Shop estimate. What do you guys think.

[M3MONROE]

Local CA SHOP
$1030 valve cover gasket replacement
$1100 csf oilcooler installed - with oil change
$600 for suspension install with alignment / and 300 for strut mounts
$2550 ohlins road and track.

[amrazM]

valve cover gasket price is high by $3-400 and the oil cooler install is astronomically high.

[tbuck]

WOW! Those prices are stupid high! Wow, I am in the wrong business, lol!

[PACarGuy]

Dealer charges about $1080 for valve cover gaskets, so I would expect an indy shop to be less than that.

[SC1]

Originally Posted by M3MONROE

Local CA SHOP
$1030 valve cover gasket replacement
$1100 csf oilcooler installed - with oil change
$600 for suspension install with alignment / and 300 for strut mounts
$2550 ohlins road and track.

Which part of California?

[nah dude]

It's odd the other labor prices are so high but the suspension install price is reasonable. Last year I had 5 shops in PA/NJ quote for lowering spring install, the lowest was $900 and it went all the way up to $1800. They were around the same or more for coilover install.

On the higher quotes I just asked where the number came from and the explanations were wild, it seemed like some shops think you must not know how to do the work and they can just make up a story and you'll pay them happily without question. "yeah the bolts seize up on these cars" Have had this experience many times in the 8 years I've had this car.

Once called an indie BMW/euro shop asking for a muffler install. Was bone stock car, 28k miles and had a new in box eisenmann race to install. They quoted 1 hour which was $180. When I went to pick the car up they said it would be $400. Asked why and the guy threw a fit, said that the muffler hangers didn't line up and needed to be modified, said he had to use a pipe expander on the muffler to fit it to the x pipe because it "wasn't the right muffler for the car". I knew he was bullshitting so I said okay let's go look under the car. Walked outside and pointed to where it says e90 m3 on the bottom of the muffler. Pointed out that the hangers weren't modified and could easily tell no pipe expander was used. He asked what I thought the install was worth and I said what you originally quoted me, $180 and he ended up taking it.

Another time called a shop close by for an annual inspection. Said they had availablity could get it done within the hour and would be $40. I roll up 10 minutes later, only customer there, dude walks out looks at the car, tells me I have to leave it with him all day and it'll be $80. I tell him I just called and said done within the hour for $40 and dude says no idea what you're talking about.

After I installed coilovers I had it aligned last year at a popular local indie and dude said it would be done by the end of the day. Never heard from them. On second day I couldn't get ahold of anyone so just went by an hour before they closed. Dude walks out arms folded all flustered told me they had it on the rack all day and couldn't get it straight. Couldn't get toe right. Steering wheel always 2mm to the left. Asks me if he can keep it another day. At this point I'm thinking is there frame damage? 3 days for an alignment? So I ask what the plan is for the third day, and dude finally tells me he was planning to take it to another shop because their alignment rack isn't calibrated and the tech who normally does alignments hasn't been in.

Ask questions and stand up for yourself at these shops or they'll rake you over the coals.

[Bmwdeven]

Originally Posted by M3MONROE

Local CA SHOP
$1030 valve cover gasket replacement
$1100 csf oilcooler installed - with oil change
$600 for suspension install with alignment / and 300 for strut mounts
$2550 ohlins road and track.

If you’re local to OC I’d recommend Tech Craft. Very good techs and great pricing.

[M3MONROE]

Originally Posted by amrazM

valve cover gasket price is high by $3-400 and the oil cooler install is astronomically high.

Csf oil cooler is included with the $1100 tag. cost for that to him is less than the $600 sticker but still. its looking like ~$550 for labor on that job but it does include an oil change with Liqui-moly or Motul. Their charge for oil change & filters comes out to $175 for liqui-moly. on par for my area
yes the valve cover is high considering the posts i've seen on here.. however ived called 3 other shops and so far $1030 for both gaskets and labor is the best price around me. Local Bmw charges ~$1700.. another shop said $1100
and the last said $1400.

[Scrippy]

Originally Posted by PACarGuy

Dealer charges about $1080 for valve cover gaskets, so I would expect an indy shop to be less than that.

No way my dealer would do valve cover gaskets for that cheap lol. You give too much credit. What BMW dealer would do VCG’s for less than 1k, I’ll plan the work and go watch a movie.

[PACarGuy]

Originally Posted by Scrippy

No way my dealer would do valve cover gaskets for that cheap lol. You give too much credit. What BMW dealer would do VCG’s for less than 1k, I’ll plan the work and go watch a movie.

I didn't say a dealer would do it for less than 1k. Read my post again. My local BMW dealer did my gaskets for $1,083 in Dec 2018, so I would expect an INDY would charge less. Then again, it was almost 5 yrs ago, so I'm sure with inflation that $1,083 is now $1,300+

[askme]

"Ask questions and stand up for yourself"

My steering rack was bad (knew it when I got the car). I took it to a local indy who I trust but isnt cheap. He quotes me $3500, but clarifies that $2500 of that is just the rack. I go oline, order a rack for $1300 and it arrives a couple days later. Drop it off at the shop and they do the work. Charge me $700, which I thought was fine (again, not a cheap shop but far better than the dealership)

[shimmy23]

all those prices seem reasonable. i'm in WA state. the dealer doesn't charge much more than reputable indy's up here.

[kyoshozx]

I just had a dealer quote me $2000 for a valve gasket replacement, and a very reputable shop in the NY tristate area quoted me $1250.

[amrazM]

Originally Posted by kyoshozx

I just had a dealer quote me $2000 for a valve gasket replacement, and a very reputable shop in the NY tristate area quoted me $1250.

I can do it for half of that, im in new york city as well.

[VonB]

Kid you not I called two shops here in Hawaii and it was $3k and up just for labor…

[tdott]

I would always confirm what parts are being changed. So you can compare apples to apples.

I would never replace only the gaskets, that is likely not going to fix the issue. Most of the times it's the valve cover coating that is flaking and causing it not to seal.

To do the job properly imo you should do the following:
- refinished valve covers or new
- gaskets
- spark plugs tubes
- new bolts or rubber grommets
- cam sensor orings
- PCV orings
- upper timing cover gasket

I also recommend the following to save on labor or "while your in there"
- spark plugs
- Vanos covers

No way anyone is doing a good job for ~$1030 as they would have to cut corners or omit replacing things that should be.
Anything less is half assed imo and will likely not be a lasting repair.

[VtecforV8]

BMW just quoted me $2544 for Valve Cover/Upper Chain Cover Gasket replacement. No detail on what else that includes, and I didn't ask b/c I'll go to my Indy (who also did rod bearings, etc.). But if it's just the gaskets....wowo.

I only went to the dealer--for the first time in almost a decade--b/c of their good oil change deal.

[tdott]

Originally Posted by VtecforV8

BMW just quoted me $2544 for Valve Cover/Upper Chain Cover Gasket replacement. No detail on what else that includes, and I didn't ask b/c I'll go to my Indy (who also did rod bearings, etc.). But if it's just the gaskets....wowo.

I only went to the dealer--for the first time in almost a decade--b/c of their good oil change deal.

If it includes new valve covers that comes with all the gaskets, orings, bolts and new pcv then that's a good deal. If it's only the valve cover gasket, then it's not, which is what I would assume.

[VtecforV8]

I have to assume the same. If they were going to do the covers themselves, I would hope that the description would reference the covers and not just the gaskets.