Servicing with BMW or BWM specialist?

V

Vbstein

Member
Hey Guys Im planning to keep my Z4 for at least 4+ years. I trying to work out if its worth keeping doing the full BMW dealer service history or going with specialist like TWG instead.

Its £425 to have it serviced by BMW directly but its 240 by TWG. Ive worked out over a 4 year period I would save £740.

Ive used this garage recenty and they did a great job, so Im not worried about the quality of work done.

I thinking about resell afterwards in plus 4 years time, how much would the servicing history affect my asking price?

Thanks as always for your input.
 
I can only speak from personal experience. If I was buying a used car say 3 or 4 years old I would look for main dealer servicing. If it were older than that then specialist is fine as long as long as the service history is complete.
 
Half Colin said:
I can only speak from personal experience. If I was buying a used car say 3 or 4 years old I would look for main dealer servicing. If it were older than that then specialist is fine as long as long as the service history is complete.
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Thanks :)
 
Specialist all the time.

I've actually walked away from cars with full main dealer history - they (IMO and through experience) are a bunch of morons that couldn't care less about you or your car.

I would rather eye ball the experienced guy with his own small business working on my car, than a stupid bint with her saggy t**ts hanging out trying to blindside me as a YTS monkey breaks my pride and joy, or rags it.

/rant... and big deep breath.....

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
 
the cueball said:
Specialist all the time.

I've actually walked away from cars with full main dealer history - they (IMO and through experience) are a bunch of morons that couldn't care less about you or your car.

I would rather eye ball the experienced guy with his own small business working on my car, than a stupid bint with her saggy t**ts hanging out trying to blindside me as a YTS monkey breaks my pride and joy, or rags it.

/rant... and big deep breath.....

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
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Spot on. Fools and their money are soon parted though, hence the ongoing love affair with main dealer servicing.
 
Dealer prices Don't need to way more expensive than Indy's. I always get both prices from dealers & Indy's & get them to price match. Witch they usually do. Never had any problems with my local dealer as they know I will check out the prices for any work they say is required. Think I might be there worst nightmare lol :D
 
You say it's 425 quid to get a BMW service. Is it an oil service or an inspection? Sounds very high for just an oil service.
I would make sure you are comparing like with like services. 425 quid sounds like an inspection. A routine oil service with a main dealer is a lot less.

Do you work for TWG by any chance?
 
Dealer if under 3 years old, specialist over that.

Got mine done at a specialist. He took 10 minutes to explain the problems my car had and also had a chat about z4's in general.

A main dealer would take your money and send you on your way.
 
Zeld4 said:
You say it's 425 quid to get a BMW service. Is it an oil service or an inspection? Sounds very high for just an oil service.
I would make sure you are comparing like with like services. 425 quid sounds like an inspection. A routine oil service with a main dealer is a lot less.

Do you work for TWG by any chance?
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No I'm a accounts payable clerk, they just happen to be the closest BMW specialist to me.
 
My personal view is that when buying a car I'd feel much more reassured seeing stamps from a respected specialist than a main dealer, having read some horror stories and inconsistencies in main dealer servicing.

Of course a lot of people don't think that way.

I have all my servicing done at Darren Wood. Great lads (despite their recent admin cockups, see my springs thread!)
 
Personally I'd only bother with Dealer servicing up to about 80k or 5 years old (whichever comes first.) After that the 'value' FBMWSH adds to the car does not justify the extra cost of the servicing. A decent indy can do just as good (if not better) job for 50-60% of the price.

If it's just an oil service, go somewhere like National or ATS. It only costs £60-80, you can barely buy the oil and filter for that price. As long as you keep an eye on them to make sure they are not making a balls of it, the car will be just as healthy for it and will cost half the price of even an indy oil service.

Also bear in mind that an 'Inspection' is basically just a load of visual checks, they don't actually do much above an oil change for the extra cost, they just warn you about things that need doing. So regular oil servicing plus timed replacements of brake fluid, coolant etc will usually be just as good. Exercising common sense is essential for older cars.
 
Just worth mentioning that I get 20% of labour and 15% off parts at my BMW dealer in Birmingham, as a BMWCCGB member. It makes the delta much smaller.

While I do agree that using a specialist will get your car more care and attention, the ability to fight with a dealer is easier when things go wrong. Sytner in Solihull didn't put my sump plug back in properly in my E90 (No crush ring) so when it inevitably fell out, I was dealt with properly by the dealer and the problem got fixed (I got a good deal on a 1 series). I'm sure it would have been more of a fight with an indy, should a problem like this happen. It's no excuse for the shoddy service though of course.
 
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