DIY versus Professional Work

["Ron Buchalski" <rbuchals@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Frequently, there are comments and questions posted to this list 
similar to:

"I just bought some H&R springs, RD swaybars, Bilstein sport shocks, 
camber plates, and x-brace, and I'm preparing to put these parts in my 
M3 this weekend.  Being new to this sort of task, I have a question 
for the group: Will I need a socket set to get these installed?"

or, for a simpler posting:

"I'm getting ready to change the oil in my car, and the instructions 
state that the oil should be changed at operating temperature.  How do 
you guys change your oil when it's hot?"

Seriously, folks, it's great to be able to DIY, but if you're a novice 
to car repairs, you'd be better off taking your car to a professional 
if you're not sure how to do something.  If you make friends with some 
independent shops they may allow you to watch some of the procedures 
to understand how they're done.  Or, you can attend a BMWCCA DIY Tech 
Session in your area and either get some help on a repair from your 
fellow club members, or you can just hang around and watch the work 
that's being done on other cars in order to get a better understanding 
on how to do things.

Cost savings?  Sure, you can save some big $$ on major repairs, but if 
you screw things up because you don't really know what you're doing, 
you'll end up paying more.

Even simple repairs may be better done by a shop.  An oil change?  I 
just came back from WalMart (cheap oil) and bought seven quarts of 
Mobil 1 ($3.97 + 20c tax each), plus the oil filter that I bought from 
Steve D (~$6 I think), which adds up to more than $35.  A BMW 
dealership or an independent shop will do an oil change for about the 
same money.  So why do I do it?  Because I like to look around under 
the hood and under the car while I'm changing the oil, checking the 
state of things down there.  If I didn't know what I was looking for 
it would be a waste of time, and I'd rather pay a shop to change my 
oil so I could spend an extra hour with my kids.

The point of all this?  If you're not experienced with maintaining 
your car, it may be wiser (and safer) to use the list to gain an 
understanding of what is involved in a particular repair, and use the 
knowledge to monitor your shop when they repair the car.

My $0.02,

- -rb

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