Beamer question

Sizzler

In what year did BMW's stop becoming 'self-servicable'...ie you have to bring them to BMW dealers ? I was looking at a 2004 318CI but was curious to know if it had to be brought to a dealer to be plugged into their magic computer or could I get the servicing done by a joe soaper mechanic. The thoughts of shelling out a few hundred euro twice a year for the privilege of going to a BMW garage certainly wouldnt endear me to buying one.

Cheers:)

Owen

The 318 can be serviced by an individual, service lights can be reset manually, but if you want to diagnose faults, you'll need to have access to a fault code reader.

Lex Luthor

most newer BMW's from about '01 I think allowed the owner to reset the service indicators through a combination of a few button presses on the dash.

Stephen

My father had a 2003 318i and got it serviced by a reputable non-franchise mechanic for about half of what Bolands BMW in Waterford did it for.

crosstownk

The important thing is to get the service done - the fact that the service indicator is on has no detrimental effects to the running of the car - it will just annoy you. A search of any half decent BMW forum will provide instructions on how to do this (assuming it is possible). The manual may tell you too, but I'm not 100% sure on this.

Sizzler

Stephen wrote:

My father had a 2003 318i and got it serviced by a reputable non-franchise mechanic for about half of what Bolands BMW in Waterford did it for.

Happy days, sounds good enough for me so!
Now to try and sell my own....3 months and waiting :rolleyes:

NBar

Once its serviced on time and with genuine bmw parts by anyone then there is not problem with warranty etc. By the way its Bimmer nor Beamer

zuutroy

NBar wrote:

By the way its Bimmer nor Beamer

I'm with the OP. How did 'Bimmer' become the standard. It's not written how the word is pronounced, 'Beamer' is.

kdevitt

Beemer has aparently been used for referring to BMW motorbikes, so bimmer (prounounced beemer) is meant to refer to the cars - its a real yank thing and should be ignored if at all possible.

Owen

Even I call it Beamer!

junkyard

ned78 wrote:

Even I call it Beamer!

You can call it anything you like if your going to do a DIY service on it because you'll find it hard to sell if it isn't serviced by a main dealer or a specialist. The first thing anyone asks me when I'm selling a BMW is "has it got a full service history" and the second thing they ask me is "has it been crashed". They're a very fussy bunch, BMW owners, you know.;)

Owen

Talk to me about it ...

Sizzler

junkyard wrote:

You can call it anything you like if your going to do a DIY service on it because you'll find it hard to sell if it isn't serviced by a main dealer or a specialist. The first thing anyone asks me when I'm selling a BMW is "has it got a full service history" and the second thing they ask me is "has it been crashed". They're a very fussy bunch, BMW owners, you know.;)

Tssk ! Might just have to drive it into the ground so and not ever have to worry about selling it;)

Mitch Connor

sorry for resurrecting an old thread, but i was doing a search (cause i didn't want to start a new thread if the same Q had been asked) and this seemed like a good thread to ask in...

I'm looking at getting a 2001 320D, but i'm a bit worried about the servicing costs. I know going to a main dealer is expensive, but could anyone give me an idea of what prices i would be looking at for servicing from a main dealer, and from a independent garage/non-bmw garage. If you could give me some quotes from people round teh Bray region (or close to it) that would be even better, but any info would be appreciated.

MercMad

You will pay €100 & Vat / hour at a main stealer, you could use AC Cars, search Boards for Alan Carroll, better work for 1/3 the price !

Eoin

MercMad wrote:

You will pay €100 & Vat / hour at a main stealer, you could use AC Cars, search Boards for Alan Carroll, better work for 1/3 the price !

I can recommend AC as well. I'm also in Bray, but have parking at work in town, so they're convenient enough for me.

They have just started doing servicing on a Saturday if that helps Tauren.

PS, the 320d is a great car, but I wish I had gotten the version with the newer engine (it will be a 6-speed and 150BHP) - make sure you check out all the options.

Owen

eoin_s wrote:

PS, the 320d is a great car, but I wish I had gotten the version with the newer engine (it will be a 6-speed and 150BHP) - make sure you check out all the options.

Remap remap remap

Mitch Connor

eoin_s wrote:

I can recommend AC as well. I'm also in Bray, but have parking at work in town, so they're convenient enough for me.

They have just started doing servicing on a Saturday if that helps Tauren.

PS, the 320d is a great car, but I wish I had gotten the version with the newer engine (it will be a 6-speed and 150BHP) - make sure you check out all the options.

Not sure what version it is, know nothing about it really at the moment - a person my mothers hubby knows is thinking of selling theirs, at what i think will be a good price (they are rich so i have been told the car is spec'd out) So all i know is it is a 2001 320D. I'll have to look into it a lot more, obviously, but if i'm not going to be able to afford the servicing of it i don't want to get my hopes up!

Cheers for the info people.

commited

If you're going for a 320d, go for either the 136bhp model of a 04+ 150bhp model. The 01-03 150bhp models can blow turbos.

Mitch Connor

commited wrote:

If you're going for a 320d, go for either the 136bhp model of a 04+ 150bhp model. The 01-03 150bhp models can blow turbos.

I'm not sure if it is the 150 turbo model, the person i was talking to said they didn't think it was, but that was based on it not being called a 320TD or something like that, which i don't think the 01-03 150 model was called anyway. Again, its very very very early stages with regards this car, so there is a lot still to check out and probably a lot of time to do it in.

I just hope it has the climate control and multifunction steering wheel.

Eoin

Tauren wrote:

I'm not sure if it is the 150 turbo model, the person i was talking to said they didn't think it was, but that was based on it not being called a 320TD or something like that, which i don't think the 01-03 150 model was called anyway. Again, its very very very early stages with regards this car, so there is a lot still to check out and probably a lot of time to do it in.

I just hope it has the climate control and multifunction steering wheel.

I would think they're all turbo powered; they just didn't go with the TD naming convention. MFSW is seriously handy on the motorway.

Owen

Tauren wrote:

I'm not sure if it is the 150 turbo model, the person i was talking to said they didn't think it was, but that was based on it not being called a 320TD or something like that, which i don't think the 01-03 150 model was called anyway. Again, its very very very early stages with regards this car, so there is a lot still to check out and probably a lot of time to do it in.

They're all Turbo.

Tauren wrote:

I just hope it has the climate control and multifunction steering wheel.

If it's an SE model, it will have those extras. If it's an SE before 2004, chances are it's a UK import, so check the underneath for rust, and more importantly check the mileage to see if it's been clocked, the majority of UK imports we're seeing these days have had the clocks played with.

It is however possible that an Irish car could be also ordered at that time with those 2 options specified on a standard car as optional equipment too.

Eoin

ned78 wrote:

They're all Turbo.



If it's an SE model, it will have those extras. If it's an SE before 2004, chances are it's a UK import, so check the underneath for rust, and more importantly check the mileage to see if it's been clocked, the majority of UK imports we're seeing these days have had the clocks played with.

It is however possible that an Irish car could be also ordered at that time with those 2 options specified on a standard car as optional equipment too.

Did the earlier model (136bhp) come with different specs also? I can't find any reference in mine to a specific model, so not sure what came as standard or what was an option. I had (nasty) alloys, mfsw and a/c, but no climate control. Only windy up windows in the back too.

commited

320td is what the compact version was referred to as.