BMW service charges, per hour, in the UK are horrendous......I recall
something in the region of £100/120 per hour for labour when I owned a 3
series.

They will also find plenty to do on your car that 'they say' requires
replacement.

I would suggest 3rd party and list the things you want doing. Try to find a
3rd party that states they specialise in BMW work. Occasionally you find
trained techs who break away from the dealerships to get a slice of the
action.........and a little more of the pot.

dj
now Audi A4

In my experience in the UK, dealer servicing is not only very expensive
but of poor quality. And that's not only just one dealer, but 5.

With a main dealer you're paying for posh waiting rooms and pretty
receptionists who make you coffee. And the 'free' extras like the car
being cleaned, and a courtesy car, etc. With a decent independant all
you're paying for is the work needed.

Nor is there any magic required to service a BMW - they're not any
different from other cars. Repairs may be a different thing since
expertise is never a bad thing.

When asking this sort of question you need to say where you intend having
the service done as hourly rates vary even within the same country.

But my local independant specialist not only charges less than half the
hourly rate of my dealer, but is honest in saying what work is needed. And
appears to know the cars rather better.

Well that depends on how much money you have to throw around.......

Not all dealers offer the 4+ - that is a 20% discount on labour rates for
vehicles over 4 years old - I have NO IDEA what is different to a car under 4 or
over 4 years old - it is probably a concept that if you go to a dealer then he
still gets your money as most NEW BMWs are corporate or Lease company purchases
and all servicing is paid for by the "Company" that also get tax relief and in
the UK and Euroland they can claim back the VAT (sales tax) from the government.

This leaves the Joe Public like you and me having to have DEEP pockets albeit we
have the benefit of the 20% discount but at extortionate labour rates it doesn't
count for much.

However, having said that I have found that the independents and other
garage/workshops also have higher rates but not so much for labour but they tend
to charge TOP DOLLAR for parts.  Ok, they have to make a profit but I don't
really want to buy the guys a new Ferrari each year.

Generally there isn't much to service and you can do most yourself unless you
are really cack-handed and don't know one end of a spanner from a screwdriver.

I nearly always get the oil changed at KwikFit (fast fit tyre depot) Oil +
filter - Mobil 1 full synthetic 8.5 Lit fixed price £39 (GBPounds)

Last time I had it done at an independent this cost £105 and my local "any car
any time workshop" £87 (GBPounds) so the fat fit depot is a better bet and you
can watch them do it so you know it's done.

Occasionally the brakes need to be looked at and the pads changed.  To look is
easy if you have nice open alloy wheels but if not it might be a good idea to
learn how to change a wheel if ever you need to so - when practicing - go for
all 4 and look at the brakes at the same time.  Of course whilst at the fast-fit
depot you can always sneak a look underneath whilst its on the ramp to see how
the cats & Silencers are doing.

Little drop of oil on the door locks and a quick swap of the air filter -
usually 4 or 5 spring clips - remove - replace - job done - I bought a K&N non
replaceable element - clean it every 2 years....... Saved the cost the first
year.

My 2p (2c) worth.  If it ain't broke - don't fix it.

A tough question because there are advantages to each.  I'd suggest if
you need basic mechanical work done, the indy can do the job, but some
electronics troubleshooting and firmware upgrades are best done by the
dealer and their BMW-proprietary diagnostics equipment.  The problem for
the owner is knowing when to take it to the dealer.  That usually occurs
only after the indy wastes a lot of time and money replacing every part
except the one that's causing the problem.

If you take it to an indy, insist on BMW OE parts.  Some of the parts
have their flaws, but there's a lot of crap in the aftermarket and the
OE parts really aren't that expensive for the quality.

I must point out that at 100K the car may need far more than an a
traditional BMW inspection, but here in the US an Inspection I on these
cars is somewhere around $500.  An Inspection II is closer to $800.  I
don't know the prices exactly because I now do all my own work...I
haven't had the dealer do an inspection in years.

Although my E36 328is is one rev earlier than your car, it shares many
of the same basic technologies as the E46 323.  If you want to see one
man's experience in keeping a BMW in good shape, you may find the BMW
section of my site helpful.

Safe driving,

-Doug

--
--------------------
Doug Vetter, ATP/CFI
dwvcfii@yahoo.com
http://www.dvatp.com
--------------------

For my own peice of mind, I never use a main dealer.

If you decide to go independent you should probably check out
http://www.bimrs.org/MapPage.html.

I'm getting close to needing an answer to that same question.
I have a 2003 325i with ~90K miles (bought at the end of 2002).
I had paid for the extended service plan to cover scheduled
maintenance (including most wear and tear stuff like brakes)
up to 100K.

Anoop