bardel

Hi,

I have a 535d on order (in the UK) and over here we can purchase a 3 or 5 year service pack. From memory I think the 3 year service pack (not including tires / brakes / clutch etc) is about ?500.00

Not knowing what the normal servicing costs are likely to be, can any current owners give me any guidance on whether this is likely to be a good buy or not? I am likely to cover upto 15k miles per year.

Thanks

Barry

535dMAN

When I got mine back in June last year I paid ?1300 for the 5 year service and maintainence pack. Gave me the piece of mind of not expecting major bills for the next 5 years and also the fact that it would help with the resale value of the car when the time came to sell and also make my car a more desirable buy for the next owner.

When you take ?1300 OVER 5 YEARS = ?260 per year or ?21.66 per month - NOT bad for the piece of mind it offers i.e including wipers, brake pads and fluids, microfilters, servicing, labour costs etc etc etc

I'm sure they'll be many on here who may disagree but when you're spending an upwards of ?42k then ?1300 (or ?500 in your case!!) is worth it IMHO

Hope this helps

MacSid

I agree wholeheartedly with 535dMAN on this.

It's a small additional price to pay for a LOT of peace of mind over a period of time. Plus, I would suspect that the cost you pay for the package will work out at less than the cost of however many service visits you end up having over the 3- or 5-year period - especially when you factor in the labour portion of the service bill.

I have always bought my cars CPO, so never had the benefit of such a package, but regularly cringe when I get servicing bills. The "labour" and "small consumables" lines seem to be designed to skin my wallet!

MacSid

aybeesea

I took the Service and Maintenance 5 years, 60000 miles package because I thought it was a good idea.

BUT

Even though I've done 18,000 miles in 14 months I am only just coming up to the first condition-based servicing (the only type the SA will accept with this package) oil change. My pads still have 33,000 miles on them and many of the other components have tens of thousands of miles on them.

I somehow don't think I would get more than 3 oil changes and one of the other types of services (brakes, microfilter etc) in during the 5 year/60,000 mile interval.

Value for money? No.

Peace of mind. Yes.

ABC

bardel

Thanks for the replies guys.

535dMan, MacSid, can you give me an indication of the service visits your car has undergone and the time / milage covered so I can compare with Aybeesea's information? A couple more examples well help me understand if ABC's experience is typical?

Cheers

Barry

MacSid

I've only had mine since March 20th this year, so it's not been in for anything yet.

The prior experience I referred to in my post was for my E39, so I doubt that would be a good comparison for service interval or parts costs. Labour charges out here are what keeps killing me, though. I'm on a business trip at the moment, but will dig out some old bills at the weekend and see what those were. I'm in the Netherlands, by the way, so you'll need to factor in the different labour rates.

MacSid

535dMAN

My baby's one year old next week (litrally, I got the car delivered they day my daughter was born ) I have not used anything in the package so far except for a set of new wiper blades. My first oil change is showing up as 3500 miles (i've done around 15k so far).

KAF

Took the 5 year service and maintenance deal from new in April 2005. cost then was ?1300, So far covered 38,000 Mls

Have had 2 oil services, front pads changed, 3 sets of wiper blades, one vehicle inspection, brake fluid change.

Oil service due in 7,000mls, microfilter due in 5,000.

Brakes show 11,000 to front replacement and 15,000 for rears.

Brake fluid will not be changed again before the deal runs out around November 2008. (Based on mileage exceeding 60,000 by then)

I think it is a worthwhile deal but a close run thing in terms of cost, but servicing costs are only going one way !!

Effectively you are paying for 5 years servicing at todays cost.

aybeesea

But only servicing events indicated by iDrive.

And TBH they are few and far between. eg your rear pads appearing to last for 53,000 miles.

ABC

cloz

WAIT JUST A MINUTE !

I have a 2004 530d SE (UK) and paid ?1000.00 for "Service Inclusive". However, I've been told this does NOT include wiper blades, a set of which I've had to replace !!!

Can anyone clarify ?