HawthorneVillager.com

The only places I can suggest are Budd's BMW in Oakville (bronte and qew) or perhaps you can try Milton Import on main st.! Hope that helps!

I deal with techmax which is located at token and meyerside. The owner is Attila and the number is 905-795-0419.

John & Shelley

Go to Bimmersport in Mississauga (410 and Courtney Park). Guy specializes in BMW's, has done a lot of amazing work (lots of swaps, race car builds, etc...)

+1

One of the most highly respected guys on the largest BMW forum in Canada

http://www.maxbimmer.com

Hmmm, I don't know anyone out here in the west end, but I do know a good BMW shop called Autotrend out in East Toronto. Too far.



Why so cynical on the oil service front, Pete-y? If I had a Bimmer, I'd either do the work myself or go to someone who knows the cars other than the dealer. With their oil change, it's best to use an original BMW filter (made by Mahle, I think), and they need oil that meets their LL-01 specs. An average shop or a Mr. Lube isn't going to pay attention to these details, so there is value going to BMW specialists, in my opinion.

I heard good things about these guys. I will be taking my MINI there.

http://techmax.ca/

Gotcha. Steal me some Syntec too and I'll pay you cash on the side. I run the Made in Germany Syntec 0W30 in winters in my Jap ride, and I'm down to my last case (of 6L).

SimplyCars are also sponsors on maxbimmer. Another good choice.

The BMW "stealership" wants $230 for an "Oil Service" on my '07 328i That's an oil change that includes resetting the computer.

It costs me $60 for 2 jugs of 4.4L Mobile-One synthetic (on sale @ CT every month or so) and $12 for a filter. Takes 10 minutes to climb under the car and drain the old oil, 3 minutes to change the filter (from the top) and 30 seconds to reset the computer. Half of the 2nd 4.4L jug is saved for the next oil change.

They want over $2000 for a basic brake job that includes front and rear pads plus one front and one rear sensor. (No rotors, calipers or any other parts.) It cost me $130 (ceramic pads + 2 sensors) and about 2.5 hours of my time.

Thank goodness I took auto shop in high school

Wow, it's $230 now?! Do you buy OEM BMW oil filters, or an aftermarket unit? It's a cartridge-type oil filter with a bunch of o-rings you replace in the newest 3 Series, yes?

Man, I remember it used to only be around $150 like 6-7 years ago at the dealer. Do you know what brand of oil they offer at the dealer? I know BMW recommends Castrol, and some of the independent BMW service shops use race-proven German synthetic oil like RS200 or Lubromoly.

I'm not sure what brand of synthetic the stealership uses but I believe the Mobile-One that I use meets or exceeds it's specs. I'm very religious about oil changes...it's the best thing you can do for longevity of a car's engine and not to be neglected. It's my opinion that pretty much any half decent oil is sufficient when you change the oil as often as I do.

Yep, the filter is a cartridge type. The one I use is made by Fram and it comes with the filter cap o-ring and the copper washer for the drain plug.

As a side note, the basic design of the 3.0L straight-6 in my 328i originated in WW2 so it's a proven workhorse, they've just refined it with better CNC machining/balancing and high-tech components. Your beemer likely has the same block. Keep that oil clean and its should be good for many years to come.

Your dealership must be located in the North pole or something hence they charge you that amount as markup on keeping the dealership warm.

You can get a brake job (front and rear) for $1,000 (rotors, sensor and pads).
Oil change is under $150 for the synthetic which lasts 24,000KM (i.e a full year if you are the average driver) as they recommend (not that I would tell you to keep it that long).
These prices are at Budd's in Oakville, go to Maranello and you could save a few bucks more.

I guess Mississauga is north of Oakville... that's where I got the quotes.

Can't beat doing it yourself. "I am my own quality control board ! "

Thanks for the info above, Hugh, and I agree 100% on personal quality control, as most shops don't let the oil drain long enough since time is money.

I don't own a Bimmer myself, though I have serviced the older E30s (when things were MUCH simpler) and did an oil change once on an E39. And I guess it depends on how often you change the motor oil, but I would personally never use an orange-boxed Fram oil filter for over 8,000 km in your Ultimate Driving Machine. It's not a good quality product unless you choose their ToughGuard or extended life line. I would spring for the OEM BMW filter and change the oil every 10-12K, or maybe buy a Bosch or Wix brand filter. When you use the orange Fram with the premium Mobil 1 5W40 oil, it's like wearing WalMart dress shoes with a tailored Armani suit!

It's pretty crazy on the 24,000 km oil change interval. I would never leave oil in there that long, but at the same time, maybe their engineers recommend this based on extensive durability tests. Well, maybe the oil can last that long, but I don't think the oil filter will be any good after like 15K. However, since BMW covers maintenance for the whole warranty period, I bet they recommend this long service life only to save themselves money (and maybe to induce enough engine wear that owners can't keep them long term so as to continue feeding the new purchase cycle). If they decided to cancel free maintenance and make customers pay, I bet they'd start to mandate shorter drain intervals to rake in more moolah. Currently, I think Lexus and Acura mandates every 8K, while Infiniti recommends every 6K (the Japs use non-synthetic oil though).

I do my oil changes every 6 or 7k (sometimes sooner). 20~24k doesn't sit well with me even though it's synthetic. Might be overkill but that's just me.
The Fram filter meets or exceeds the mauf. specs so changing it every 6k lets me sleep at night.