HIGHLY RECCOMMEND New Spark Plugs at 70K
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Originally Posted by subarashi' post='672287' date='Sep 18 2008, 09:40 AM
Search the forums - but let me warn you that its very difficult. You will spend a lot of time and its not worth it in my opinion.. The dealer is reasonable in this regard...
I disagree this. The DIY is very EASY! if you have the right tools. only the hard part to remove the Spark plug number 4 (rear + passenger side) that is it.
It takes about 1 hour (always do when your engine is cold)
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Originally Posted by subarashi' post='672261' date='Sep 18 2008, 09:00 AM
The stealer was good to me in that this was my first visit to them -
Parts $156.80
Labor $330.00
The end result, IMHO, is WELL worth it....
Parts $156.80
Labor $330.00
The end result, IMHO, is WELL worth it....
Well, it is already done and don't worry then.... enjoy driving the car!
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Originally Posted by TexaZ3' post='672432' date='Sep 18 2008, 12:08 PM
Reasonable? Are you serious? Changing spark plugs is a 20 minute job, 30 minutes tops.
I'm not paying almost $500 to a dealer to do that.
I'm not paying almost $500 to a dealer to do that.
+1 so true! (Dealers know it and always tell thier customers for 2 hours of labour. that is BS)
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Originally Posted by southgate' post='672284' date='Sep 18 2008, 09:39 AM
im thinking of doing a DIY for this although i dont know how to reset the idrive
PM me if you have more questions about replacing the Spark Plug. To reset in idrive... it is not necessary.
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Originally Posted by subarashi' post='672245' date='Sep 18 2008, 07:39 AM
My 545i started to have a lot of shrugs/rough starts over the past six months in perfectly normal weather. I also noted that the pickup was decreasing despite resetting the tranny. I read somewhere in this forum that changing out the plugs may help.
I kept the original NGK plugs and they looked HORRIBLE! They were corroded, blackened and charred at their contacts like you would not believe.
I kept the original NGK plugs and they looked HORRIBLE! They were corroded, blackened and charred at their contacts like you would not believe.
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Guys:
Thanks for the responses. Here are my comments:
A) The dealer charged one and a half hours labor plus 50 bucks for the deductible on the extended warranty. i agree in that this is relatively higher in price BUT I think to get an OEM job done, you pay OEM prices. While some of you may want to DIY it, I was not able/comfortable with reaching plug 4 on my own . NGK plugs online run around 12-16 bucks a piece depending on where you go, so 20 at the stealers retail is not unheard of. So yes, you can save money by buying them and bringing them in - question is, do you really want to go with that sort of approach to the dealer.
I have owned five BMWs and in my experience, that sort of approach is not worth it in the long run. What was not mentioned above was that I had about 1K of repair work done [in addition to the plugs], that was covered by my SA as part of goodwill [stuff like my rear spoiler needed adjustment, some body dings, updating my transmission with reprogamming of the module, brake changes front + rear, etc]. So yes, I paid a bit more for the plugs but from a global perspective I find this reasonable in view of ALL that was done... PLUS - the car runs great and that's the best prize of them all!
Silbergrau - I bought the car brand new, picked it up in Europe as Euro Delivery as a matter of fact. I used only 92 grade fuel, mostly hwy driving for the first three years and more city driving recently over the past year. The iDrive has always stated 100K miles for the change and I dont think this dynamically changes based on the experience my 2008 X5 and my 2007 335xi iDrive modules that continue to state the same 100K interval even though their driving pattern is very different to my 545i.
Thanks for the responses. Here are my comments:
A) The dealer charged one and a half hours labor plus 50 bucks for the deductible on the extended warranty. i agree in that this is relatively higher in price BUT I think to get an OEM job done, you pay OEM prices. While some of you may want to DIY it, I was not able/comfortable with reaching plug 4 on my own . NGK plugs online run around 12-16 bucks a piece depending on where you go, so 20 at the stealers retail is not unheard of. So yes, you can save money by buying them and bringing them in - question is, do you really want to go with that sort of approach to the dealer.
I have owned five BMWs and in my experience, that sort of approach is not worth it in the long run. What was not mentioned above was that I had about 1K of repair work done [in addition to the plugs], that was covered by my SA as part of goodwill [stuff like my rear spoiler needed adjustment, some body dings, updating my transmission with reprogamming of the module, brake changes front + rear, etc]. So yes, I paid a bit more for the plugs but from a global perspective I find this reasonable in view of ALL that was done... PLUS - the car runs great and that's the best prize of them all!
Silbergrau - I bought the car brand new, picked it up in Europe as Euro Delivery as a matter of fact. I used only 92 grade fuel, mostly hwy driving for the first three years and more city driving recently over the past year. The iDrive has always stated 100K miles for the change and I dont think this dynamically changes based on the experience my 2008 X5 and my 2007 335xi iDrive modules that continue to state the same 100K interval even though their driving pattern is very different to my 545i.
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Originally Posted by subarashi' post='672863' date='Sep 18 2008, 08:26 PM
Guys:
Thanks for the responses. Here are my comments:
A) The dealer charged one and a half hours labor plus 50 bucks for the deductible on the extended warranty. i agree in that this is relatively higher in price BUT I think to get an OEM job done, you pay OEM prices. While some of you may want to DIY it, I was not able/comfortable with reaching plug 4 on my own . NGK plugs online run around 12-16 bucks a piece depending on where you go, so 20 at the stealers retail is not unheard of. So yes, you can save money by buying them and bringing them in - question is, do you really want to go with that sort of approach to the dealer.
I have owned five BMWs and in my experience, that sort of approach is not worth it in the long run. What was not mentioned above was that I had about 1K of repair work done [in addition to the plugs], that was covered by my SA as part of goodwill [stuff like my rear spoiler needed adjustment, some body dings, updating my transmission with reprogamming of the module, brake changes front + rear, etc]. So yes, I paid a bit more for the plugs but from a global perspective I find this reasonable in view of ALL that was done... PLUS - the car runs great and that's the best prize of them all!
Silbergrau - I bought the car brand new, picked it up in Europe as Euro Delivery as a matter of fact. I used only 92 grade fuel, mostly hwy driving for the first three years and more city driving recently over the past year. The iDrive has always stated 100K miles for the change and I dont think this dynamically changes based on the experience my 2008 X5 and my 2007 335xi iDrive modules that continue to state the same 100K interval even though their driving pattern is very different to my 545i.
Thanks for the responses. Here are my comments:
A) The dealer charged one and a half hours labor plus 50 bucks for the deductible on the extended warranty. i agree in that this is relatively higher in price BUT I think to get an OEM job done, you pay OEM prices. While some of you may want to DIY it, I was not able/comfortable with reaching plug 4 on my own . NGK plugs online run around 12-16 bucks a piece depending on where you go, so 20 at the stealers retail is not unheard of. So yes, you can save money by buying them and bringing them in - question is, do you really want to go with that sort of approach to the dealer.
I have owned five BMWs and in my experience, that sort of approach is not worth it in the long run. What was not mentioned above was that I had about 1K of repair work done [in addition to the plugs], that was covered by my SA as part of goodwill [stuff like my rear spoiler needed adjustment, some body dings, updating my transmission with reprogamming of the module, brake changes front + rear, etc]. So yes, I paid a bit more for the plugs but from a global perspective I find this reasonable in view of ALL that was done... PLUS - the car runs great and that's the best prize of them all!
Silbergrau - I bought the car brand new, picked it up in Europe as Euro Delivery as a matter of fact. I used only 92 grade fuel, mostly hwy driving for the first three years and more city driving recently over the past year. The iDrive has always stated 100K miles for the change and I dont think this dynamically changes based on the experience my 2008 X5 and my 2007 335xi iDrive modules that continue to state the same 100K interval even though their driving pattern is very different to my 545i.Thanks goodness BMW has customers like you.
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Originally Posted by southgate' post='672284' date='Sep 18 2008, 07:39 AM
im thinking of doing a DIY for this although i dont know how to reset the idrive
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Originally Posted by tbal' post='672950' date='Sep 19 2008, 02:00 AM
Should be easy as resetting all the others things, oil change, microfilter etc, i will check it for you tomm
S
