WTF! servicing e30's Halfrauds 'avin a larf

[dobbie82]

Just nipped down to my local halfords cos i needed bits at short notice to service the car in the morning, and the blokey at the parts desk tried to rob me! He wanted Ԛ£46 for the dizzy, Ԛ£17 for the arm.. i told him i wasnt paying that, cos was three times what i paid for the one i bought for my '87 and that was from a main bmw dealer.

HIs excuse was that on my 91 e30 there is a completley different ignition system.. err i think not.. or is it?

So i left without my dizzy caps, and without plugs either cos they were Ԛ£20 for a "cheap" set of 4.

SO its gonna get nice genuine dizzy cap, nice bmw plugs ( i know no need but i have a set here that were destined for the coupe) And proper Castrol GTX oil.. the only Halfrauds thing its getting is the oil and air filter.

I could have got cheaper but i need the car tomorrow, going on a nice little run to Wales ... it'll be nice to show off the new addition to the family... oh yeah and my new son..

Hannah

[Dan318-is]

halfrauds, or hellfords as its known down here, is good for 2 things; Small speakers and spray paint - and even they fucking break, useless!!

By the way, i would have slapped the guy for charging you that!

[Richy325iTouring]

plugs 2.50 each all i pay
how come they wanted so much for thecap and arm
they priced me 12 for a rotor arm for my325

[Brianmoooore]

Eurocarparts are about Ԛ£33 for the cap and Ԛ£11 for the arm and that's plus VAT, so Halfrauds aren't that far off.
Filters are one item I would recomend getting from the dealer or at least GSF/Eurocarparts OEM.

[dobbie82]

hmm i tried GSF and eurocarparts and they both want Ԛ£29.25... and Ԛ£10.99 for the arm. I never realised the '91 e30 was so expensive to service, i'm looking at Ԛ£200 in bits, no wonder the dealers charge so much for servicing.

THe cap its got it only 6 months old, just my other half changes them at every service, im not sure whats meant to be changed in a service.. I'm guessing:

Oil
Oil Filter
Air FIlter
Fuel Filter
Plugs
Dizzy cap and arm
Antifreeze/coolant (though on the bottle it says change every 5 years?)
cleaner for the the injectors
and some engine flush for good measure


cambelt was done in january, and the HT leads and fan belt look new

am i missing something?

[StuBeeDoo]

I can't see the point in changing cap & arm every service, these only normally get changed if a mis-fire develops.
Coolant ought to go two years minimum.
With the exception of the cap & arm, I'd only do all the parts you've listed on an Inspection2. Brake fluid should be changed on that one as well.
If a quality oil is used regularly, flush isn't necessary at every service, either.
If you can get someone with a TIS disc to run a check list off for you, you can see exactly what BMW recommend to be done at all the different service intervals.
HTH
Stuart.

[Demlotcrew]

Lucky you dont own a M3 the dizzy cap for those are Ԛ£180 from the dealer!

Im also with brian on the gen filters.

I would never use a flush on any engine.

A

[Brianmoooore]

Only things that need changing every service is the oil and air filters and the oil.
Spark plugs, coolant, fuel filter, brake fluid, gearbox and diff oil should all be good for a couple of years at a time.
Distributor cap, leads and steering fluid I would only change on an inspect and change if necessary basis.
Cambelt and idler, I would do at 40,000 miles / 4 years.

[Martinaston]

Someone on here mentioned getting a trade account at halfords and found the prices were a lot more realistic. Might be worth a try.

I got the new ECP catalogue in the post yesterday but they've not bothered to put most of the E30 bit's in it.
It quotes the plugs at Ԛ£1.32 for bosch
I'm sure i payed less than a fiver for an arm before