[GuitarDTO]

Hey all,
I have a 2008 335i with 88,000 miles on it. The car has been paid off for a few years. It went off warranty due to time in July of last year. I had the electric water pump replaced a whopping 3 weeks after. All has been well since then until now.

I brought the car in for routine maintenance checkup per the computer, and I also had a low coolant light pop on a few days before my scheduled appointment. Turns out I got a bit lucky with the low coolant light, it was a problem with the same water pump they replaced last year. They replaced it again, under the 2 year parts/labor warranty. As for the standard scope test and vehicle check, they found several recommendations of things to fix:

1. Oil filter housing gasket leak, $550 to replace gasket. I was told of all the recommendations this should be my top priority. They said it wasn't a full on "leak", but just wet in the area. I've never been thrown a low oil code, and I've never noticed any dripping anywhere, nor has my oil ever been low when I've checked.

2. Valve Cover gasket leak. Same thing, not leak, but just "wet". $1120

3. Oil pan gasket, $1230

4. Worn control arm bushings, $805.

Needless to say, I didn't pay for any of the above yet. For items that expensive, I'd rather take a "if it aint broke don't fix it" mentality unless it makes sense otherwise, and these were merely "recommendations" from the dealer. I did estimate from an independent mechanic I've trusted in the past for the above repairs. He said that the labor for all of these jobs is very intensive, the parts have no aftermarket, and the tools are specialized. He told me my best bet was to stick with the dealer! However, I'm still skeptical if my car really does need this stuff or if I can take a wait and see attitude.

This brings me to my main question. I don't mind paying for preventative maintenance when it makes sense for the long term investment, but is the book written yet on what the long term maintenance costs on my car might end up looking like if I keep the vehicle for, say, 150,000+ miles? It seems every repair tips beyond the $1000 mark, and god forbid I need a turbo replacement or something large like that. I'm pondering if my money would be better invested into something newer and trading my car in now while it is still worth something (~$12k dealer trade in currently).

I do love the car....and have loved owning it. But I also get impatient when repairs become more frequent. Don't laugh, but I've been tempted to make the switch to a truck recently (the new Ford F150). My brother in law has an F150, I loved the room, utility of it. But it's obviously a very different driving experience. In general I'm just wondering if there are others in a similar situation with a 2007-2008 335 and what some of the maintenance burdens have been, and whether you feel they've been worth it.

Thanks for any insight you may have!

[romanonj]

Fix it your self, everything on that list (besides the oil pan gasket) is trivial DIY. Oil pan gasket is a PIA as it requires front subframe to be dropped, but possible. I would also expect starter to go soon, and probably rear main seal.

I would say buy the F150 and keep this as a project fun car.

[atinybug]

I just want to point out that if you do fix it yourself, even though previous poster said the jobs were "trivial", they are time consuming. Expect to spend a whole day on them if you've never done any of it before.

[Socket]

Id get a second opinion before fixing anything .... IMO

[Efthreeoh]

My 2 cents.

Oil pan gasket. Take it to an indy and have the bolts re-torqued. Unless it is badly leaking oil, who cares, almost every 7 year-old car in America has a seeping oil pan gasket. $1,200 buys a whole bunch of oil.

Valve cover gasket. Same deal as above. If it's dripping on the manifold and smelling bad then I'd do something about it.

OFHG. Now that one should be done if it starts mixing oil in with the coolant.

Worn Control Arm Bushings. I find that one hard to believe at 88,000 miles especially in a car driven in flat, straight, Florida. I've got 275K on my car on the original control arms and just had it in at a dealer (known to jackup work on customers) and it aligned fine (they said it was close to needing new suspension parts to get in alignment next time...). I live in the mountains of Virginia and drive my car quite hard on the back roads every day.

[mlifxs]

My two cents.
The oil filter housing gasket is not hard to DIY. The gasket is < $20. The trick is you'll also need to learn how to drain and fill coolant, and you may want to buy a wrench to give you access. DIY on the forum is a good resource. Dealer quoted me $450 on that and I ended up doing it myself for around $50, including the tool purchase plus a couple hours of my time. Maybe DIY is off the table but it should give some reference on reasonable cost.

VCG - I paid $800 to the dealer to do this, an indy quoted me $600. Went with the dealer as they do good work and warranty. A more challenging DIY, so I decided to hand it off.

Don't know about the oil pan, but mine is just weeping a bit. I never show any indication of oil loss between changes, and no accumulation on the bottom panel. Leaving it alone for now. Suggestion above is good, guy knows his stuff.

Worn control arms. - parts for all arms up front are around $300. Not sure what book time is but it would take a DIY'er about 2 hours, so less for the shop. Not an emergency unless your tires are wearing poorly or some noise is bothering you. With your miles, they may be worn, if so, you may notice some improvement in how the car drives, which is good.

VCG and control arms wear out on many cars. I don't think our cars are ticking time bombs, (perhaps a little over-engineered) the issue is when you go in for repairs and maintenance, you're assumed to be some highly compensated individual who is too busy to shop around or research.

[E92cpe]

Sorry that you're contemplating selling. To me all of these sound like regular "ware and tear" maintenance items for a car of this caliber. I had a E36 M3 that had 169,000 miles and that thing I had to get rid of just one problem after the other and no good Indy shop in this area that was competent enough to do the work. I would definitely get a second opinion for sure especially if you don't feel as if you could do them yourself (which is how I always feel). Lol Try searching around your local area for a good mechanic who does jobs on his off time even. That usually works pretty well for me as far as the smaller jobs go. Any of the big stuff (engine related) I prefer to take to the dealer. Just my opinion. Good luck with everything though and keep us posted on what you decide to do.

[jon_335]

One of the downsides on these cars, as I've come to find out, is that everything is jammed packed in the engine bay. Seemingly simple tasks take many hours. A couple weekends ago, I replaced my oil filter housing and oil cooler gaskets. I spent $20 in parts + $25 for coolant (I was doing water pump and t-stat at the same time), but it took me 5 hours … mainly because I had to move so much stuff just to get to three simple bolts. Repairs become time intensive more than anything else, which is why the costs are so high … it's mostly labor.

My $.02 is to do the OFHG soon and leave the rest until it becomes a problem or starts to bother you.

[vwetish]

Originally Posted by atinybug

I just want to point out that if you do fix it yourself, even though previous poster said the jobs were "trivial", they are time consuming. Expect to spend a whole day on them if you've never done any of it before.

The repairs could be also very short lived. Something to consider before taking on the task...

[GuitarDTO]

Thanks for the opinions everyone! Seems many of you agree with the dealers priority to fix the OFHG first. I have a buddy who is good/hands on with a lot of tools as well so I may dig into the DIY, if it's really only $50, but a few hours. The rest seem too daunting to me, and if they aren't bad I'm not going to fix them.

The big shock to me is the fact that my independent mechanical, who I trust and always did great jobs before my wife and I got BMW's, wouldn't even touch the thing! I had always assumed that once the car got out of warranty I would find a trusted mechanic again, but I'm nervous that could prove difficult.

And Ford is offering over $11,000 off new 2014 F150s lol. But I really don't want to get rid of the BMW deep down!

[Zernaff]

I recently went into the dealer and they quoted me $4650 to fix a lot of little things that didn't need fixing. Oil pan gasket was one. Definitely find an Indy and get a second opinion, wouldn't always trust dealer.