hefty repair...any one else suffered?

hefty repair...any one else suffered?

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Discussion

eddystar

Original Poster:

8 posts

175 months

Sunday 7th February 2010
quotequote all
just thought i would let you know of my recent issue with my mini 's' 02 reg.

The front wipers stopped working around 2 weeks ago; my steering has been pretty gash for the last couple of months (so wanted them to check that out) and my airbag light had just come on...So i was obviously expecting some work to be done!

1st - Windscreen wipers - they advised that the motor need replacing- BIG job apparently as the motor is buried somewhere in the engine? true?

2nd - steering - needs the front bushes replacing, i don't know what to with believe this one as i took it in for a maintenance check 2 month ago and they told me the rear ones need doing a a cost of over £700 as it needs taking of the subframe, however i brought this up when the service rep and they advised they had but BMW labour cost instead of MINI labour cost....hmmmm

3rd- Airbag light - they thought it was a problem with the positive battery cable, they then spent more time diagnosing this and found out it was something to do with the console (forgot the actual name), this needed replacing and reprogramming and it then said the cable actually needed doing!!!

Anyway I amm picking it tomorrow a a total cost of £1300.

thoughts?

nottyash

4,670 posts

196 months

Sunday 7th February 2010
quotequote all
Why did you take an 8 year old car to the main dealer?smash

Accelebrate

5,252 posts

216 months

Monday 8th February 2010
quotequote all
Was that price for front and rear bushes? If so that's not the end of the world.

If you want cheering up I believe most faults that can occur with the sunroof result in a similar bill.

eddystar

Original Poster:

8 posts

175 months

Monday 8th February 2010
quotequote all
nottyash- to keep the selling cost as high as possible and hopefully they have more of an idea what was going on!

PLUS I got a 09 Msport 1 series to cruise around in for the last week!

Accelebrate- that was the quote for just the back ones, i dint get those done as they were just slightly worn...

The front ones cost around £200.

LUCKLY i dont have a sunroof then!

Bugeyeandy

10,893 posts

198 months

Monday 8th February 2010
quotequote all
I use a local Indy to service mine but BMW parts in general are very expensive.

£1300 does sound like an incredible amount for the work they've carried out though, the wiper motor isn't that bad to do either just time consuming.

Front bushes are quite a common fault and are expensive OEM parts, reading on other forums they can be a nightmare to change too.

At least you know the car is safe and roadworthy now even if your wallet is empty smile

Bugeyeandy

10,893 posts

198 months

Monday 8th February 2010
quotequote all
p.s. So far in 18 months of owning my '01 plate Cooper it's needed 1 oil service @ £110 and a rear wheel bearing. Reading all the reciepts that came with it, it has had some eye watering bills from BMW before though..

ymwoods

2,178 posts

178 months

Tuesday 9th February 2010
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eddystar said:
to keep the selling cost as high as possible
You will spend more with them than the higher selling price you will get for taking it to the stealers!

emicen

8,600 posts

219 months

Wednesday 10th February 2010
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eddystar said:
nottyash- to keep the selling cost as high as possible and hopefully they have more of an idea what was going on!

PLUS I got a 09 Msport 1 series to cruise around in for the last week!
My BMW gets dealer servicing but I'm not going to pay dealer prices for work outside of regular servicing. When I sell it will have full BMW service history and thats all Joe Bloggs cares about.

Your 1 series takes car of £100 of the bill as well iirc, ~£16-18 a day fee for that x 5 days.

Accelebrate

5,252 posts

216 months

Wednesday 10th February 2010
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Personally I use BMW/MINI for servicing (TLC, so paid for anyway) and anything else gets done myself using BMW parts. I can usually get my local dealership down to trade prices on most parts and they're happy to send out technicians to chat more complicated jobs through with me.

A copy of the BMW TIS application is also handy, think of it like the best Haynes manual you've ever seen.

This approach still leaves you with a 'Full BMW service history', and dirty fingernails.