105 in Jersey and my Saturday adventure (Alternator content - I think)

[Kristophe]

Reading about your unfortunate Saturday "adventure" RB is making me feel that I too need a Xanax. Sorry to hear. If it is indeed the Alt then apparently when it decides to go...it goes. I replaced my OFHG over a year ago and I thought about going ahead and putting in a new Alt but mine was a rebuilt one so apparently had already been replaced. Now I wish i had.

With the super high mark up of OE ALt you'll probably get a bill for around $750 is my wager, not including the tow.

[bcredliner]

Not a fun day, hopefully the Monday bill won't make another.

[Ricky Bobby]

Open Road BMW in Edison NJ, where I get all my parts, and thanks to Craig Hacker provides a really nice discount to Xoutpost members, gave me list price and "my price" for the OE alternator - I wanted to have my ammunition ready so to speak, in case this dealer that my car is at (Circle BMW in Eatontown) is going to try to price gouge me on parts:

List $584, my price $426

[StephenVA]

My Scientific Wild Ass Guess (SWAG) would say the dealer's price that has your X is going to say $597 + tax and 3 hrs labor.....

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by StephenVA

My Scientific Wild Ass Guess (SWAG) would say the dealer's price that has your X is going to say $597 + tax and 3 hrs labor.....

We have a winner!

List is $584 - can you believe he tried to tell me parts dept said its $685? Luckily I had my homework done - Service Advisor apologized and said he wouldn't charge over list, he probably almost spit his coffee out when I asked him point blank just now on why they would price gouge me 15% over list price?

I think he said $937 installed is my total - so I think 2 hours of labor to R&R the alternator which is fine.

The additional "needs" are great though that he said the tech noted:

-Battery won't hold a charge (YOU THINK?) - I told him I'm sure it would once the alternator works, if it doesn't, I just bough this Bosch from Pep Boys in December and will swap it out (4 year warranty) - just for giggles, "how much is BMW battery?" - $387

-"Both front door handles are sticking/inoperable, recommend door carriers" I told him the passenger carrier is sitting on my shelf, and the drivers door is perfectly fine, but if some magic way it broke over the weekend while sitting in their parking lot, I'll get in through the rear doors and do that one as well next weekend -

I'm sure the biggest money maker for techs is the 1 hour of labor (2 hours book time I'm sure) for the door carrier or window regulator. Especially considering how much they were trying to mark the parts up for me.


Hey StephenVA, you seem to be a pretty knowledgeable charging system guy - what do you think the chance is that the Bosch AGM that I bought back in December is fried from driving it with the alternator dying on Saturday?

[TiAgX5]

The longer the battery sits in a discharged state, the greater the chance of battery damage (it's called battery memory).

Call the dealer and tell them to put a charger on it ASAP!

[Ricky Bobby]

Honestly what I'm going to probably do is just get it home, put it on my battery charger, and see how it does - I can always run it dead by leaving the lights on and go exchange it at Pep Boys lol

I'm fairly certain the tech walked out to a dead vehicle this AM and put on notes "battery not holding charge" - of course it won't, because it was parked dead on Saturday lol

[jsoto]

That ain't that bad of a price regardless IMO. Imagine if he had to quote you a water cooled OE unit.

Just a reminder, but I believe OE alts have a lifetime warranty on them. So if it conks on the next time around, maybe it's just labor.

[StephenVA]

Most batteries will come back to life after a deep discharge and a slow recharge. The dealer has jumped started it already other wise they could not have tested the alt's out put as it needs to spin (ya think?). On the drive home the Alt will be charging at 100% to recharge the battery. 24 hrs on a slow 2-5 amp battery charger should bring the battery to full charge. If your not planning to driver her every day I would leave it on a trickle charger for an additional 24 just to make sure.

Quick test after charging to confirm the battery ability is to load test it for 15 secs with 150 amp draw (actually it should be the battery's 1/2 cold cranking amps rating but you will need one of these to do that) to pull away any "surface charge" and then wait a few mins and test with a volt meter.

The poor man's load test is simple, key on, accessories all on, headlamps, blower on high, radio, etc (don't forget the rear window defroster). Leave on for 20/30 seconds and then wait 15 seconds and test battery voltage. See Chart for actual battery state of charge.

[X53Jay4.8is]

Originally Posted by jsoto

That ain't that bad of a price regardless IMO. Imagine if he had to quote you a water cooled OE unit.

Just a reminder, but I believe OE alts have a lifetime warranty on them. So if it conks on the next time around, maybe it's just labor.

I think BMW O.E. parts are 2 years 24 months. If it is lifetime then I would imagine that it will spell this out on the service invoice.