As you can probably guess from my icon, I have an opinion on this topic.

In my opinion, if you are the type of person who runs the car over to the dealer for all your services, then a BMW is not for you. The dealer is expensive and you will spend A LOT of money on a car that is out of warranty. For example, an oil change at my local dealer is $95.00!

On the other hand, BMW's are no more difficult to service or repair than many other cars, and in my opinion, they are actually easier to service in some ways. If you have average mechanical ability, you can do a lot of maintenence work yourself. There is nothing magical about a BMW. An oil change is no different on these cars than on others.

The BMW community is huge, and there are several internet resources full of helpful people that are willing to give any advice you need to get things done yourself. Also, there are several online vendors that sell parts to support this community at drastic discounts from what you would pay at the dealer - usually more than 50% less. Taking advantage of these options make BMW ownership less expensive in many ways!

Also, find a good independent mechanic that specializes in BMWs or other german cars. Their labor rates are typically no higher than other repair shops (usually $50-60/hr).

I remember when I called the Ford dealer about the scheduled 60,000 mile service for my wife's car. They wanted $475! I read down through the list of covered items, spent 1/2 hour at the local auto parts store and maybe another hour on a Saturday and ended up spending less than $40.00 to perform the same work myself. It is the dealer that screws you, regardless of the car you drive.

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