Anyone know what the stated labor hours are to replace the front struts on a 1998 740il? I have contacted my local BMW dealership but had to leave a message with the service department since everyone that provides quotes has gone home for the day. Thought I would see what I could find out tonight on this forum. Thanks.

A rough guess - 2-3 hours...

Thanks Reed.

You should get the car aligned after you change struts.

Had the shop not recommended it, I would not have thought about the alignment. Thanks Dave.

I did the struts about two years or so ago and it ran me 4 hours for all 4. But that's a local garage, not the dealer. As a matter of fact, that was one of the first repairs I had done that I had to pay for.

I think the dealer can actually do them while you wait--wait for your 2nd mortgage loan to come through, that is...

dont take your car to the dealer!

Okay, here is the labor comparison for those of you interested...

BMW dealership wants $525 for labor to replace the struts, and $109 for the alignment.

A local shop that specializes in BMW and Mercedes and does all my maintenance wants $208 for labor to replace the struts, and $60 for the alignment.

Not surprising, but $367 to be saved by again staying away from the dealer, while getting = or > care and service from the local shop.

Wow, how do you guys manage to find hourly rates so low?

Seattle area shops are all at or near $100...:conf:

Yes, I'm with Reed. The independent shops cost nearly as much as the dealer.

The benefit of living in a small city in the midwest I suspect. This shop has been in business about 12 years and is owned and operated by an ex BMW dealer's senior mechanic. Our city's population is roughly 60,000 and this shop is one of two independent's in the city that deal with luxury imports. The nearest BMW dealership is roughly an hour and a half away. While our city is small in population, it has two huge hospitals that cater to the 4-state area (our city is on the southwest corner of Missouri, within a few miles of Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kansas). There are a ton of heart and cancer specialists, general doctor's, lawyer's, and other support industries that result in a lot of BMW's and Mercedes. My shop's attitude is that he wants the business to come to him instead of it going to the dealer. His labor prices are always much less than the dealer's and his reputation is impecable. In addition to my personal experience with this shop, I know quite a few people that do business there and I have never heard a complaint.

I moved here from Atlanta and can say that my experience there was similar to yours, in that the independent shops were just slightly lower than the dealer's. But hey, I am not complaining.

Good, quality, independent shops are out there. But as with all businesses, they aren't going to offer you freebies until you develop a relationship with them.

When I first when to my mechanic (Eurosport Automotive in Plano, TX), the prices were only about 10-15% cheaper than the dealer. But they were stand up guys and dealt with me honestly. And unlike the dealer, they didn't give me a hard time when I balked at replacing a borderline component.

But as time went by and I developed a real business relationship with them, I started to notice something--labor hours no longer reflected the "book", but actual labor hours. Also, I have ordered parts and had them shipped there and they happily installed them.

As with all things, building a relationship is everything...