Dealer Prices on steering / suspension work, light cluster......

[CondorX5]

I managed to get some of the paperwork from the dealer to confirm what they had done under warranty last week.......they blacked out the prices on the invoice they send to Mondial/BMW warranty but forgot the prices on the Visual Check sheet.

This is what was done under warranty and their charges, out of interest: prices are including fitting

1 Rear lamp unit /cluster replaced. £181.58
2 front brake reaction bushes both split. £172.70
3 NSF CV boot replacement. £355.39
4 OSF CV boot replacement £33.50
5 kds (?).  £99

Luckily I didn't have to pay for any of the above, it was all warranty stuff. i declined the wing mirror glass at £316 which warranty claim is a "trim" and the offer of new wipers for £77,  so amount payable was the Insp 2 price of £455, thats the "value" price for cars over 6 years old.

note was made of reinitialising the self levelling suspension and that it had "dropped" due to the winter wheels and that wheel alignment was needed when the summer wheels were fitted again ?  Apparently also under warranty, not arguing, but sounds a bit odd.  Especially as the tyre check is listed as even wear on all 4 tyres at exactly the same tread depth of 7mm all round, again rather odd given I bought 2 new tyres only 2 weeks ago as one has damage - and the other two are two seasons old and have been on the car for 20 000 miles as I didn't change them over last year given the delightfully wet and horrible summer we had.  Very odd.

I suspect that the "tyre check" was not actually done properly, TBH and that perhaps one tyre, one of the brand new ones, was measured and the same numbers entered all round.  No mention made of spare wheel check and pressures, incl spare.

Also brake discs and pads measurements not given either.  No mention made of air filter and pollen filter change or spark plugs, although this is part of Insp 2 (fuel filter I think is just diesels) so have asked for this to be clarified as well.

Not very impressive, particularly as it is like blood out of a stone just getting the paperwork - have raised several queries as to what was and was not done with the service manager and pointed out they returned the car without service light being reset (I saw it and instantly demanded it be done, so its ok now) and the drivers seat practically lying on the rear seat in full boy racer position with no effort to return it to relative normality after their "test drive".  Not to mention the horrible mixed smell of cigarette smoke and sweaty, greasy overalls in the interior, which took ages to clear. Car was vacuumed inside and washed externally, not really a valet but a token gesture at least and no swirl marks noted thank heavens.

[AW8]

Thanks for sharing.

Always useful for members to be able to see numbers & comments re dealer visits.

In absence of mondial warranty mine goes to trusted indy other than when dealer stamp collecting.

Reading your post makes me think that it may be a good idea to ask for old spark plugs filters etc when such like are supposedly changed.

I am sure you will persist re the mirror issue - fwiw on realoem category 51 is vehicle trim and 51 07 is outside mirror afaik you need Mirror glass, heated, wide-angle left 51167039595 or Mirror glass, heated, wide-angle, right  51167039596

[Raj]

[quote="CondorX5"]
1 Rear lamp unit /cluster replaced. £181.58
2 front brake reaction bushes both split. £172.70
3 NSF CV boot replacement. £355.39
4 OSF CV boot replacement £33.50
5 kds (?).  £99
[/quote]

1.
Rear lamp unit cluster is bloody expensive from the parts department as I enquired about replacing mine. Even the lower tailgate section for the reverse bulbs is nearly £100 or something daft even with my discount so I can see with the labour cost that could be about right sadly.

2.
Any bush replacement from a main dealer is going to cost so again can see that the cost for that is pretty much all labour probably.

3/4.
Did they really bill £355 for one side and £33 for the other? That's serious money to replace a CV boot. I'm replacing the entire front driveshafts for £50 LOL

5.
As soon as they start replacing bushes they will do a KDS as geometry can (but tbh probably hasn't) be affected. Sounds mad but KDS on winter wheels will be different (but again only marginally different) to when on summers due to the wider track, etc, etc so again can affect geometry.

Adding spacers is the same but again so negligible that not worth it.

Very surprised at the other stuff though.

[CondorX5]

Yes, crazy stuff about the CV boots, thats whats on the check sheet price - madness, nearly 1k on the warranty for stuff which can be done for less than half, I would think. 

They are arguing about the mirror for me with BMW as its the coating which is defective. Not the mirror glass itself, as BMW apparently claim glass is not covered under the warranty.  Well in this case the glass is fine but the coating is breaking up, so replace the coating !  LOL

They were very nice as usual and a decent M Sport  5 series loaner, but I thought the standards were not great given the service lights issue, no paperwork etc etc. they are now trying to remedy it all.  Hopefully will get a new mirror glass out of it all, I passed on the £77 wipers hahaha

[Nat]

Hi .......................

Quote ........................" note was made of reinitialising the self levelling suspension and that it had "dropped" due to the winter wheels "

WTF ? Seriously ? Fitting wheels with winter tyre will make absolutely no difference whatsoever. Either they are not explaining this well or its complete bollocks. I have winter wheels/tyres and have had for the last 5 years, with absolutely no issues at all .....ever.


Just my opinion of course,

Regards,

Nat.

[CondorX5]

I agree, they make it up as they go along, like BMW are going to recommend winter wheels and then have your suspension "drop" to such a degree it triggers alerts and needs wheel alignment.  Bollocks, I think. Never happened in the 4 years I have owned an X.

The wheel alignment may be fractionally affected as Raj said, due to changing sterring bushes etc but TBH there is absolutely nothing wrong with it at all and the tyre wear is very even all round, so I doubt tracking is an issue. I think they were looking to blow up some bluster due to having been caught out with not doing the paperwork they should have done and handing over the vehicle with the service light not even reset....although they ticked it!!

[Raj]

Self level suspension will not be affected by changing to winter wheels so agree not sure what they were talking about but KDS is a simple extra charge to the warranty as its a valid one to get away with. If you were paying for it then definitely not needed but they cross charge it so get away with it to Mondial.

[AW8]

I would also ask them the tyre depths recorded at your Insp 2

[CondorX5]

I queried the tread depths as they claimed 7mm all round even wear inner mid and outer.  Yeah sure, two brand new tyres two have done 20K and two years, and they are Vredie winters, so would expect a bit of wear in 2 years........  Today I got a signed letter scanned and emailed to me claiming the tyres are 7mm all round , and also giving the brake measurements that were missing and stating that all Insp 2 work was included and done to BMW standards..  I suppose I am a bit suspicious as they made a right mess of this - first paperwork they sent me yesterday was an Insp 1.........when I queried air filter, spark plugs etc then suddenly the correct stuff came through. 

I have a depth measure just need to remember to take it out and check!  7mm all round nonsense, even Vredies wear down at some stage!!!

[RiDDO]

Not sure why but glass is never covered on a warranty or a lease. We have leased vehicles at work, and everything is covered, tyres, maintenance, tax, the whole shebang! Only thing that's not covered, glass! I have a background in road haulage, truck leasing is exactly the same, you can lease with tyres, maintenance, tax, and a whole host of other 'stuff' but again, glass is never covered.

I doubt the pricing is genuine! Massaged numbers, to increase profit margins, and ensure the dealer has the funds to buy such nice demonstrators! Oh and a set of wiper blades is forty something squids on BMW's eBay shop, I pointed that out to my dealer in January, instantly price matched!

I'm a cynical soul. But the Quandt family have their billions, and corporate greed is a whirlwind, us owners are just along for the ride...............