[car_driver]

My car is a 2013 328i with 87k miles. Entirely stock down to the tires. I used to DIY everything but I'm calling it quits.

Right now it's coming up on an oil change, front brakes and a brake fluid flush.

It seems like you need to build a relationship with an indy shop whereas the dealer is like shopping at target, idk I have almost no experience in this area.

I was thinking about having each do one of the smaller jobs and then go back to the one I like better for the brakes and all subsequent work.

What are your thoughts and experiences?

[jmg]

Originally Posted by Jrboulder

My car is a 2013 328i with 87k miles. Entirely stock down to the tires. I used to DIY everything but I'm calling it quits.

Right now it's coming up on an oil change, front brakes and a brake fluid flush.

It seems like you need to build a relationship with an indy shop whereas the dealer is like shopping at target, idk I have almost no experience in this area.

I was thinking about having each do one of the smaller jobs and then go back to the one I like better for the brakes and all subsequent work.

What are your thoughts and experiences?

10 years of owning Audi's have taught me the value of a good specialized Indy shop. I would never go to the dealer outside of warranty. If you are in the Orange County, CA area I know of a good BMW shop. Otherwise hit up the regional forums.

[Elvisfan]

Originally Posted by jmg

10 years of owning Audi's have taught me the value of a good specialized Indy shop. I would never go to the dealer outside of warranty. If you are in the Orange County, CA area I know of a good BMW shop. Otherwise hit up the regional forums.

I go to the dealer. Especially since service is included for 3 years. I was looking at used cars. One of them had no service record on carfax. 40,000 miles and no service record. Immediately ruled out that one. I pay for service on our other car. Still go to the dealer.

[adhrp]

Indy garage. Oil changes are priced well at dealers though, so I go either Indy or dealer depending on what's convenient. My indy does the service quickly, but the dealer has a way better waiting lounge

In terms of trust, I trust my indy and I'm usually skeptical of the dealer.

[EBS0712]

Try an indy shop. www bimmershops dot com is a good place to start.
There are a bunch of shops in your area listed with good reviews .........

[jmg]

Originally Posted by Elvisfan

I go to the dealer. Especially since service is included for 3 years. I was looking at used cars. One of them had no service record on carfax. 40,000 miles and no service record. Immediately ruled out that one. I pay for service on our other car. Still go to the dealer.

I was only referring to out of warranty repairs. Not the included maintenance. I take my BMWs to the dealer because I only keep them until the warranty expires. My other older cars out of warranty all go to indy shops and NEVER the dealer. They just charge too much.

[Elvisfan]

Originally Posted by jmg

I was only referring to out of warranty repairs. Not the included maintenance. I take my BMWs to the dealer because I only keep them until the warranty expires. My other older cars out of warranty all go to indy shops and NEVER the dealer. They just charge too much.

I appreciate that. I believe in having the dealer do maintenance so there are records. I know a lot of people do their own maintenance but,there are no records.

[chiefneil]

Originally Posted by Jrboulder

I was thinking about having each do one of the smaller jobs and then go back to the one I like better for the brakes and all subsequent work.

What are your thoughts and experiences?

Sounds like way more trouble than it’s worth. Just hit up bimrs.org, bimmershops.com, and yelp to find a BMW or Euro specialist. Pick one and have them do the work and see how it goes.

For basic maintenance you’re not going to see any significant difference between shops. At least I really hope not, unless one of them truly sucks and screws up or tries to scam you. Where a good indy shines is diagnostic capability and knowledgeable advice, e.g. “while you’re doing x, it’s cost-efficient to also do y since we’ll be in there already”. You’re not going to get that from an oil change and brake fluid flush, but hopefully you’ll get some of it from yelp reviews.

One thing you might do, since it sounds like you want to assess them, is talk to them about options for brake pads while you’re there since it’s related to your job. See if they stock different makes and models, and whether or not they can talk intelligently about tradeoffs for performance vs wear vs noise vs dust.

[leejak]

Originally Posted by jmg

10 years of owning Audi's have taught me the value of a good specialized Indy shop. I would never go to the dealer outside of warranty. If you are in the Orange County, CA area I know of a good BMW shop. Otherwise hit up the regional forums.

Can you divulge on the good Indy shop in Orange County?.....two of my BMW’s. Are outside warranty period now....thx

[jmg]

Originally Posted by leejak

Can you divulge on the good Indy shop in Orange County?.....two of my BMW’s. Are outside warranty period now....thx

Bavarian Autotech

https://yelp.to/qTKq/lZ8RKkzcsN

[kingmonkey8]

I've had enough of dealers. My car has been plagued with a vibration issue that they fixed under warranty but now has comeback outside of warranty.
I find the dealers unhelpful and once your car is our of warranty they just don't want to know. I find them rude and unsympathetic so don't like talking to them and most of the time the people that work there have little knowledge of the cars.
Find yourself a good reliable indy. Maybe use a dealer for the oil change to get the service history. But these days they don't stamp the log book anymore. Service data is stored on the idrive.

[Sea-Tac]

Stay with the dealer if you can. Indy shops used to be great, but now are having difficulty keeping good techs not to mention BMW diagnostic software, etc.

[car_driver]

So I went down to a shop today and had them do the oil change and brake fluid flush.

This place has 3 locations and they only work on BMW and Mini.

Pricewise it came out to a little less than the dealer, but not much. But they also reset the airbag light and without even bringing it up fixed the panel under the transmission that was sagging. I feel like it was a good purchase.

The only issue was that they spilled brake fluid on my fender and I didn't notice it until tonight when it attracted enough dust to be obvious. Luckily it came out after 4 rounds of hand polishing the area.

I had them quote the front brake job and the parts prices they quoted with were 52% more than the same exact stuff at FCP Euro. I think I'll just hold onto that $312 premium for them to do it and I'll spill my own damn brake fluid, lol.

[metallicpea]

Originally Posted by Jrboulder

So I went down to a shop today and had them do the oil change and brake fluid flush.

This place has 3 locations and they only work on BMW and Mini.

Pricewise it came out to a little less than the dealer, but not much. But they also reset the airbag light and without even bringing it up fixed the panel under the transmission that was sagging. I feel like it was a good purchase.

The only issue was that they spilled brake fluid on my fender and I didn't notice it until tonight when it attracted enough dust to be obvious. Luckily it came out after 4 rounds of hand polishing the area.

I had them quote the front brake job and the parts prices they quoted with were 52% more than the same exact stuff at FCP Euro. I think I'll just hold onto that $312 premium for them to do it and I'll spill my own damn brake fluid, lol.

It's hard to pay for professional service after you have done it yourself for so long. I still try to do what I can for jobs where parts are expensive or the job has a decent amount of labor hours that I can do myself.

But, for certain jobs, especially messy ones or when specialized tools or equipment really help, I use both an indy shop and the dealer. My dealer is pretty fair for maintenance type stuff and if I need a big job done that I don't want to tackle myself for some reason, I use an independent shop. I keep a friendly relationship with both.

[yoon_209]

In my experience a good BMW indy shop will almost compare to a dealership...

Dealership charges around $150/hr. I've had most indy shops (euro shops) quote me around 100-130/hr.

Depending on what the service is you should shop around...

if you can jus do it yourself.

[MacklinUSOB]

Indy shop 100% of the time if you're out of warranty and/or maintance coverage and aren't just doing it yourself. It is practically every dealer mechanics dream to work for or own a notable Indy shop, at the end of the day a dealer is strictly a house of margins that can stifle the talented. Price differential between the two vary by area, my local dealers are roughly 30% more than the several reputable Indy shops in my area (basing off actual quotes). My preferred Indy shop is SpeedSport Tuning in Danbury, CT. They have as many Porsches and R8's on their lot as the Porsche/Audi dealer does a mile down the road and they have excellent performance minded techs who have been building competitive cars for decades all while servicing everything down to old Jettas. Another Indy five miles down the road has a lot frequently full of early to late model Ferraris and Lamborghinis as well as pretty much any exotic you could think of. If you live in an affluent area there will more than likely be a shop like either of these that is far more than capable of handling our F30's whilst saving you money.

DIY when you can. There is no better peice of mind when it's your own hands and eyes doing the work.

[tex2670]

Originally Posted by Jrboulder

My car is a 2013 328i with 87k miles. Entirely stock down to the tires. I used to DIY everything but I'm calling it quits.

Right now it's coming up on an oil change, front brakes and a brake fluid flush.

It seems like you need to build a relationship with an indy shop whereas the dealer is like shopping at target, idk I have almost no experience in this area.

I was thinking about having each do one of the smaller jobs and then go back to the one I like better for the brakes and all subsequent work.

What are your thoughts and experiences?

My 4/50 maintenance is up next month, and I plan on going to my local indy shop that I have used for 3 other cars.

[TXDaddy]

Originally Posted by tex2670

My 4/50 maintenance is up next month, and I plan on going to my local indy shop that I have used for 3 other cars.

Really, why? 2014s have all maintenance covered until 4y/50K - are you out of range? I plan on using dealer for mine which is also due in in July...

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by Sea-Tac

Indy shops used to be great, but now are having difficulty keeping good techs not to mention BMW diagnostic software, etc.

Indy's usually hire their techs away from BMW dealerships. Fact: No dealership makes money selling cars, the margins are too small. They make their money off their shop, and the profits the shop makes supports the dealership. That's why dealer service prices are higher, and why by and large they pay their techs less than Indy's do. The diagnostic gear isn't hard to come by either. They only thing an Indy can't do is send your data to BMWNA, but once you're out of warranty that doesn't matter anyway.

[tex2670]

Originally Posted by tex2670

My 4/50 maintenance is up next month, and I plan on going to my local indy shop that I have used for 3 other cars.

Originally Posted by TXDaddy

Really, why? 2014s have all maintenance covered until 4y/50K - are you out of range? I plan on using dealer for mine which is also due in in July...

I think I answered your question in the post you replied to?

[RoundelM3]

Just took my 2013 335i M-Sport to my favorite Indy shop for a brake fluid flush. 2/3 the price of dealership for same service, in and out in an hour. No contest.

[TXDaddy]

Originally Posted by tex2670

I think I answered your question in the post you replied to?

Sorry, thought you meant the 4/50 service is due next month as in "up for service"; my service is due next month which is very close to the 4/50 expiration.

There is a dealership here (BMW Arlington) that does a 49.99 oil change special with OEM filter and oil, so I will probably get my oil there from here on out, and other jobs at an indy...