Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Does anyone have a ballpark estimate of home much it would cost to get the rear brake pads and rotars replaced for my BMW X3? I just got a quote of $860 from the dealership, which sounds overpriced to me. Thanks!
In reality, its about a 1-hour job...unless there's something unusually complicated about BMW rear brakes. Don't know what your dealer's "book" says it is.
A dealership will normally mark up parts 50%, charge $85/hr labor, and throw in a shop charge... and even after all that anything over $450 is not justified.
Ok - thanks for the input. I thought it seemed high but I am not a car person so wanted to get some advice. Thanks again - I will definitely shop around!!
If you don't try a DIY, (breaking the rotor bolts can be troublesome for novice), hunt around your area for a BMW oriented Indie; with decent/near OE quality parts, (esp the rotors), it should be about half of what that dlr quoted. I also rec'd, (as does BMW), that you have your current brake fluid flushed and replaced, esp if that fluid is 2 or 3, or more years old.
Not a hard job, but the handbrake adj is sometimes necessary on the re-do, and a slight PIA, in my experience. Also, there is one brake pad wear sensor, (forget which side, as I have an E53), that should be replaced when doing pads; that sensor is only available from dlr parts dept, AFAIK.
The OE rotors are made by Jurid, (as are many of the pads), and that oe brand rotor is famous for 'dusting', but rock solid for stopping, with exc bite, feel and performance...other pads/rotors are available in abundant brands, but I would take a Pasadena on AZ 'brand', et al, if it were mine.
And, I assume your X3 is the older E83, not the newer model year(s) F25...
Fyi, here is a thorough, step by step DIY, if you want to give it a try, or just want to see what's involved; yes, it depicts the X5, but the X3 is nearly identical, rear brake-wise.
IMO, autozone/advanced autopart brake parts have annoyed me. IMO buy an OEM, or other sort of quality part online. Down jerk around with "wearever" and "Duralast" crap.
Yeah, you want to get either BMW parts from an online-friendly discount dealer, or ATE, Jurid, etc. brake parts, for the rotor anyway. If you like the OEM pads, and BMW does do a good job of compounding a pad, that's a good option, but there are all sorts of aftermarket pads out there. Check Tire Rack, they have brake parts. But, even if Autozone has pads and rotors for that car, naw, I wouldn't put those "Duralast" parts on your Bimmer.
Typical practice on these cars is to replace the rotor, but until you measure it you don't know for a fact they are worn enough to need that.
$800 for half a brake job? Do yourself a favor and don't darken the door of that stealer again...
Remind me never to own a BMW...the last set of brakes I had done on the old Jeep was about $650 for pads, rotors and drums! I figure it'll run me around 700+ for the new Jeep whenever that time comes, but jeez, $860 for just the REAR?!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Autozone sez:
