$650 for a door actuator?

[youry]

Originally Posted by rastaFarai

maybe contact BMW NA and file a complaint, never done it but you should be able to lol.

I just want my car back the way it was. Nothing more

[UncleBob]

Originally Posted by youry

I know that a door actuator is around $10. I used to change a couple to my previous car.

i just replaced mine and it was around 150 swiss francs so about US$135.

it took me about 3, maybe 4 hours to do it myself. an experienced mechanic should easily be able to do it in 2. it's not that difficult if you're used to working on cars. maybe a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10.

the dealer's diagnosis is reasonable since apparently these actuators get gunked up with dirt and grime causing them to get sticky. the parts guy at the dealer said that sometimes they take them apart and clean them and lube them and they work fine (for a while.)

[2002Silver4.6is]

Originally Posted by rastaFarai

hey who's your local? I went to the dealer for a drain and they told me 2hr avg to find it - i found a great indie dealer here in ft laud at 595 and university, and he found it in 15 min, actually told me what it probably was before he even looked at it.

As far as the door actuator - definitely do your research on pricing before you go into a dealer if you have to. if you're in new york city i used to live there and know a good shop that i took my x5 to, they are in the bronx.

you're right though, def dont pay the 650 for less work LOL.

I go to European Auto Service. They are south of State Road 84, just west of I-95. Really competent guys!

http://www.europeanautoservice.net/

[youry]

What a mess! I cannot believe that I have to go thru this. I had the manager call me and he said that the car is "fixed" and that I should pay for the job. I told him that I was told 650 to fix the door lock so I can open it as before. He said he fixed the car so I can get in and out from it. I could have done that myself breaking the window for no charge. Anyway, he doesn't take half money for half job (I offered $320) so he will take the actuator out and I will pay for diagnostic ($135). Hopefully I will have everything as it was before and no sand or mud in the engine.

[wallyx5]

I paid $ 187.00 to have mine fixed, but I went to a body shop. After they had the part it took them about 30 mintues to fix. My door wouldn't open from the outside, only the inside.

[HPIA4v2]

Originally Posted by youry

What a mess! I cannot believe that I have to go thru this. I had the manager call me and he said that the car is "fixed" and that I should pay for the job. I told him that I was told 650 to fix the door lock so I can open it as before. He said he fixed the car so I can get in and out from it. I could have done that myself breaking the window for no charge. Anyway, he doesn't take half money for half job (I offered $320) so he will take the actuator out and I will pay for diagnostic ($135). Hopefully I will have everything as it was before and no sand or mud in the engine.

This is a BMW dealer? Wow, what a bunch of clowns.

[youry]

Originally Posted by HPIA4v2

This is a BMW dealer? Wow, what a bunch of clowns.

Ok, I'm back from Morristown BMW, NJ. I was there at 8am and I was supposed just to drop off the loaner and get my car back the way it was when I got it there. No electrics were working. No window, no mirror, no alarm....nothing. I told them I want my car back the way it was and nothing more and I will pay them $135. They said, sorry in order to get everything to work you'll have to do the whole job. The whole job was changing the harness inside the door. Cost: $1840 (yes, onethousandandforty). I said no way I will pay that kind of money just to change some wires. I was about to jump in the loaner (I had my 6 month old little girl with me), go home and comeback once everything it was fixed. The so called manager said no, I will call the police. He called the police, the officer asked me what I want (in a nice way). I said nothing more than what I had when I brought it there, window and mirror working. At that point the "manager" said "you're a liar, the window didn't work" I told him to pull on his screen the initial notes (we were in his office). Suddenly the could not log in to his own computer. I'm sorry but I have to use one of my coworkers computer, and he left. He came back with the print showing clear "window working".
My little girl was not patient anymore so I paid $135 got my car back and left.

[X5HogTown]

As mentioned above, is there a DIY for this?

I have a sticky actuator in the passenger door that refuses to work in cold weather. I have taken the interior door panel off but I can't figure out how to access/remove the actuator.

Thanks for any info!

(ps the door works fine when manually opened from inside or out)

[UncleBob]

Originally Posted by X5HogTown

As mentioned above, is there a DIY for this?

1. follow the DIY for removing the door panel
   
2. disconnect everything that attaches to the actuator (see my photo in a previous post)
   
3. undo the two (or is it 3?) screws on the external door jamb part of the door.
   
4. remove and replace piece and reverse above process.

[Dylandog]

That sounds bad for one of our sponsors. Maybe there parts dep. is on the ball. Did you threaten the service guy or what made him call the police? I have had what I would call fair dealer repair totals from Russel BMW. I think having a good relationship with your service adviser(Tom Wolff) is key. I would be so mad if I was treated like that. When you are treated well in the service industry you will tell 5 people. When your treated poorly you will tell anyone you can!