I just had the pleasure of paying $200 for replacing the upper radiator hose for my 2001 540i at BMW of Dayton. I was told this hose has a plastic end which requires a spring loaded clamp to secure it. The hose was $58 plus antifreeze/labor/etc. Whatever. Has anyone else had this experience? Does anyone know a reliable and fair priced Bimmer mechanic in the Dayton/Springfield area? Thanks for any help.
Yup, it is a special hose. Keep an eye on that cooling system. They are prone to plastic component failures due to the high temperatures/pressures they are required to run because of the EPA.
Grading for cooling system... FAIL...the cooling system on these rides is weak! My radiator has failed twice and my expansion tank failed after having major work done on the system (the only reason I did it at the shop was because she was already there for servicing and everything was already apart, which saved some labor costs). Thanks to my quick thinking, I had them replace the water pump too, which turned out to be on the edge of failure cause the impellers are made of cheap plastic. Anyway, I contacted my Indy about replacing the expansion tank and they wanted $350+ so I said "f" it, did some research and ended up replacing it myself for $70 and about 30-minutes of my time. It reminded me of how much I saved replacing the cooling system and suspension myself on my old '89 750iL (may she RIP)! Just to give you an idea of how much I saved, BMW quoted me over $11,000 to do the work but thanks to a little help from my friend (as well as the specialty tools and the lift where he worked...LOL), I was able to complete all the tasks for $1800! Yep...$1800 so I saved just over $9,000. Now you clearly can see why I am an advocate of DIY... Don't be afraid to DIY (especially the simpler tasks), just be sure that you do your homework before tearing things apart and be sure to ask LOTS of questions on this forum and others. I promise you (and your wallet) will be very happy you went the DIY way! A great resource for DIYer's can be found at BimmerForums.com so feel free to use it...
I cannot tell you how valuable taking digital pictures of the car all assembled before you start removing things. Continue taking more pics as pieces come off and take notes. These are a HUGE help should you have questions. I also take individual zip-lock baggies and stick the hardware of each piece in one and attach it to the part so I don't mix it up or lose it. Good research and repair documents/manuals are a must. ANY advice from online forums is also good. The hardest thing about DIY repairs is getting over the fear of screwing something up. That said, there are still a LOT of repairs better left to the pros like Moose for example. One the other hand, there are many smaller repairs or preventative maintenance processes you can accomplish yourself that will help offset the visits to the pros.
+100000000 Jeff...as a matter of fact, I read somewhere that you can take a piece of cardboard, write down each part in the order it was removed (of course having a place for each perspective part) and simply reverse the procedure. The suggestion was to save the photos for things that are a bit too complex for the memory to reassemble, which will save time. Just my .02...