neo_24860 said:
Jesus! That's not cool! Did you ever find out what the cause was?
i don't think anybody knows for sure tbh. they replaced so many different things. they even replaced all the filters, etc. MAF sensors, something to do with ignition power. even a whole new control unit for the car which they never re-programmed properly. some exhaust parts too. i've kept all the receipts, etc. i never wanted to get that car but the wife insisted. i made her foot the bill and told her in future she should listen to me

.
they think it was the control unit. i'm not so sure. the car is now fixed but i would have been better off just torching (

) the thing and claiming on insurance it had been stolen. however how was i to know a £600 bill would end up £3K+?
i took my Z4 in for an inspection 2 the following month. i gave them the fluids (all top spec stuff from castrol, etc). i also asked them to change the gearbox fluid (supplied) and differential fluid (supplied). they supplied all filters and spark plugs and obviously the labour.
i think with all the additions it was circa an £800 service albeit i did provide fluids so probably a circa £600 service because i supplied fluids. they charged me £200 after i said i wanted the branch manager to deal with my bill directly. he never spoke to me once directly during the whole fiasco even after complaining to their head office twice. he never spoke to me when i brought my z4 in either he used the branches customer service manager as a piggy in the middle. i saw him and the customer service manager go through my bill for about 15 mins whilst i waited in the guest area. in the end i think they charged me circa £15 an hour labour on the z4 service and everything else at their normal pricing and did the additional stuff for free.
i know his full name. so i am pondering whether it would be cheeky to keep on asking for discounts now in future every time i am in? or would that be too cheeky? i suppose their is no harm in asking but it will take a red neck to do so after a year has passed.
i suppose they weren't entirely at fault. it was an intermittent issue. however they should have only tried to fix things if they knew for sure 100% they actually needed replacing. i'm guessing circa £2000 worth of my bills possibly even higher wasn't even required. they even at the end of it all said your turbo may be on it's way out and it will be an extra £1K to fix it if you want us to do it. the turbo costs about £150 on ebay brand new. it's made by garret. it's been fine so far albeit it does leak but apparently they all do, it's a known issue. anyway it's been a year so far and the turbo is fine. they had the R56 for around 3 months in their garage. they gave me a courtesy car for around 2 weeks during it all.
what i learned was - dealer for services, good independent for repairs and maintenance. problem is i can't seem to find a good independant in glasgow that i trust. i have tried 2 now. 1 has a great mechanic but the owner is a delboy who adds in additional stuff, the other i tried was just far too expensive but great. i'm going to try B for BMW next.
why is it so hard to find a decent place to take your car to?