Hi there, today I got a revealing experience about the level of service of the guys with BMW.
I was aware that my air filter has been replaced at my previous service visits.
Since I found their hourly rate ridiculously high, I decided on doing as many things as possible on my own.
So first I have ordered parts from eBay (savings at least 40% if not more). These included oil filter, air filter and diesel filter (MAHLE, made in Austria, official supplier for BMW)
I have a friend who is a mechanic and I know him as being very detail oriented and precise in his work. Moreover he does not mind if I hang around while he is working on my car. BMW would never let me see whats going on the workshop.
I was still a little concerned as he is not a BMW specialist, he told me also that he had never dealt with an E70 before.
So today we had the "surgery"...
The engine oil was not a biggie, but the air filter was a hard bitch nut to crack.
Finally he figured how to access, and he dug out my old air filter to my horror...
It looked 2x as black as this one on the photo... He told me that definitely this was the original from the factory, so at my earlier expensive service visits BMW guys never even touched it, only charged.
Apparently because it is a big hassle to replace.
So its a warning guys... somehow make sure your air filter has been replaced, don't just pay for it like I did.
After the procedure the car accelerated faster and the whole running experience was different, no kidding.
We had no time to figure the diesel filter replacement, so he promised me that next week end we will take care of that.
Lesson learned: I will buy parts on eBay and only go to BMW for resetting my computer (now the amber car shape warning is still on).
Btw, I also bought my Castrol Longlife LL04 online at 1/3rd of the BMW price....
Even after paying my friend my balance is positive with a few hundred dollars.
PS staying in Europe, so your prices and gains might be different but I bet anyone would save quite some in the US, too.