kskane

Hi Guys, I have 148K on my E60 2004 with M54 and auto trans. Thanks to all the BMW expert owners here on the forums who have helped and encouraged me to do DIY maintenance on the vehicle ever since I was being ripped off my the $tealer's and the Indy's here down under in the gong.

Anyway, the vehicle inspection at 150K is due and from understanding the $tealer is only going to have a visual inspection under the vehicle. Current known problems I am having are;

1. Minor engine oil leak from the front right bottom corner,not sure if it is the sump or the head gasket. Since it is minor, I am not too concerned at this point but would be good to know.
2. Engine vibrates when in stationary idle (there is thread going on this forum, I am only listing the issue here)

Now my question, is it worth while to take the vehicle to $tealer for inspection at 150 or not? If not, is there any other thing that only the dealer has special tools for that needs to be double checked or verified at 150K's that I could consider instead of a vehicle inspection service?

Blackwolffm

I'm kinda in the same boat too

KyleB

I'm pretty confident if you bring an E60 with 150,000 miles to the dealer to have them write you an estimate of what needs to be repaired, you're going to get a proposed bill equal to half of the cost of a new F10, containing 75% of proposed repairs that don't need to immediately be made.

Save your money. Inspect and repair your car yourself, or have a trusted independent do it for you.

kskane

KyleB, agree with you 100%, but what I was wondering was is there anything that the $tealer can only diagnose with special equipment such as electrical sensor check (O2, MAF, Engine oil etc) or cylinder pressure test etc that I can consider instead of paying the money for vehicle inspection. Any of those ideas or suggestion?

balbs

I would suggest finding somebody with a laptop and BMW diagnostic tools ( such as INPA) and read codes on your car just to get you started. Some errors can pop up and be recorded into memory that won't necessarily cause a Check Engine Light to come on but will give you an indication of what could be going out.
One time using INPA, I saw my thermostat throwing intermittent errors. I took it to the dealer and they confirmed so they replaced it. At the time I was a few thousand miles of the car going out of warranty. My SA was cool enough to have it replaced for free before my warranty went out and the thermostat finally dies. He says normally they would change it only if it causes a CEL to come on.

KyleB

They're going to hook your car up to INPA or DIS and scan for faults. Then they're going to take a flashlight and look for fluid leaks. Then they're going to look for worn suspension components. They're not going to perform any diagnostic procedures beyond that unless you ask them to (engine compression/leakdown, etc). After that its type up a five figure repair estimate and send you on your way. I hate to sound like a curmudgeon, and I really do like my local dealer, but that's how BMW service departments are for the most part.

There is nothing that they are going to do that a well equipped BMW independent can't do. The difference is your independent will make comments like "_______is starting to wear, but you can wait until next month/year", or "I wouldn't worry about that. They all do that, and it really doesn't affect anything", or "that needs to be taken care of. It will cost you $(half to one-third of dealer quoted cost).

good luck with your car.