2003 BMW 540i Repair Question
Mileage: No information provided.
2003 BMW 540i Repair costs
2003 BMW 540i V8 Two Wheel Drive Automatic 121000 miles
After having my engine temp spike recently in traffic, I took the car to a BMW dealer who said I needed a new fan clutch and thermostat. The repair bill was $925 to which I had him replace engine belts for another $200. Car was in the shop for 2.5 hours. He also said I was leaking coolant in the valley pan, leaking oil from valve cover gaskets and the water pump had some play. Estimate to replace these items was $2,000 which was mostly labor he said. My questions are 1) are these costs reasonable and 2) should I use this opportunity to replace other things such as rear cross over gaskets, cooling pipe o-rings, intake gaskets,oil separater, plugs & boots? anything else? And if so, what should all these items cost in terms of parts and labor. thanks
Asked by PTardifAnswer
Ok with what I found and keep in mind this is labor rate at the national average, your bill with what was done should have been around $609. With what else they want to replace I come up with $1329. Now if you include spark plugs and wires or boot ends I come up with $1460. Hope this helps.
Just to be clear, do your figures include all the other items I suggested or just just the 3 items the dealer suggested. If you have an average labor rate for the Northeast ( NH) that would be helpful. Also can you think of anything else I should replace that are known to fail while I have the engine opened up. I only want to do this once if i can help it. thanks
Ok the final figure is what I come up with including what you want to replace. Now this is based on a national average that is all I have to work on.
At 121k miles I would be elated if $2000 worth of work(valley pan, valve cover gaskets, belts, thermostat, water pump) would be all that it needed.
I replaced the waterpump, thermostat, and hoses on a 2002 540iT. Next time, I'll pay either the dealer, or another BMW mechanic to do it.
IIRC, the cost of parts is ~$500USD, and the local BMW shop charges $110USD/hr. Valve cover gaskets are ~$700USD. So yeah, I'm inclined to agree w/ Dr. Hagerty.
The Doctor is always right about BMW automobile repair! lol