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Seat belt latch failure at 22000 miles

2K views 4 replies 2 participants last post by  bmw325-2001 
#1 ·
does this seem outrageous to anyone? I don't want to change it myself due to the pyrotechnics, but the dealer wants $450.

Has anyone else had the passenger side latch fail (not even the driver side) in such a short period of time? The passenger side is rarely used in this vehicle which we've now owned going on 5 years. The service manager made it sound like it's not common but that it's not rare either.

In addition, the exhaust camshaft sensor is apparently bad as well. I can get the part cheaper than the dealer wants, and my Bentley manual makes it appear fairly simple to replace. Can anyone confirm that an amateur (yet knowledgeable) DIYer could handle the replacement of this part?

Of course the dealer went off on replacing brakes as well as indicating the start of a failure in the front suspension. I wasn't certain what he was talking about on the front suspension, but he did say I didn't have to worry about it for quite a while.

I'm new to this, but given the amounts the dealer wanted to rape me for, I think I could handle a few items myself.

I also bought one of those sensors a few months ago, but haven't ventured to try it out yet.
 
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#2 ·
Exhaust camshaft sensor? Dude, you'll have that repaired in under 20 minutes. It's the intake that's a pain cuz it wraps around the alternator.

www.bimmerpartswholesale.com

If the "sensor" you purchased awhile back was the fault-code reader, use that to see if your camshaft sensor is bad. Usually, you'll notice significantly worse gas mileage, a loss of power, and random stalling. You'll also get the exact error code in your diagnostic port.

Don't know about the latch, what's the service manual say?
 
#3 ·
Thanks. The Bentley manual did appear to make it seem that this would be somewhat of an easy task and given the dealer wants $450 to change this part I think I'll pass. I'm just upset that a number of things have gone wrong with so few miles, but oh well, such is life I guess.

Ok, now about changing the rear brakes. I'd like to give it a shot on my own to save some money. I have someone who is willing to sit down and work with me who has changed their own brakes. What do you guys recommend in terms of brake pads, rotors, tools, etc that I need for this. Remember I've never done this, but I'm quite handy so I figure it won't be way out of my league.
 
#4 ·
Most people swear by the OEM pads and maybe a set of slotted or cross-drilled rotors. You could always just buy OEM and guarantee you're getting what was intended for the car. Stainless steel braided brake lines wouldn't be a bad idea. ATE blue fluid. Don't forget the sensor wires.

Oh hell, just buy a Brembo kit.

The manual will tell ya what tools are needed. Usually nothing out of the ordinary. BTW, why are you replacing rotors at 22K miles? And verify the claim on the pads... I've had my car for 23,000 miles, HARD driving, and have yet to replace the pads.
 
#5 ·
Well we live up on a hill and come down that hill every day, so it doesn't totally surprise me. Plus my wife (who drives the car most often) is a hard braker. She won't admit it, but I know she is. I tend to coast the hill, and I think she rides the brake on the hill.

I don't totally buy what the dealership tells me on brakes, and I definitely won't buy it at their outrageous prices. But given where we live now (my Sequoia has burned through some brakes but it's a bigger vehicle), I think it's time I learn how to do this stuff.

Again, I have the Bentley book (seems real simple in the book for many things). Also, I bought a Peake Research R5 FCX II scan/reset tool.

As you can imagine given the vehicle has so few miles I don't expect much to go wrong, but I want to start doing the easy stuff (oil/brakes/etc).

Finally, I did call BMW about the issues that all went wrong. Not sure they're going to do anything about it, but maybe they'll pick up the cost of the seat belt latch. That's a really bad thing to go out after very little use.
 
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