Major problems!!!

[Jordo]

LOL. Tyipical dealer. You take it there cuz it wont start and they tell you the power steering fluid is leaking!?!?!? Bwahahahahahahaha!!!

Did they ever tell you why it didnt start? Or how much to fix it? Or maybe they cant figure it out? Ive been to 2 BMW dealers and both were jaw dropping- in the stupidity of the tech. I have a Nissian Frontier truck that I had to take to the dealer with impressive techs. That blows my mind.

I would get your X back ASAP and take it to a indy. (By the way.... Indy is short for Indipendent shop.... lol, it took me a while to figure out what ppl were talking about)

And when you take it there, tell your story about the dealer.... it will be a sly way to say your not interested in paying for things that can wait... Just get the damn thing running.


Good luck and keep us posted!

[bigwave2255]

sorry to kick you while your down BUT you did get the vehicle checked BEFORE you laid out the cash didn't you???

if you bought it from a friend did you then buy an independent warranty??

seems to me that your friend did well getting rid of it, i would be suggesting that if he is any sort of FRIEND he may want to assist you in sorting out the problems, that by the sound of it were present at the time of sale

EM

[ktay05]

Thanks everyone for the replies! I'm going to take it to an Indy shop and get their opinion, I talked to the "steelership" today and I asked what the minimum just to get it to drive, they said it would just be the mass air flow sensor which would be about $700. If I decide to let them just fix that I'll take it to the Indy shop right after...as for my friend...well he's being pretty cool and is going to help pay for some of the repairs, I probably won't get the washer fluid leak fixed,

What about the oil, coolant, and power steering leaks, which is "needed" the most to get fixed?....and for the front right cv boot problem, forgot what was exactly wrong with it.

With regards to the warranty I'm getting my full refund! Thank god!

[bigwave2255]

all are important but i would get the cv joint done first, followed by oil leaks, do which ever is the worst first, then coolant leak.

however until you get this work done i would be checking all fluid levels regularly / daily so as to ensure you dont get any more surprises, its good that you friend is stepping up, means that they really are friends

good luck,

[enigmae12]

well i did my entire cooling system at fields bmw and cost to me was 1400 although very high which im an indy guy, it is well worth the cost as BMW will warrant the work in any in the country. and it sounds like you purchased a neglected X good luck.

[ktay05]

So I talked to a couple Indy shops I sent the labor/part/repair sheet that BMW gave me to these shops, and I got different responses from a lot of them...first off most didn't give me a quote as I'll be getting my car back from BMW on mon. And they didn't want to quote me anything until they can see the car themselves. However, BMW told me that I needed to fix the mass air flow sensor, but some of the Indy shops said it's a fuel sensor that need to be fixed....are these the same? And as for the coolant leak that BMW said to fix...the Indy shops said to fix the radiator? Does the radiator fix cover the coolant leak?

And what is an avg labor per hour charge at and Indy shop....bmw's breakdown for every little thing was $2800 for parts and $4800 for labor...keep in mind that's to fix everything which I'm planning on not doing...the avg range on Indy repair shops on labor was $80-100/hr, does this seem reasonable? And does anyone know how long it is to fix the "essentials"?

[Jordo]

$80-$100 per hour is normal.

[740ilDuke]

You can replace the Mass Air Flow Sensor yourself. It's 2 screws and a plug, and on top of the engine. 1st you can get some Mass Air Flow sensor cleaner from Autozone etc, remove it and spray it. Sometimes this works just fine. If not, check eBay or www.oembimmerparts.com or getBMWparts.com < (wholesale BMW parts)

As far as the laundry list the dealer gave you, it's a joke. Dealerships are there to make money, and they love replacing everything in sight at your cost.

Some things on the list will need to be replaced, but do it at your own discretion. If the washer tank is leaking, seek out BMW parts recyclers and save yourself a ton of money. Being that it's a 10 year old vehicle, there are many great parts that you can find out there. Of course when it comes to typical things like power steering lines, go new and go OEM. But do use a board sponsor or one of the above to get the best pricing.

I went to BMW once 6 years ago for an oil change. The charged me about $200, I never went back. Filter $10 Oil $60-$70 Labor at most shops if you supply the above is never more than $15-$20 bucks.

Good Luck with the X5. Try not to stress too much about it.

Electrical - Powertrain control - Mass air flow sensor mass air flow sensor, x5, 4.4l
00-03
$337.46
This is from getBMWparts.com - in essence your dealer is charging $363 dollars to remove two screws and replace two screws.

If you want to spend even less for OEM BOSCH

X5 Engine Mechanical & Under Hood Parts
$174

I would pay the diagnostic labor fee and take it elsewhere STAT.

[ktay05]

Thanks everyone for all your help!!! So here's the update, got her back today, paid $1500 for cv boot replace, oil leaks fixed, the two coolant leaks fixed, replaced valley pan, all intake gaskets and cover replaced, coolant and mat temp sensor replaced, plus oil change! My friend paid for parts and I paid for labor, he paid about 950 and taking 740ilDuke's advice I did the maf sensor myself, took awhile but I figured I should put some time in too...all in all runs great now...hopefully....

And on a side not i'll post some pics...before I had all these problems I changed the headlight to the led halos so I finally get to show those bad boys off.

Thanks again everyone!

[TwinTurboGTR]

WOW!!! Not going to lie, that is an awesome price for all the stuff you have done. Most indy's charge $1600 to just change the Valley Pan gasket, plugs, and VC gaskets. Nice job. And I concur with the other, never buy or sell anything to a friend, even though your friend was nice enough to pick up the tab on Parts. Nice job!!!