News

How BMW service centre helped me with my 320d for my next road trips

17th November 2022, 13:50 by Utkarsh Chaudhary

The next appointment available was 15 days later. This was a bummer for me since I have a few drives planned and can't wait for that long.

BHPian Dr.AD recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Service and Repairs Update

You drive some, and you service some! Driving hard, enjoying the car to its fullest, and then servicing and ensuring maintenance on time are two integral (and equally important) parts of car ownership.

After the "hot and happening" drive to Hampi last week and before another exciting drive coming up soon, it was time for me to spend this Saturday at the service center, taking care of a few essential service items.

During my Hampi drive, I got a warning/error related to an ABS sensor (or the "wheel speed sensor" to be more precise) failure. That warning came just for a few short moments that time and disappeared quickly and never came back in my return drive. However, when I started my car again after a gap of a couple of days, the waning came back and this time it was persistent.

I immediately called my SA at BMW Navnit Motors, my usual and trusted service center, and also called their hotline for a service appointment. As is often the case these days, the BMW service centers have long waiting times for service appointments, and I was told that the appointments are full for the next 15 days.

This was a bummer for me since I have a few drives planned and can't wait for 15 days. Thankfully, the SA asked me to send him the error messages, and after seeing those, accepted that this requires immediate repairs and gave me an expedited appointment for the urgent repairs.

I reached the service center on time for the appointment, and they thoroughly inspected the car and checked all error codes. Turned out that both the rear wheel speed sensors (each of the four wheels have its own independent speed sensor) had gone bad and needed to be replaced. This is a common problem, and these sensors are almost like consumables in some sense.

My SA told me that they usually wear out after about 40,000km of driving, and that my driving of almost 77,000km by now was more than the good life that I got on these sensors. Thankfully, they had the parts in stock and the sensors were changed quickly and the car was programmed to accept the new sensors. Another fantastic service experience at Navnit BMW!

While I was there primarily for getting the failed sensors replaced, by then, the engine oil change was due in another 1,400km.

CBS showing engine oil life of 1,400km:

Notice that going by the 12-month period of an oil change, the oil change was due only in May 2023 (because the last oil change was in May 2022). But because I have already driven a lot since then, the oil change by distance was just in the next 1,400km. To be precise, I had driven about 9,200km since the last oil change. Adding the remaining 1,400km, I would get about 10,600km of engine oil life, which is quite good and on par with the expectation.

At first, I thought I would do this after my next drive which would be about 1,000km in total. However, that would mean having to take another appointment and another visit to the service center. Also, I believe that it is much wiser to change engine oil early, if required, than late for any reason. Therefore, I requested my SA if they could change the engine oil and the filters right away, instead of me having to take another appointment for this later. Thankfully, he agreed and did a quick engine oil and filter change. They also did a test drive of the car and told me everything is fine now.

Oil change done, and now the next oil change is due in 12,000km or in 11/2023, whichever is earlier:

I am sure I will reach this distance in about 6 months of time, and thus realistically, my next oil change will be sometime in May 2023.

The service history, showing oil change intervals of about 9,000km that I get on my driving (the service at 73km mark was brake pads and discs change, and the other three are oil changes):

Thus, I end up changing the oil at somewhere between 9,000km to 9,500km of running (as shown above), and each time, the CBS shows another 1,000km to 1,5000km distance available before requiring the oil change. As I mentioned, it is better to change early than late, and that reflects in my oil change pattern above.

The total cost of the oil change service plus both rear wheel sensor changes and fitment was about Rs. 42,700. Typically, for me, the oil+filter change costs about Rs. 20,000, and thus, the remaining Rs. 22,700 was the cost for new sensors (two sensors) plus installation and fitment charges. Again, these charges are quite par for the course and in line with other BMW 3 series owners' experiences. Given the age of the car (driven 77,000km now), these maintenance charges are quite reasonable.

Overall, a fantastic service experience at Navnit BMW! They gave me an expedited appointment for the urgent repairs, and completed all repairs and also the oil change in a quick time and to my satisfaction. They did a thorough test drive of the car after this service and certified that my car is back in ship shape now! It is always great to hear that from them, and I enjoyed driving my car back home after this fantastic service experience at Navnit BMW.

BSI or no BSI?

BSI is another topic that often gets discussed among BMW owners. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I have not extended my BSI after the first 3 years, and I am happy to pay for my service as I use it, instead of the BSI package. The fact that I could change my oil at 1,400km before the CBS requirement is one example of how not having BSI makes life easier. If I had BSI, I am not sure if they would have agreed to change the oil this early. I would have most certainly been required to take another appointment and go back there again for the oil change. That (multiple service visits for multiple service requirements) was my biggest pain point with BSI. Now when I pay as I use, I have the liberty to do service in advance (never late, but mostly in advance!) to minimize future trips.

Anyways, now that the car was serviced and repaired and back-to-ship shape, the only thing pending was a car wash. It was raining here this weekend, and it looked like there was no point in washing the car. However, just to round up the day well spent taking care of the car, I decided to get the car washed anyways and visited my usual car wash place.

Ready to get a high-pressure water and foam wash: