M140i Servicing

[Hammy98]

Hi all,

Been running my 17 plate M140i since February and the iDrive is now indicating it's due a service.

It needs:

Engine oil and filters
Vehicle check
Front pads

Forgive my naivety but based on Brembo pads, sensors and the recommended oil I'd estimated £350-400 all in.

BMW quote - £730
BMW specialist indie - £450

Does that sound daft? It's going to need rear pads and a brake fluid change in the next 3k as well which I'd imagine will be another few hundred. I knew it wouldn't be a cheap car to run but that seems a little on the high side.

If £450 is deemed acceptable then I have no issue with paying it - just looking from feedback from others before going ahead.

Cheers

[ndreaw]

If you’ve calculated 350-400 based on parts then 450 with the labour sounds very reasonable

[Hammy98]

ndreaw said:

If you’ve calculated 350-400 based on parts then 450 with the labour sounds very reasonable

Can source the parts myself for just under £200, I'd expected to pay a markup as usual but the breakdown from the indie was:

£126 labour
£247.92 parts

20% VAT

£448.71

They won't let me supply my own parts otherwise I'd be going down that route. Part of being BMW approved supposedly...

[ndreaw]

If you want it cheaper then find another garage that will let you supply parts, or do a cash job without vat.

[CJ1]

Just make sure the Indie can update the iDrive Service History as it’s normally only BMW dealers that can. I know some Indies have been able to access BMW’s system and can now record it on the iDrive.

Very annoying though as BMW forgot to update my ones first service so according to the system it’s first oil change was 47000 miles!

[Hammy98]

CJ1 said:

Just make sure the Indie can update the iDrive Service History as it’s normally only BMW dealers that can. I know some Indies have been able to access BMW’s system and can now record it on the iDrive.

Very annoying though as BMW forgot to update my ones first service so according to the system it’s first oil change was 47000 miles!

The indie who quoted me claims they can register the service with BMW so as to keep full service history.

Having investigated this a bit further the brake pad replacement is just 'reset' on the iDrive rather than logged, so I've went ahead and ordered some Brembo pads and a wear sensor off Euros for 60 quid

Going to have the indie do the oil and filters and will do the pads myself, looks straightforward on the 'M' Brembos.

Cheers guys

[JackReacher]

It is stupidly expensive for what is a normal 2 series with a big (non M) engine.

I think I will sell my 67 plate before that 2nd service, it's not a good enough car to warrant that sort of standard servicing cost. My old Cayman was cheaper to service and was a much better car to drive.

[Court_S]

JackReacher said:

It is stupidly expensive for what is a normal 2 series with a big (non M) engine.

I think I will sell my 67 plate before that 2nd service, it's not a good enough car to warrant that sort of standard servicing cost. My old Cayman was cheaper to service and was a much better car to drive.

That’s why I bought the £299 service pack; I’ll sneak the second service inside three years so job jobbed.

[JackReacher]

Court_S said:

That’s why I bought the £299 service pack; I’ll sneak the second service inside three years so job jobbed.

Nice idea if you can pull it off, but I thought they would only allow a second service if the car said it needed it within the limits, you cant just request a service if it isn't needed. I think it depends on your use of the car, for me I do mostly motorway and hence intervals are long and I wouldn't get a 2nd service under the plan.

[Hammy98]

JackReacher said:

It is stupidly expensive for what is a normal 2 series with a big (non M) engine.

I think I will sell my 67 plate before that 2nd service, it's not a good enough car to warrant that sort of standard servicing cost. My old Cayman was cheaper to service and was a much better car to drive.

Doing the pads myself BMW have quoted me £450, which only covers:

Vehicle Check
Oil change
Filters

Then in a few months it'll need a brake fluid change, the rear pads doing, and one other item I can't remember off the top of my head.

I'd like to move to a Cayman or an M2 next as I thought of the M140i as a good balance of running costs vs performance, can't help but feel like either of those two on a service plan would be a chunk cheaper to run.

[Phateuk]

Have you tried alternative BMW dealers? I had oil and filter change on my E92 M3 last year and pretty sure it was around £300 including an MOT which would've been ~£50 of that. Assume the 4.0L requires more oil than the 3.0L so £450 does seem expensive to me

That was at sytner nottingham.

ETA the M135i i had from new I just took to a bmw indy, £100 for oil and filter service. Job done

Edited by Phateuk on Thursday 18th July 14:59

[95JO]

I recently paid £400 at a reputable indie for a major service on my M235i...

BMW wanted £650, didn't even bother asking for a quote with supplied parts.

I know what you mean regarding running costs, I've owned mine almost bang on a year and done 17k miles and had to buy x4 PS4's with balancing/alignment @ £550, major service £400 as I mentioned and now in need of x2 PS4's again @ £205 fitted... That's not including insurance, tax and MOT of course.

Admittedly those costs could've been very different had I bought the car with fresh tyres and already had it's major service but still... Pads all round soon too... So, like you said OP, the thought of an M2 with a 5 year service pack (which most on AT seem to have) doesn't sound too bad.

[Hammy98]

Phateuk said:

Have you tried alternative BMW dealers? I had oil and filter change on my E92 M3 last year and pretty sure it was around £300 including an MOT which would've been ~£50 of that. Assume the 4.0L requires more oil than the 3.0L so £450 does seem expensive to me

That was at sytner nottingham.

ETA the M135i i had from new I just took to a bmw indy, £100 for oil and filter service. Job done

I may try another dealer before going ahead as it does seem rather high. Supposedly 6.5L of oil totaling £80, then £60 for filters, vehicle check and labour make up the rest. The quoted invoice I have has 'Vehicle check' at £80, with 1.6 units which seems a bit odd.

£100 for oil and filters is much more like what I was expecting. I expect the indie that I rang up are charging a premium since they are 'BMW Approved' and can update the iDrive correctly.

Pads need doing soonish so I'm going to change them next week as I ordered some online. iDrive is stating 1200 miles before the oil change so will ring a few dealers next week and see whats what now that the pad change is out of the equation.

Food for though, cheers!

Edited by Hammy98 on Friday 19th July 11:12

[swanny71]

Hammy98 said:

Doing the pads myself BMW have quoted me £450, which only covers:

Vehicle Check
Oil change
Filters

Then in a few months it'll need a brake fluid change, the rear pads doing, and one other item I can't remember off the top of my head.

I'd like to move to a Cayman or an M2 next as I thought of the M140i as a good balance of running costs vs performance, can't help but feel like either of those two on a service plan would be a chunk cheaper to run.

I recently had oil & filter, micro filter and brake fluid service done at a BMW main dealer for £260. They did the vehicle check for free.
Still expensive for what it is but I want to keep FBMWSH on the 1M.
That was under their ‘value service’ for older vehicles, might be worth asking if they can apply those rates to your car?

Edited by swanny71 on Friday 19th July 11:49

[HM-2]

I'd be surprised if it needed pads. How many miles has it done?
My M140i has done ~23k and there's still masses of meat left on the pads...

[LocoBlade]

Hammy98 said:

Doing the pads myself BMW have quoted me £450, which only covers:

Vehicle Check
Oil change
Filters

Then in a few months it'll need a brake fluid change, the rear pads doing, and one other item I can't remember off the top of my head.

I'd like to move to a Cayman or an M2 next as I thought of the M140i as a good balance of running costs vs performance, can't help but feel like either of those two on a service plan would be a chunk cheaper to run.

I can't see how an M2 or Cayman would be a chunk cheaper to run even on a service plan, you'll obviously have lower servicing costs compared to an M140 not on a service plan (not really comparing apples with apples) but you've also got ~5mpg worse fuel consumption for the M2, unsure about Cayman but I'd be surprised if it was as efficient as the B58 in the M140. That alone will add more than the cost of a service to your annual outlay assuming 10-12k annual mileage, plus there's higher tax/insurance and more costly consumables (brakes, tyres etc) to factor in to the equation. An M2 or Cayman is undoubtedly a more fun proposition but it needs a lot of man maths to demostrate it as a money saver IMHO.

I've had my M240 since new (March '17) and thus far all it's cost me in 24k miles is the first £200 service (£150 main dealer oil change service with £50 of self supplied oil) and a set of tyres so a bigger bill for the second service in 8-9 months time won't look so bad when spread over that 3+ year period of owning it. You've bought a second hand car that's I'm guessing has maybe 30-35k on the clock which was only 6 months away from a major service and with a lot of the original consumable items well on their way to needing replacing, so a few bills are to be expected really, its the type of outlay that's likely to occur whatever car you'd bought at a similar age/mileage.

[chungasarnies]

FWIW, I paid £265 for oil change, microfilter, and diagnosis of a dodgy tyre pressure sensor at the dealer two weeks ago. For a dealer I thought that was decent, but I agree, its hardly pennies.

[PSRG]

chungasarnies said:

FWIW, I paid £265 for oil change, microfilter, and diagnosis of a dodgy tyre pressure sensor at the dealer two weeks ago. For a dealer I thought that was decent, but I agree, its hardly pennies.

I agree, especially compared to MB servicing costs, BMW seems pretty reasonable considering how long it goes between services. My M235 has done 35k miles in the last 3 years. It’s had an oil change and micro filter service st BMW after 21 months and 22k miles, which was £270. It’s had an MOT and brake fluid change, also at BMW, at 3 years which was just over £200 pounds. And it had new front pads at 33k miles, which I got an independent to change for £160. It’s next service is in 8k miles according to the car. So that’s £630 for probably 40k miles / 3 and a half years. MB annual servicing would have been knocking on twice that I reckon!

[Court_S]

PSRG said:

I agree, especially compared to MB servicing costs, BMW seems pretty reasonable considering how long it goes between services. My M235 has done 35k miles in the last 3 years. It’s had an oil change and micro filter service st BMW after 21 months and 22k miles, which was £270. It’s had an MOT and brake fluid change, also at BMW, at 3 years which was just over £200 pounds. And it had new front pads at 33k miles, which I got an independent to change for £160. It’s next service is in 8k miles according to the car. So that’s £630 for probably 40k miles / 3 and a half years. MB annual servicing would have been knocking on twice that I reckon!

I agree. The running costs on these M-Lites does seem pretty reasonable, far more so than something like an M2.

[chungasarnies]

Court_S said:

I agree. The running costs on these M-Lites does seem pretty reasonable, far more so than something like an M2.

Probably still a bit of BMW tax going on -my mate who runs a Golf R the same age paid £400 for his first service, but it included a DSG and Haldex oil change (I thought that was really rather good!).

Other than the service, the only bill in 13,500 miles is 230 quid (!) when I completely obliterated a front tyre in a pothole. I didn't quibble too much - BMW Assist recovered me with a flatbed, in 6 inches of snow, in the middle of fking nowhere, at 11pm, and gave me a 520d for a week while they sourced a replacement Conti winter. In short the ownership experience has been really good.