[thebmw]

I've searched the threads but can't find this information in one thread. How many hours does each of the following services take for a N63tu engine? Separately, what is a fair labor rate for each of the following services. I ask for both hours and prices as both can vary for location to location.. Labor numbers only, parts/fluids have been purchased separately to reduce variables.

-Cooling System Service (flush and refill)

-Transfer Case Service (flush and refill)

-Driveline Service Front and Rear (xdrive front and rear differential flush and refill)

-Transmission Fluid (flush, replacement with new pan, and refill)

-Cabin Microfilter Replacement

-Engine Air Filter Replacement

-Spark Plugs (8) (replacement, no coil changes)

-Oil Change

-Brake Pad Replacement (all 4 wheels)

-Rotor Replacement (all 4 wheels)

[hdahman]

curious to know as well

[iceRN09]

I pay mine 85 an hr at an indy BMW shop

[F30lolz]

Originally Posted by iceRN09

I pay mine 85 an hr at an indy BMW shop

That is a great rate for a BMW indy. Most ‘normal’ shops near me charge at least $100/hr.

[Skoidat69]

I pay $105 reg/ $95 cash per hour.. I think that you need to find the "book hours" for jobs..

[Chihuahua]

Originally Posted by thebmw

I've searched the threads but can't find this information in one thread. How many hours does each of the following services take for a N63tu engine? Separately, what is a fair labor rate for each of the following services. I ask for both hours and prices as both can vary for location to location.. Labor numbers only, parts/fluids have been purchased separately to reduce variables.

-Cooling System Service (flush and refill)

-Transfer Case Service (flush and refill)

-Driveline Service Front and Rear (xdrive front and rear differential flush and refill)

-Transmission Fluid (flush, replacement with new pan, and refill)

-Cabin Microfilter Replacement

-Engine Air Filter Replacement

-Spark Plugs (8) (replacement, no coil changes)

-Oil Change

-Brake Pad Replacement (all 4 wheels)

-Rotor Replacement (all 4 wheels)

Every dealer is going to quote differently for these things. BMW publishes an internal labor rate table for the dealers to use. Jobs are quoted in FRUs or 'Flat Rate Units'. I.E. a certain job may call for five FRUs, then the dealer will use whatever multiplier they want. Some will double the FRUs, some will multiply it by 1.5, you get the idea.

[thebmw]

Originally Posted by Chihuahua

Every dealer is going to quote differently for these things. BMW publishes an internal labor rate table for the dealers to use. Jobs are quoted in FRUs or 'Flate Rate Units'. I.E. a certain job may call for five FRUs, then the dealer will use whatever multiplier they want. Some will double the FRUs, some will multiply it by 1.5, you get the idea.

Exactly correct. They may quote lower hourly rates but then increase the hours or vice versa.

So maybe the best question is what is a good indy labor price for the listed services (excluding parts). Anyone??

[Our03z4]

I pay $40 per hr for stuff my normal guy can do. He's getting ready to replace my 924s engine as well. The rest is $105.

[N1rve]

Originally Posted by iceRN09

I pay mine 85 an hr at an indy BMW shop

Wow that's cheap.

Indy shops around me is 180 an hour, BMW dealership is like 230 an hour.

[MOTOP]

Originally Posted by N1rve

Wow that's cheap.

Indy shops around me is 180 an hour, BMW dealership is like 230 an hour.

Last week they quoted $1600 for 9 hr job to replace 6 windows with acoustic ones. My local dealer that is. Add the tax. Roughly two benjamins per hr

[fubarian]

in GA, dealer was ...185? Independent in CO is ... 125-150?

[Mr.Souvlaki]

My indy is $145/hr

[F30lolz]

Originally Posted by thebmw

I've searched the threads but can't find this information in one thread. How many hours does each of the following services take for a N63tu engine? Separately, what is a fair labor rate for each of the following services. I ask for both hours and prices as both can vary for location to location.. Labor numbers only, parts/fluids have been purchased separately to reduce variables.

-Cooling System Service (flush and refill)

-Transfer Case Service (flush and refill)

-Driveline Service Front and Rear (xdrive front and rear differential flush and refill)

-Transmission Fluid (flush, replacement with new pan, and refill)

-Cabin Microfilter Replacement

-Engine Air Filter Replacement

-Spark Plugs (8) (replacement, no coil changes)

-Oil Change

-Brake Pad Replacement (all 4 wheels)

-Rotor Replacement (all 4 wheels)

Try searching for Indy shops near you here:

https://www.bimmershops.com/

Do your research on them and email/call and explain your list and what their labor rates are. Remember, some shops do accept customer supplied parts while others frown on it. I’ll take a wild guess and I may be wrong but I see at least $800 for all the work there depending on labor rates they all give you. Could be cheaper if you find a shade tree BMW mechanic. Yes, it’s risky and they won’t guarantee the work, however, shops usually don’t guarantee work when customers supply the parts.

Originally Posted by Our03z4

I pay $40 per hr for stuff my normal guy can do. He's getting ready to replace my 924s engine as well. The rest is $105.

Cheap rate! I found a great shade tree mechanic near ft Lauderdale about 5 years ago and he’s my go to guy, even though I’m not living in FL full time anymore. He’ll be doing some work on my f36 next month when I go back to FL for a bit.

Originally Posted by N1rve

Wow that's cheap.

Indy shops around me is 180 an hour, BMW dealership is like 230 an hour.

That’s Cali for you and that’s insane. I finally found a decent BMW Indy near me and they charge $110/hour which I think is very fair and they accept customer supplied parts.

[Vivek.]

Latest guy I spoke to was 175/hr but he promised to only bill for every full hour. IE if he worked for 4.8 hours he bills 4.

Labor rates around here are typically over $120. I go to a guy I found on Craigslist who does incredible work for great rates. He's never given me an hour rate, rather quotes per job, and it's typically 30-50% of what a shop would charge. I prefer him to any shop because he's really honest, super particular, knows EVERYTHING about these cars, and pricing is great.

[F32Fleet]

Labor is local. It's not the labor rate but the quality of the labor.

[thebmw]

Again, maybe the best question to ask is how much does each job cost without the parts. Asking for labor rates and hours seems to be irrelevant as labor rates can vary and the hours per job can vary. What is most important as what is the final out-the-door price. So can anyone comment toward that?

[F30lolz]

Originally Posted by thebmw

-Cooling System Service (flush and refill) should be 30 minutes but most will charge at least 1 hour

-Transfer Case Service (flush and refill) same as coolant

-Driveline Service Front and Rear (xdrive front and rear differential flush and refill) 1 hour minimum

-Transmission Fluid (flush, replacement with new pan, and refill) 2-3 hour booked time

-Cabin Microfilter Replacement YouTube this and you’ll save 1/2 hour labor cost

-Engine Air Filter Replacement easy DIY. YouTube to save .25 hour labor cost

-Spark Plugs (8) (replacement, no coil changes) at least 1 hour

-Oil Change $15-$25

-Brake Pad Replacement (all 4 wheels) $125-$250 including rotors

-Rotor Replacement (all 4 wheels)

Originally Posted by thebmw

Again, maybe the best question to ask is how much does each job cost without the parts. Asking for labor rates and hours seems to be irrelevant as labor rates can vary and the hours per job can vary. What is most important as what is the final out-the-door price. So can anyone comment toward that?

Again, you’re going to have to ask shops around you as rates will be different all over the country. A shop in NY will probably charge $150 to replace pads/rotors all around while a shop near me would probably be $125 and $250 in Cali. However, I’ve entered a guesstimate above next to each labor request.

Hope this helps.

[thebmw]

Originally Posted by F30lolz

-Cooling System Service (flush and refill) should be 30 minutes but most will charge at least 1 hour

-Transfer Case Service (flush and refill) same as coolant

-Driveline Service Front and Rear (xdrive front and rear differential flush and refill) 1 hour minimum

-Transmission Fluid (flush, replacement with new pan, and refill) 2-3 hour booked time

-Cabin Microfilter Replacement YouTube this and you’ll save 1/2 hour labor cost

-Engine Air Filter Replacement easy DIY. YouTube to save .25 hour labor cost

-Spark Plugs (8) (replacement, no coil changes) at least 1 hour

-Oil Change $15-$25

-Brake Pad Replacement (all 4 wheels) $125-$250 including rotors

-Rotor Replacement (all 4 wheels)

Thank you. This was much more in line of what I was looking for. This gives me the ability to estimate what a reasonable charge would be. We all know labor rates can vary but the times you've given seem to be the true time it should take for a skilled technician to complete these jobs.

[F30lolz]

Originally Posted by thebmw

Thank you. This was much more in line of what I was looking for. This gives me the ability to estimate what a reasonable charge would be. We all know labor rates can vary but the times you've given seem to be the true time it should take for a skilled technician to complete these jobs.

Do you have room/tools/skill set to do some of these? Just remembered that changing out the air filters in the n63 isn’t as easy as it is for n20/n54. I’m not mechanically inclined, however, YouTube has saved me money as I’ve done spark plugs/coil packs on my n20 and n54.

[thebmw]

Originally Posted by F30lolz

Do you have room/tools/skill set to do some of these? Just remembered that changing out the air filters in the n63 isn’t as easy as it is for n20/n54. I’m not mechanically inclined, however, YouTube has saved me money as I’ve done spark plugs/coil packs on my n20 and n54.

YouTube has been amazing for so many simple do-it-yourself repairs. You can even learn some relatively complex do-it-yourself repairs on YouTube. In fact, that was really the purpose of this thread. How many of these items are worth doing at home versus giving it to the mechanic. If it's a simple DIY, I'll do it. But the more complex ones, I'll just give it to the mechanic. I'm not interested in saving a few bucks here and there if it's going to take a lot of my time (time is money) and if there is risk of injury.

[F30lolz]

Out of your list I would feel comfy with:

Oil
Filters
Plugs

Coolant maybe if the bleeding procedure is as easy as the f3x.

Let us know how you make out with the repairs.

[thebmw]

Originally Posted by F30lolz

Out of your list I would feel comfy with:

Oil
Filters
Plugs

Coolant maybe if the bleeding procedure is as easy as the f3x.

Let us know how you make out with the repairs.

I might do the filters myself. Its a pretty easy thing to do. No special tools needed and no lift needed. Also pretty low risk of injury! I'm going to be replacing brake pads on the f30. I'll keep the rotors because they're in great shape. What do you think a fair price is for just brake pad replacement on the F30?