Help with 128i multiple issues

[nmit]

Hi! I'm a young girl with little knowledge on vehicles but I'm looking to learn. I had my car brought into BMW when it stopped in the middle of the highway. I have a 2010 128i convertible and had to have the fuel pump, fuel tank, coolant tank, spark plugs, ignition coils, and the thermostat replaced.

The fuel pump and fuel tank were covered by BMW so they took that after the other repairs with a different mechanic. It was all very pricey but the mechanic didn't see anything wrong with the rest of the car.

BMW gave me a report saying I had an oil pan gasket leak, rear differential output seal leak, control arms bushings torn leaking, both front shocks, 4 wheel alignment needed. They quoted me $7,000 which is not something I can afford and is almost as much as I bought the car for. Is there anything in this list that can be done myself? I'm in a really tough spot and could use any help or advice.

[Thunderguts]

At least BMW covered the fuel pump and fuel tank. Those are very expensive repairs. The plugs, coils, coolant tank, and thermostat are definitely DIY tasks if you have a decent set of tools and feel so inclined.

As for your other repairs, well...

An oil pan can weep for a long time before it becomes a serious problem. Mine weeps. I'm not worried about it. If it's just a drop here or there, you have time. If you see a small pool of oil inside the plastic undertray, it's time to repair it. Don't delay! If the gasket lets go, you can lose all your oil in a matter of minutes and then you need to get towed or risk destroying your engine permanently.

Can you replace the gasket yourself? Sure, but you need a fair number of specialty tools that the average weekend warrior won't have like an engine support, impact wrench, and highly accurate torque wrench. It's also 8-10 hours of labor (not fun). My advice would be to shop around. A good indie shop will replace it for $1,500 - $2000.

Control arm bushings? You don't want to mess with bearing presses if you're a novice, but you can buy replacements with pre-installed bushings for not much money. Depending on how many you need, those should be $300-$400 for OE-supplier parts (same quality as real BMW parts). As long as you are careful and methodical, you can replace these yourself pretty easily with a few common tools. An alignment won't run you but around $100.

Shocks? They're actually pretty easy to replace, but you need to be careful messing with spring compressors (another specialty tool). You could get new shocks and install them yourself for around $400, but unless they're totally shot and leaking (unlikely), you can probably hold off on them for a while.

The rear diff seal is another troublesome repair for a novice. It's likely just weeping and has several more years of life in it. You could flush and top it off cheaply and keep it limping along.

Bottom line: that $7000 stealership repair bill it actually half that at an indie shop, and you may not even need all of it done. I could perform all those repairs myself for under $1000 because the parts are actually pretty cheap and I do my own work. It's the 20+ hours of labor that kills you. Unfortunately you probably don't have most of the tools or experience to perform these repairs easily. They can be done, but not by the feint of heart. I'd ask around and find a good indie shop. I would bet you can get everything urgent done for around $3k.

[tracer bullet]

Totally agreed w/ the above, wouldn't try to go contrary on it. My thoughts, the short version, would be -

Have another shop put it in the air and let you go underneath with them to go over your list.
* If the leaks aren't bad, leave them for now
* If the arms are loose or corroding or will soon, replace them
* If the tires are wearing funny, or you replace parts in the front, do the alignment. Maybe only 2-wheel is needed.
* This would actually be in the air and on the ground, see how the shocks are actually performing. Maybe they're doing the job well enough for now.

I don't normally advocate not fixing problems but if you don't have the funds then some things can probably wait.

Old BMW's aren't cheap to own. You might want to think hard about how much you like the car and how long you want to keep it. I'm not saying you should get rid of it, but as you have already shown you know, there's a balance of your plans for the car vs. what you should spend to keep it.

[NorthernDancer]

Join this club; it's a BMW club and they will know the absolute best garages to deal with. The board and staff members all have their e-mails listed. Just by looking at your car, they can help you out very much. Something like an oil filter housing gasket that's leaking badly is a time bomb that could destroy your engine. Most BMW owners could tell you in 5 seconds if it's good or bad. Good Luck

https://losangelesbmwcca.org/about-lac/our-board/