Oil service Vs MOT

- don't have details of BMW's own version of their service schedule, but the version recommended by Haynes for older 3 and 5 series cars lists;

 -oil service every 6000miles or 6 months, (whichever is sooner) . Includes oil and filter, PAS level check, ATF level check (auto), tyre rotation, underbonnet hose check (incl. brake hoses to master cylinder and ABS unit, and lines from the fuel pump), 'v' belt check, idle speed check, CO check. 

-every 12000 miles or 12 months (whichever is sooner) a bigger service which includes an inspection of the braking system. Also recommends inspection of brake lines etc every time a wheel is removed for whatever reason.

The above will be based on, but presumably not identical to BMW's schedule. If you are not doing too many miles its not a bad idea to have the recommended 'annual inspection' service routinely before the MOT if you are sticking with dealer servicing, I would say.

cheers

 

Was it a BMW dealer that did your service?

For an oil service they do a quick check underneath, but probably not as thoroughly as an MOT. Sometimes MOT stations can more picky as the pipe maybe rusty but solid. Is there a cause for the rusty pipe? - missing cover that stops excess road dirt from attacking it, coolant etc leaking onto it.

Oil service - Oil & filter, possibly air filter, then check things over, but a basic service at that.

i've seen rusty brake pipes which are solid, that a wire brush and waxoil won't cure.

41% difference? surely that would have been noticed when braking, as the car would want to steer to oneside.

Sounds like you took your car to a BMW dealer for its service! My local garage service all makes of cars (that old dealer thing re warranty affected if serviced elsewhere no longer applies partly because of EU rules etc) and the very first thing they do is to remove all of the wheels and they check the brakes/pads etc, just as a matter of routine and because they value their customers, and they think about safety.

I read a complaint story in Auto Express/Watchdog section a few weeks ago where someone who takes their BM to a dealer, had a brake problem because BMW don't as routine (like my good garage) check the brake pads etc and only take off the wheels as a separate (to be paid extra) job!

Apparently what they do is check them via a machine which gives an 'average' reading so that he found to his cost that the pad on one side was worn down and the other was not bad so the BMW average reading said they were 'OK'!!

BMW are generally very greedy and this is shocking not to be able to bear your customer's safety in mind.

In a survey just a couple of weeks ago it was found that one dealer in Chelsea charges £153 PER HOUR to service a car!! My local dealer who is far more thorough and caring, charges £30 an hour and you know you are safe to drive your car.

BMBoy wrote: Sounds like you took your car to a BMW dealer for its service! My local garage service all makes of cars (that old dealer thing re warranty affected if serviced elsewhere no longer applies partly because of EU rules etc)

Does this mean that you don't need to take your new car to the dealer for servicing in order to keep the warranty?

Forgot to add this:

Scrap servicing scam, says OFT - 17 December 2003

Motorists could save a total of £500m a year if all car manufacturers responded to today’s call from the Office of Fair Trading to scrap restrictive clauses on warranty policies. The OFT report said half of the 2.5m new cars sold last year were covered by warranties which insisted that servicing work should be carried out by franchised dealers for the policies to remain valid. Forcing owners to have work done within the franchised network costs motorists as much as £500m a year, said the OFT. It found that services at independent garages were an average of £113, £83 cheaper than those carried out at franchised dealers.

Eleven manufacturers have failed to abandon the restrictive clauses, despite the announcement of the OFT investigation this June and pressure from European regulators for more competition within the industry.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Citroen, Ford, Mercedes, Peugeot, Seat, Skoda, Smart and Volkswagen would now fall into line with the rest of the market.

Many car owners are unaware that they can have their car serviced outside the franchise network without compromising their warranties; although 67% were concerned it would have a detrimental effect on residual values. The used market is likely to cut around 3-5% off the value of cars without a full dealer service history, so this loss could offset any savings made on servicing costs. The OFT says the service and repair industry is worth £10bn a year, £1.4bn of which is spent on cars up to three years old and covered by warranty. It will launch a campaign next spring to highlight the choices available to motorists.


‘Servicing scam must stop’ - 30 March 2004

Motorists are being urged to check for unfair clauses in their warranties that could push up the cost of servicing.
The call comes from the Office of Fair Trading, which found that half of all the 2.5m new cars sold in the UK in 2002 were covered by warranties with restrictive clauses. These stipulations insist that more expensive franchised dealers have to be used for servicing work if warranties are to remain valid. The OFT estimates that this costs UK motorists £500m a year.

It has issued a new leaflet to help motorists to find out whether their warranty contains the restrictive conditions.
The OFT’s executive director, Penny Boys, said: ‘Servicing restrictions, combined with confusion about warranty terms and conditions, restrict competition between garages. This drives up prices and reduces choice and convenience for the customer.’

Half of motorists are already free to use independent garages without invalidating their warranty. However, many still fear that having their car serviced outside of the franchised network will have a detrimental effect on residual values. Chrysler, Mercedes, Peugeot and Smart have announced they will remove servicing ties from their warranties, but Audi, BMW, Citroen, Ford, Seat, Skoda, and Volkswagen have yet to follow suit.
If the OFT isn’t satisfied with the response from car makers, it may refer the matter to the Competition Commission.

OFT stops servicing scam - 5 May 2004

Car owners are now free to choose where they service their cars thanks to a campaign by the Office of Fair Trading. The OFT had identified 11 manufacturers whose warranties forced motorists to have their cars serviced at more expensive franchised dealers. These restrictive clauses, which affected 49% of new cars sold last year, have now been removed following pressure from the OFT. This could save motorists up to £500m a year

Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Citroen, Ford, Mercedes, Peugeot, Seat, Skoda, Smart and Volkswagen have fallen in line with the OFT's call, although strict conditions on the quality of the work by independent garages remain. DaimlerChrysler, for instance, insists that work is done to an 'excellent' standard and uses approved parts for the warranty to remain valid, while BMW says servicing has to meet certain guidelines and use parts 'of a similar quality' to its own.

The OFT says that the quality of work provided by independent garages is as good as that offered by franchised dealers, however, as well as an average £83 cheaper at £116.

A leaflet called ‘Buying a new car?’ to help motorists understand new car warranties has been produced by the OFT and is available at www.oft.gov.uk.

The Watchdog article was in Auto Express no. 804 which I think I threw out with other old mags. But in issue no. 806 there was a letter written in response to the brake thing (incidentally it cost the guy £250 to rectify and BMW wouldn't refund him for assuming the pads were 'OK/average'

The letter says "I was amazed to read that getting your brakes tested fully on a BMW costs extra. I work at a Jaguar dealership where at every service all the wheels are removed and brakes checked. Everything mechanical is looked over and cars are road tested in case of interior rattles to fix.

The car is then cleaned and polished to remove any hairline scratches and handed back. This is Jaguar's standard service and if we can do it then surely BMW can do it too!"

My local garage cleans every serviced car free of charge too as they believe in Customer Care!!

dave 328 wrote: BMBoy wrote: Apparently what they do is check them via a machine which gives an 'average' reading so that he found to his cost that the pad on one side was worn down and the other was not bad so the BMW average reading said they were 'OK'!!   How does this machine check the pad friction thickness? I thought the only real way was to take the wheel off.

Brucey wrote: - I have avoided having others do anything to it whatsoever for years now.

I wish I was in a position to do that myself, however with no garage and only a limited selection of tools, a lot of the time I have no choice.

Two Beemers ago, which was my first one, when I went to trade it in and said to the dealer that my car had full stamps with dealer history he wasn't at all bothered and opened his desk drawer and said that he had a drawer full of service books and he could choose from any of them!! I never did find out what he meant, where they had come from and what he was going to be doing with them all!

In fact three months ago when I traded in a 328Ci for a new Beemer the dealer sales guy even didn't ask me once about the service record book and it isn't a dealership that I had dealt with before.

This makes me realise that what I have read is true, in that dealers just try to 'scare us' into getting our BMWs serviced at their expensive workshops, but when it actually comes to trading the cars in, the service book doesn't really bother them as they can 'get one out of their desk drawer' for the new owner!!

Servicing is where they hope to make their extra profit and they realise now that the law states that we can choose where to get our cars looked after and in my opinion a reliable local garage takes the greater care and really appreciates and values our custom. The really good ones also have diagnostic equipment too so that isn't an issue and they also know how to reset the service light etc.

Just a quick update on the whole MOT brake issue. I took the car in this morning for the retest and the front brakes are still not right. They are both working, it is just that one comes on slower than the other. The machine measures a 41% difference because in the first second that you press the pedal the drivers side brake comes on imediately whereas the passenger side takes a second longer. It is hardly noticable on the road but it is still a failure. The guy thinks it may be a sticky caliper.

Peter Fenwick wrote: Now the last people to touch that was my so called BMW speciallist when they changed the brake fluid about 7 months ago. Since they never mentioned it to me I can only assume that either they didn't change the fluid at all so didn't notice, or they rounded it off and didn't tell me. So I am either going to find a new speciallist or do the servicing myself in future.

So you joining Me and Brucey on the DIY serving?

If you can do it yourself, it makes you think why you pay 4x as much, basically for a stamp. But if like me and you keep receipts and log whats been done, I can't see it putting people off - certainly didn't with my last car!

Edited by dave 328