50K mile Inspection: Is this level 1, 2, or ?

[ike301]

Anyone know? And what the general difference is in the service job? (other than price! beat y'all to that answer.... ha)

[alpac]

here is information about the BMW service shedule and what it consists of
http://www.xoutpost.com/articles/x5/e...-schedule.html

[AutoXer]

50k service is probably a insp II.

[Eurosport]

check this, check that, check this, check that, replace oil, check this, check that, oh btw $500 /end sarcasm

[Quicksilver]

Sometime a whole lot of checkin can find problems. Perhaps thats a good thing. Especially if you know what your looking for.

Originally Posted by Eurosport

check this, check that, check this, check that, replace oil, check this, check that, oh btw $500 /end sarcasm

[texmln]

What really happens during the $800 "inspections" that's different from the $140 oil "service" (not to be confused with the $70 oil "change"):

1) During the 30 seconds the tech is waiting for the topside changer to suction out your oil, he gives your engine bay the old Chevy Chase Grand Canyon Nod [from Vacation]. If he sees anything wet or broken it will be duly noted. I'd give it a 50% chance that he actually replaces the microfilters or air filter. Replace the spark plugs? Ha, ha, ha, ha....

2) As he's driving your vehicle from the service bay to its parking spot he'll turn on the A/C for the "A/C Check" and glance at the dash for burned out lights. Any funny driving feel or noises will be duly noted. Warning: you don't any $$ credit for mentioning these very same issues when you brought it in.

3) You pay $1000.

Seriously, the inspection scam may be worthwhile for those with far more $$$ than brains but we're talking about 15 minutes of work in most cases, maybe 30 minutes if they actually change the spark plugs (most of which now go to 100K anyway).

[Quicksilver]

I'm glad I found this out. Now i know every dealer who sells BMW's are dishonest and that theres a conspirecy to rip off every owner of every BMW that was ever made each and every time a person goes in for service.

So let us all go out and buy our own tools, diagnostic equiptment, computers, set up shop and do the service ourselves. That way we can use our BMW factory trained eye to spot our own problems and fix em. Brilliant logic Why didn't we all think of that?

Originally Posted by texmln

What really happens during the $800 "inspections" that's different from the $140 oil "service" (not to be confused with the $70 oil "change"):

1) During the 30 seconds the tech is waiting for the topside changer to suction out your oil, he gives your engine bay the old Chevy Chase Grand Canyon Nod [from Vacation]. If he sees anything wet or broken it will be duly noted. I'd give it a 50% chance that he actually replaces the microfilters or air filter. Replace the spark plugs? Ha, ha, ha, ha....

2) As he's driving your vehicle from the service bay to its parking spot he'll turn on the A/C for the "A/C Check" and glance at the dash for burned out lights. Any funny driving feel or noises will be duly noted. Warning: you don't any $$ credit for mentioning these very same issues when you brought it in.

3) You pay $1000.

Seriously, the inspection scam may be worthwhile for those with far more $$$ than brains but we're talking about 15 minutes of work in most cases, maybe 30 minutes if they actually change the spark plugs (most of which now go to 100K anyway).

[The Cleaner]

A little overdone but not to far off from reality in that the vast majority of problems will not be seen with a visual inspection. Also back in the old days parts would wear in the ignition system and fuel distribution system. These systems have long since gone solid state and have no wear. When they fail … they fail they do not give any warning (usually).

The items a Tech will catch are easily performed by the owner if they choose. If every owner went out and spend 500.00 on tools and a good OBDll scanner they could save that money 5 times over in unneeded trips to the dealer and unneeded 150 dollar an hour visual inspections.

With that said most dealers will do the service required and do it in about 20 minutes and charge the consumer the standard book hours that is significantly more than that. I think there is a aspect of that practice that can be viewed as dishonest. Techs that can book 20 hours labor in an 8 hour shift seems dishonest to me, what if your accountant did that? Or your plumber?

[Quicksilver]

Problem is only a few people are gonna go out and purchase tools to attempt repairs on their BMW. Just not gonna happen.

Perhaps there is a certain amount of dishonesty that could be regarded as dishonest at dealerships. We could say the same thing about people who take 20mins to smoke cigarettes on company time. However none of us know what most dealers do so we give people the benifit of the doubt. It's called being human. But i guess figuring every dealer is out to rip you off is human as well. Or should i say Paranoia. To each his own.

Originally Posted by The Cleaner

The items a Tech will catch are easily performed by the owner if they choose. If every owner went out and spend 500.00 on tools and a good OBDll scanner they could save that money 5 times over in unneeded trips to the dealer and unneeded 150 dollar an hour visual inspections.

With that said most dealers will do the service required and do it in about 20 minutes and charge the consumer the standard book hours that is significantly more than that. I think there is a aspect of that practice that can be viewed as dishonest. Techs that can book 20 hours labor in an 8 hour shift seems dishonest to me, what if your accountant did that? Or your plumber?

[nupe10123]

Not being a mechanic, I do get a better peace of mind when I take my car in and have it inspected. They are trained to see and fix things that I would not KNOW. Sure I could look and see the most obvious things, and I would likely see other things too and wonder 'is it suppose to be like that'. But most of us - unless have some kind of true tech knowledge/experience, don't really KNOW.

I do trust that they change my filters and spark plugs etc. when they are suppose to. I also trust that when they tell me something looks good/bad that they are giving honest profresional advice. I do also trust that they want to make a profit and keep my business.

Does BMW have a conspiracy - no. But they do have a reasonable business strat. that makes sense for most consumers.