[Farook]

Hello guys, i recently(well end of January this year) bought a 328i M Sport made in November 2012.It is an Approved car & it had 7900 miles on the clock when i got it.

Now, this is the first time when i actually bought a car that is "in warranty" & i dont mean the 1 year warranty from approved cars, but the original 4year/3year warranty.

Atm i have 10.5k miles on the clock and was thinking of doing an oil change(to do it earlier rather than the 15k miles one);
I went to a dealer today & they said that it is recomended for me to wait till i reach 15k miles or till when the computer tells me so.(the computer says i got 6k miles left to go). A lady checked my key & she said it would cost me around £480 .

My questions are :

1. If the car is still under warranty, should the service be free of charge?(i do not have service any pack included)
2. £480 for the 15k miles? she also said the spark plugs need to be changed then...is that correct?
3. What should the 15k miles service consist of ?

Would very much apreciate your help...as i cant find any info about this anywhere to help me out.Thank you.

[Mattt1]

1. No, unless you bought the service pack. Warranty and service are different.

2. Sounds steep, and wouldn't think it needs plugs at 15k?

3. No idea

[Alkidrew]

1. No, warranties don't cover servicing.
2. Sounds about right but make a few calls to other dealers to check their prices, labour rates do vary. £480 for the first service in what will probably be 2 years is a bargain.
3. Go into vehicle information on the idrive and service status shows you what needs doing and when. The manual also shows the key information.

[M4dski11z]

1. No chance
2. Shop around your five closest dealers for the best price. Alternatively, look to an indy to see if they are cheaper.
3. http://germanautoworks.com/site/bmw-...what-are-they/

[JW_Chester]

Why did you not go for the service pack?

I too have a 328i AUC and took out the SP at time of purchase which now appears very prudent given the cost of the first service. That looks steep to me to be honest.

Can you not retrospectively add the SP? Would certainly seem worth it.

[Farook]

Originally Posted by JW_Chester

Why did you not go for the service pack?

I too have a 328i AUC and took out the SP at time of purchase which now appears very prudent given the cost of the first service. That looks steep to me to be honest.

Can you not retrospectively add the SP? Would certainly seem worth it.

I`m gonna try to get the service pack now(if possible) because these prices...huh are a killer.

Thx so much for the info guys; that link is perfect.

[MRPoisson]

Use this website - give the best price for the job required in your area. Highly recommended! http://www.maindealerdiscount.com

[mactrack]

Originally Posted by MRPoisson

Use this website - give the best price for the job required in your area. Highly recommended! http://www.maindealerdiscount.com

Never seen that before. Thanks.

[Edinburra]

Get it done, every 10,000 miles or 1 Year despite what BMW say, it will do your engine no end of good and will not invalidate any warranty ( I believe ) Extra servicing in general is seen to be beneficial.

[robbiep]

Originally Posted by Edinburra

Get it done, every 10,000 miles or 1 Year despite what BMW say, it will do your engine no end of good and will not invalidate any warranty ( I believe ) Extra servicing in general is seen to be beneficial.

Agreed. You know all those criticisms and faults that occur with timing chains at 60-100k miles ? A pretty good chance that that is caused by the extended service intervals, and the oil being worn out, and therefore not lubricating the chain enough.

In my case, I'm going to be getting what the cars says needs doing done, and at roughly every 9,000 miles (so halfway between scheduled services) an oil and oil filter change carried out - by main agent. Considering that to run my car (fuel, tyres, the scheduled service, insurance, etc) costs about £3000 a year before allowing for depreciation, spending an extra £200 or so on an oil and filter change is small change.
Of course, for all those running their cars on 3 yr finance plans where they just hand them back at the end, this is irrelevant. But I own my car outright.

[dopper99]

Originally Posted by Ray335d

3. http://germanautoworks.com/site/bmw-...what-are-they/

I think that is a bit out of date for an F30 and this would apply to the likes of a E46 3 series and not a conditioned based system. It talks of services at 5K, 10K, 15K which are not really applicable any more.

[MWA]

1. The car shouldn't need sparks at <15k service, it's more likely to do with the timing, 2 year service..

I think this whole start/stop technology, wears out the engine and especially the spark plugs, and it's probably why it needs them doing, your driving and previous owner's driving might have consisted of in town driving mainly

2. A question not to the OP, all those who say change oil before a service is due... I agree with you and it's normally what i do, but would the main dealer allows an early service under the service pack? I don't think so, and that's the disadvantage side to the service pack, you probably have to wait till the computer tells you and not your instinct

[robbiep]

Under the service pack, you get what the car says it needs. If you want the extra oil/oil filter jobs then those are chargeable.

[Farook]

Originally Posted by MWA

1. The car shouldn't need sparks at <15k service, it's more likely to do with the timing, 2 year service..

I think this whole start/stop technology, wears out the engine and especially the spark plugs, and it's probably why it needs them doing, your driving and previous owner's driving might have consisted of in town driving mainly

2. A question not to the OP, all those who say change oil before a service is due... I agree with you and it's normally what i do, but would the main dealer allows an early service under the service pack? I don't think so, and that's the disadvantage side to the service pack, you probably have to wait till the computer tells you and not your instinct

Nope i dont have any service pack.But if i would decide to change the oil myself, would my mileage on the oil service computer somehow increase(if i do it myself withouth reseting it)? but i guess i still need to pop in for the 15k miles service.

How do you guys know when the spark plugs need to be changed & other stuff? i cant find them in the manual

[....,,,,..,,..]

Originally Posted by Farook

Nope i dont have any service pack.But if i would decide to change the oil myself, would my mileage on the oil service computer somehow increase(if i do it myself withouth reseting it)? but i guess i still need to pop in for the 15k miles service.

How do you guys know when the spark plugs need to be changed & other stuff? i cant find them in the manual

Once upon a time when you bought a car, the first thing you did was oil and filter change and change the spark plugs (I also used to change leads as well).

So if you are keeping it I would say it's worth changing your oil early, more for own peace of mind as you own it.

However, you will still need to agree a servicing strategy with your dealer and they will change your oil etc as part of servicing.
I would argue the toss about the plugs and say have them done at 2 year or so mark. What life do BMW plugs have?

Things like start stop I believe will have long term issues with engines, likely to show up in another 5 years.

[robbiep]

Originally Posted by Farook

Nope i dont have any service pack.But if i would decide to change the oil myself, would my mileage on the oil service computer somehow increase(if i do it myself withouth reseting it)? but i guess i still need to pop in for the 15k miles service.

How do you guys know when the spark plugs need to be changed & other stuff? i cant find them in the manual

This is not about getting the service indicator for the oil change reset. This is about the BMW oil change interval being too long, so getting an intermediate oil change done to (hopefully) keep any big bills away.

Before you do the job yourself, phone your local dealer and ask for a price for it. If they refuse to do it (because it isn't due, according to the computer) then phone another dealer.
You might just be surprised. My local dealer does a oil and oil filter change for £160. When you look at how much you spend on fuel, tyres, insurance, depreciation etc, and what the service kit would cost you to buy from the dealer (remember, proper parts to keep the warranty), it's not worth my time to bother doing the job.
I isntruct them to put the oil change in the service book, stamp the book, but that they MUST NOT reset the service computer on the intermediate service.