Johnhav430

Guess it's not in my stars.....

took my BMW in for a state inspection, and was told I need new rear shocks and tension strut bushings up front (similar to the LS LCA).

Car has like 50k, and is a garage queen. I noticed the rear shock boots torn myself, and a bump stop deformed (sponge like) when I did the snow tires.

So two factors, a) BMW is not designed to last super long b) time is not on the side of rubber, this car is a '07

What is interesting is that the BMW uses aluminum components and seems to be less costly than the Lexus, which is stamped steel.

The entire arm which I thought is forged aluminum, costs like $84, and includes the bushing. that is less than the bushing for the LS.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...t/31126769797/


So now I have two cars that could use new suspension rubber....sheesh!!

2KHarrier

Just when you think everything is fine, right? I've experienced more than a few times where something may fail on one car, and either another problem arises, or something fails on one of the other vehicles.

I guess it's just the law of averages. Time/age = money. Or something like that...

Johnhav430

Yep....I feel like I got a free diagnosis from the BMW dealer because yes they will charge maybe $70 for the annual state inspection (muffler shop $55), but I have had a free '16 loaner to drive over 2 days. And they are kind of precise meaning they will mention what the car might need (don't need these to be done to pass inspection)--driving in say with a complaint would cost roughly $140 for diagnosis. So the shocks are not bad but the boots and rubber components have failed....the front end did surprise me. Since I have a 100% reliable BMW indie, I feel that any costs with it are contained (even if I needed 2 turbos). An OEM kit with 4 control arms which contain the bushings (2 more than I need) is only $296--kind of don't get why BMW is cheaper than Lexus! That barely gets you one control arm, and doesn't include the bushing itself. Add whatever labor at $95/hr. plus alignment (I have under 500 miles on the current alignment DOH!!).

Cannot find a good Lexus indie under 80 miles, that s***!! Anyway, the above might explain why on the original tires, with a perfect alignment and balance, the outer edge of the FL tire wore.....guess cars are like houses, they simply degrade over time and with use!

Coulter

So glad my state doesn't have the silliness of annual inspections. Just way too much of a conflict of interest to have shops doing inspections.
I'm sure they love it though, probably brings in a lot of business.

I'm really skeptical that a garaged BMW with only 50k miles needs so much work to be "road worthy", but we are talking about BMW here.

tkblazer

I thought it was common knowledge that suspension and drivetrain bits like bushings and mounts were known consumables on bmw's.

lorenr

iTrader: (1)

Replacing bushings and struts at 50,000 miles is crazy. I'd never own another BMW.

The part about replacing turbo chargers is probably true and a good reason why I try to avoid cars that need them. A diesel is generally different in that you almost have to have them.

Johnhav430

. It is fascinating, though, how the parts are performance oriented, look highly engineered, yet cheaper than Lexus. The Lexus control arms are black stamped steel, like they are off of a Camry. And dealer routinely gets over $1k for the job. Divide that number by 3 at BMW.

my cousin is more understanding having owned multiple M cars and Japanese. He told me it's useless to compare German to Japanese. One is designed for performance, the other has zero performance but reliability instead. Yet I still do.

turbos for my car used to be $6,100, but today about $3,000.

edit: got my car back, and the charge was $68 for the state inspection. why is this noteworthy? Well, Midas would have been $55. I took the LS430 to Toyota because I didn't want to have a muffler shop touch it, and Toyota is cheaper than Lexus. Toyota was $76.

BMW gave me a loaner gran coupe for 2 days. I wish Lexus would offer loaners for each and every job, it's convenient. If I understand it, if the job bills 4 hours, you get a Lexus loaner? Which is some cr**** RX350.

But I will hand it to Lexus, they have stellar customer service at every touchpoint. Wish they had the products too, and lower prices on the replacement OEM parts.

Johnhav430

Not for me, first, and potentially only BMW. But I do plan on keeping it forever. Every time I am given a $55k loaner it's so sterile (like the 4 series gran coupe they gave me). One needs nearly 6 figs today for a nice sporty (real not badges) car. At least with German cars Oem parts are competitively priced and so many enthusiast indies for what one cannot DIY.....

BradTank

It probably has more to do with the fact that you're pricing Lexus' flagship car versus a more common, midsize BMW sedan. And suspension parts have different designs and some are more complex than others.

I guarantee you a flagship, 7 series BMW vs a Lexus LS series is not going to have big cost savings on parts or service for the BMW flagship. Just the opposite. It's VERY expensive to keep German flagship cars on the road.

My opinion is most modern, European cars are meant to be leased and not owned outside of a warranty.

Johnhav430

I think this is a good point, I have a buddy who lives in a home a former NBA star lived in. And he said his 750 was gonna eat him out of house and home. That's figurative, but, being human, I have heard it so many times, one can afford to buy a 7 series, but one cannot afford to maintain. Sis in-law had a 4.8 X5 CPO, and it was always in the shop at age 3, so she got rid of it. Twin turbo I believe.

The thing is also, the 335i has larger brakes than the LS430, and vented on all 4 corners. I would say it's more serious than the LS for performance. And I stand by my observation that the LS430 lower control arm looks like something from a Camry, yet has a huge pricetag. I think brakes and suspension is where the Toyota engineers had their ideas shot down on the LS (for all I know the LS460 has all this upgraded, I mean it has almost a 15" rotor on the f sport). Probably their audience at the time didn't care and couldn't tell how many mm the rotors were, if they were vented in the back, if the suspension is forged aluminum or stamped steel. But they were up on the shuffleboard schedules! joking

a picture is worth 50 words....the two control arms do the job of the LS lca. They are $80 and $60 and incl the bushings and ball joints that go into the steering Knucle. Forums seem to say by 80k need replacement, potentially start to degrade at 60k. Don't they look to be more precise/higher quality?

​​​​​​​http://www.brrperformance.com/blog/w.../frt-susp1.jpg