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HORRIFYING Repair Bill Moment of Truth Stories- WTF should I do?
Hardly anyone working at a BMW dealerships knows that an e30 is or even stands for. You need an independent shop to do work if you can't. It sounds like about $1,000 worth of work if its just a head gasket and timing belt.
Just a word of advise: NEVER use a dealership for service other than for a new car under warranty.
FUCK 3Gs.... For a head gasket and timing job!!(are they giving you a BRAND NEW head??)
I guess that's why we are all DIYers!!!
Buy another e30 and keep that one for spares
OR
Take the money, buy a bentley manual, some tools and jack stands and get your hands dirty
you are in GA (at least by profile) I would think for 3G's you could have it towed to Markert or another GA shop and have the work done by someone who knows what they are doing. Dealer sounds like he is trying to get you to NOT have the work done by pricing you out of the job.
I saved 15% on my Bimmer parts by switching to ...
a DIY headgasket/timing belt is *maybe* a $500 job over a weekend.
Does it only leak oil? If it's just seeping oil out of the corners on the passenger side, it's not even worth worrying about. It's an M20, the Exxon Valdez of BMW engines. I'm pretty sure BMW designed it to leak. You could leave it alone and drive another 20 years without touching it. it's probably leaked since 1985.
also, I can't think of any BMW special tools you need to do a headgasket on an M20. you could nearly do it with the trunk tool kit, some bubble gum, and string.
I fucking told you there's no independent shop here. FUCK
chill, winston. You're being taken for a ride by the dealership. Any old service shop can do a HG and timing belt on an e30, they're simple cars.
1. Bell housing sensors must be replaced $410
2. Timing belt, head gasket, etc. (what is etc? you might ask? good question)
3. There's also something going on in the fuel relay that's causing my cold start problems... not sure what that's all about.
3. All told, it's gonna be $3671- it sounds to me like they'll replace anything and everything that even comes close to being faulty, which I'm ok with.
1: bell housing sensors are 60 bucks, 1 clip and 1 bolt each. $410 my ass. You probably don't even need to change them. If you can use a multimeter, you can ohm them out yourself and figure out if you need to change them. They should be ~560-600 ohms resistance.
2: head gasket: get an OEM one, don't waste your time with a Victor Reinz. About a hundred bucks. Complete timing belt kits are about $200. "etc" doesn't mean anything. When you have the head off you can do a lot of work or not much at all.
3: that's what dealers do. They'll take you for the maximum money they can. I bet they didn't even diagnose the engine problems much at all, just figured "it's old, if we tell him all the shit is fucked, we can just replace it all and have him pay 4x the cost and he'll never know." Get used to it or find an indy shop. It doesn't have to be a BMW shop.
I bet you can find someone on r3v that will drive to your house and do everything the car needs, parts included, for $1000 if you provide food and a couch to sleep on if it happens to take them 2 days. If your car runs and your tach works you don't need bellhousing sensors. If you do need them I have a good set for $20 shipped to your motherfucking door motherfucker!
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