Empirical Data Collection of E46 Maintenance for Analysis

Hi Guys,

We all know that the perception of ownership of older cars like BMWs are severely skewed when compared to the real world. So I would like to start this thread for the purpose of collecting some solid, empirical data which can be used to fully analyse the maintenance costs and implications of E46 ownership.

I am fully aware that this information does already exist, partially, in a very fragmented state, scattered around threads and posts. My intention is provide a robust consolidation of this information which can be used for people such as myself to conduct an analysis of real world data (as opposed to a list of hypotheticals) and form what would hopefully be a conclusion based a partially representative sample of data.

The idea is to place focus on peoples' real-world experiences. That is, the varying occurrences of both planned and unplanned maintenance, and the route which was taken to remedy them (vendor, cost, etc). I am also interested in the realistic options available to South African owners with respect to finding specialists, alternative parts suppliers, etc. Further, I am looking to analyse the influences of duration of ownership, age of the car, mileage at purchase, mileage at each maintenance event, and mileage currently. If i could, I would actually look to develop a regression model, but there is no way that we could ever collect enough reliable data to construct a model of use.

So here is the structure which I am thinking. Provide as much detailed information as you have regarding everything you have had to fix and/or spend money that is maintenance related. I am going to provide a guideline below, but if you have your own format, its fine.

Suggested Guideline

Screening Data:
E46 Year and Model
Purchase Date and Mileage
Current Mileage to Date

Maintenance:
Planned Maintenance: this includes basic scheduled maintenance, inspections, oil changes, wear and tear items, tires, etc. The schedule does not have to be the official BMW schedule, for example, if you like to do an oil change every 10 000km, the emphasis is on the fact that it is planned and expected.

Unplanned Maintenance: this includes anything outside of normal, planned maintenance. This includes parts that break unexpectedly, as well as preventative maintenance such as a cooling system overhaul.

Details to Include:
If possible when reporting maintenance, please include the following:

• Mileage at the time of maintenance
• Planned or Unplanned
• Replacement Parts Required, and Cost
• Parts Supplier (dealer, specialist, indy shop, online etc)
• Labour Costs (if DIY, please specify)
• Who conducted repair/fitment (if applicable)
• Additional Comments

Now, obviously, I am aware that not everyone has a complete record of all this information. I am basically reaching out to the more diligent record keepers, but I urge you to try and submit as much information as possible. It might also be a nice exercise of review for those who haven't actually done a retrospective on their costs of ownership.

Thanks.

Adi

why has no one added to this i will try dig up my receipts i would estimate i have spent 30-40k on my car but alot of that was modifications so it does not really count...

i have a spreadsheet. will post tomorrow

@AdiS: It seems you have a statistical background since I am seeing allot of words in your post that I like: empirical, robust, regression :thumbs:


What sort of model are you trying to build?

e46 318 FL N42, 2003
Purchased july 2009 @ 98000km. MP expired at 110 000km, dec 2009.
current mileage 152000km.

i have the MP printout as a pdf file, i couldn't figure out how to upload a pdf file.

Apr-10 front brake pads R 450.00 116000km
Apr-10 front brake pads labour R 100.00 116000km
Apr-10 brake wear sensor R 120.00 116000km
Jun-10 rear brake prads(DIY) R 430.00 120000km
Dec-10 inspection 1 service(dealers) R 1,300.00 130366km
Jun-11 oil sevice DIY R 500.00 140000km
Jun-11 solenoid valve o-rings from dealers(DIY) R 100.00 140000km
Jun-11 2 front shocks(monroe) R 1,300.00 140000km
Jun-11 2front shocks labour R 350.00 140000km
Jun-11 tyres+mags R 6,000.00 140000km
Aug-11 lower control arm bushes ( R 250.00 143628 km
(sa warranties paid R1750)
Aug-11 Right stabelising arm (DIY) R 280.00 143628 km
Sep-11 dead coil + labour R 0.00 145 055 km
(sa warranties paid R800)
Nov-11 tappet cover gasket R 700.00 147000km
Nov-11 cam position sensor from goldwagon(DIY) R 365.00 147500km
Nov-11 chrome grills R 520.00 147500km
Dec-11 oil separator from dealers R 499.00 148487km
Dec-11 labour(tapp cov gasket & CCV) R 600.00 148487km
Feb-11 oil service(DIY) R 500.00 152000km
various oil top ups R 1,500
TOTAL R 15,864.00

i'm doing my front pads and discs within the next month.

I am ecstatic that this thread has been rediscovered. After no one replied I decided against trying to push it further, as I believed I was asking too much of people.

I am not from a pure statistical background, but rather a research background (business context). Hence, I covered a fair amount of multi-variate stats techniques at varsity to go with the research, my honours thesis, etc. I am just drawing from the academic and research techniques I have learnt.

As I mentioned, I am not going to try and build a model as I will never have enough reliable data to get a model with any statistical significance (I was thinking multiple regression). I am rather just trying to get a better mental grasp of the maintenance of these vehicles based on real world data, and accounting for things like alternative/third party parts suppliers, service workshops, and DIY.

Legacy said:

@AdiS: It seems you have a statistical background since I am seeing allot of words in your post that I like: empirical, robust, regression :thumbs:


What sort of model are you trying to build?

Click to expand...

I have a record of every penny that i have spent on my E36 M3?
Can i add to this?

I appreciate the offer, but it's not strictly relevant to this exercise (E46, non-M).

Technician said:

I have a record of every penny that i have spent on my E36 M3?
Can i add to this?

Click to expand...

AdiS said:

I appreciate the offer, but it's not strictly relevant to this exercise (E46, non-M).

Click to expand...

I mis-read the original post. But its a good idea, will be allot of help to guys looking for options.

Maybe we should start separate threads for different shapes, models?

I like the sugestion of technician :thumbs:

Adis...can we also add the question:
Report on who drove the car?
Because when the wife drives it there is always something wrong with it afterwards or a bump or scratch :rollsmile:

@Technician - you are welcome to start another thread regarding E36 / M's.

@Twinz - haha, if you must.

Twinz said:

I like the sugestion of technician :thumbs:

Adis...can we also add the question:
Report on who drove the car?
Because when the wife drives it there is always something wrong with it afterwards or a bump or scratch :rollsmile:

Click to expand...

---

I am posting this from Swiegie's Motorplan thread:

First service – Oil Service

2007/01/08 – Forsdicks Tygervalley
23298 km
Total cost : R427.71

Second Service – Inspection 1

2008/08/06 – Forsdicks Tygervalley
47937km
Total Cost : R854.79

Third Service – Oil Service

2010/08/27 – Forsdicks Tygervalley
69259km
Total cost : R3162.49
Control arm bushes replaced. R1669.14 parts and 565.74 labour.


Now the real fun begins

1st Repair/maintenance

2010/10/18 – Auto Atlantic
71296 km
Total cost : R5050.85

Parts :
- Clutch kit – R2773.08
- Exhaust gasket – R127.63
- Sealing CVR – R194.13
- Sundries – R164.63
- Labour – R1791.38

2nd Repair/maintenance

2010/11/10 – Forsdicks Tygervalley
72299km
Total cost : R4119.07

Parts :
- Brake discs front - R791.16
- Brake pads front – R635.99
- Brake Discs rear – R725.96
- Brake pads rear – R586.69
- Brake fluid – R65.97
- Brake sensors – R286.39
- Labour – R1010.25

3rd Repair/maintenance

2010/12/20 – Forsdicks Tygervalley
74048km
Total cost : R2645.54

Parts
- Oil cooler – R1438.34
- Anti Freeze – R116.13
- System flush – R404.10
Labour – R686.97

4th Repair/maintenance
2011/04/05 – Forsdicks Tygervalley
80222km
Total cost : R713.22

Parts
- Temperature sensor – R252.12
Labour : R421.20

5th repair/maintenance
2011/06/08 – Donford Stellenbosch
82469km
Total Cost :R8461.48

Parts
- Tappet cover gasket – R763.00
- Flange gasket – R71.40
- Wheel alignment – R747.49
- Rear Shocks + mountings – R4395.20
- Gas struts for boot lid – R 730.80
- Wipers – R197.40

Labour : R2303.30

6th Repair / Maintenance

2011/06/30 – Donford Stellenbosch
83375km
Total cost : R17964.11

Parts
- Vacuum Pump – R3697.60
- Dual mass Flywheel – R 8807.10
- Clutch kit – R 2908.30

Labour – R2523..15

7th Repair/Maintenance
I am missing this invoice from Donfords will update once received.

Fourth Service - Inspection 2

2011/12/15 – Auto Atlantic
90546km
Total cost : R2851.31

8th repair/Maintenance

2012/01/16 – Auto Atlantic
91653km
Total cost : R27722.81

Parts
- Exhaust gasket – R140.20
- Clutch Release bearing – R418.25
- Front shocks + Mountings – R7013.43
- Wishbone LH – R3592.33
- Wishbone RH – R3592.33
- Control arm + bushes – R1823.08
- Oil separator/pcv valve – R 483.25
- Various hoses – R1153.63
- Sump gasket – R311.12
- Diff bushes – R485.94
- Sundries – R187.06

Labour – R 8478.55

9th Repair/Maintenance
2012/01/24 – Forsdicks Tygervalley
92000km
Total cost – R2007.04

Parts
Bleeder – R45.43
Radiator cap – R109.18
Expansion tank – R1135.22
Anti freeze – R93.08

Labour – R624.13

10th repair/maintenance

2012/02/13 – Auto Atlantic
92491km
Total cost – R21841.66

Parts
- Engine mountings – R2438.98
- Eccentric shaft – R5947.22
- needle bearing – R321.02
- Tappet cover gasket – R778.51
- Flange gasket – R74.55
- Intermediate – R4147.56 ??? Do not know what this was.
- Clutch Kit – R2476.13
- Sundries – R187.57

Labour – R6065.84

11th Repair/maintenance

2012/02/22 – Forsdicks Tygervalley
93626km
Total Cost – R 2806.80

Parts
- Water house – R892.89
- Boot lid lock – R510.71
- Wipers – R205.89
- Anti Freeze – R93.08

Labour – R1104.23

12th Repair/maintenance
2012/02/27 – Forsdicks BMW
Awaiting copy of invoice, another big invoice.

Our cars clutch was replaced a couple of times due to bad workmanship. Every time they only replaced certain parts and then the clutch would stat giving problems again. It seems that the clutch is now sorted out!

Overall the car drives like a dream after the repairs was carried out and we will probably keep it for another couple of years.

imp:
Adis, wont it be easier to try and convince someone at a dealership to give you the info?? :dunno:
I have kept all the jobcards and reciepts of everything I have done on my car, including copies of the stuff done under motorplan, and the stuff done now since the car went out of motorplan.
Its just a MOER of a lot af data to sort through and post, and to be frank, I dont want to spend the time doing it... :fencelook:

Sorry... :fishwack:

Hey Cois,

I understand that. I would say I am less interested in motorplan info, and more the out of motorplan maintenance. The reason why I can't go to a dealer is becuase (1) i would only get info at dealer prices and we all know that those are sky high - this would skew the data - and (2), many people use third party/aftermarket/indy specialist etc for out of motorplan servicing, and that impacts the findings of this exercise greatly.

I know its a big ask, and I don't expect everyone to doit, but it might be a useful exercise for yourself to organise all that data into a spreadsheet or something.

Coisman said:

imp:
Adis, wont it be easier to try and convince someone at a dealership to give you the info?? :dunno:
I have kept all the jobcards and reciepts of everything I have done on my car, including copies of the stuff done under motorplan, and the stuff done now since the car went out of motorplan.
Its just a MOER of a lot af data to sort through and post, and to be frank, I dont want to spend the time doing it... :fencelook:

Sorry... :fishwack:

Click to expand...

Been meaning to post in this thread for some time, just never got to it.....

So here goes:

The car is an e46 330i, I got it 09/07/2010, with the mileage in the region of 82k km, and at the moment it has just over 111xxx km.

14/07/2010
One new tyre
Mileage: Not recorded
Parts: Continental Sport contact 3, valve.
Price: R1735 (tyre) R7.98 (valve)
Labour: R26.32 (Wheel balancing)
Type: Planned
Supplier: Supa Quick
Additional comments: Tyre was replaced due to the place I got my car from replaced the tyres of the 4 wheels the car had on at the time, turned out on of the rear wheels was the spare, and the actual wider wheels was in the trunk with a really old tyre on, so I replaced that tyre and swapped the wheels. Fitted a Continental because it was the brand that was on the other wheels.

23/08/2010
Replaced the battery.
Mileage: Not recorded
Parts: Sabat 651 (Is actually the wrong battery, too small)
Parts price: R818
Labour: R0
Type: Unplanned.
Supplier: Battery Inn.

04/09/2010
Service.
Mileage: 84956km
Parts: 10l Shell helix ultra, engine flush, oil filter, air filter, Bosch super plus spark plugs
Part price: 2x R290 (oil), R56.43 (engine flush), R104.63 (oil filter), R78.67 (air filter), 6x R69.31 (plugs)
Labour: R0 (DIY)
Type: Planned
Supplier: Oil, engine flush: Menlyn Midas
filters, plugs: BMW Leo Haese Hatfield

30/10/2010
Brake pad change
Mileage: 87458km
Parts: Febi Bilstein front and rear pads
Parts price: R350 (front) R650 (rear)
Labour: R0 (DIY)
Type: Planned
Supplier: Bemows

20/12/2010
Changed starter
Mileage: Not recorded
Parts: Bosch Starter
Parts price: R1600
Labour: R0 (DIY)
Type: Semi-unplanned (knew starter was going but not when it would be gone)
Supplier: Centurion Goldwagen.

18/05/2011
Service
Mileage: 96500km
Parts: Oil filter, air filter, Shell helix ultra, engine flush
Parts price: R102.51 (air filter), R109.78 (oil filter), 2x R290 (oil), R56.43 (engine flush)
Labour: R0 (DIY)
Type: Planned
Supplier: Filters: BMW Menlyn auto
Oil and flush: Menlyn Midas.

15-22/06/2011
Cooling system and other parts replacement
Mileage: 97***km
Parts: Main belt tensioner bracket, waterpump, main belt, aircon belt, lower radiator hose, Bosch coil packs, plugs.
Parts price: R229 (radiator hose), R135.77 (aircon belt), R670.42 (bracket), R302.58 (main belt), R400 (waterpump), 2x R415 (coils), 6x R65 (plugs)
Labour: R0 (DIY)
Type: Unplanned
Suppliers: Waterpump: Bemows
Plugs, coils: Pta east Goldwagen
Hose, belts, bracket: BMW Menlyn Auto

19/11/2011
Replaced lower control arm bushes
Mileage: 105133km
Parts: Febi Bilstein lower control arm bushes
Part price: R750
Labour: R0 (DIY)
Type: Planned
Supplier: Pta east Goldwagen

25/02/2012
Oil change
Mileage: 108903km
Parts: Shell helix ultra, oil filter
Part prices: R120.41 (filter), 2x R295 (oil)
Labour: R0 (DIY)
Type: Planned
Supplier: Filter: BMW Leo Haese hatfield
Oil: Pta east Goldwagen

07/03/2012
Replaced Clutch and flywheel
Mileage: 109155km
Parts: LUK clutch kit, LUK flywheel, flywheel bolts, thrust bearing.
Part prices: R2800 (kit), R3600 (flywheel), 8x R36.55 (bolts), R695 (bearing)
Labour: R850 (Andre du Plessis BMW technician)
Type: Planned
Suppliers: Flywheel: Gizmo
Kit: M3M5POWER
Bolts: BMW Leo Haese Hatfield
Bearing: Bemows

so Sank you spent about 20k in two years not bad i think :rollsmile:

It is actually scary when you add it all up :mmm: and scarier that close to half of that is only for the clutch.
This is just the maintenance, so the money on mods and other things will also make it a lot more spent on the car.

Sankekur said:

It is actually scary when you add it all up :mmm: and scarier that close to half of that is only for the clutch.
This is just the maintenance, so the money on mods and other things will also make it a lot more spent on the car.

Click to expand...

but how much would it cost you to own a new car with the same performance and ride?

Sheesh, probably more than double I would guess.

Sankekur said:

Sheesh, probably more than double I would guess.

Click to expand...

look at this current 'special' on a 118i you will end up paying over 100k for two years when you take the installment, depreciation and other costs... never mind that performance wise you e46 is way better :rollsmile:

I would like to extend a HUGE thanks to Sankekur for his contribution to the thread. That is exactly what I was looking for. Once again, I acknowledge it takes quite a bit of time and effort to put together a post like that, but it's going towards creating a really good information resource.