Your Thoughts On Service History

C

Chompers

Member
 Co. Down, NI
Hi all, been doing a fair bit of research over the last few days and while, as expected there aren't many Z4MR's out there, the ones that are seem to have not the best of history's/late RIS or no recent service history recorded.

What importance do you guy's put on history, timing and whether main dealer or Indi/Local mechanic?

Thanks
 
I'd far rather see some sort of history from an enthusiast. Log of work done, receipts etc than a stamp in a book
I've seen numerous cars of family and friends with FSH that had dirty filters worn plugs etc etc
'Technically' in line with the service schedules
Case in point with the oil change on most modern cars is around 15k - personally I change it annually regardless of milage
:)
Sorry - just re read and saw you were talking about Z4MR - I guess a slightly different ball game
 
It’s the valve clearances I’d be concerned about, the oil changes etc are easy but is the owner/home mechanic up to checking & changing the shims?
An independent specialist history instead of official Bmw wouldn’t put me off but I’d be suspicious of home serviced cars :?
Rob
 
Smartbear said:
It’s the valve clearances I’d be concerned about, the oil changes etc are easy but is the owner/home mechanic up to checking & changing the shims?
An independent specialist history instead of official Bmw wouldn’t put me off but I’d be suspicious of home serviced cars :?
Rob
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Yes, these are my thoughts too. Some very vague Insp II history on the cars for sale at the minute. I knew this wouldn't be an easy find :cry:
 
Chompers said:
Smartbear said:
It’s the valve clearances I’d be concerned about, the oil changes etc are easy but is the owner/home mechanic up to checking & changing the shims?
An independent specialist history instead of official Bmw wouldn’t put me off but I’d be suspicious of home serviced cars :?
Rob
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Yes, these are my thoughts too. Some very vague Insp II history on the cars for sale at the minute. I knew this wouldn't be an easy find :cry:
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Biggest problem with the Ins1 Ins2 on the ///Ms & it goes for dealer of indy , unless there is a record of the clearances attached there really is no guarantee they've been done as we know from past findings that there may well be a stamp for 1 or 2 (indy or dealer) but reality is its a lottery whether everything that should have been done has been done :cry:
 
Smartbear said:
but is the owner/home mechanic up to checking & changing the shims?
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Yes, if you are competent and have the tools needed its straightforward, but time consuming. It's the time it takes (many hours) that actually makes the task more suited to an enthusiast, as they don't have to rush, with no hourly rate to work to.
I've said it before, but if home services are documented, with receipts and ideally photos to accompany them I'd be happy to buy an M with this evidence. I'm happy to concede that if purchasing a 20k mile garage queen/future investment then you would expect full BMW history. For an M you expect to use then any mixture of servicing is good with me, providing it has actually been serviced, the more the better. I agree with the above that servicing at 15,000 mile intervals seem too long, interim oil changes would be my preference.
 
You'll struggle to get much of a paper trail when it comes to valve adjustments so I'd be content with finding a car that's been regularly serviced by either reputable places or knowledgeable owners. I also think there's a lot of fuss surrounding these cars when it comes to the history. Of course, there's no need to worry yourself with one that has a poor history, but if the car seems good, hasn't covered intergalactic miles between fluid changes then I'd be happy with that. This insistence on yearly oil changes is overstated in my opinion and whilst it certainly won't hurt, I wouldn't be put off an otherwise excellent car if it had regularly gone a couple of years between changes but had only covered a few K. In fact, I'd say that a yearly valve check would be far more beneficial to the health and running of the car.

I appreciate that as a buyer you want to minimise your risk to problems, however I think a more pragmatic approach to these cars is often the right way to go about things. Buy with your eyes, ears and your gut and you probably won't go too far wrong. :)
 
i used to think it was mega important, now days???? As long as its respectable and not have a 4 year gap then tbh it wouldn't bother me, go on condition and MOT checks etc. Even the running in service , i mean mine was done really early. like at 790 miles..... some were at 1700 , some were done at all, personally i wouldn't be bothered either way.
 
Chompers said:
I knew this wouldn't be an easy find :cry:
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Don’t think you’ll find one with a full history - maybe one that’s gone 3 or 4 years between services or one that’s missed an inspection and had two oil services in a row.
 
Beedub said:
i used to think it was mega important, now days????
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Wow Beedub you're tempering in your old age!

OP, as others have said it can be quite difficult to determine if and when valve adjustments have actually been made but the good news is that the chance of damage from this is practically zero. Unless another fault has occurred (worn cams/lifters, etc.) then the clearances generally don't vary enough to cause any problem - it will simply reduce the engine's efficiency and thus the power delivery.

The maximum time between oil changes is 2 years but in the search for my car not one car had a perfect service history when you include this condition. In general these are low km cars so most get their oil changes based on time, not miles. It's not a big concern but if there was a gap of more than 3 years I wouldn't be so keen (the oil does absorb moisture and degrade over time).

beanie said:
In fact, I'd say that a yearly valve check would be far more beneficial to the health and running of the car.
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As above, I disagree. Especially if only low miles are being driven, doing the valve clearances any more frequent than inspection 1 is complete overkill and unnecessary expense. Plenty of cars are having their clearances done on the erroneous schedule of only inspection 2 and I've never heard of any problem caused by this.
 
It was only being used as a comparison to highlight the negligible benefits of over-frequent oil changes. I'd completely agree that neither are strictly necessary when done with such regularity-especially if you're paying the labour on it :)

That said, I do both and only cover 4-5000 a year :lol: Interestingly (perhaps) I often have a valve or two that's become borderline in that time and a shim up or down makes it 'just so'. Of course, I generally don't notice any difference but for me it's time well spent.
 
If you’re concerned about service history you could always get the seller to put the car in for an Inspection 2 before you hand over your hard earned cash (or knock this off of the asking price if they can’t be bothered).

You could then build a service history thereon.
 
beanie said:
I'd completely agree that neither are strictly necessary when done with such regularity-especially if you're paying the labour on it :)
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I DIY too but for me it's not worth the effort of doing more often than necessary. It's not like it's a difficult process though so I can see why some DIYers such as yourself might want the warm fuzzy feeling of doing it more frequently ;)
 
Thanks for your thoughts folks. The idea of getting a car with a recent Insp II or price adjusted is a great idea. At the least this will gain a reaction from the seller. I guess the ideal thing is to wait for something to pop up on here.

I thought there would be more choice tbh.
 
Mangozac said:
Beedub said:
i used to think it was mega important, now days????
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Wow Beedub you're tempering in your old age!

OP, as others have said it can be quite difficult to determine if and when valve adjustments have actually been made but the good news is that the chance of damage from this is practically zero. Unless another fault has occurred (worn cams/lifters, etc.) then the clearances generally don't vary enough to cause any problem - it will simply reduce the engine's efficiency and thus the power delivery.

The maximum time between oil changes is 2 years but in the search for my car not one car had a perfect service history when you include this condition. In general these are low km cars so most get their oil changes based on time, not miles. It's not a big concern but if there was a gap of more than 3 years I wouldn't be so keen (the oil does absorb moisture and degrade over time).

beanie said:
In fact, I'd say that a yearly valve check would be far more beneficial to the health and running of the car.
Click to expand...
As above, I disagree. Especially if only low miles are being driven, doing the valve clearances any more frequent than inspection 1 is complete overkill and unnecessary expense. Plenty of cars are having their clearances done on the erroneous schedule of only inspection 2 and I've never heard of any problem caused by this.
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not quite tempering... :-P

The VC are very important to me obviously that goes without saying, i was mostly talking about the running in service which i no believe is rubbish tbh. Preventative stuff done regularly would attract me way more than a nail on service history. Once again regular VC for me do matter.
 
Beedub said:
The VC are very important to me obviously that goes without saying, i was mostly talking about the running in service which i no believe is rubbish tbh. Preventative stuff done regularly would attract me way more than a nail on service history. Once again regular VC for me do matter.
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Ahh gotcha ;)

Your engine isn't exactly standard, so I'm not going to pretend I know what differences this makes to the servicing requirements. For unmodified S54s though I stand by my comments.
 
I contacted a ‘specialist’ regarding my upcoming Ins2, it was about £700 iirc and he’d do everything apart from the shims.......... he said he didn’t have the right tools :cry: mine will be going to my friends garage, he’s looked after my car since I’ve had it, my previous air cooled 911 and the rest of my friends cars, from M3’s, Mercedes and Aston’s, I know it will be done right and at sensible money too :thumbsup:
 
My view varies a little from most conservative members here. For me, condition is everything. A stamp in a book means jack to me as there are some pretty dismal service places out there, both at the stealer and Indi. I'd much rather have zero service history in a car that is tight in all the right places and sounds good, than one with all the bells and whistles in a paper book which may or may not have been carried out anyways.

Obviously depending on why you are buying the car, as a short investment (your looking in the wrong place anyways) or as a car you wanna drive (your looking in the right place)
If your buying the car to resell it after a year or so, yeah then service history is a must (thought it probably still means jack s**t in regards to the services having been carried out properly) but other buyers have been convinced that if you don't have a service history, your car will implode/Xplode at the nearest turn of the key. Crazy but true.

I too would much rather have a nice tight car with Jack s**t history, as mostly I'll be doing the required things anyways, as maybe the miles are not very high, but those bushes have been in there for a long time now and will need replacing anyways..

Anyways that's my 2 cents, also worth jack s**t. :D

Quick list at what I would be looking at...hard..

Engine...
Suspension..
Drive line.. must bushes will probably need replacing. (Includes engine and gearbox mounts)
Fluids.. all replace..that's all of them , including brakes, diff, gearbox and coolant.
Front Sway bar mounts.. check them for cracks
Lollipops, etc.. the list goes on..

Even though your service history has all the stamps, chances are that after 10 years, with original equipment, your car will probably be handling like a wet blanket.

That's why I prefer condition over a stamp collection in a book.

Cheers
:poke:

Also, if your buying from a dealer, then I guess you have not much else to go on, but I bet if your buying from an enthusiast, you'll know in 3 seconds flat if the car has been looked after in the right places after you've talked to the owner.
 
[ref]Chompers[/ref], I recently bought a z4mr and it was fairly high mileage at 98k but was with original owner and every service had been spot on from what I can tell from the service book and receipts. But as mentioned above. No real evidence of valve clearance checks or adjustments at all. Has had 11 services in total. 10 of which are BMW and 1 specialist. Would it be in my best interest to get valve clearances checked as soon as I could?
I have also read from an m3 forum that some BMW main dealers do not include valve adjustments as part of inspection services
 
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