I usually do my own work, but sometimes it's really inconvenient so I was thinking of letting the shop work on my car this time so I could have a break...for a change.
The car is a 1994 540ia. I just bought the parts: new radiator,valve cover gaskets,fan clutch & power steering hose(the one that has a metal end that looks like a ball joint)
I was blown away when they said the valve cover gaskets take 4 hrs., is this true? 1.5-2 hrs. on the power steering hose as well.
I also need an oil change. I've had the car almost 2 months but have hardly driven it at all because I've been working on it & want to have everything right before I make it my daily driver.
I don't know what kind of oil is in the car. Is there a way to tell the difference if it's synthetic? and is synthetic the way to go on these cars?
I plan to flush the old radiator before installing the new one. Can anybody recommend a good product/method for this?
Tia
Fred/Houston

I doubt the work on your car would be fundamentally different than on mine. A new valve cover gasket (minus a valve adjustment) would take me, oh...an hour at most? And that's considering that I'd be working slowly and deliberately and I'm by no means an experienced mechanic. Power steering hose shouldn't take longer than 30. But again, I've never worked on a 540i or even really poked around in the engine bay.

EDIT: I looked at the Bentley manual, and replacing the gaskets is more involved on your car than mine. I nevertheless suspect you might be getting ripped off.

What do they charge for an oil change?

look or call around!!!!

I could easily see a shop charging 4 hrs for valve covers and about an hr for the power steering hose.

If you're able to work on the car you should.

I'm looking at about $25-30 on the oil change and about $35 if it's synthetic. The valve cover is involved but I only see 1.5-2 hrs. personally. The radiator is a piece of cake and looking at the power steering hose I see 20-30 minutes including bleeding the system.
The mechanic is figuring the time from a software program, whereas I prefer he give me the time based on experience.
My wife has convinced me to take a break, plus I'm a gigging guitar player so I need to protect my fingers. Sounds like a good excuse to me:)
I found an awesome mechanic around the corner but he quit and the shop is actually trying to find him for me so I hope I find him.
I spent 14 months on my E28 and my 2nd month into this 540i & I'm tired :)
...meanwhile I'm leatheriquing the seats.
Fred/Houston

I believe that it took me around 3-4 hours to do the valve cover gaskets, working with one other person (about 1 hr of his work, but he worked even slower). I couldn't see a professional mechanic taking 4 hours to do this. I'd do what others said and call around.

Musician here also. I understand being weary of the digits, and needing the down time.

You'll have to check with the shop. Many times they charge book hours and it doesn't matter what the actual time spent is.

Also a musician - bass and heavy-gauge guitar - but I don't notice working on my car affecting my playing ability. Short of getting my hand sawed/crushed/burned/melted/etc., that is.

I just finished putting together my car after replacing the valve cover gasket. Took me a total of about 6 hours, but I worked slowly, had to go to an autoparts store a few miles away, did a valve adjustment and doublechecked that, adjusted my spark plugs, and waited for my valve cover's fresh black paint to dry. I'd question the knowledge/competence of a mechanic who told me it'd take them more than an hour to change the valve cover gasket alone. But then, we have different cars.

Changing the valve cover gasket on a M60 is a bit more involved than to do so on a M30. M30 takes about 15 min if you are quick about it, while the M60's takes a lot more prep time. Moving lines out of the way and whatnot.

its true valve cover gaskets take a little while on the v8

4hrs is union labor pace but I'm sure theres people on here that can do it quicker.

Most independent BMW shops still charge BMW book rates, so 4 hour seems right. Don't think about how many hours they are charging you, decide whether the total cost is what its worth to you.