Dealer just charged me $400 to change a bulb, what are my options...

[rmani]

I never go to the dealer, but I had an emergency as my headlight burned out at night and I had to stop by to ask them to fix it. Little did I know what I was walking in to. They charged me $400 to change my passenger side headlight, and now I'm out not only a bunch of money, but the two headlights look different colors. The older headlight looks a lot more purpleish, which I'm guessing is just because the bulb is old, but do I have any recourse? Just how badly did I get ripped off? Where can I get a new bulb to replace the driver's side so the beams at least match again.

Thanks

[wullaby]

how many hours labor did they charge you and how much for the parts? You could have bought two halogen front headlights thru ECS special along w/ tailights and side markers for like $267! the other day...haha, you always ask for an estimate. I had battery changed in 530i...almost $300 at dealership, but i knew the battery was over $100 and labor is over 100/hr...so it wasn't unreasonable.

[LightWerkz]

$400 to change a headlight bulb? Thats about 4 hours of dealer labor time, ridiculous. Was the price of the bulb included? If so they can be pricey from dealer. Should of came north to visit me

Always replace xenon bulbs in pairs so they match in color and intensity.

If you need a replacement set let me know.

[petener999]

I think $400 included part and labor..

[TwinsPoppa]

I don't think you have any recourse. Didn't you ask for a quote before they did the work? Mind telling us how the $400 invoice breaks down?

I'm guessing $175 -$200 of that was for the bulb alone.

[rmani]

$400 did include parts and labor, after my cca discount I got it down to $360 to be exact but still I feel robbed. lightwerkz i had no idea you existed and relatively close to me. If I bring the car up there can you swap the other one and get them to match for a good price? I'm also having issues with the rear tail lamp. On the driver's side the connections are pretty corroded resulting in a slightly dimmer output. I looked into getting a used lamp on ebay but if you have something at a good price I'd like to do that as well. BTW this really set me back so I need to wait a few weeks until I'm on my next billing cycle for the car. Thanks guy

[Hit Redline]

Sorry to say but you feel robbed, because you were robbed. Did you get an estimate before the repair? Not sure if the law is the same in all states but in Cali you are to receive a written estimate that requires your authorization before the work is done.

It was an emergency for you to have it done right away and it was a dealer so maybe that is on par for pricing. At the dealer I take my wife's 7 (its under warranty) to it takes weeks to get an appointment, even if it is safety issue.

Chalk this up to a learning lesson.

Lesson 1: Ask questions about a repair on the forum before having work done.

[Engz]

Originally Posted by rmani

$400 did include parts and labor, after my cca discount I got it down to $360 to be exact but still I feel robbed. lightwerkz i had no idea you existed and relatively close to me. If I bring the car up there can you swap the other one and get them to match for a good price? I'm also having issues with the rear tail lamp. On the driver's side the connections are pretty corroded resulting in a slightly dimmer output. I looked into getting a used lamp on ebay but if you have something at a good price I'd like to do that as well. BTW this really set me back so I need to wait a few weeks until I'm on my next billing cycle for the car. Thanks guy

Oh that really sucks man. The stealership is always my last resort. I'd try to give it a try myself first then if I can't handle the work, I'd just bring it to a indy shop.

About the tails, I know what you mean about it being corroded and causes the lights to be dim. I bought new socket connector (the piece you put your bulbs in) from the dealers and cleaned the metal bracket that powers all the lights in the tail lamp and still, I had issues with it. I then bought a set of non LED tail lamps from ebay for $80 + shipping. With these lamps, instead of using that metal bracket to power all the lights, it uses wires to power them.

This is the tails I bought. They have many different ones. If you want to spend more, you can get LED ones which look a lot better. Ever since I bought these, I never had that issue ever again.

Oh about the different color head lights. Maybe your old ones are just a different color and the dealer didn't match them. Maybe you could go back and let them know that you're not happy with the results. I'm pretty sure they will be kind enough to change them for you.

What color light comes out from the dealer's bulb?

[rayxi]

That doesn't sound right. What exactly were the items on your invoice?

[papasmurf]

Holy crap man, dunno where you are in NJ, but I have a good indy for you for future work.

As for the headlight bulbs, you can grab a set of Phillips D2S bulbs (85122), which are now OEM in most vehicles with HIDs right off of ebay. Older trucks came factory with Osrams, and judging by your description of a purple bulb, it's what you have (Phillips bulbs go dim with age, while Osrams color shift and dim). A pair should run you under 100 bucks (I got a set of 75).

To change the bulb:

You will need an 8mm socket, extension, and a Torx set. I would also highly recommend a towel to lay on the bumper while removing and replacing the headlight to minimize the risk of damage when removing the headlight (better safe than sorry).

- Take out the 4 bolts holding the headlight in (I believe they are 8mm, two on top and two on the bottom, and are a little hard to reach)

- Once you have the headlight unbolted, slide it towards the center of the car so that the lower trim piece unlatches from the fender. The headlight should now be mostly free.

- Unplug the auto-leveling motor plug, and remove the high beam, turn signal bulb and the ground that is plugged in near the ballast (thin black wire) from the headlight. You should now be left with a thick black wire running into the headlight.

- There are 3 Torx screws that hold the dust cover on the headlight where the thick wire runs in. Unbolt them and make sure not to lose the seal.

- Once the cover is unbolted, you will see a red plug. Twist it and it will come off (this is the headlight plug if you have not figured it out yet). At this point, lift the headlight off of the car, and put it down on a clean work surface.

- To remove the headlight, turn the plastic retaining ring counter-clockwise. It should come free after about 1/8th of a turn. Remove the bulb.

- Place the new bulb in, making sure that the alignment tabs line up, and with the metal wire on the bottom. DO NOT TOUCH THE GLASS ON THE BULB. At this point I would also highly suggest you change the turn signal bulb, because if it goes bad, you will be doing this again.

- Re-install the retaining ring and reverse the process. Make sure everything is plugged in and the you clip the headlight back into the fender. Getting it to clip back in is a little tricky, but a gentle jiggle and a tiny bit of coercing will get it back in. before you bolt everything back down.

This whole process took me about 10 minutes a side with me taking my time (aligning the headlights with the bodywork). Someone who is less experienced and doesn't know where to press on the plugs, it'll probably take 20-25 for the first side and less for the second.

That tech probably did the headlight in less than 10. The longest part of the process IMO is getting the headlight off and back on the fender tab. To be honest, I think BMW charges $165 per bulb, and I'm guessing they hit you with 2 hours labor because they checked to see if it was the bulb or ballast, which they test by throwing a new bulb on it and seeing (still, not a 2 hour job).

This was a learning experience for you. I got my learning experience when I first bought my car and got charged over $400 to replace the upper radiator hose (required a "total cooling system drain and cooling system flush", which was a load of crap). Welcome to the club, and don't go to a dealer unless it's under warranty again. If you are in Northern NJ, I have a great indy who is a BMW tech, and has the full computer setup to do all modern BMWs. PM me if you need the number.