The law of unintended consquences

Philpatton

Zorg Legend
Supporter
Joined
Apr 22, 2019
Points
79
Afternoon everyone,
I bought my Z3 in May, 2019 and since then I have:
Replaced the front brake pads - £18 for pads
Replaced the rear brake pads - £19 for pads
Replaced the spark plugs - £36 for 6 spark plugs
Replaced the upper and lower air intake duct - Combined total of £32. BMW Genuine upper duct!
Stripped braking system down multiple times - £0
Replaced the radio - £80
Improved the paintwork to get rid of most of the swirls and dullness - £20

All this adds up to a very little amount of money for the joy and pleasure I have had sorting Zed.

So, I decided that because I had all this experience in sorting the Z3 braking system, that it must be straightforwards to replace the pads on a 2016 BMW 5series!!!! I mean, the Z3 is 17 years old, so the braking must be the same on a 2 yr old BMW 5 series. :whistle:

And so it was!

Wheels off, slider pins out, compress the piston, stick in new pads and then send wife out in the car to test the new pads. ;):)
Dead easy!

When I asked BMW for a price to change the pads, they must have mis-heard me and quoted me a telephone number.....£300+

The local indy wanted £120 (which I thought was ok) but this was for cheap and nasty pads.

Without the guidance and support from everyone here, I would never have thought to change the pads on a 5 series. I would have simply paid BMW / local Indy the money and thought I was getting a good deal. Pads for the 5 series were £38 for Brembo pads.

So, a massive thank you from me, in supporting me, answering daft questions and just giving me the confidence to give it a go!

Next challenge is to strip the rear calliper on my Z3 as its starting to bind up again, but hay ho, thats a job for winter.

Thanks everyone

Phil
 

mrscalex

Zorg Guru (IV)
Supporter
British Zeds
3rd Party Trader
Joined
Jun 10, 2016
Points
165
Location
Swindon & Swansea
Brake pad/disc changes are a massive money spinner for BMW.

I did discs/pads all round on my brother’s 1 Series recently. Like you thinking they can’t be much different to a Z3. And again, aren’t it turned out.

I think we spent about £120 in parts. It would have cost over £600 at the BMW dealer.

Brake fluid changes are a similar ripoff. About £3 in fluid. And 30 mins labour DIY.
 
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Sean d

Zorg Expert (I)
Supporter
British Zeds
Joined
Sep 29, 2015
Points
201
Location
Lincolnshire
Model of Z
Z3 2.8
I was in a Skoda dealership a few weeks ago and an pensioner got quoted £700 for discs and pads on his Skoda, £100 for a brake clean and £600 for discs and pads, such a rip off
 
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