ALTERNATOR
 

Has anyone had to replace their alternator in the past year or so? What was your cost (parts & labor)?



2006, 4.8, V8

I can't help but others will need to know year and engine to give you any idea of the cost. Parts and labor vary by source of parts and cost of labor in your particular area and who does the work. Hard to give you a good idea. Best approach is to get an estimate from two sources or from a well recommended Indy show that specializes in BMWs.

Suggest you add year and model to your signature for the future.

Thank you bcredliner.

Didn't have much choice due to when and where the failure occurred, but it was $856 at the dealer in Fort Worth.

2002 X5 3.0 267,800 miles
2004 325i 117,000 miles

Never replaced mine, but got an alternator priced at 900 some when i was diagnosing charging issues on mine. My Indy charges 90/hr, I'd guess a minimum of 4 hours.

Depending on the mileage and whether or not they have been replaced I would also replace some of the idler pulleys, tensioner and the alternator belt itself. And if you have the 3.0 engine I would also replace the OFHG since it is only 6 more bolts at this point and the gasket is only 6-8 bucks.

I did DIY on my 2001 4.4i. It is a little time consuming but nothing very hard. Painful to have to drain the coolant to remove the alternator (on the 4.4 at least, the pictures of the 4.8 alternator look like an air cooled unit)

From the 2006 4.8 in your signature, the dealer part is this one - note that they are remanufactured, not brand new, even from the dealer:
Part Number 12317540994
Part Name RMFD GENERATOR
MSRP $670.27
Core $50.00

The dealers that discount online sell the part for quite a bit less - I saw it for $442 at Morristown BMW.

You can find a Valeo unit from places like eEuro parts for $280 or so.

In HK, OEM costs around USD580 (made by Valeo with BMW logo) and Valeo costs around USD390 (without BMW logo). Labor cost is around USD200. I replaced mine 2 years ago at independent garage. If you do it at dealer, I believe it costs at least USD1,300 including parts and labor.