How Much $$ Do You Pay for an Oil Change?? - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

cohenfive · 1st September 2004, 19:41

i'm out of the free service period and will need an oil change soon (3 bars). my car has to go to the dealer to get a replacement windshield so i asked how much they would charge for an oil/filter change. this is not the 'oil service' for which they charge $260 and do other things, just the basic change.

anyway, they want $154 which seems high given that they only charge me $4 per quart of oil. i'm curious what others pay and i guess i should think of alternatives to the dealer for minor work like this...not myself however, too lazy.

Murph · 1st September 2004, 19:58

Got mine done a couple months ago - if I remember correctly it was in the $170-180 range. Yes, ridiculous. From what I've heard, though, we should be happy we don't have Ferraris!

baf3472 · 1st September 2004, 20:07

Just had mine done, Paid $78 at the dealer.

mottati · 1st September 2004, 20:14

Wow, i'd not yet priced this out yet at the dealer. I did ask, out of curiosity about an inspection 2, which they said was $850, not as bad as i was expecting. I guess you figure 8L of oil at $10/liter, a filter and a half hour labor is where that price comes from. Concord bmw has told me they use 10/60 on the m cars and z8's in the past. I've done a few of my own oil changes, I usually get the oil for around $9/L (x8) and a filter for somewhere under $10. So half the cost to diy.
Mike

cohenfive · 1st September 2004, 20:15

so if i'm paying $4 per quart of oil at this dealer plus $10-15 for the filter (from what i found searching for oem filter), that leaves about $110 in labor charges for the change. that means a full hour of mechanic time at sf bay area rates...seems high to me.

was your $170-180 for an oil change or the full oil service where they do a bunch of other checks?

howler · 1st September 2004, 20:15

If you ae having it changed at a dealer, that sounds reasonable.
I had the dealer change my 5-30w oil for my 1200 service and they charged me $165.00 including 1 hour of labor ($115.00/hr).
I know some members got theirs changed FREE for the 1200 mile service, but I didn't have the fight in me that morning to pursue the FREE service.
I'll change my own oil when it is out of the factory warranty period.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cohenfive

i'm out of the free service period and will need an oil change soon (3 bars). my car has to go to the dealer to get a replacement windshield so i asked how much they would charge for an oil/filter change. this is not the 'oil service' for which they charge $260 and do other things, just the basic change.

anyway, they want $154 which seems high given that they only charge me $4 per quart of oil. i'm curious what others pay and i guess i should think of alternatives to the dealer for minor work like this...not myself however, too lazy.

baf3472 · 1st September 2004, 20:21

Its funny that theyre charging you one hour labor. On my invoice, it just said oil service and he told me it was a flat rate. And this was a servie oil change per the service indicator lights.

BlueBomber · 1st September 2004, 20:23

I guess another option would be to take it to a local mechanic to change. They typically only charge something like $20-30. All you'll need to do is supply the oil and filter (which should come with an ring and new drain plug washer).

That said, I change the oil myself and it only takes about 15 minutes or work (excluding time it takes to drain).

cohenfive · 1st September 2004, 20:28

maybe i should just do it myself like i used to when i was a kid. sounds like the parts will only cost me about $50 and i'll have to buy a pan and i'll be good to go.

for those that do it themselves, any tricks at all or just get the bolt out of the bottom of the oil pan and make sure not to drain onto your garage floor!!

mottati · 1st September 2004, 20:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by cohenfive

maybe i should just do it myself like i used to when i was a kid. sounds like the parts will only cost me about $50 and i'll have to buy a pan and i'll be good to go.

for those that do it themselves, any tricks at all or just get the bolt out of the bottom of the oil pan and make sure not to drain onto your garage floor!!

There's a little trap door to access the drain plug. The toughest part is getting under the car, not much room. I have a pair of rhino ramps (although now that i've done my suspension, my car can't drive up them) that work nicely and seem pretty secure.
Give it plenty of time to drain, the manual says something like 6.9L capacity, but my car trickles for like 45min, if i let it completely drain, i can put 7.5L in to get it full.
MIke