[10SecGG]

I know its been mentioned before, but damn! Annual service is both good, and bad. My wife and I decided to purchase her XM3C off lease end. To CPO the car they had to do the "final" free annual service. Plugs, filters, all fluids, including a brake fluid flush and fill, tire checks, as well brake inspection. Sounds great right? Problem is... this car has 8,359 miles on it! 3 oil changes EXCLUDING the initial 1,200 mile break in oil change and gearbox oil changes from new in 3 years. I'm good with the constant fluid changes, but to change spark plugs on a car with less than 10K miles on it is just plain silly, in my opinion.

As we were preparing paperwork we dropped the car off to service to get it CPO'd and they told us the laundry list of things that had to be done to get it certified. I questioned them regarding the plug change, and they told me it was required every 3rd service on M cars... ALL M cars. Again, that's great when it's free, but I'll be damned if I'm paying $1,500 to changed plugs that have so few miles on them in the future. Moral of the story, DRIVE THESE CARS, BOYS!!!! Don't save that mileage for the next guy.

We had planned on ordering a new G80 and ending this cars life in our garage in April when the lease came up, but we honestly like this car enough to keep it for awhile. My only reason for making this post was to advise on BMW recommendations for this who may not know. It can get costly if you don't either drive your car enough, or conform to their interval recommendations. I'll argue a plug change on ANY car with so few miles is just not necessary. Hope this helps anyone who reads it.

[JustinP]

Originally Posted by 10SecGG

…Moral of the story, DRIVE THESE CARS, BOYS!!!! Don't save that mileage for the next guy…

I’ve done 12K miles in 9 months since buying my car new, so I’m facing the opposite problem. I’ve just replaced the Continentals with set of Michelin PS4S which was a painful purchase on a car so new, but not entirely unexpected. Either way, these cars cost an arm and a leg whether used or not.

[10SecGG]

Originally Posted by JustinP

I’ve done 12K miles in 9 months since buying my car new, so I’m facing the opposite problem. I’ve just replaced the Continentals with set of Michelin PS4S which was a painful purchase on a car so new, but not entirely unexpected. Either way, these cars cost an arm and a leg whether used or not.

Yeah, fair point... But it's better to enjoy them as intended rather than let them sit as I have. My wife went full time remote the month after we bought this car, and didn't know it would sit so much when we initially got it. It took over two years just to get it past 5K miles. I think now that we've purchased it, we'll drive it more. Probably get more aggressive with a tune, and try to get competitive again with all the fast guys now.

[dmanb2b]

They did you a favor. Plugs don't last very long on the s58 and it's a stretch having them replaced every third oil change, assuming you go the full interval between changes. Most here start seeing misfires in the 10K+ mile range, just not significant enough for a check engine light to kick off. People really should be logging...but that's another post.

To your point though, It's an easy DIY and paying $1,500 for a plug replacement is flat out robbery. My guess is an indy would do it for sub $500 and DIY is sub $100.

[10SecGG]

Originally Posted by dmanb2b

They did you a favor. Plugs don't last very long on the s58 and it's a stretch having them replaced every third oil change, assuming you go the full interval between changes. Most here start seeing misfires in the 10K+ mile range, just not significant enough for a check engine light to kick off. People really should be logging...but that's another post.

To your point though, It's an easy DIY and paying $1,500 for a plug replacement is flat out robbery. My guess is an indy would do it for sub $500 and DIY is sub $100.

I didn't notice any issues with idle, or drivability, so I guess I was a minority in regards to plugs being an issue. But it's as new now... they did clear 73 hidden codes, but as you said, that's for another thread.

[dmanb2b]

Originally Posted by 10SecGG

I didn't notice any issues with idle, or drivability, so I guess I was a minority in regards to plugs being an issue. But it's as new now... they did clear 73 hidden codes, but as you said, that's for another thread.

Oh for sure...the plug thing is hit or miss! I'm at 11k miles right now and doing fine. Have seen others with 7-8k with rough idle, no cel. And i'm sure others will go 20-30K and be relatively problem free. It really does sound like they basically re-newed your ride

[95wildtt]

I'll argue a plug change on ANY car with so few miles is just not necessary.

That's the rub with the paid service, there is no intelligence involved, just the car, the calendar or the "process" says to do it, so it gets done.
No way your plugs were bad at all, but at least that's done for some time.
BMW knows that too, that's why they had you burn up your "free" maintenance, to re-cover part of the CPO costs.
Now it's on your dime.

My '20 Comp made it to 22k on the plugs, no issues, no codes stored, they looked pretty good actually.
Did them myself in about an hour taking my time, and it's a very easy job on these... parts are less than $100.

[R0ot.Us3r]

Originally Posted by 10SecGG

...Moral of the story, DRIVE THESE CARS, BOYS!!!!

I never understood people that bought (I understand the restrictions on a lease) cars like this to not drive them. My X3 is a daily driver, sometimes just for the lolz. My neighbor owns two Porsches and a current gen NSX. 99.9% of the time he's in his old Explorer Sport

[95wildtt]

Originally Posted by R0ot.Us3r

I never understood people that bought (I understand the restrictions on a lease) cars like this to not drive them. My X3 is a daily driver, sometimes just for the lolz. My neighbor owns two Porsches and a current gen NSX. 99.9% of the time he's in his old Explorer Sport

Suspect he's bought them as an investment.
As an example an early 90's NSX in great shape and low miles is north of $90k now. He may be of this mindset

"It's not the years, it's the miles that kill a car" I read that 30+ years ago in a Road and Track, and I believe it.
Cars are designed to be driven, not just sit, so too much sitting can do damage as well...

My '95 Stealth only has 39k on the clock and it had 28k when I bought it used in '97.
Really depends on your mission/intent for the car, to be honest.
If you plan to keep it forever (lots of customizations, investment (Porsche/NSX), just your favorite all time car, or sentimental value) then keep the miles low.

If it's your DD, or you know there will be something to replace it, relatively soon, drive it!!

[Strick]

I had 270k miles on my E92 when I traded it in. Yes the dealer took it without question! Already have 10k on my X3MC. These things are too hard not to drive!

[10SecGG]

Originally Posted by R0ot.Us3r

I never understood people that bought (I understand the restrictions on a lease) cars like this to not drive them. My X3 is a daily driver, sometimes just for the lolz. My neighbor owns two Porsches and a current gen NSX. 99.9% of the time he's in his old Explorer Sport

It wasn't ever our intention to NOT drive this car... It was situational. As I had stated my wife literally started working remotely full time a month after we got the car.

[cutnsew]

$1500 for plugs!? The stealership near me only charged me 8 or 900 for plugs (which in hindsight i should've just done myself), but was less than the $1200 I expected from that one thread showing the estimated service costs according to vehicle class. I was at 32484 miles, which is still crazy to think about changing plugs that quickly. I swear I notice a difference after plug change though with the "butt dyno." It's probably placebo to make me feel less bad for paying so much.

They also only charged me like $150 for oil change, which wasn't that much more than I paid to get the BMW Tine Power oil and filter when i changed the oil myself the last time. But they wanted $2800 to add 2 years to the expired maintenance plan. Like wtf man thats absurd.

[ttx3m]

$2800 seems crazy to extend the maintenance plan. I just declined extending on the 22 I just purchased with 6k miles. Only because I’m not planning to put tons of miles on it.

But…my understanding is that BMW will not resurface these M drilled rotors. So if you end up needing brakes it’s probability with it. The maintenance plan they offered me included replacement.

$1500 for plugs also crazy! I’ve replaced plugs on some older cars for $20 and 30 minutes lol. I know it’s not apples to apples but sheesh! Gotta pay to play as they say!

[Ramlimited4500]

Originally Posted by 10SecGG

I know its been mentioned before, but damn! Annual service is both good, and bad. My wife and I decided to purchase her XM3C off lease end. To CPO the car they had to do the "final" free annual service. Plugs, filters, all fluids, including a brake fluid flush and fill, tire checks, as well brake inspection. Sounds great right? Problem is... this car has 8,359 miles on it! 3 oil changes EXCLUDING the initial 1,200 mile break in oil change and gearbox oil changes from new in 3 years. I'm good with the constant fluid changes, but to change spark plugs on a car with less than 10K miles on it is just plain silly, in my opinion.

As we were preparing paperwork we dropped the car off to service to get it CPO'd and they told us the laundry list of things that had to be done to get it certified. I questioned them regarding the plug change, and they told me it was required every 3rd service on M cars... ALL M cars. Again, that's great when it's free, but I'll be damned if I'm paying $1,500 to changed plugs that have so few miles on them in the future. Moral of the story, DRIVE THESE CARS, BOYS!!!! Don't save that mileage for the next guy.

We had planned on ordering a new G80 and ending this cars life in our garage in April when the lease came up, but we honestly like this car enough to keep it for awhile. My only reason for making this post was to advise on BMW recommendations for this who may not know. It can get costly if you don't either drive your car enough, or conform to their interval recommendations. I'll argue a plug change on ANY car with so few miles is just not necessary. Hope this helps anyone who reads it.

Bring your M I’ll change your plugs for $200

[10SecGG]

Originally Posted by Ramlimited4500

Bring your M I’ll change your plugs for $200

HaHa!!! I'm good... Being a fairly well rounded "mechanic" I THINK I can manage. But, I do appreciate your offer. The moral of the story was, BMW overcharges for their maintenance programs so, you had better DRIVE the shit out your cars to get the value in the pre-determined scheduled intervals.

[Kevin_The_Clean1]

Originally Posted by 10SecGG

HaHa!!! I'm good... Being a fairly well rounded "mechanic" I THINK I can manage. But, I do appreciate your offer. The moral of the story was, BMW overcharges for their maintenance programs so, you had better DRIVE the shit out your cars to get the value in the pre-determined scheduled intervals.

Exactly. When the finance guy (the last guy you have to speak with & sign papers with before you get the keys to your new / used car) pushes hard on this extended warranty crap, to many of us it's simply not worth it.

[spta97]

I guess I’m guilty if the “buy and not drive” thing as I’m slowly approaching 7k miles on my 2020 X3MC which I purchased in Dec ‘19.

In fairness, Covid resulted in a lot less driving. Then there are places I would rather take my truck (07 Armada).

I recently had the last free maintenance done in September which also included plugs. I too was shocked it called for them with such low mileage but it’s good to hear this is a DIY job. I believe it was also my 3rd oil change. They forgot to reset the computer which became super annoying as I would get a message and a warning chime every time I got in the car.

Question though, brake fluid and oil change intervals are in the onboard computer - where would you find the plug interval or any other required maintenance? No way I’m paying those kind of prices when I can do it myself. Extending maintenance was not worth it at all for anyone who is handy with vehicles.

[pyo]

Originally Posted by spta97

Question though, brake fluid and oil change intervals are in the onboard computer - where would you find the plug interval or any other required maintenance? No way I’m paying those kind of prices when I can do it myself. Extending maintenance was not worth it at all for anyone who is handy with vehicles.

Check out this post by freshxdough : https://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showp...9&postcount=10

[dmanb2b]

Originally Posted by pyo

Check out this post by freshxdough : https://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showp...9&postcount=10

Yeah, I think that one may be off a bit still. Besides plugs, at least brake fluid flush is more frequent.

[10SecGG]

My SA told me plugs and brake fluid is every 3rd oil change, or 3rd year on all M cars.

[freshxdough]

Originally Posted by dmanb2b

Yeah, I think that one may be off a bit still. Besides plugs, at least brake fluid flush is more frequent.

I believe plugs are 30k, 3rd cbs oil service. First Brake flush is 3 years from date of manufacturer then every 2 years after that.

[10SecGG]

Originally Posted by freshxdough

I believe plugs are 30k, 3rd cbs oil service. First Brake flush is 3 years from date of manufacturer then every 2 years after that.

On ALL M cars, plugs are due every 3rd oil change, regardless of milage... Per the service rep at my dealership, and according to BMW service intervals. It's total bullshit in my opinion, as I stated in my original post, my car has 8,xxx miles on it currently. They did allllll the fluids, including brake service, checked pads, tires, changed air filters, and verified my tires had sufficient tread on them to meet the CPO requirements.