<E36> Service 1 Question

["John Nevius" <john_nevius@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

     Greetings,
     
     I have a bit of an unusual situation.  I have a '95 E36 325i that 
     will go out of warranty in about April of next year ('99).  I 
     purchased the car "used"  (about 10K miles) and will most certainly 
     only get to the Service 1 checkpoint (I'm at 17K now) before I go 
     out of factory warranty.
     
     I called the dealer and was told that the ticket for Service 1 
     would run me about $250-$300.  Should I:
     
     1)  Do all the work myself, I'm _reasonably_ competent. (despite 
     discovering the perils of changing the oil with a 5 quart catch 
     pan!)
     
     2)  Should I pay the dealer for Service 1 and have them fix the 
     water pump too (with a manufacture date of 2/95 I _think_ I have 
     the plastic impeller) {is there any way to tell for certain??}
     
     3)  Do #2 and purchase an extended warranty?  (let's do this 
     assuming that Bentley will eventually publish their manual and that 
     I'm capable of following their instructions).
     
     On my beloved '02 (sold many years ago), I think I made most every 
     mistake possible and learned a great deal about keeping it running. 
     I think left to my own devices, I'll probably only make 10-20% of 
     the mistakes (this could still be a formidable number).
     
     
     Comments / Suggestions ???
     
     
     Thanks!
     
     
     John Nevius
     
     
     
     

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