£320 a normal price for disc/pad change?

[Dubbdack]

Ive been quoted £320 for a front brake disc and pad change E46 325i, BMW dealer in Blackheath. Is this a normal price for being close to central London? Does anyone know of any good independent garages in the area?

[Sticks2]

Seen this place mentioned elsewhere on here though not tried myself http://www.bmsport.com/

[reeventu]

If you could do it( I appreciate not always possible) the cost would be around £120

Try a good Indy and leave the Main dealer alone, it is a very simple basic job that takes less than 1 hour IMO

Edited by reeventu on Wednesday 8th July 13:58

[bazking69]

£320 for disc and pads!! They aren't even the big brakes ala the 330 for christ sake.
Find an independant. Any garage will be capable of doing the discs and pads in less than an hour. Just make sure they use OE spec pads ie Textar ones. I'd expect a bill of half what the dealer have quoted.

[Pickled Piper]

It's not a difficult job and it's not specific to a BMW. Any competent garage can do it.

pp

[northandy]

bazking69 said:

£320 for disc and pads!! They aren't even the big brakes ala the 330 for christ sake.
Find an independant. Any garage will be capable of doing the discs and pads in less than an hour. Just make sure they use OE spec pads ie Textar ones. I'd expect a bill of half what the dealer have quoted.

You can get the textar pads from eurocarparts now, and you can buy online, about half the price of BMW

[TheEnd]

rough dealer costs are 80 for the pads, 80 per disc, 13 for wear sensor, so 250 in parts, 70 quid labour for an hour.


You should be able to cut that cost in half pretty easy.

[stockhatcher]

TheEnd said:

rough dealer costs are 80 for the pads, 80 per disc, 13 for wear sensor, so 250 in parts, 70 quid labour for an hour.


You should be able to cut that cost in half pretty easy.

um not quite

pads were when i used to price them about £50, discs about £80 for the pair and the sensors a tenner. the rest fo the quote is the dealer taking the piss. However BMW are getting more involved with the trade at the mo, so I suspect that you could go back with a quote from an indy and get them to come pretty close to it.

but if it was me i'd do them myself, get some cheap bits and the jobs done for less than £100.

Edited by stockhatcher on Thursday 9th July 07:22

[Dubbdack]

Thanks for all responses. I gave in and handed the car in yesterday. The pads were replaced, but to my surprise they did not change the discs even though I specifically requested this to be done. They said they had enough life in them which really surprises me (both that they had life left and that a dealer does not want to replace an item if asked). Is there an easy way to determine whether they are thick enough to be safe?

[TheEnd]

They will usually have a minimum thickness stamped on them in mm, and you measure with a caliper (as in vernier caliper)

[bimmer_87]

Is it compulsory to replace wear sensors while doing discs/pads?

[LeightonBuzzard]

bimmer_87 said:

Is it compulsory to replace wear sensors while doing discs/pads?

No but it's strongly advised; all garages will do this