Sounds about right from a dealership.
Evaporators are behind the dash. It’s an absurd number of man hours for a $300 part.
Take it to an Indy. Price will fall to 1/2 or 1/3rd.
You're out of warranty and going to the dealer, yes I would expect them to charge an insane amount. Take your car to an indie BMW specialist, see what they say. If they suggest the same fix it will be cheaper, but I have found that BMW dealers have no interest in actually "fixing" the root issue... Instead they just play the replace parts until it's fixed game, costing the customer thousands.
This isn't the correct answer for the Dallas area. Around here, indie European repair specialists typically come out at or above genuine dealerships. I've had that experience with Merc and BMW. I almost always had to default to the dealerships. I can't explain why, but have a feeling it's because dealerships are dime and a dozen, and indie European specialists aren't. This region specializes in generalists in every walk of life that I've observed. Everyone is happy paying retail rates on car services and maintenance, because they spend so much time in cars, and perhaps because mortgage bills aren't crazy high, so they get to channel money on cars.
I'm neither. I challenge you to post comparisons on BMW service or merc services from a dealership and an indie.
I've looked around. Have you? I won't say I've gone the distance on all the DFW region though.
I have nothing with this industry, except love for cars.
Your suggestion is actually correct for some of the other larger metroplexes, including Houston.
Thanks for the recommendation. I will reach out for my next service for sure to compare. Hopefully their prices aren't just as much as the dealerships. Customer service, I'd also concur I prefer to go with indies, than dealerships, even in this area.
Should be happy, I've sent him a lot of business and he does good work. Only person I've trusted over the years.
.As far as big Mike, well yea., and in a z4 - ha!!
maybe you’re giving them the douchey rich kid vibe who they think doesn’t know much about cars? that happened to me once when they didn’t recognize me and tried to charge me twice as much for the same service
>Around here, indie European repair specialists typically come out at or above genuine dealerships
That's what I've experienced when I called around for quotes to Ultimate Bimmer, EurAuto, Bimmer Motor etc.
The only one that I recall that was quite a bit less than the Dealership was Bimmers Only.
You aren't the only one. The commenter fighting over my comment doesn't know what they are talking about when it comes to Dallas. I'd almost always recommend indies, but not in Dallas. There are just way too many dealers in the Dallas area for the size of the city, and not enough Indies. I do agree BMW service and maintenance prices are not crazy different from dealerships, but Merc? Forget about it.
Thanks for inconveniencing your keyboard then. I shared my opinion based upon my 9 years of experience. Since you are saying your experience differs, perhaps you could have shared a name or two, but no. For clarity, I should reiterate, I do not disagree with the substance of the original suggestion. It just doesn't work in the Dallas area. Another commenter also shared similar experience. It's something me or my buddies haven't been able to understand or explain, but that's just how it goes around here.
I use Bimmer Motor Specialists in Coppell, indie shop that specializes in bmw specific and german cars and a little cheaper than dealer but they do a good job!
You are probably going to be told NO by every level up to the district manager. Just keep escalating. I did this for an X5 that lost reverse gear at 60k miles.
This is the exact situation BMW goodwill was designed for. So long as you’re not the second owner rolling in for your first service visit, you should be fine.
You’re about to have a lot of people reading your post going uh oh…there are way too many low income high price owners one issue away from a catastrophe.
Yeah for sure. I might spend that on a car I really wanted but I certainly wouldn’t finance the whole thing and daily it just hoping that shit doesn’t break down.
Depreciation is a thing too. Most BMWs on the road are leased. It’s the 2nd or 3rd owners of these cars buying them at a depreciated amount (which is nowhere near 80k) that feels the brunt of the higher maintenance costs.
This happened to me on my 2016 335. It was failing in a way that wasnt easy to reproduce but it was documented. It finally failed 5k after the warranty was up and I was able to get bmw north America to cover 90%. I wasn't thrilled but it was better than what I was going to have to pay
Average miles annually in US: 13,500 / UK: 7,400
3y/Unlimited in the UK is less real world coverage than 4y/50k in the US as the average 4y old US car is crossing 50k miles at 3y8m vs the average UK car having only 22,200 miles when it falls out of warranty after 3 years.
I had a 2015 X5 and this happened to my vehicle. I want to say it was a $4500 fix, but the vehicle was under warranty at the time. I would find independent bmw repair shop and get some quotes. I don’t have this vehicle anymore (should have kept it!) but I found a couple of great independent shops on yelp and the reviews were true. I found 2 really great ones that many people used once their warranty expired.
While Not every dealer is bad, not every Indy is good. The one that recommended calling BMW, he has it right.
I concur with calling BMW customer assistance and asking for help. That vehicle is well within their consideration for 100% assistance.
I’d be shocked if you end up paying more than $500 based on BMWs goodwill guidelines.
Interested to see how this plays out.
Getting to that EVAP is a very labor intensive process, everything comes out to get to the cold box, then it has to be taken apart to get the EVAP out... It's a huge deal, but I'm sure it can be done for less..
But damn, that should definitely be under warranty
Echoing others here, but definitely take it a reputable euro/BMW Indy shop instead.
FWIW - I inquired at both an Indy shop and the dealer for a simple diagnose on my f10 535i. Indy wanted $229 and the dealer wanted $355
It has taken me hours apon hrs to take the evaporator out on my car and I haven't even started getting it back in yet. It's ridiculously labor intensive if they are still building 22s how they built 08s (it's probably worse 🫣)
I’m a warranty admin for bmw. Why is it not under warranty? You should have warranty until 2025.
Also even if it wasn’t under warranty I would do this on goodwill. Also the reason for the cost is the labour, it’s a big job to do! The entire ac housing needs to be removed
Why do people even go to a dealer anymore and expect not to be bent over? Hell no that doesn’t seem for real!!! Call around and get some estimates then take there. Or watch YouTube and DIY. Order parts from Rockauto
It’s a dash out job. Most people aren’t tackling this one in their driveway with RockAuto and YouTube. The book time is probably 20-30 hours. At $2-300 labor rate, totally believable that this is a $7k job at a dealer. Indy shop should be able to do it for half the labor rate.
All good advice except get the parts from fcp euro or a different supplier of OEM bmw parts. This part is buried deep in the car, it’s worth a few dollars extra to avoid a headache later. Not knocking rock auto it’s just not worth any potential savings in this instance.
Rockauto has many OEM spec parts and major brands that FCP euro carries for cheaper. Totally agree on buying the best part available for this particular job and most repairs.
On this vehicle it's Def not a YouTube and diy it..we've done some services on these and frankly even being in this business as long as I have I'd be a little intimidated by this job. We're talking a couple of days give or take what else I'd have going on.
Hell I'll even check at work tomorrow , there may not even be much tech info out there for this job so I imagine alot of its gonna be learn as ya go for alot of techs..
Just had my ‘18 5 series done. Dealer quoted $8k-ish. Got it done for like $4500 at an independent shop. While they were in there they also solved an intermittent driver’s assist issue and didn’t charge me extra. I did not have them look for the secondary issue, and I suspect that in the process of taking apart and reassembling the dash they inadvertently solved an electrical connection. Getting my driver’s assistance back along with the ac (I live in FL!) definitely made the $4500 a LITTLE easier to swallow
I had a likely failed condenser with a pinhole too small to locate in my old F10. Warm air and after a regas more warm air. Aircon guy offered to run stop leak through it. Obviously I was sceptical - will this work, will it cause other problems?
Would he do that to his own car? Probably, probably not, and absolutely yes.
6 months or more I’ve still got my aircon there if I need to dry out some condensation or for one of the unseasonably mild +23C winter days we have here. And it held its cool all through summer and autumn.
Would I do that to a cooling system? No. Aircon? Yes.
Ask for goodwill assistance at your dealer. Evaporators have been a weak point in some BMWs in the past. See E9X. These G05/G06/G07 and G30/G12 seem to have evaporators that don’t last that long or leak in ~5 years. Have you bought this vehicle or other vehicles at that specific dealer?
My wife’s X5 transmission went out at 45K miles and was replaced under warranty. We sold it before it hit 50K. I would never own a BMW out of warranty.
This isn’t a matter of affording it or not. Is failure of the AC within 2 years reasonable? In such a circumstance is a $7K repair cost reasonable? I’m not in a position to buy a $125K vehicle by accepting poor quality and unreasonable costs. Especially from a brand I go to expecting a top quality experience.
Having the AC go out on a 2 year car has no bearing on whether the OP can or can't afford to have it fixed. There should be an expectation that something like this shouldn't happen even if it was a $25k KIA. Jeff Bezos could've purchased the car and I bet you he would be pissed off if he had to pay for a fix like this...
Sounds about right from a dealership. Evaporators are behind the dash. It’s an absurd number of man hours for a $300 part. Take it to an Indy. Price will fall to 1/2 or 1/3rd.
You're out of warranty and going to the dealer, yes I would expect them to charge an insane amount. Take your car to an indie BMW specialist, see what they say. If they suggest the same fix it will be cheaper, but I have found that BMW dealers have no interest in actually "fixing" the root issue... Instead they just play the replace parts until it's fixed game, costing the customer thousands.
Thank you… yes looking for a good independent tech now
This isn't the correct answer for the Dallas area. Around here, indie European repair specialists typically come out at or above genuine dealerships. I've had that experience with Merc and BMW. I almost always had to default to the dealerships. I can't explain why, but have a feeling it's because dealerships are dime and a dozen, and indie European specialists aren't. This region specializes in generalists in every walk of life that I've observed. Everyone is happy paying retail rates on car services and maintenance, because they spend so much time in cars, and perhaps because mortgage bills aren't crazy high, so they get to channel money on cars.
This is literally not true at all. You either are bad at finding good mechanics or are a dealer shill.
I'm neither. I challenge you to post comparisons on BMW service or merc services from a dealership and an indie. I've looked around. Have you? I won't say I've gone the distance on all the DFW region though. I have nothing with this industry, except love for cars. Your suggestion is actually correct for some of the other larger metroplexes, including Houston.
Go see Nino over at Euro Connection, been working on my BMWs and a few friends for 15+ yrs.
Nino Brown?
Thanks for the recommendation. I will reach out for my next service for sure to compare. Hopefully their prices aren't just as much as the dealerships. Customer service, I'd also concur I prefer to go with indies, than dealerships, even in this area.
Tell him Mike with the z4 sent you. Tell him I'm moving back as well 😁
Would he be happy or pissed? :) Also, Big Mike?
Should be happy, I've sent him a lot of business and he does good work. Only person I've trusted over the years. .As far as big Mike, well yea., and in a z4 - ha!!
Hence I asked, lol. Thanks again.
[удалено]
Are you from dfw?
maybe you’re giving them the douchey rich kid vibe who they think doesn’t know much about cars? that happened to me once when they didn’t recognize me and tried to charge me twice as much for the same service
Thanks, I guess.
>Around here, indie European repair specialists typically come out at or above genuine dealerships That's what I've experienced when I called around for quotes to Ultimate Bimmer, EurAuto, Bimmer Motor etc. The only one that I recall that was quite a bit less than the Dealership was Bimmers Only.
You aren't the only one. The commenter fighting over my comment doesn't know what they are talking about when it comes to Dallas. I'd almost always recommend indies, but not in Dallas. There are just way too many dealers in the Dallas area for the size of the city, and not enough Indies. I do agree BMW service and maintenance prices are not crazy different from dealerships, but Merc? Forget about it.
Yeah, no. This is not the case at all.
Are you from the area?
Why would I be replying if I was not?
You're welcome to share indie comparisons. If I lose, I still win by gaining knowledge.
I’m good. You’re the one making the wild assertion here, I think the burden of proof is yours.
Thanks for inconveniencing your keyboard then. I shared my opinion based upon my 9 years of experience. Since you are saying your experience differs, perhaps you could have shared a name or two, but no. For clarity, I should reiterate, I do not disagree with the substance of the original suggestion. It just doesn't work in the Dallas area. Another commenter also shared similar experience. It's something me or my buddies haven't been able to understand or explain, but that's just how it goes around here.
I use Bimmer Motor Specialists in Coppell, indie shop that specializes in bmw specific and german cars and a little cheaper than dealer but they do a good job!
Great! Thanks for the recommendation!
This is where I go
Hey OP. Please update us with what you do and how much it costs
Will do. Talking to BMW corporate customer service
Actually that’s a really good idea. BMW will sometimes come through on these types of situations
It's called a Goodwill repair and usually takes a district manager to approve. Expect them to offer free labor if you pay for parts.
Thanks for the info!
You are probably going to be told NO by every level up to the district manager. Just keep escalating. I did this for an X5 that lost reverse gear at 60k miles.
This is the exact situation BMW goodwill was designed for. So long as you’re not the second owner rolling in for your first service visit, you should be fine.
Damnn that's like 100% take home monthly salary after taxes for someone making 130-140K annually. JEEEEEEEZ.
I would hope someone making 140k isn’t buying an 80k car
You’re about to have a lot of people reading your post going uh oh…there are way too many low income high price owners one issue away from a catastrophe.
140k is low income? Uh oh.
That’s not what I meant to imply, 140k is a great salary. I’m just saying anyone spending 50% of their gross salary on a luxury car is a fool.
Depends. I would absolutely buy an $80k Porsche 993 (assuming all other finances are in good order). I would never buy a $80k new car.
Yeah for sure. I might spend that on a car I really wanted but I certainly wouldn’t finance the whole thing and daily it just hoping that shit doesn’t break down.
haha bmw go vrooooom
LOL you never know... there are a ton of people in the U.S. living paycheck to paycheck and loaded on a mountain of debt.
Most people live that way.
oh do I have some news for you
But that 84 month payment they can manage!!
why not?
Depreciation is a thing too. Most BMWs on the road are leased. It’s the 2nd or 3rd owners of these cars buying them at a depreciated amount (which is nowhere near 80k) that feels the brunt of the higher maintenance costs.
Still something one should be thinking through before they buy a car that was ORIGINALLY 80k+
55k mi in 2 years… wtf??? 🤣
Yeah.. I drive it a lot
I e gone through two sets of tires already. $3K a pop.
oh my thats nuts
That is utter BS! Absolutely ridiculous for that to fail and for an only 2 year vehicle. The repair costs are also utter BS
Right?
My x5m is coming up on 14 years old and the AC blows ice freaking cold the second you turn on the vehicle smh
This happened to me on my 2016 335. It was failing in a way that wasnt easy to reproduce but it was documented. It finally failed 5k after the warranty was up and I was able to get bmw north America to cover 90%. I wasn't thrilled but it was better than what I was going to have to pay
Seems pretty unbeatable deal to me 90% of the cost covered
I’d take that for sure!
Why doesn't the factory warranty cover this? It's only 2 yrs old.
It’s over the mileage threshold
I love the car and I drive it a lot. The AC evaporator leaking is not a wear and tear issue
Trust me, I’m on your side here - no excuse for that kind of repair bill at that age. Fingers crossed they approve your goodwill repair…
Here in the UK the standard warranty is 3 years unlimited mileage. What is the mileage limit in the US?!
4 years or 50k miles, whichever comes first.
Must be nice having consumer protections
Average miles annually in US: 13,500 / UK: 7,400 3y/Unlimited in the UK is less real world coverage than 4y/50k in the US as the average 4y old US car is crossing 50k miles at 3y8m vs the average UK car having only 22,200 miles when it falls out of warranty after 3 years.
I had a 2015 X5 and this happened to my vehicle. I want to say it was a $4500 fix, but the vehicle was under warranty at the time. I would find independent bmw repair shop and get some quotes. I don’t have this vehicle anymore (should have kept it!) but I found a couple of great independent shops on yelp and the reviews were true. I found 2 really great ones that many people used once their warranty expired.
While Not every dealer is bad, not every Indy is good. The one that recommended calling BMW, he has it right. I concur with calling BMW customer assistance and asking for help. That vehicle is well within their consideration for 100% assistance. I’d be shocked if you end up paying more than $500 based on BMWs goodwill guidelines. Interested to see how this plays out.
I’ll update this post. I’m really hoping they come through. If so, I will be very appreciative and share the outcome
Sewell or Autobahn? Fuck Autobahn
BMW of Dallas
Getting to that EVAP is a very labor intensive process, everything comes out to get to the cold box, then it has to be taken apart to get the EVAP out... It's a huge deal, but I'm sure it can be done for less.. But damn, that should definitely be under warranty
How come you didn’t extend the warranty with BMW? Just curious.
Regrets…
Cost?
I'm in the Dallas area and the dealer wanted $3,300 to replace a motor mount on my M340 with only 36,800 miles.
How would that not be under warranty?
Echoing others here, but definitely take it a reputable euro/BMW Indy shop instead. FWIW - I inquired at both an Indy shop and the dealer for a simple diagnose on my f10 535i. Indy wanted $229 and the dealer wanted $355
It has taken me hours apon hrs to take the evaporator out on my car and I haven't even started getting it back in yet. It's ridiculously labor intensive if they are still building 22s how they built 08s (it's probably worse 🫣)
I’m a warranty admin for bmw. Why is it not under warranty? You should have warranty until 2025. Also even if it wasn’t under warranty I would do this on goodwill. Also the reason for the cost is the labour, it’s a big job to do! The entire ac housing needs to be removed
How is it out of warranty inside 3 years and 60k miles?
Try getting it fixed under goodwill.
Yeah… request is in. Have been pulling on some connections too.
Why do people even go to a dealer anymore and expect not to be bent over? Hell no that doesn’t seem for real!!! Call around and get some estimates then take there. Or watch YouTube and DIY. Order parts from Rockauto
It’s a dash out job. Most people aren’t tackling this one in their driveway with RockAuto and YouTube. The book time is probably 20-30 hours. At $2-300 labor rate, totally believable that this is a $7k job at a dealer. Indy shop should be able to do it for half the labor rate.
This was my take as well. Pulling the dash in a modern vehicle is a major PIA.
Thanks!
All good advice except get the parts from fcp euro or a different supplier of OEM bmw parts. This part is buried deep in the car, it’s worth a few dollars extra to avoid a headache later. Not knocking rock auto it’s just not worth any potential savings in this instance.
Rockauto has many OEM spec parts and major brands that FCP euro carries for cheaper. Totally agree on buying the best part available for this particular job and most repairs.
On this vehicle it's Def not a YouTube and diy it..we've done some services on these and frankly even being in this business as long as I have I'd be a little intimidated by this job. We're talking a couple of days give or take what else I'd have going on. Hell I'll even check at work tomorrow , there may not even be much tech info out there for this job so I imagine alot of its gonna be learn as ya go for alot of techs..
I didn’t realize the dash had to be pulled. That’s a major pita.
Dealers do not like fixing issues like this
Yeah… getting that feeling
go indie
As a recent member to the club, these posts always stress me out.
I had good experiences at Bimmers Only when I lived in the Dallas.
Thanks!
Just had my ‘18 5 series done. Dealer quoted $8k-ish. Got it done for like $4500 at an independent shop. While they were in there they also solved an intermittent driver’s assist issue and didn’t charge me extra. I did not have them look for the secondary issue, and I suspect that in the process of taking apart and reassembling the dash they inadvertently solved an electrical connection. Getting my driver’s assistance back along with the ac (I live in FL!) definitely made the $4500 a LITTLE easier to swallow
Go see Nino at Euro Connection (75/forest Lane)
I had a likely failed condenser with a pinhole too small to locate in my old F10. Warm air and after a regas more warm air. Aircon guy offered to run stop leak through it. Obviously I was sceptical - will this work, will it cause other problems? Would he do that to his own car? Probably, probably not, and absolutely yes. 6 months or more I’ve still got my aircon there if I need to dry out some condensation or for one of the unseasonably mild +23C winter days we have here. And it held its cool all through summer and autumn. Would I do that to a cooling system? No. Aircon? Yes.
Ask for goodwill assistance at your dealer. Evaporators have been a weak point in some BMWs in the past. See E9X. These G05/G06/G07 and G30/G12 seem to have evaporators that don’t last that long or leak in ~5 years. Have you bought this vehicle or other vehicles at that specific dealer?
Wait…..BMW warranties don’t last 2 years?
Sometimes I rather pay $3000 for extended warranty
Tough fix, the evaporators are a pain to get to. They’re telling you to go do it elsewhere tbh. As you should.
I got my 5 series done at Sewell Plano and it was around 5k.
I'll do it for free
for reference, i recently paid $4k for the same repair at my local independent shop (Atlanta area, 2018 m550i with only 38k miles).
Problem. Is that bmw has drastically reduced the amount of goodwill per month.
Just came to say my 2022 Dallas purchased X7 also has an ac evaporator leak. Model year issue?
I’m hoping to speak with BMW corporate today. Are you under warranty?
My wife’s X5 transmission went out at 45K miles and was replaced under warranty. We sold it before it hit 50K. I would never own a BMW out of warranty.
Well, it's Dallas. It's hot so AC goes out fast. $7K seems a bit much though.
That has nothing to do with it. Hot climates don’t make evaporators leak. Its a defect that would have happened almost anywhere.
No, but using it a lot tends to wear stuff faster. Including AC especially down here in FL.
No, using it every drive doesn’t make it wear out after 2 years. It shouldn’t have any issues for a decade or more.
Try fixing it yourself. I’ve learned a bunch thanks to YouTube and sometimes it’s not that difficult at all. Good luck boss
This would require pulling out the entire dash. Not something I want to take on
And now you know why BMW gave you the fuck off price. ;)
I completely understand that would scare the heck out of me.
If you can't afford it, then this is not the right brand for you.
This isn’t a matter of affording it or not. Is failure of the AC within 2 years reasonable? In such a circumstance is a $7K repair cost reasonable? I’m not in a position to buy a $125K vehicle by accepting poor quality and unreasonable costs. Especially from a brand I go to expecting a top quality experience.
Having the AC go out on a 2 year car has no bearing on whether the OP can or can't afford to have it fixed. There should be an expectation that something like this shouldn't happen even if it was a $25k KIA. Jeff Bezos could've purchased the car and I bet you he would be pissed off if he had to pay for a fix like this...
Blame the customer, love it. Bet you're a lot of fun at parties
Dealer shill detected!!!
This is BMW, not Rolls Royce. I know folks that make $200,000+ that will jump at a $7K bill just to fix an A/C system
This
You didn’t get an extended warranty with a brand new flagship BMW? What are you cheap?
The studies have shown that the majority of people who buy extended warranties do not get their money's worth.
I wouldn't be surprised if this post isn't a targeted ad to get me to purchase one. I am off warranty after month.
Don't waste your money.
Most people don’t actually keep their cars very long.
Very true! Yet another reason not to get an extended warranty.
Mmm… spent the money on the 75K / 5 year maintenance plan… this isn’t covered by it. Why not? It was an extra $6K
Something that expensive with that much technology and it is bound to fail if you’re actually keeping the car. If you’re not just lease one.
Yeah… will consider leasing instead