Hi All,
First of all i hv a question whether i am really due for the Inspection II mantenance of my 1999 323i. Beacuse the computer on the speedometer shows -500 miles for servicing that means i am due. But there is no other indicator light on for the servicing? I am not sure if it should be ON, but i was going through the threads in this forum and read that the service light is ON until its reset.
If i am due then is it worth going to the BMW $tealer for the Inspection II and paying them 800-1000$s. And anybody knows any good mechanic shops in bay area who charge reasonable for the Inspection II and could be recommended.

Any feedback is appreciated.
Thanks,
Mandar

isn't the inspection cost free for your newer car? anyway, i say, if you were otherwise going to sit on your azz for 8 hours on any given day and do nothing, then you might as well do it yourself. hahahaha,,, there isn't much done on an inspection 2 that you can't do yourself, although it does take a while to actually do in a home garage, and troublesome to dispose of fluids.

the only down side is that you won't get any open recalls or new ECU software uploaded to computer...

Hi pikachu,
Thanks for ur immediate response.

The inspection is not free because the warranty was for 36k miles and mine is over 42k miles. I checked with the dealer.

And if i have to do on my own what tools and mauals do i need to hv? I dont hv any... :-(

I checked with AAA and they offered me 280$ for inspection II including the brake flush and coolent flush. The only thing they will not do is change of micro filter.
Any suggestions are welcome.
Thanks,
Mandar

when you first turn your car on.... it will show how many miles you have till your next scheduled service on the computer... that is the only indicator... after the miles have passed and its not reset, then it will show as "---"

oh and a list of what is done for inspection II should be in the inpsection book that should come with the car...

for tools, you're gonna need a socket set as you use anywhere from 8mm, 10mm, on up... and you will need a spark plug socket, a torque wrench is highly recommended especially for the spark plugs,,, you will need a few alen keys or short hex stubbies for the belts and diff fluid,,, hmm, that's all i can think of!

$280 for a COMPLETE inspection II? I don't think so, Tim. Unless they're charging something like $10/hr for their time and/or using some rather incredible cheap parts and fluids... Get it in writing of EXACTLY what they consider an inspection II.
I recall I spent close to $200 for just the parts and fluids, and invested over 10 hours of my time.

Having a dealer (or top notch independent shop with connections to BMW to know of all recalls/upgrades) do the first Insp. II is good for your piece of mind. After the first, keep abreast of things on this forum and pursue lower cost options - especially DIY!

If I were u I would take the time to learn to do it yourself. BMW's are really easy cars to work on in general. I don't know about E46 though but E36 are really easy. I don't know nothing about cars and did everything myself. I just replaced the shock mounts yesterday and it was a no brainer. Other than a few scrapes and some profanity, it was pretty simple. The tools is usually the tricky part. BMW's don't use common stuff. 32mm open end, 14mm allen wrench, etc...

Easy??

BMWs??

Are you NUTS????

I take it you've never done any interior work! :rolleyes: Crap, give me my old '65 Stang, that was what "easy" was... Damn, my old '96 Vette was cake comparatively...

The motor is alright to work on, the straight 6 does lend itself to easier access, but there's still some really weird ways that BMW has attached some things, clips that don't detach in the direction you'd expect, etc...

For a 42k mile just out of warranty car, I'd get a book and learn what was involved and then decide if the first Ins. 2 would be better off done at the dealer. And personally, I wouldn't let anyone other than the dealer or a BMW / German car specialist work on it - note comments above, there's too many things for a mechanic used to American cars to destroy.

Like my brother said, who IS a BMW technician, "If you wanted a car that's easy to work on, you shouldn't have gotten a BMW."
-keith

42K miles seems a bit early. I had mine done at 70K. However, I wouldn't spend the money again anyway. It was almost $400 for my little 4-banger! The thing that really ticked me off was that they "inspected" most everything, but hardly anything got replaced. IMO, for that kind of money, I shouldn't be paying some guy to look at something and say, "yeah, looks ok, should last you for another (X) miles or so...." I understand that extra parts cost money, but based on the hourly amount that these shops charge and given the amount of time that actually goes into the inspection, etc...I think it's a rip. Most of the guys that I've seen in these shops are juggling 2-3 cars at a time anyway. Maybe that's why they charge so much....who knows.
All I know is that I just bought the Bentley's and what I can do, I will, whatever is more of a hassle, like dealing with certain fluid disposals, etc., I'll take it somewhere else.

Hope this helps.
Best of luck to you.

I agree with fred, 42k is a little to early for an Insp II. And forget about the dealer!! If you don't want to get into doing it yourself, look for a respectable BMW shop, you will save some money on the labor cost.