E36 main dealer servicing...

[carreauchompeur]

E36 M3 down to one green light and have a bit of mileage coming up over the next few weeks. Indy can't fit me in for a few weeks and isn't answering their phone anyway.

So, I phoned the local BMW dealership to see what they'd quote.

Oil service:

Indy £139
Other indy £170 (Including spurious "safety check" which sent them well down in my estimation
Main dealer £126.

Quite remarkable. All inclusive, and I have an e-mail confirmation to the same effect. Booked in at the start of July.

[rassi]

That's a bargain! Any mention of what oil they will use, as I assume it is 10w/60 specified for your engine?

[supermanraf]

It's so easy to do an oil change on these, I 'm surprised you don't have a go yourself? 13mm socket for the filter housing cover, 17mm for the sump plug, a pick to change the O rings on the filter housing bolt, and you get a new set of O rings and sump plug washer with the new filter too, about £7.00 from BMW.

[carreauchompeur]

rassi said:

That's a bargain! Any mention of what oil they will use, as I assume it is 10w/60 specified for your engine?

I thought BMW spec was 10/60 Edge, but the woman on the phone was talking about 15/40. I'll see what I end up with...

[carreauchompeur]

supermanraf said:

It's so easy to do an oil change on these, I 'm surprised you don't have a go yourself? 13mm socket for the filter housing cover, 17mm for the sump plug, a pick to change the O rings on the filter housing bolt, and you get a new set of O rings and sump plug washer with the new filter too, about £7.00 from BMW.

Nah, I know how to change a car's oil but want to keep up the service history... Plus don't really have the space to do it at home.

More to the point, 2 bottles of Castrol Edge will set me back about £60 at the cheapest... Plus filter, faffing, getting rid of old oil etc.

[rassi]

carreauchompeur said:

I thought BMW spec was 10/60 Edge, but the woman on the phone was talking about 15/40. I'll see what I end up with...

15W/40?! That's not even full synthetic, you should insist on 10W/60, or whatever the manual specifies (is it an S50B30 or S50B32 engine?)

[carreauchompeur]

S50B32.

I suspect the lady may have been confused as the spec 'should' be 10/60 Castrol Edge AFAIK. I can't necessarily see a main dealer putting the wrong oil in.

Edited by carreauchompeur on Sunday 26th May 22:28

[E30M3SE]

IIRC 15W40 is the correct oil for that engine.