$1079.64

[Musta10000]

Thermostat replacement - $1074.64. OUCH!!!

I guess it would be more for a Ferrari... (not that it makes me feel much better).

[boomster]

Seems a bit excessive.... was the work done at a dealership or an independent shop?

[Musta10000]

Seems a bit excessive.... was the work done at a dealership or an independent shop?

Quote from the dealership - I have been continuing to do all the work there. To be honest, Des Moines does not have a lot of options for an indy - just one that I would consider and the opinions on them are somewhat mixed.

[DirkZ8]

In the "good old days" one could actually SEE a thermostat and replacing it was a 30 minutes job. Now they have to take the whole damn car apart to get to it. While this is being done, you may want to consider replacing all of the other rubber and plastic stuff of the cooling system. The incremental labor won't be much. A few years ago, Ed prepared a maintenance plan that you could use as a guideline.


http://www.bmwz8.us/forum/problems-s...plan-2871.html

[///M Blitz]

Also paramount, as one of the owners experienced catastrophic damage because of a failing, is replacing the fan clutch. I replaced mine a few months ago just because I had a spare hour and nothing else to do.

[jawz]

Good choice ///M Blitz! Trust me on that!

[Norcal]

Just had to replace the thermostat in my 07 Mercedes GL450 SUV (4.5 L V8), today. About $1,000. And 4 camm adjustment solenoids, at about $700.

[Musta10000]

I actually did mine about a year ago based on the recommendations on the board.

[Z8 Zach]

No this is not a reasonable price to pay for a thermostat replacement on a BMW Z8. Call the same dealer and ask them what they would charge to do a thermostat on an M5 and see what they say. I just watched a DIY video on changing a thermostat on an M5 and could see it taking a tech less that 2 hrs. The list on the part is $76.49...That's a lot of labor to get to that number. At $150 an hour that is 6.6hrs of labor after the cost of the part. Crazy! Time to find a new dealer...

[Satch]

Hey, my dad's got a bitchin' set of tools...

[BMWM5er]

It could take less than 2 hours, but if you go by the book it's supposed to take longer.

I think the dealership quoted me ~$1k for my M5 a few years ago, and I considered doing it myself but I ended up taking it to a friend who charged less than half that.

It's a ton of work and the book requires you to remove the bumper, fan, radiator (which involves draining the coolant), etc. It can be done with less labor than recommended by the book, but only if the mechanic knows what they're doing.

[thegunguy]

I've had most of the coolant system off at home just clearing debris. With multiple radiators and the various bumper removal steps, it's not an easy process.