[BlacKXAngelX]

I have to do some maintenance on my BMW E90 325i the dealer quoted me about $5,000 for the whole replacement of part and labor. When to the other mechanic and he qouted me $1,300 with me providing the parts.
I did my online research and from different websites I can get the parts for about $750. I would like to know how difficult it would me to do some of this myself. Here is the list:

Oil Filter Housing Gasket
11427537293 –Engine Oil Filter Flange Gasket
83192180805 -Brake Cleaner


Valve Cover Gasket
11127581215 – Profile Gasket
11120409288 –Aluminum Valve Cover Screws
11127528242 –Cylinder Head Cover
83192180805 – Break Cleaner


Guibo
26117511454 – Universal Flex Disc
18301737774 –Hex Nut(Exhaust System)
18107549447 – Flat Gasket


Coolant Pump
11517586925 – Water Pump
11510392553 – Water Pump Aluminum
82141467704 – Coolant/Antifreeze


Washer Pump and Screen
67127302589 – Windshield Washer Pump
61667006063 – Strainer F Washer Pump

Engine Longitudinal Seat
67316973592 – Engine Longitudinal Seat Adjustment Electrical system and actuators

[KeepitClassy]

Wtf. So expensive.

[PichaDis11]

BMW tax is the worst at the dealers.. Lol

Go to the DIY section bro. Only thing I'd consider hard is the cylinder head part. But seems like fun maintenance work in my eyes. GL

[apskinner01]

Oil filter housing gasket
http://www.tomkinsonbmwparts.com/par...icleid=1431851

Valve cover gasket
http://www.tomkinsonbmwparts.com/par...icleid=1431851

Guibo
http://www.tomkinsonbmwparts.com/par...iagramCallOut=

Water pump
http://www.tomkinsonbmwparts.com/par...icleid=1431851

Washer pump and screen
http://www.tomkinsonbmwparts.com/par...icleid=1431851

Engine Longitudinal seat
http://www.tomkinsonbmwparts.com/par...icleid=1431851

[Teemo Panda]

Try to get a Quote from a Local BMW Indy and compare ~

[ctuna]

This Forum has sub Forums including a DIY one.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=16

http://www.e90post.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=378

[NikosBM]

sell it

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by BlacKXAngelX

I have to do some maintenance on my BMW E90 325i the dealer quoted me about $5,000 for the whole replacement of part and labor. When to the other mechanic and he qouted me $1,300 with me providing the parts.
I did my online research and from different websites I can get the parts for about $750. I would like to know how difficult it would me to do some of this myself. Here is the list:

My estimate of labor hours (in red)at an Indy shop based on my DIY experience doing most o these jobs on various BMWs:


Oil Filter Housing Gasket - 1.5 hrs.
11427537293 –Engine Oil Filter Flange Gasket - $15
83192180805 -Brake Cleaner


Valve Cover Gasket - 3.5 hrs
11127581215 – Profile Gasket - $100?
11120409288 –Aluminum Valve Cover Screws - $5?
11127528242 –Cylinder Head Cover - if yours is not cracked why does it need replacement?
83192180805 – Break Cleaner


Guibo
26117511454 – Universal Flex Disc - 1.0 hrs
18301737774 –Hex Nut(Exhaust System) - $1
18107549447 – Flat Gasket - $24


Coolant Pump - 3.5 Hrs
11517586925 – Water Pump - $600 w/t-stat
11510392553 – Water Pump Aluminum
82141467704 – Coolant/Antifreeze


Washer Pump and Screen - 1.0 hrs
67127302589 – Windshield Washer Pump - $50?
61667006063 – Strainer F Washer Pump

Engine Longitudinal Seat - 1.5 hrs
67316973592 – Engine Longitudinal Seat Adjustment Electrical system and actuators -

$900 parts
12 hrs labor @$100 per

$2,100 total

[litxus]

Do a DIY, start with shortest quoted time in labor as if you are new it might take you much longer. Most of these are not bad, but could be pain in the ass without the lift (like guibo). I would say go at it by following DIY guides and see where it takes you.

[Chriztofor]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

$900 parts
12 hrs labor @$100 per

$2,100 total

So the INDY quoted the OP a fair price.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by Chriztofor

So the INDY quoted the OP a fair price.

Yeah, I think so. I didn't look up the price for all the parts, so I estimated $900 (vs. $750). Keep in mind the Indy (or dealer) has to have a decent markup in the price of the parts to cover warranty claims.

The OP needs to understand if he brings the parts to the Indy, the Indy will probably not guarantee the work. I'd pay the extra $150 for the parts and have the Indy provide a turn-key service.

[Chriztofor]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Yeah, I think so. I didn't look up the price for all the parts, so I estimated $900 (vs. $750). Keep in mind the Indy (or dealer) has to have a decent markup in the price of the parts to cover warranty claims.

The OP needs to understand if he brings the parts to the Indy, the Indy will probably not guarantee the work. I'd pay the extra $150 for the parts and have the Indy provide a turn-key service.

I agree. The last thing you want to happen is to provide the mechanic with a defective part and then you will have to pay for labor AGAIN.

[SharkBait]

$1,300 plus parts will be hard to beat.

[Efthreeoh]

I probably should have also discussed the DIY level since I've done most of these jobs except the washer pump.

So to the OP, if you don't have much wrench-turning experience and a don't have pretty good set of tools you probably should take it to the Indy. If you don't have a torque wrench and torque angle dial tool in your toolset already, then you may not have the experience level to do some of this work (take no offense please). For a novice, some of these jobs will be pretty difficult. I've been a shadetree BMW mechanic for almost 30 years now and understand the mechanical and engineering design of BMW cars since I've worked on most every 3-series since the E21.

To do the guibo, water pump, and washer pump you need four jackstands, and a floor jack that can reach the center front and center rear (the differential) jack points. The guibo is on the front of the drive shaft and you need to remove the exhaust and aluminum covers to get to it. The exhaust is long, imbalanced, very heavy, and difficult to carry (you'll need a helper to remove it). The guibo uses big bolts (I think 19MM heads and nuts if memory serves). The procedure calls to replace them any time they are removed (I didn't - I just used Loctite). But I have to ask, does it really need replacement? I checked mine at 160K or so and it looked brand new.

The water pump is not too bad and there are several DIY's here for it, but the car needs to be a good 18 inches in the air to have enough room to work. You need a good assortment of 1/4-drive extension bars and universal joints to get at some of the bolts, and a good set of E-torx sockets.

The washer pump needs the right front wheel to be removed and the fender liner removed to get to the washer fluid reservoir (its behind the fender liner at the rear of the front fender). I've not taken the rear part of the liner out (I have the front - the liner is in two pieces) and I have not done anything with the washer tank, so I can't give anymore advice here.

The seat is easy to remove, but need the battery disconnected to depower the airbag so to not cause an airbag fault code. I've not taken the electric drive apart on an E90 seat, but I have on a Z3 seat, it's not hard, but again you'll need a good set of tools. The electric seat drives use small flex cables to drive the seat tracks just be mindful of their orientation when you remove them.

The valve cover is not hard except for removing the VANOS motor (I've read). I've not done this job on the E90, but have on many other cars and the only difference is the VANOS motor. There is a DIY for the valve cover gasket. Not knowing the mileage on your car, you may want to do the spark plugs if it is near 100,000 miles since you have to take the cabin airfilter housing and engine cover off to get the valve cover off. And maybe, depending on the mileage, do the two upstream O2 sensors while your at it; all that stuff needs to come off to unplug the upstream O2 sensors and they can go dead at anytime over 100K.

The oil filter housing (OFH) gasket is easy, but you need to drain about 1 gallon of coolant out of the cooling system (so do it when you do the water pump) and the oil should be drained too, but you can get away with just chaining the oil filter element and sucking out the residual oil that naturally sits in the oil filter cavity. Take my advice and remove all the coolant hoses from the OFH because it makes it a lot easier to re-set the gasket properly. And you'll need the E-Torx sockets and 1/4-drive extension bars for this job too.

[tmdals0213]

wow.... bravo x 100

very good read, thank you efthreeoh!

[shata]

I would definitely question cylinder head call from dealer have someone look at it again. Under non-abuse driving I have not heard of one being bad.

Everything other then head I would DIY.

[Bavarian Black]

I just installed the enginge cover gasget which requires a ton of time, 2 days, I paied 172 usd including the coolant 3liters(must be removed). I love Lebanese Indy shops. Unfortunately when I get back to the Uk...I will miss cheap labour ��

BB