SO HAPPY!!!!

[Jonboy_t]

I bought an 04 plate M3 last year and have just had it in for Inspection II service, and what a happy man I now am!!

I have been thinking for a few weeks that I had a bit of a problem with the gearbox (SMGII) so was fully expecting either a 4 figure bill or some strong words of advice, I was also preparing myself for having to sell my baby for a heavily discounted price as I probably couldn't afford a new 'box - BUT NO!!! Absolutely sound mechanically, electronically and all the other -ally's you can think of!

Not sure if I am allowed to do this or not, but if you need any kind of service on your M car in Southampton, go to Williams Street garage! They are absolutely incredible (I am in no way connected to them!!). I dropped it off this morning and went home with the fear of god in me, picked it up at 1 o'clock and had the shock(s) of my life when he told me what he'd done:-

- Complete Inspection II
- Saw that my bonnet was slightly mis-aligned so completely realigned it - no charge
- One of my belts (not involved in the Inspection II) was corroding/breaking so he whipped it off an put a new one on - told me as I wasn't expecting to pay, he did it at trade (showed me his invoice and matched it to my reciept!)
- Cleaned and fully valeted the car inside and out (better job than anyone ever has, including myself!) - no charge
- I kind of needed two new rear shocks, but I knew this already so bought them myself and he was going to fit them. He told me that one of the old ones was in near perfect nick so has given it back to me and made me about £50 when it goes on eBay!

And to top it all off, I have £3.50 in my ashtray that I didn't have before (apparently I did, but it was hidden under the seats!).

He did all of this for what I believe to be an astounding price - £700! Seriously good service alongside a seriously good service! The car feels 1000x better than it did, no lumps from cold, no clunking at high rev gear changes - nothing!

LA DE LA DE DA!! I'm off to have a pint whilst I sit and look at my car, HAPPY MAN!!

ETA - he also noticed that the pins holding the door card on the drivers side had come loose and wouldn't stick in, so threw me a few for nothing too!!

[Paul_M3]

Glad you're happy, but....

I'd get the other damper changed as well. Unless they have been changed before (unlikely) then it will be very worn even if it is not leaking etc.

When I changed the suspension on my 05 M3, the rear dampers were incredibly easy to push down and clearly past their best.
I imagine yours will be the same, and now you've potentially got quite a difference in suspension behaviour between the two different sides.

It's up to you of course, but I'd always replace things like that in pairs.

[mmm-five]

What mileage are you on, and do you know how many shims needed replacing, and what the measurements were?

I've got the same engine in my Z4M and want to know if there's likely to be a need for lots of shims or not.

Edited by mmm-five on Saturday 4th June 15:34

[ucb]

Was the engine cold enough for them to measure the valve clearances properly? Most seem to want the car overnight so it is stone cold.

[Paul_M3]

ucb said:

Was the engine cold enough for them to measure the valve clearances properly? Most seem to want the car overnight so it is stone cold.

I'd put money on the valve clearances not being checked unfortunately. Many places don't seem to bother.

[Nedz]

mmm-five said:

What mileage are you on, and do you know how many shims needed replacing, and what the measurements were?

I've got the same engine in my Z4M and want to know if there's likely to be a need for lots of shims or not.

Edited by mmm-five on Saturday 4th June 15:34

I had my valve clearances checked last december as part of an insp 1 at 72k miles and they were all 'Within the tollerances'. Mine is a cab and has had a pretty easy life to be honest.

I was told by the indy that i use that the main problem they have with valve clearances is on cars that are driven hard ie. used on trackdays. What can happen is that the valves can actually stretch from hard use and this makes the tollerances tighter meaning the shimming has to be reduced rather than increased as you would imagine from parts wearing.

[Jonboy_t]

Both sides of the dampers were changed. There was one that had had the dreaded BMW failure a couple of weeks back and had sheared off so I bought a new pair and he did both sides. The one that hadn't sheared off must have been changed a matter of weeks before I bought it as the label was still on it and there was next to no grime/grease/road dirt on it! That's the one that is going to be on eBay pretty soon!

The garage is only about 3 miles from my house so the car didn't really get warm enough to be 'too warm' for the valve clearance check, plus it probably would have been sat for an hour or so before he started work on it. I'm not entirely sure if the clearances were checked (think I'll give him a shout and check on Monday though), but judging by the standard of the rest of his work and the completeness (is that a word?) of the entire service, I would imagine they had been!

[mmm-five]

Nedz said:

I had my valve clearances checked last december as part of an insp 1 at 72k miles and they were all 'Within the tollerances'. Mine is a cab and has had a pretty easy life to be honest.

I was told by the indy that i use that the main problem they have with valve clearances is on cars that are driven hard ie. used on trackdays. What can happen is that the valves can actually stretch from hard use and this makes the tollerances tighter meaning the shimming has to be reduced rather than increased as you would imagine from parts wearing.

You definitely don't want too tight a clearance, and loose is always better than tight.

However, if the checks were only really needed for track day/hard users then why have the check as a stipulation in the service schedule?

t's just that I know of a few dealers (that I've personally used) that only adjust them (whilst still charging for the job) if the 'technician' thinks it sounds like they need doing. If they didn't have a measurement sheet I would assume the check wasn't carried out, and ask them why I was being charged an extra £300 for a job they hadn't done. The feckers will try to screw you every-which-way. Have had arguments with dealers in the past over this (regarding both S38 and S54 engines), and always ask for them to keep the measurement sheet to see what's changed from year to year.

The M5's S38 was checked twice a year initially or every 10,000 miles, but once we saw the wear/adjustment rate was low we changed it to yearly or every inspection.

[nottyash]

£700 and not even sure if its done as per full BMW spec?
My local BMW dealer quoted £600 for an insp 2, and that meant having it the night before. (2 years ago) Its part of a BMW over 4 years old servicing plan.

I would like to see the person with an M3 e46 who is scimping that much on servicing to buy one worn shocker on ebay. Tell me who buys it and i will keep clear once their car is for sale

[Jonboy_t]

nottyash said:

£700 and not even sure if its done as per full BMW spec?
My local BMW dealer quoted £600 for an insp 2, and that meant having it the night before. (2 years ago) Its part of a BMW over 4 years old servicing plan.

I would like to see the person with an M3 e46 who is scimping that much on servicing to buy one worn shocker on ebay. Tell me who buys it and i will keep clear once their car is for sale

Fair point about one worn shock, I certainly wouldn't buy one (hence why I had 2 news!) but there are people out there that would, and whilst I have one in my possesion, I fully intend to make the most out of their lack of care - and why the hell not?

To me, £700 to have the kind of service that I know he has done on the car (it's very evident what he's done from a before-after comparison) is a bargain. I would much prefer to pay £700 to someone that has been absolutely honest with me and who enjoys working on high spec cars because of what they are rather than saving a couple of hundred and sending it to someone who's going to put it on their workshop conveyor belt and go through the motions! I must say though, £600 from a main dealer is incredibly cheap, they quoted me £1350 the day before I booked it in at Williams Street!

[Nedz]

Jonboy_t said:

nottyash said:

£700 and not even sure if its done as per full BMW spec?
My local BMW dealer quoted £600 for an insp 2, and that meant having it the night before. (2 years ago) Its part of a BMW over 4 years old servicing plan.

I would like to see the person with an M3 e46 who is scimping that much on servicing to buy one worn shocker on ebay. Tell me who buys it and i will keep clear once their car is for sale

Fair point about one worn shock, I certainly wouldn't buy one (hence why I had 2 news!) but there are people out there that would, and whilst I have one in my possesion, I fully intend to make the most out of their lack of care - and why the hell not?

To me, £700 to have the kind of service that I know he has done on the car (it's very evident what he's done from a before-after comparison) is a bargain. I would much prefer to pay £700 to someone that has been absolutely honest with me and who enjoys working on high spec cars because of what they are rather than saving a couple of hundred and sending it to someone who's going to put it on their workshop conveyor belt and go through the motions! I must say though, £600 from a main dealer is incredibly cheap, they quoted me £1350 the day before I booked it in at Williams Street!

£600 For an insp 2 at a main dealer is very cheap indeed.The parts alone for my insp 2 done at the main dealer were just over £400.Are you sure this 4 year old service plan applys to all main dealers?I phoned mine last year for the price of an insp 1 and they wanted over £800!

[nottyash]

Nedz said:

Jonboy_t said:

nottyash said:

£700 and not even sure if its done as per full BMW spec?
My local BMW dealer quoted £600 for an insp 2, and that meant having it the night before. (2 years ago) Its part of a BMW over 4 years old servicing plan.

I would like to see the person with an M3 e46 who is scimping that much on servicing to buy one worn shocker on ebay. Tell me who buys it and i will keep clear once their car is for sale

Fair point about one worn shock, I certainly wouldn't buy one (hence why I had 2 news!) but there are people out there that would, and whilst I have one in my possesion, I fully intend to make the most out of their lack of care - and why the hell not?

I think you have a point there.
Find a good trustworthy garage and its better to use it. The local BMW garage here (Malton Motors) quoted me the £600 and wanted the car the night before, but as with all main dealers its time based, and they get extra for finishing quicker.Also how do you know your not having a YTS trainee do the work???

To me, £700 to have the kind of service that I know he has done on the car (it's very evident what he's done from a before-after comparison) is a bargain. I would much prefer to pay £700 to someone that has been absolutely honest with me and who enjoys working on high spec cars because of what they are rather than saving a couple of hundred and sending it to someone who's going to put it on their workshop conveyor belt and go through the motions! I must say though, £600 from a main dealer is incredibly cheap, they quoted me £1350 the day before I booked it in at Williams Street!

£600 For an insp 2 at a main dealer is very cheap indeed.The parts alone for my insp 2 done at the main dealer were just over £400.Are you sure this 4 year old service plan applys to all main dealers?I phoned mine last year for the price of an insp 1 and they wanted over £800!

[gaz1234]

mines due soon and i suspect its more like £800

[Beedub]

ive just had my valve clearance checked at simpson motorsport, currently @ 10,600, it needed no adjustment, i expected the car to need some with the aded stress ive put it through.