[JD6]

It’s been a couple of years since I last paid for a service. I was a little surprised by the quote, so interested to know if this is normal.

The 840i is due its first oil and microfilter service. When I queried the price they said that they check the coolant level too!

The price is £510. Seems high to me, but perhaps that’s the going rate these days. All of the dealers within a 3 hour round trip are now owned by the same group so not much competition here…

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by JD6

It’s been a couple of years since I last paid for a service. I was a little surprised by the quote, so interested to know if this is normal.

The 840i is due its first oil and microfilter service. When I queried the price they said that they check the coolant level too!

The price is £510. Seems high to me, but perhaps that’s the going rate these days. All of the dealers within a 3 hour round trip are now owned by the same group so not much competition here…

There was an article in the press recently about a customer with a Cayenne ehybrid complaining about a £600 plus bill for similar - given the oil is about £110 from Halfords and takes not much more than an hour...

I know they have to pay for the posh showrooms somehow but that is pretty ridiculous...

And to think I was moaning that they want £30 for 2 days insurance for some warranty work on the Mini - as I said, its broken when it shouldnt, its not my choice so the courtesy car should be just that... a courtesy. But those days are gone now the big chains have hoovered up most of the small guys...

Guess shopping round is quite hard in your neck of the woods?

[DaveA]

That first service was, IIRC, £367 for my 1-er last year at my local dealer... It may be that the oil volume is different with the 8, so would be a pro-rata on oil fill... I'd have to dig out the invoice to see if there was a microfilter, but I think there was...

Edited to add:

Just checked the invoice, the £367 (inc VAT) included microfilter and brake fluid services as well as the engine oil service... Oil was 5 litres I think (at £14.40/litre inc VAT for the oil plus the labour)... Oh, and they put in a new key battery (according to the invoice)...

I used the app to find out the prices online and made sure they charged me no more than that on the day... as the price I was quoted when booking in at the workshop was more than the online quote for the service that the car showed it needed...

[crAbb]

Originally Posted by JD6

It’s been a couple of years since I last paid for a service. I was a little surprised by the quote, so interested to know if this is normal.

The 840i is due its first oil and microfilter service. When I queried the price they said that they check the coolant level too!

The price is £510. Seems high to me, but perhaps that’s the going rate these days. All of the dealers within a 3 hour round trip are now owned by the same group so not much competition here…

That seems excessive. Why not use an indy?

[Kendo67]

Must be because it is an eight series and they think you are loaded.

My 440i is due the oil + microfilter replacement in a few months along with the brake fluid so i have just done a price enquiry at the local main dealers :

O+F - £237
Brake fluid - £55

Love the fact that the oil change in your B58 is twice the price of the oil in my B58

Sounds like they are extracting the pi$$ and not the oil.

K

[Watsey]

At the prices BMW pay it’ll cost them less than £100 for the oil and a tenner for the filter.

The rest is labour plus OHP.

There’s an extremely healthy margin in that quote.

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by Kendo67

Must be because it is an eight series and they think you are loaded.

My 440i is due the oil + microfilter replacement in a few months along with the brake fluid so i have just done a price enquiry at the local main dealers :

O+F - £237
Brake fluid - £55

Love the fact that the oil change in your B58 is twice the price of the oil in my B58

Sounds like they are extracting the pi$$ and not the oil.

K

Is your 440i more than 4 years old now? cant remember but going on fact you call it a 440i and not an M440i? In which case its probably on the discounted scheme to keep older cars going back to dealers for longer.... which might be 50% off or something....?

[JD6]

Originally Posted by isleaiw1

I know they have to pay for the posh showrooms somehow but that is pretty ridiculous...

And to think I was moaning that they want £30 for 2 days insurance for some warranty work on the Mini - as I said, its broken when it shouldnt, its not my choice so the courtesy car should be just that... a courtesy. But those days are gone now the big chains have hoovered up most of the small guys...

Guess shopping round is quite hard in your neck of the woods?

At least mine chuck in the loan car while overcharging for everything else! I currently have an iX3 for the week while they're sorting out a rattle in the seat. As you suggest, there must be a fair chunk of the price going towards the cost of a big glass showroom.

They've done their best to make it hard to shop around by buying up all 3 of the dealers in Cumbria, plus the ones in Newcastle, Blackpool and Colne for good measure!

[JD6]

Originally Posted by DaveA

Just checked the invoice, the £367 (inc VAT) included microfilter and brake fluid services as well as the engine oil service... Oil was 5 litres I think (at £14.40/litre inc VAT for the oil plus the labour)... Oh, and they put in a new key battery (according to the invoice)...

I used the app to find out the prices online and made sure they charged me no more than that on the day... as the price I was quoted when booking in at the workshop was more than the online quote for the service that the car showed it needed...

Cheers. £367 isn't bad including a brake fluid service. I think that's another £132 on top of the £510 on this car! From the app, looks like front discs are £1095 but fortunately mine tend to last.

The app price for a service is £461. When I quoted this to the dealer they said the app doesn't include the standard scope or updating the service record. Not sure what the scope bit means, but I'd be surprised if it didn't include updating the service record.

[JD6]

Originally Posted by crAbb

That seems excessive. Why not use an indy?

It certainly is high. I suppose I still believe that full BMWSH makes a difference to the value when selling. I also tend to take the approach that I expect the dealer to work for me to get goodwill when something is excluded from the warranty. In my experience this happens increasingly now that the extended warranty is provided by a flakey third party. Allianz will try and wriggle out of anything.

[JD6]

Originally Posted by Kendo67

Must be because it is an eight series and they think you are loaded.

My 440i is due the oil + microfilter replacement in a few months along with the brake fluid so i have just done a price enquiry at the local main dealers :

O+F - £237
Brake fluid - £55

Love the fact that the oil change in your B58 is twice the price of the oil in my B58

Sounds like they are extracting the pi$$ and not the oil.

K

I guess there may be a 7/8 tax in the same way there's an M tax. That price difference is wild though -as you say, it's the same bloody engine!

Brake fluid appears to be £132 in the 8, but that's a job for next year...

[SkyJawa]

Last time I had it done at BMW was about 2 years ago and cost £129.99 for an oil and oil filter change (I did the microfilter myself and told them to shove the standard scope). £510 is an absolute joke.

[MY340i]

Most use independents for this very reason

[DaveA]

Originally Posted by JD6

Cheers. £367 isn't bad including a brake fluid service. I think that's another £132 on top of the £510 on this car! From the app, looks like front discs are £1095 but fortunately mine tend to last.

The app price for a service is £461. When I quoted this to the dealer they said the app doesn't include the standard scope or updating the service record. Not sure what the scope bit means, but I'd be surprised if it didn't include updating the service record.

That £367 actually included the "standard scope" which they charged £26 (inc VAT) for... I might be wrong, but I think that's the cost of hooking it up to the computers etc and checking everything is A.OK in the system and the visual checks etc...

To me, if the car says engine oil service and microfilter then I expect the online pricing for those two items to include everything needed to do that service and maintain the history... including updating the log book... the car does not say "standard scope" required as an extra...

To be honest, for mine, there wasn't a single bit of fuss when I said the app price was £X, they just said, sure, we'll make sure it comes in at that (assuming no extra work instructed) so I suspect many folk have the discussion...

Edited to add -

I just looked on the BMW service website and they don't seem to list a price for standard scope separately and so (if I recall correctly) I just basically told them this and said I therefore expected it to be included in the costs quoted on the site if it needed to be done as part of the scheduled Maintainance... There was no quibble by my dealer...

[Kendo67]

Originally Posted by isleaiw1

Is your 440i more than 4 years old now? cant remember but going on fact you call it a 440i and not an M440i? In which case its probably on the discounted scheme to keep older cars going back to dealers for longer.... which might be 50% off or something....?

It is , July 2017.

I know they offer discounts for vehicles over a certain age but 50% is fair chunk of change. IIRC the minor services have always been around a similar price , £200 -> £250 over the years.

I wonder where the 50% savings come from , does the tech work twice as quick on an older vehicle to cut down the job time or do they put in cheaper oil , which i doubt.

K

[DaveA]

Originally Posted by Kendo67

I wonder where the 50% savings come from , does the tech work twice as quick on an older vehicle to cut down the job time or do they put in cheaper oil , which i doubt.

K

I believe that the current deal from BMW (called BMW Personalised Pricing) offers varied discounts depending on how old your BMW is...

3-7 years = 20% discount on parts required
7-10 years = 30% discount on parts required
10+ years = 40% discount on parts required

I was looking this as my next service (a major one) will likely come at about 4 years and I will definitely get more than three years out of the brakes etc.

Many moons ago BMW GB did try something called "AutoTechnic" which had certain dealers setting up Indy type facilities, separate to the dealerships, for older cars... I had my E30 M3 maintained at one... Benefitted from approved parts and trained techs (who could shim up the tappets if needed - remember those days - the S14 engine had shims for the tappets) with cheaper labour as they were not at the main dealer...

[Kendo67]

Originally Posted by DaveA

3-7 years = 20% discount on parts required.

Mine will be seven years old this year , so the 20% discount should apply , still doesn`t explain why the B58 in the 8 series is 100% more expensive for an oil change than the B58 in the four series.

Think i would be asking for a bit of "clarity" on the MD pricing in the above example.

K

[DaveA]

Originally Posted by Kendo67

Mine will be seven years old this year , so the 20% discount should apply , still doesn`t explain why the B58 in the 8 series is 100% more expensive for an oil change than the B58 in the four series.

Think i would be asking for a bit of "clarity" on the MD pricing in the above example.

K

For sure... and I am also guessing that the discount isn't on consumables like oil, just the filter etc...

For me, it's making sure I get things like disks and pads changed at discount and at a rate that competes with an Indy...

[un1eash]

That's crazy, never paid more then £300 for a first service.
What does the BMW online portal quote for a first service?

[JD6]

Originally Posted by un1eash

That's crazy, never paid more then £300 for a first service.
What does the BMW online portal quote for a first service?

It is a bit mad. The BMW app pricing is linked to a particular service centre and I think the web page is the same - it needs you to choose a service centre before giving a price. In my case the quoted price is £461 (£49 below what they have quoted me directly) but when I asked my dealer about this they claim it doesn't include the standard scope or updating the service record.

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by Kendo67

It is , July 2017.

I know they offer discounts for vehicles over a certain age but 50% is fair chunk of change. IIRC the minor services have always been around a similar price , £200 -> £250 over the years.

I wonder where the 50% savings come from , does the tech work twice as quick on an older vehicle to cut down the job time or do they put in cheaper oil , which i doubt.

K

Nope - its dynamic pricing as they know you are more likely to use an indi.

The Running In service on my M5 was listed at £700 or something ridiculous, I had it done at staff rates at BMW Reading for £300....

Just remember that in most dealerships its the service department that generates the profits even if they are the lowest paid (may have picked that quote up from my brother who was a service manager for many years!)

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by JD6

It is a bit mad. The BMW app pricing is linked to a particular service centre and I think the web page is the same - it needs you to choose a service centre before giving a price. In my case the quoted price is £461 (£49 below what they have quoted me directly) but when I asked my dealer about this they claim it doesn't include the standard scope or updating the service record.

Updating the service record is a load of rubbish, there is no book to stamp so that is the only log of the service and so its required. My Mini was serviced but not logged on car when I bought it so its going in to be updated for free (along with some warranty work).

Ask the service advisor what you get for the standard scope and how much it costs... and watch them squirm....