Missives from the 6th Floor

Dawnise had a positive experience at Eastside Motorsports so I figured I'd give them a call. "Sure," they said, "we can do that sort of work" - the only downside (which they were 100% up front about) is that they'd have to source parts through an authorized Triumph shop. While they had it, I asked them to see if they couldn't diagnose the coolant leak.

The word back is that the head gasket has a small leak (oil), a couple of the coolant lines into the case need gaskets, and yes, the fork seals have failed.

The total estimate was 6.5 hours of labor ($$$) and $150 in parts.

Oh, and the parts would take two weeks.

So I told them I'd see about self-sourcing parts, and called So. Cal. Motorcycles (formerly So. Cal. Triumph) - still my best source for Triumph parts. A big of VIN juggling later, and the parts were on order - all but one in stock and ready for immediate delivery, and without the additional markup.

The head and coolant are the lion's share of that 6.5 hours, and after looking at the service book, I'll do 'em myself.

Around the same time, we got a call from the BMW dealer offering us a "free" courtesy spring inspection, since they hadn't "seen our car in for service in a while."

In fact, they'd seen it about 6k miles ago for it's major service under warranty, so, I thought, "what could go wrong in 6k miles?"

Apparently transmission belts, head gasket, transmission gasket, and rear tires.

And of course, the warranty lapsed a month to the day before the inspection.

The price tag on the aforementioned collection of ills? $1700 (including almost $800 in tires).

So this morning I took the car to an independent shop that came recommended by a colleague for a second opinion.

They agreed that he transmission belts need doing soon, and showed me the evidence of the head gasket leak, explaining that it'll make a mess, and due to the location, eventually start leaking oil on the exhaust housing (smelly).

The transmission gasket leak is so small, they conclude, it isn't worth touching - check it again in a couple-5 thousand miles.

When asked if these symptoms should have been visible 6k miles ago, his expression pretty much told me all I needed to know.

The rear tires definitely need doing, but a few minutes of research online says I should be able to get those tires for several hundred less than the dealer quoted price.

So despite the positive experience with the sales staff at BMW of Seattle, I don't plan to give them any more money - not for service, and not if and when we decide to buy another BMW.