What's the next service that will be due (oil or inspection) and in how many miles? If it's an inspection coming up next I wouldn't worry about it. Frankly, even if it was an oil service next I personally wouldn't worry about it either, but if you want absolute peace of mind you could consider having it done now.Niro777 said:
Your Thoughts On Service History
- Thread starter Chompers
- Start date
InterlagosZ4MR
Member
V surprised there aren’t many out there with full history. Mine’s on 43000 and has full history - insp 2 done plus annual changes etc etc all at main dealer. I thought most of them would be similar.
InterlagosZ4MR said:
in my experience main dealer SH means actually sweet F.A. Many of them simply didn't know how to deal with these engines correctly.... i remember when mine was having its running in service and they put in 0w40 ...... no VC reports, imo for this car at least you are paying a massive premium and 90% of the time not getting the quality, a good indie over any main dealer ALL day long, the dealers simply just dont care, at all about your clearances, and nor does the tech that needs to finish it within a spec time...
if i was buying two cars one with full well known indie, one with full dealer , both were the same price, id choose the indie car all day long.
Niro777 said:[ref]Mangozac[/ref], didn’t actually know that they’d take it in over night. Thanks for that. Now knowing this. I’ll make sure it’s done properly for the next service.
How will you know what they have or haven't done if you don't know what they should or shouldn't sound like :?
You can hear when a S54 needs valve clearances doing , if they are "off " its a noise you just can't hide
Its not a given that the valve clearances will actually need adjusting even if due
True, but technicians who I know that work on S54s (and own E46 M3s themselves) advise that sound is a poor way to judge the state of the valve clearances. The sound only becomes definitely noticeable when the clearances are way out. So if the valves were just slightly out it's impossible to tell if anything was done just by the sound. My personal experience agrees with this.mr wilks said:
Ultimately, the closest guarantee you can get short of standing and watching them do it is to use a mechanic that you trust or has a very good reputation for S54s. You can also ask them to give a report of the measured clearances before and after but if you're paranoid then obviously this can be faked too.
Personally I'd rather take a good indie/specialist service history over a main dealer one. I would even take a well documented home service regime over the dealer. Main dealer mechanics have a culture engrained into them from day one of a rush rush ham fisted approach, couple to cutting corners and charging for things you don't actually need. Add in the extortionate rates they already charge and it's a really toxic mix of paying the earth and not actually getting what you pay for.
It's a culture that stays with them once they're out of the MD environment as well unless they spent a decent length of time working for someone else in the indie/specialist arena and has had that mentality beaten out of them.
For me a good genuine specialist, someone who's a full time time, served professional in the specific brand and in this case S series engined M cars, who's worked at a BMW specialist for years is the optimum. Again for me a car with no main dealer stamps and a book full of stamps and receipts from a specialist would be prefferable. Even a stamp or two missing from the specialist over the MD would be fine as the reality is the MD won't have done half of what they say they've done anyway
It's a culture that stays with them once they're out of the MD environment as well unless they spent a decent length of time working for someone else in the indie/specialist arena and has had that mentality beaten out of them.
For me a good genuine specialist, someone who's a full time time, served professional in the specific brand and in this case S series engined M cars, who's worked at a BMW specialist for years is the optimum. Again for me a car with no main dealer stamps and a book full of stamps and receipts from a specialist would be prefferable. Even a stamp or two missing from the specialist over the MD would be fine as the reality is the MD won't have done half of what they say they've done anyway
My apologies, I must have misinterpreted your postmr wilks said:Just to clarify I wasnt suggesting simply listening was Ok to decide whether the valve clearances actually need checking / adjusting
I would always want them doing every Ins1 / Ins2 as per schedule
There's a LOT of S54 misinformation that floats around - sometimes I think we should make a sticky post explaining it all.
MACK said:
Most top notch BMW indies are ex BMW technicians...
I hear your point about Main Dealers trying to make the most of out customers rather than advising where necessary but I wouldn’t say their benchmark operation is one of shoddy workmanship.
After all they have a reputation to uphold.
The main reason for why most people pick BMW indies over Main Dealers comes down to their wallets.
(Even though there are some enthusiasts like you and me who use them as we trust the necessary work to be done to a good standard).
R60BBA said:
I agree that to be a BMW Specialist you really need to be an ex BMW trained tech, just one that's spent a few years working at a good specialist post the dealership to have the dealership culture/mentality beaten out of them. Either that or someone who's been trained from scratch by a good specialist with all the right qualifications/experience. Unfortunately it really is too easy for any Tom, Dick or Harry to set themselves up as a specialist without anything close to the relevant training or experience. It really should be regulated in some way.
Aside from that I think we will have to politely agree to disagree. I'm no fan of Main Dealers in the slightest, an opinion that's been formed by my experience and the experience of others over the past 25 years in both a professional and personal capacity. In fact just yesterday I got a call from my wife looking for advice for her work colleague re a car that was bought brand new from Renault Bolton. Apparently the dealers now had six attempts at fixing the same engine fault! Shes owned her Capture for 4 months but only driven it for 2 weeks, the rest of the time shes been in various loaner Nissan Micras. Suffice to say shes now calling time on this and rejecting it. Aside from the fact during this time they've claimed all sorts from "we cant find a fault" to "were getting an expert in from Renault UK" part of the issue for her was the dealer never contacting her despite been repeatedly ask to keep her updated. This is fairly typical in my experience and thats before we get into all the other stuff like charging for service parts they should've but did replace etc.
For me its a good genuine Specialist or Indie everytime, even if they charged the same, although I'm glad they dont!
