New to BMW, new 528

[Mehmetic]

Hello everyone -

my first Bmw! I’ve done the whole range of makes (VW, Volvo, Merc, Subaru, Kia, Chevy, Toyota...) and finally got around to the bimmer.

It’s 2015, certified from local dealership / 40k miles...

im not familiar with BMW maintenance, so I’m on the fence about the maintenance package from the dealer - I have a month to reject it, and go it alone with local shops and my own two hands...happy to hear suggestions...

looking forward to enjoying this ride for a while...

[Greydog]

Morning Mehmet and Welcome to the Forum.

Depending on mileage and journey type I would expect one service a year (20 to 30k) Service and maintenance carried out at the dealer will always be more expensive due to their hourly rate (almost £200 p/hr + parts) at my local dealer. If the car has an Auc Warranty maybe worth using the dealer to maintain warranty integrity. If not I would find a good BMW Specialist as they are normally BMW trained and have all the specialist tools and software that a dealer has (my BMW specialist is £70 p/hr). I do most general maintenance jobs myself (with the help of my sons, younger and bendier) only using the garage for things I can't manage. I have BMW specific software for Diagnostics on an old laptop so checking and reading fault codes and resetting and clearing them is a simple task (my local dealer charges £90.00 for a code read only). I have found it invaluable on the X5 plus a few friends I have been able to help out have been grateful.

I would look the deal and check out local costs and compare the 2 stamps in the book are paramount to maintain the value, mine still has an annual service and stamp at the specialist at MOT time.

Good luck and enjoy your Beemer

Dave

[Mehmetic]

Thank you for your input Dave!

I took your advice and reached out to a local shop - they're at $100 , going up to $120 this year. (I don't know what the dealer charges - I would guess $180-$220) -

I did buy it "certified used" (your "AUC" I think) - so most things are covered for the first 16 months... but I do suspect brakes and calipers will have to be changed, and that's probably the most expensive thing that will go out in the next 20,000 miles...

BMW dealer said they don't "preemptively change anything... the car has to tell us what needs to be fixed" - what worries me about that is, if the big ticket which I expect to be the changed, brake pads and calipers, don't get changed in the next 16 months... I've spent $2200 (£1600) on a service contract that has done nothing but change the oil!

So I will probably drop the contract and hold on to the money and hope that I don't end up spending more in the next 16 months, 16,000 miles!

We'll see!