brought the Ti in for service

[Briansol]

i know the car... george wasn't there when i dropped it off. I dealt with Dennis who was nice, but didn't seem to really want to talk George called me the next day on the phone and introduced himself and yadda yadda about the car. Brian is the tech working on it i think. he's called me a few times to verify ordering parts, etc.

They are almost done. I would love to pick it up saturday, but it may not be ready in time.

big bill too almost 4k and they still has some stuff to do on it last i talked to them.
but, they found a ton of shit wrong with it and i told 'em to fix it. i plan on keeping this thing for a while as a DD, so it's worth it.

ball joints, tie rods, end links, shock mounts, valve cover seals, coolant flush, rear hatch strusts (and these things are like $200 a pop ) thermostat change, front calipers frozen and replaced, etc etc, plus my suspension install, brake install and flush, alignment, fix the passenger window (off track), lsd flush, and a general 160k service on top of it (oil/filters/cabins/etc etc etc)

 

[phyregod]

I hate it when mechanics suggest ball joints, tie rods, end links, shock mounts, etc. Usually just fluff to boost their take home. You know these guys are commission, right? the more they sell, the more they make.. And giving them a free ticket to do whatever the hell they want to "do it right" is like handing them a blank check. I'd tell them to keep all the old parts they pull off so you can have them back. I'd be willing to bet most of they crap they pull off is perfectly fine.

 

[Briansol]

naw, i know something was shot. i had a wobble at 40mph. the ball joint is likely the cause of this.

for the claipers, i know my pads were shot-- my brake sensor wear light was flickering on.
they said one side was new, one side was shot.. so most likely a frozen caliper. i had 'em do both while they are in there. usually when one goes, the other is soon to follow. saves me another appointment. Plus, i have all other new brake parts going on so it made sense to do it now.
same thing with the tie rods.. i got all new suspension parts going on.... doesn't make sense to leave a shot bushing on.
shock mounts are a wear item. might as well do it while they are in there.

the car has 160k on it, and it wasn't maintained very well by the previous owner. When i bought it, it was very dirty and just plain old neglected.

and again, like i said in the first post, this is my trial run with the company. they are 75 miles away. it's not a convenience to get there. if they do a good job, they will have my business again. if i feel i got taken, they won't ever see my M (or the labor to install my turbo kit if i do end deciding to go that route....) the drive home will tell all the difference.

i couldn't break 27mpg with the car before.
it was sloppy (suspension was shot)
and it wobbled at 40mph.

if it breaks 30mpg, and feels tight and runs good on the drive home, i'll be happy to rack up another 40k miles on it over the next 2 years.

 

[get_nick]

wow, $4k for repairs plus the cost to buy it. you could have had a 2001 330 for $10k.

 

[Briansol]

.... which would also have needed some work too, not gotten as good of mileage, etc etc.

with any used car, you gotta figure it needs some work.

i didn't HAVE to do 1/4 of this stuff. I wanted to because i drive 120+ miles a day, and its worth it to me.

 

[TurboMirage]

 

[Briansol]

heh, you're the last person i thought would approve my decision


plus, the Ti is a pretty rare car. It's kinda fun 'saving' one.

 

[99sidude]

Where they rip you is in the parts cost. I just took my maxima in for an allignment, and they couldn't do it because one of the tie rods is bad. They wanted $60 bucks just for the part, and another $80 in labor. The nissan dealer only charges $40 for the same part, and the shop uses "quality 2nd party parts", which cost $26 at Autozone.

 

[Briansol]

autozone doesn't sell many bmw parts... i can't even find an oil flter for the thing. so, i'm not too concerned with getting non oem parts.

 

[TurboMirage]

heh, you're the last person i thought would approve my decision


plus, the Ti is a pretty rare car. It's kinda fun 'saving' one.

that little hatch is my favorite BMW ever. I WANT ONE SO BAD. besides, routine maintenance needs to be done no matter what a person owns, and you're not the type to cut corners.

and maybe... you'll sell it to me when you're finally tired of it

 

[EGProject]

Finally someone who buys a higher end European car, enjoys it - and doesn't bitch about repairs.

I'm sick and tired of people buying 60k Q7's and then complaining when it needs brakes and tires at 30k.

Sure, B got upsold, but at any decent shop worth their coin the upsells are made to prevent come backs (the oh so common "ever-since" syndrome), and to improve the car to the point where it doesn't need to be bouncing back between repair shops for little things. A lot of times you can fix complaints the customer didn't initially speak of as well.

 

[Ethan]

Ti is a pretty rare car.

I feal kinda stupid. but... whats a Ti? BMW 318 Ti?

If your talking about what i think you are. YOUR CAR HAS GUN CHARGES?!?!?! lol

 

[TurboMirage]

"yo dawg we put a gun in yo car so you can shoot while you drive."

 

[phyregod]

I feal kinda stupid. but... whats a Ti? BMW 318 Ti?

Yup, check his "rides" out, under his avatar.

 

[Ethan]

"yo dawg we put a gun in yo car so you can shoot while you drive."

lol he was carrying it for protection. not to drive around shooting.

 

[Ethan]

Yup, check his "rides" out, under his avatar.

 

[Z6CRX]

autozone doesn't sell many bmw parts... i can't even find an oil flter for the thing. so, i'm not too concerned with getting non oem parts.

I picked up an stp filter for mine for the first oil change I think from autozone. It was obviously on the shelf for a little longer. Inspected the element everything looked good. I haven't looked around places for non OEM parts much, but I know its probably going to be more expensive than I'm used too compared to honda's.

I'm keepign around 30 mpg around here with the hills and in town driving, with horrible roads. I would imagine you could pull a bit better once everything is serviced.

 

[Briansol]

picked her up this morning. drives like its brand new. well worth the money i dumped into it.
the suspension isn't harsh at all... in fact, its barely stiffer than stock. perfect for my DD duties. but, i feel bad for anyone who bought it as a performance piece... because it's just not it.
ride height looks good too.

the only thing that may go out on me soon is the rear end. the fluid change didn't help the whining much. i'll drive it like it is until it fully dies.


all in all, my biggest gripe was the cost of the ignition wires. $280. holy crap. lol could've picked up my own for like $60 bucks. otherwise, all parts were reasonably priced or at a price point i could get them for online.

 

[George777]

Are they the wires with the individual coils in them--or whatever they are called?

My ex-roommate had a Ford Exploder that had those things. The 6 wires cost him about $130, where regular wires were only $60 max for the regular ones...

 

[TurboMirage]

just think of the hondaboys that buy magnacore wires at $160 a set.

then again... i have magnacore wires for my MSD / SCI ignition i have yet to put on.