B'mer 530D Servicing question

niceirishfella

I got a BMW530D - wonderful car. The best I've had so far. I want to personally give it an oil/air filter change etc and wanted to ask - does anyone know where i can lay my hands on the tool or gadget to reset the service light on the dash. If it a case of buying it, how much and where will i get it.

any help please would be appreciated.

ohhh, and merry christmas!

NIF.

rebel.ranter

http://www.bmwtips.com/tipsntricks/reset-plug/reset.htm


No need for a tool. There are two methods here, which one will work fr you depends on the year of the car.

niceirishfella

rebel.ranter wrote: »

http://www.bmwtips.com/tipsntricks/reset-plug/reset.htm


No need for a tool. There are two methods here, which one will work fr you depends on the year of the car.

wow - this is brillant info. Will print of the info and try it in thr morning.
Thanks Rebel.

rebel.ranter

There are other good tips for the e39 on that site too.

Mr.Diagnostic

Do you not think it would be a good idea to protect your investment by getting it serviced properly? There is a lot more to servicing these (and most cars) that filters and fluids. For example, a lot of turbo failures on these are due to incorrect servicing.

Before anyone suggects it I am not looking for business.

cantdecide

Mr.Diagnostic wrote: »

Do you not think it would be a good idea to protect your investment by getting it serviced properly? There is a lot more to servicing these (and most cars) that filters and fluids. For example, a lot of turbo failures on these are due to incorrect servicing.

Before anyone suggects it I am not looking for business.

That's what I was thinking. It's not exactly an Opel Corsa you have there and service history is the word on the country's lips since we all started getting UK cars.

Traumadoc

I have a 530d , great car but I had to go to the dealers to get the puncture warning light swithched off. PITA

Zorba

Mr.Diagnostic wrote: »

Do you not think it would be a good idea to protect your investment by getting it serviced properly? There is a lot more to servicing these (and most cars) that filters and fluids. For example, a lot of turbo failures on these are due to incorrect servicing.

Before anyone suggects it I am not looking for business.

Err since when did a car become an investment ?

colm_mcm

it's damage limitation. of course it's going to depreciate. maintaining a car like a 530d on the cheap is a false economy. as others have mentioned you run the risk of needing an expensive repair due to poor maintanance or decreased value due to incomlete service record. A main dealer service can be substituted with a BMW specialist service.

maidhc

colm_mcm wrote: »

it's damage limitation. of course it's going to depreciate. maintaining a car like a 530d on the cheap is a false economy. as others have mentioned you run the risk of needing an expensive repair due to poor maintanance or decreased value due to incomlete service record. A main dealer service can be substituted with a BMW specialist service.

I'd agree. Having said that you won't get back the money that a BMW main stealer will rape you for.

If the OP knows about cars (and we must assume he does), and knows what he can do himself, and what he can't, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing DIY servicing.

JohnCleary

Mr.Diagnostic wrote: »

Do you not think it would be a good idea to protect your investment by getting it serviced properly? There is a lot more to servicing these (and most cars) that filters and fluids. For example, a lot of turbo failures on these are due to incorrect servicing.

Before anyone suggects it I am not looking for business.

In other words, what Mr Diagnostic is trying to say is....

While doing an oil/filter change, go to your dealers and buy a CRANKCASE BREATHER FILTER too! About 50euro but should defo be changed. I think BMW now replace these at every Inspection 2.

Other than that an oil/filter change is the exact same as any other car. I recommend using a genuine BMW filter (After comparison's ive seen online about Spurious VS. Genuine quality)

JohnCleary

colm_mcm wrote: »

it's damage limitation. of course it's going to depreciate. maintaining a car like a 530d on the cheap is a false economy. as others have mentioned you run the risk of needing an expensive repair due to poor maintanance or decreased value due to incomlete service record. A main dealer service can be substituted with a BMW specialist service.

In fairness a DIY is not 'Doing it on the cheap'. I use BMW LL oil, genuine filters etc.... Does that mean i'm doing it on the cheap, just because I do it myself? TBH I know i'll do the simple jobs good, give me more assurance than risking some monkey have it that doesn't give a toss about my car. My car is out of warranty, a service history is pointless imho. I have receipts etc. to show what oils/genuine parts I used when it comes to resale.

Zorba

As a matter of interest how much would a BMW garage charge for say a basic service like oil change etc on a 530d and how much would they charge if they had to do a full service like at 20k or whatever it is ?

cantdecide

colm_mcm wrote: »

A main dealer service can be substituted with a BMW specialist service

As much as it pains me to agree with his nibs, BMW specialists are the way to go.

'I swear i changed the oil regularly' is no longer acceptable. Everyone knows when they buy a car with just assurances, they are non-transerrable when it comes time for them to sell and moving it on it in future will be more difficult.

There is no substitute for a stamp and a receipt from a reputable source, come selling time. ESPECIALLY, with a car like yours.

JohnCleary

cantdecide wrote: »

There is no substitute for a stamp and a receipt from a reputable source, come selling time. ESPECIALLY, with a car like yours.

If the warranty was out by a couple of years, receipts of decent oils/genuine filters etc. would go better in my book than a feckin stamp in a book. I also tend to suss out cars before buying. Best place you can buy a car from is an enthusiasts (sp?) website because you can do a search for pretty much any problem the owner has had (As they'd have posted looking for advise) Something like that is worth WAY more to me than a service history stamp

Granted i'd like to see a FSH until the car ran out of warranty, but after that it's going to cost you way more in the long run paying dealer prices rather than losing a few quid come resale

Mr.Diagnostic

Zorba wrote: »

Err since when did a car become an investment ?

Good point

Mr.Diagnostic

JohnCleary wrote: »

In other words, what Mr Diagnostic is trying to say is....

While doing an oil/filter change, go to your dealers and buy a CRANKCASE BREATHER FILTER too! About 50euro but should defo be changed. I think BMW now replace these at every Inspection 2.

Not really.

The example I used of the Turbo is directly related to breather but that is just one example.

JohnCleary

Mr.Diagnostic wrote: »

Not really.

The example I used of the Turbo is directly related to breather but that is just one example.

Give us more examples then

Remember the OP only asked about air/oil filter changes etc. (the etc I presume is just basic stuff). Granted I wouldnt go at more complicatd things like timing chain etc. (Which I know shouldnt need to be changed, but is just an example)

cantdecide

JohnCleary wrote: »

If the warranty was out by a couple of years, receipts of decent oils/genuine filters etc. would go better in my book than a feckin stamp in a book. I also tend to suss out cars before buying. Best place you can buy a car from is an enthusiasts (sp?) website because you can do a search for pretty much any problem the owner has had (As they'd have posted looking for advise) Something like that is worth WAY more to me than a service history stamp

Granted i'd like to see a FSH until the car ran out of warranty, but after that it's going to cost you way more in the long run paying dealer prices rather than losing a few quid come resale

I'm blue in the face from saying INDEPENDANT SPECIALIST.

Every enthusiast I know that posts regularly on an enthusiasts forum to find out about their expensive car WILL have verifiable service history from an appropriate source at the correct intervals (or more frequently) as an absolute minimum.

You can always insruct a specialist to use OEM or higher quality materials and follow the service schedule.

If you want to get all particular and put in Super-Duper-Uber oil because you really really care, you can do additional in-between oil change if you want. The fact remains that a receipt for a gallon of oil has no name, reg number or mileage written on, so is therefore useless as a piece of history. If i went to see an expensive top of the range car and was handed oil receipts and a web address for a car forum, I'd think he was having me on. I'd think the car was burning a gallon between services for a start.

You can get a documented oil change (just oil) from a specialist with paperwork to corroborate for €60. This demonstrates a will to mind the car, for the €20 or €30 saving, whay would take FSH away from amn expensive car.

CrowdedHouse

How do you know that these Self-Appointed Specialists are any good anyway ?

I don't know about the OP,but I know John Cleary knows his head gasket from his throttle body both on land and marine engines and would be at least as competent as the apprentice who would do these routine jobs anyway.

Service history outside of a main dealer means very little,paper never refused ink !

JohnCleary

cantdecide wrote: »

You can get a documented oil change (just oil) from a specialist with paperwork to corroborate for €60. This demonstrates a will to mind the car, for the €20 or €30 saving, whay would take FSH away from amn expensive car.

I'd like to know where from! My BMW LL oil costs more than €60 per fill, nevermind paying someone to do it :eek:

Documented receipts would do for me tbh, but each to their own. A 5/320d is nothing special. If it were a specialist car then maybe....

JohnCleary

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

How do you know that these Self-Appointed Specialists are any good anyway ?

This is my whole point CH, what makes these 'specialists' any better from the rest of us? Sure i'm no mechanic and would leave big jobs to a mechanic, but for gods sake why pay someone €100/hr to do simple jobs that you can do and document yourself? What's so special about main dealers? Chances are you'll have some young apprentice working on your car for a simple service anyhow. Sure, the main dealer may have special software.... special software that you can buy on eBay for a tenner

cantdecide

JohnCleary wrote: »

This is my whole point CH, what makes these 'specialists' any better from the rest of us? Sure i'm no mechanic and would leave big jobs to a mechanic, but for gods sake why pay someone €100/hr to do simple jobs that you can do and document yourself? What's so special about main dealers? Chances are you'll have some young apprentice working on your car for a simple service anyhow. Sure, the main dealer may have special software.... special software that you can buy on eBay for a tenner

Try asking on an enthusiasts forum maybe?? There are specialists for most cars everywhere and if they can't perform a basic service and provid a stamp, you will find it hard to find an enthusiast to recommend him. I can name at last 5 BMW guys in my area and I know which ones to steer clear of. Some are trusted by enthusiasts, some aren't.

It's not a question of whether you can do it yourself or not. Most people can do the basics including myself- but i gave it up when I started getting better cars. It's not appropriate for german barges- there's thread running right now about someone who's old car was clocked.

Even if a specialist is a charlatan, the stamp and receipt demostrates a concerted effort to keep the car fully serviced that is the only universally accepted method, even if not completely fool-proof, of verifying mileage and demonstrating the approach taken to servicing by an owner that is TRANSFERRABLE to subsequent owners. If the car appears to be okay, it has a fully stamped book and it has a pile of receipts and NCTs, it's a different kettle of fish to looking at a car and thinking to yourself 'I know he's a straight shooter but how can I prove that it was minded in the last 40k to the next owner- there's no history to prove it'.

A relative of mine changes his oil religiously but it stops there. He absolutely neglects all the other aspects of maintenance and when he goes to sell it it effectively means it has no service history for 5k miles.

Anecdotal/ incomplete/ leap-of-faith service history isn't worth the paper it's written on and it makes your car harder to sell for it's full value.

Why would virtually every manufacturer give you a service book to stamp instead of a pouch for oil receipts and doctors notes if they thought the BEST way of minding your car was look after it yourself.

JohnCleary

cantdecide wrote: »

Why would virtually every manufacturer give you a service book to stamp instead of a pouch for oil receipts and doctors notes if they thought the BEST way of minding your car was look after it yourself.

Do I really need to answer that, or is it a rhetorical question? Obviously they put a stamp book so that you'll spend a small fortune at one of their manufacturer dealers and to maintain warranty.

Anyways I feel this is going nowhere so it'll be my last reply but to ME, someone who has a documented log and receipts for ANY work carried out is as good as a FSH for me.

cantdecide

You're not fighting me, you're only fighting convention.

Service history is mainly used to verify mileage. IF you can change a clutch yourself, a receipt for parts will do. Wheel bearing- receipt, rad-receipt.

Imagine I buy your car with 100k on it. You've had it for 3 years and put 30k on it. There is now only history up to 70k. I am suitably impressed with it and the fact that you've minded it. I then use it for two years and put up a further 20k.

Now I wish to sell it and what I have is a car with 120k on it, the last stamp was @ 70k and the last 50k is represented only by receipts going back several years with no reg, mileage or name and a dusty shedule and taken with a pinch of salt. The potential value of this genuine car is gone.

Result- I don't buy in the first place. I have made exactly this decision many times based on a ssimple question- how can I demonstrate that the car is well minded and the mileage is acurate.

Biro

You're assuming that all stamped service books mean that the car genuinely has had the work carried out on it... it's all too easy to get a mate to stamp a book. That's why only a call to the dealer and even look at the computer records is actually what's trust worthy. Mazda have gone now to the point where you don't get a service book with the car any more. It's all only located on the Mazda central database. That's better in my opinion, no falsified documents.
Also, just because you got a main dealer service, doesn't mean it was serviced correctly. Nowadays they use a suction pump to take out the old oil. That's half assed if you ask me, and I've even seen guys at a main dealer putting back on an oil filter with a rachet.

cantdecide

Piss-taking situations in main dealers and backalley goings-on that we've all heard about aside, I've already said a reputable, enthusiast approved indie is as good as a main dealer for a service stamp. Mickey Murphy, the Mechanic up the road obviously isn't an appropriate person.

Technology will provide the answer in the future, I think BMWs have a similar setup aswell for servicing but for now, you can't beat a stamp from a reputable garage to verify mileage.

I've seen an ad on carzone.ie recently where it had something like 'always maintained by Brian Powell Motor Services' in the ad. That's a strong selling point to those who know the quality of his work. If you don't know the quality of his work and are suspicious- get on the forums.

rebel.ranter

I prefer to my servicing & maintenance myself, at least that way I know it's done & done properly. As for re-sale, I keep all receipts to document all work that has been done to the car(s). The condition of the car will speak for itself too. One of my cars has two potential buyers just waiting for when I'm looking to shift it on. They know I have the skills & tools to maintain my car to the highest standards (including diagnostics, service manuals etc.
Just because some guy puts a BMW specialist sign over his door doesn't make all that they do perfect.
Also as for main dealers with their €120 plus VAT hourly rates, you would want to be crazy to visit them on a regular basis. What is it now, €400 for an oil service, €600 Inspection I & €800 Inspection II? You are paying for the fanct waiting rooms & showrooms whenyou pay the over-priced charges.
In addition to what others have said it is normally a "learner" mechanic doing the basic work to your car when you visit the main dealer, learning on your car. Generally they only want to see the new stuff coming into the service bay, and generally they will not experience the type of faults that come later in the life of the car (this is maybe, where the specialist wins out).
A friend of ours was a mechanic in a Ford Dealer & I wouldn't like to tell you how many timing belt jobs he has made a balls of while at work! Another friend of ours took him on as a mechanic in his independent garage & had to politely let him go as he was not competent. Where did he go? Back to the Ford dealer network!!

If the car is over 5 years old then I would not hesitiate to take on the maintenance myself, but maybe newer than this I might steer clear as it might affect re-sale value. Then again I don't think I'll ever buy a new car (or newer than 4 years old) as you can get a lot of car for your money if you are not reg plate vain.
Also the older cars (e.g. BMW) are generally either driven by enthusiasts that will know a good car when they see it or gullable people who just want the badge & know nothing about cars anyway & don't look for FSH. The FSH brigade tend to be the ones lapping up all the depreciation for the rest of us!

Also with a diesel engine it does no harm to do more frequent oil changes than the service interval suggests, especialy if driven in an urban stop-start environment.

cpoh1

Mr.Diagnostic wrote: »

Not really.

The example I used of the Turbo is directly related to breather but that is just one example.

If you bring your car to a bmw garage for a basic service you'll get a first year apprentice left unattended to change your oil, filters and plugs the same as any other car dealer. You wont get any "special" checks and your car certainly wont get the TLC it would if you are competant with tools and do the work yourself.

Im with JohnCleary all the way here, receipts for parts bought and changed even yourself go a long way in my book when buying a car. I wouldnt buy an enthusasts car from someone who didnt have a serious technical knowledge of the car he owns.

Anyway to the op, go away and do the work yourself, youre guarenteed the work will be done properly if you do it and the car wont be missing out on any special treatment that it would get at a stealership.

cantdecide

You make a compelling point. I'm tearing up my service book tomorrow.

niceirishfella

maidhc wrote: »

I'd agree. Having said that you won't get back the money that a BMW main stealer will rape you for.

If the OP knows about cars (and we must assume he does), and knows what he can do himself, and what he can't, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing DIY servicing.

Hi Guys,

I did'nt think my simple bmw serving question would lead to such a good debate so I'd like to add my 2 cents.

To be clear, i'm quite handy in the shed out back. I service my own car and jeep, so i know my way around the toolbox and an engine bay. I'm a car enthuiast - i like my motors always have and here's something else i also have - A DEEP MISTRUST of large motor dealers and garages.

Why?

Well, i worked in the trade and saw it all, the clocking,the lie-ing to customers,the daylight robbery, the botchjobs, THE LOT!

I dont buy cars from dealers,I sell my cars privately,I service my own vehicles (even my bloddy lawnmower) because as other have said, i know it will be done correctly and to a TEE!

I do not agree with the notion that i need a full stamped service book to get a good price for my 530d when i go to sell it. It has a full bmw service history to its 56k milage point and now i'm treating it to my own personal service. Its now over 5 yeear old, out of any warranty and all reciepts/doc will be kept in a file for any prospective buyer. Servicing this car at this age in it life and at it value in its life is GOOD SENSE and not as someone put it, a false economy.

Going to your big Glass fronted shiny bmw garage and handing over my motor to have a 17 year old apprentice to learn on my car and get a bill for nearly €500 for an oilchange does not make sense.
Thats my 2 cents anyway!

Rgds,

NIF.