[djacinto]

What's up yall,

more of a rant rather than actually wanting advice.

Been working at a bmw dealership for a bit and I thought it would allow me to get awesome pricing on parts since the discount is a1.

I remember when Toxik mentioned he got his orange kit for just under 1000 bucks because of his friend, and when I went to ask about it, they quoted me 2k basically, with discount.

unfortunately now that our cars are a bit out of service, these kits just aren't made any more and are made piece by piece it seems.

On top of that, many of the dealerships aren't dealing with n20's and their guides anymore because we're out of the lawsuit claim date. Sucks because when I asked about it, they mentioned they were repairing them left and right precovid. Guess there was enough payouts that it was worth it.

Without employee pricing, they said it'd be around 7k for parts and labor. I'd assume still around 2k for employees but not something I think I'd do there. Would rather do it myself.

Which makes me ask the question... how much longer with this car do I want to be and how much can i feasibly spend? I absolutely love this car and what I've done but the n20 (in my case n26) just aren't worth it. I am very fortunate that my guides still seem to be ok as my consistent and short interval changes are keeping them going, but as time goes on, that point will come where the guides are due.

I've been looking at 650's as getting some extra power, and the luxury features like acc and ventilated seats are really important to me. On top of that the n63tu are much more reliable than earlier generations. Can't say they're bulletproof, nor cheap, but certainly better than the m62's of old

rant over. TLDR: poor just out of college boy doesn't want to fix german 4 banger lol

share your horror stories here

[pauli18c]

My advice, sell the BMW, get something cheap cheap. Don't worry about looking cool out of college, that's how you stay broke. Invest all the money you possibly can while you're young. Enjoy your life exponentially more in about 10 years with the nest egg you started building right out of college. The ~2k brake kit will become a drop in the bucket and you won't have to be here ranting about it. You will thank yourself later, trust me

"If you can't afford to buy it twice, don't buy it"

[Alarbus]

Yeah you don't need to keep throwing money at an N20 car. Make a budget, plan on saving for something fun, and stick to the budget, That'll set you up far better than most people. Enjoy the car as it is, sell it before it breaks, and get something that's fun but budget friendly.

And the $1k price was clearance, I think there were like 6 sets in the entire US at that price.

[Cytoplasm0671]

Originally Posted by pauli18c

My advice, sell the BMW, get something cheap cheap. Don't worry about looking cool out of college, that's how you stay broke. Invest all the money you possibly can while you're young. Enjoy your life exponentially more in about 10 years with the nest egg you started building right out of college. The ~2k brake kit will become a drop in the bucket and you won't have to be here ranting about it. You will thank yourself later, trust me

"If you can't afford to buy it twice, don't buy it"

Evergreen advice. $2k was a lot of money to me in my twenties but is a lot less today in my 40s. If you do ever want the brake upgrade you can keep your eyes peeled for offers on the forums and eBay. They come up from time to time.

A great book to read is The Millionaire Next Door. It's all about being poor in your 20s to be rich later.

[johnung]

M Performance Brakes are nothing more than front 370 Brembos and rear 345 Brembos. You can buy them used in the blue M Sport color for a total of $1,100-$1,200 for a set.

These were mass produced models. Parts will be plentiful for many years regardless of what BMW decides to continue to offer as Genuine BMW parts at dealerships. Remember all those Genuine parts are made by major parts manufacturers that are in worldwide inventories and will continue to be made

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by pauli18c

My advice, sell the BMW, get something cheap cheap. Don't worry about looking cool out of college, that's how you stay broke. Invest all the money you possibly can while you're young. Enjoy your life exponentially more in about 10 years with the nest egg you started building right out of college. The ~2k brake kit will become a drop in the bucket and you won't have to be here ranting about it. You will thank yourself later, trust me

+100. A wise man doesn't base his spending on his best case earnings, he bases it on his worst case earnings. Priority #1 is a house that you can still afford if you're out of work for six months. That means having major cash or easily liquidated investments to get you through lean times. Expensive toys should only be an option when you're well off enough that they're no longer expensive.

[djacinto]

I appreciate the kind words everyone.

I completely agree, this is a car that I want to keep for as long as it runs, and I don't want to get rid of it. I'm being more paranoid than anything as my maintenance on the car is always up to date and preventative. I've done the mods I want to the car, and if a set of the brakes come up for a good price, great.

I just always hate missing out on the fun stuff lol

Had I been able to do the guide recall, I would be a much happier camper.

But it's ok, I'm trying to enjoy life with all thats going on, and my car is a big part of that. It's what keeps me motivated to continue my passions of working on cars and hopefully dedicate my life at some point to upkeeping them

[toxik]

when I was in my early 20s, modifying cars was significantly different than it is for me now in my mid-30s. instead of buying BBK from an OEM manufacturer, I would find cheap alternative calipers (from other cars that you can retrofit), paint them myself, install them. all of that was motivated by lack of funds or just barriers I set for myself, where spending money on whatever car I had was not worth it. The thing is, I'm glad I didn't have the funds to go the more expensive route, you learn so much by trying to find cheap ways of achieving something someone else shelled out more money for. I'm glad I painted multiple calipers in my 20s, it taught me a skill. I feel like that's what I'd do if I wanted MPBBK but didn't have the funds, just paint my calipers, and get some performance rotors.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by djacinto

I appreciate the kind words everyone.

I completely agree, this is a car that I want to keep for as long as it runs, and I don't want to get rid of it. I'm being more paranoid than anything as my maintenance on the car is always up to date and preventative. I've done the mods I want to the car, and if a set of the brakes come up for a good price, great.

I just always hate missing out on the fun stuff lol

Had I been able to do the guide recall, I would be a much happier camper.

But it's ok, I'm trying to enjoy life with all thats going on, and my car is a big part of that. It's what keeps me motivated to continue my passions of working on cars and hopefully dedicate my life at some point to upkeeping them

Sounds like you have a good plan. I echo what you are saying because driving and working on my cars in my 20’s gave me a lot of enjoyment and helped shape my life.

Oh, also keep in mind that BMW really marks up their part retail prices to slap the Genuine label on them. So be on the lookout to buy the same parts even for much less than your employee discount on Genuine parts. Major brands like Bosch, Continental, Lemforder, ZF, VDO, Mann, Eldor, etc are the exact same part without the Genuine label. (I’m not saying to buy low tier manufactured parts from like Rock Auto) FCP Euro is just one good source where you can see what’s available in non-Genuine parts that are a lot cheaper.

[rlesko]

BYOBK (Build Your Own Brake Kit)

If you have 4 pot grey brembos already, buy a set of 2 pot rear calipers and paint them to match. If not, lok for used set of blue calipers (I see lots of full sets on fb marketplace and such for like $1k) and paint them your preferred color.

It will be more rewarding and far cheaper.

[E90lova]

Originally Posted by djacinto

I appreciate the kind words everyone.

I completely agree, this is a car that I want to keep for as long as it runs, and I don't want to get rid of it. I'm being more paranoid than anything as my maintenance on the car is always up to date and preventative. I've done the mods I want to the car, and if a set of the brakes come up for a good price, great.

I just always hate missing out on the fun stuff lol

Had I been able to do the guide recall, I would be a much happier camper.

But it's ok, I'm trying to enjoy life with all thats going on, and my car is a big part of that. It's what keeps me motivated to continue my passions of working on cars and hopefully dedicate my life at some point to upkeeping them

Ebay has great pricing on these kits. I saw 2 kits in the past 1 weeks for $1200 to $1400 all 4 corners in good condition. I just installed the M3 front kit on my car yesterday. Looks killer.

[E90lova]

Seem Legit has kits to work with our stock 340mm front calipers and rear calipers. Front and rear kits are like $450 total.