close to 100 degrees.
Cheers all, going to find out when the shells were done. No idea on piston rings, no need to remove the head to change shells (not sure on vanos though).
Manual says that orange lights are coolant, with one orange being up to water temp. I looked today and with 2 orange lights the oil is not fully warm less than 75. It seems to run about 90DegC oil temp when hot. I can wait for that as my commute is short and in traffic anyway.
Been looking at this pump, gets good reviews, seems cheap here to £35 and copes with 6 litres so big enough to do the job in one:
https://www.mailspeedmarine.com/oil-extractor-pump-37774.html
I'm insured for 5K miles a year and so it looks like I'll do the same as you and do oil every other year as I'll keep the history going. Way it's going I may exceed 5k and need a top up.
Spending hours reading the forum, seems great and very friendly.
Ben, cheers. Hope you get sorted out soon . Regards Scotty
Manual says that orange lights are coolant, with one orange being up to water temp. I looked today and with 2 orange lights the oil is not fully warm less than 75. It seems to run about 90DegC oil temp when hot. I can wait for that as my commute is short and in traffic anyway.
Been looking at this pump, gets good reviews, seems cheap here to £35 and copes with 6 litres so big enough to do the job in one:
https://www.mailspeedmarine.com/oil-extractor-pump-37774.html
I'm insured for 5K miles a year and so it looks like I'll do the same as you and do oil every other year as I'll keep the history going. Way it's going I may exceed 5k and need a top up.
Spending hours reading the forum, seems great and very friendly.
Ben, cheers. Hope you get sorted out soon . Regards Scotty
scotty4321 said:
Welcome to the forum , good to see someone buying to run a s a daily but lots of short commutes & planning to leave the oil in 2 years :?
not good , £75 for oil + filter its well worth doing each springtime no matter the miles covered .Millers CFS would be my choice but others have their own favourites .https://www.millersoils-shop.co.uk/cfs-10w60-engine-oil
Enjoy the car whatever , they are pretty special
Sorry I meant I'll change it one year and get it serviced by BMW the next. That way, car will be done every year and at less than 5K miles. Already ordered an oil pump.
That oil is cheap on ebay at the moment, £45 delivered :
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Millers-Oils-5-Litres-Of-CFS-10W60-Nanodrive-Fully-Synthetic-Engine-Oil-Race/371406097805?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649
Cheers Scotty
That oil is cheap on ebay at the moment, £45 delivered :
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Millers-Oils-5-Litres-Of-CFS-10W60-Nanodrive-Fully-Synthetic-Engine-Oil-Race/371406097805?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649
Cheers Scotty
Sorry I meant I'll change it one year and get it serviced by BMW the next. That way, car will be done every year and at less than 5K miles. Already ordered an oil pump.
That oil is cheap on ebay at the moment, £45 delivered :
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Millers-Oils-5-Litres-Of-CFS-10W60-Nanodrive-Fully-Synthetic-Engine-Oil-Race/371406097805?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649
Cheers Scotty
That oil is cheap on ebay at the moment, £45 delivered :
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Millers-Oils-5-Litres-Of-CFS-10W60-Nanodrive-Fully-Synthetic-Engine-Oil-Race/371406097805?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649
Cheers Scotty
Bit of an update. The guy in the dealership made a mistake on the chassis number and so the list of BMW work earlier in the thread is not for my car! Apparently most of that work on the car concerned was done around 30K miles (maybe it was overheated or something).
Upshot is mine is on 83K and hasn't had the big end shells done, It has had a new gearbox, flywheel and clutch plus some minor stuff. Going to get the oil checked as it has nearly 1K on the new oil now. Would this be enough to show the metals concerning shells do you think? I've seen a few oil analysis results on here but none where the readings were high and that person went straight to getting the work done. Anyone have high results from analysis?
I'd like to do the engine mounts also as that could help the gear change. It's wicked to drive at higher revs as it all comes good and just makes sense, but it's not the best dawdling in town! Cheers Scotty.
Upshot is mine is on 83K and hasn't had the big end shells done, It has had a new gearbox, flywheel and clutch plus some minor stuff. Going to get the oil checked as it has nearly 1K on the new oil now. Would this be enough to show the metals concerning shells do you think? I've seen a few oil analysis results on here but none where the readings were high and that person went straight to getting the work done. Anyone have high results from analysis?
I'd like to do the engine mounts also as that could help the gear change. It's wicked to drive at higher revs as it all comes good and just makes sense, but it's not the best dawdling in town! Cheers Scotty.
So did they tell you they'd done the bearing shells and other things before or after you initially purchased? I'd be a bit annoyed if the former and it turned out they hadn't been done!
My understanding is that 1k is probably a little early to get a reliable oil condition reading, though I may be wrong. One off reports are only going to indicate if the wear is extreme though - more accurate diagnosis is done over consecutive samples. In any case, at those miles and an unknown history of how the car has been treated I would be getting the bearings done soon. If anything for the peace of mind!
My understanding is that 1k is probably a little early to get a reliable oil condition reading, though I may be wrong. One off reports are only going to indicate if the wear is extreme though - more accurate diagnosis is done over consecutive samples. In any case, at those miles and an unknown history of how the car has been treated I would be getting the bearings done soon. If anything for the peace of mind!
The oil analysis isn't all that IMO,
It wont give you a true representation on wear that has happened many moons ago, many people have had tit done and got the all clear only to remove the sheels and see excessive wear!
Id be speaking to your dealer and getting them to change the Shells, they sold you a car saying they had been done so I would be leaning quite hard on them to do it.
It wont give you a true representation on wear that has happened many moons ago, many people have had tit done and got the all clear only to remove the sheels and see excessive wear!
Id be speaking to your dealer and getting them to change the Shells, they sold you a car saying they had been done so I would be leaning quite hard on them to do it.
Thanks for the input, going to look into getting the shells done. I'll look after it well from here and so they'll last okl.
The service report came later and from a different dealership to the one the car came from so I'll be paying for the work. Cardiff Sytner have been good, to be fair, I called them about the brake judder and the intermittent ABS light that has appeared, but have not taken it in yet. Cheers Scotty
The service report came later and from a different dealership to the one the car came from so I'll be paying for the work. Cardiff Sytner have been good, to be fair, I called them about the brake judder and the intermittent ABS light that has appeared, but have not taken it in yet. Cheers Scotty
Well the three ABS lights became more permanent and the offside dipped beam stopped working (for some reason the indicator comes on steady instead).
Typically with the ABS lights being on every day for 10. The day the assessor needs to see it no lights on. Boot it in second on a roundabout, bit of wheel slip and hey presto lights on again. Some thing is sticking.
After the second visit to Sytner today they have agree to change the DSC unit on warranty at a cost of £2k and to fix the lights which appears to be a melted lamp connector.
Happy days! Also bought oil from ECPs but was £50 for 8L, so cheap but not the deal others have had.
cheers Scotty
Typically with the ABS lights being on every day for 10. The day the assessor needs to see it no lights on. Boot it in second on a roundabout, bit of wheel slip and hey presto lights on again. Some thing is sticking.
After the second visit to Sytner today they have agree to change the DSC unit on warranty at a cost of £2k and to fix the lights which appears to be a melted lamp connector.
Happy days! Also bought oil from ECPs but was £50 for 8L, so cheap but not the deal others have had.
cheers Scotty
Car went in Friday for the above repairs. Drove it away after it had been in for 8hrs, to see the lamp warning come up on the dash within 20metres. They had it back in and we left an hour later in a courtesy car.
After no contact until 6PM tonight (they have had it for 4 full days), I've just been told that it was a zenon lamp failing and that I now may owe £191 for the repair as lamps are not covered by warranty. Will find out tomorrow.
I've explained I've had 3 days off work to get this car sorted out. They had the car for a full day with the assessor and I was told the faults would be repaired under warranty.
I would have thought a call to say it was a lamp and not covered before doing the work. would not have been unreasonable. I haven't signed to OK any work for the lamps. If I had known upfront I wouldn't pay BMW £190 to change a lamp.
I also asked for a copy of the warranty certificate which I was never given at the time of the sale. It turns out it is for 6mths not the 12 I was told when buying the car. So basically the salesman is denying what he said.
Should I have to pay for their misdiagnosis and mistakes, especially as I have been messed about a lot in the process?
After no contact until 6PM tonight (they have had it for 4 full days), I've just been told that it was a zenon lamp failing and that I now may owe £191 for the repair as lamps are not covered by warranty. Will find out tomorrow.
I've explained I've had 3 days off work to get this car sorted out. They had the car for a full day with the assessor and I was told the faults would be repaired under warranty.
I would have thought a call to say it was a lamp and not covered before doing the work. would not have been unreasonable. I haven't signed to OK any work for the lamps. If I had known upfront I wouldn't pay BMW £190 to change a lamp.
I also asked for a copy of the warranty certificate which I was never given at the time of the sale. It turns out it is for 6mths not the 12 I was told when buying the car. So basically the salesman is denying what he said.
Should I have to pay for their misdiagnosis and mistakes, especially as I have been messed about a lot in the process?