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Lambda sensor failure

Hi,

I wonder if anyone could give me some advice.

I have a 3 year old mini, that has only done 13,000 miles.

BMW have just told me that BOTH lambda sensors on my car are malfunctioning and need replacing at a cost of £450+ !

I've no experience of how long Lambda sensors should last but it doesn't seem right to me that 2 should go in such a new car!?

To top it off the car is only 7 days outside its 3 year warranty and Wollaston BMW are saying its tough!

Can anyone advise me if its normal for lambda sensors to fail in this way?

many thanks for your help.

Reply to
Paulrc
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i would by suprised if they both have gone but its not impossible. £450+ is way over the top you should find a place that can do them for about £150 for them both. i just had one of mine done by wilco, and it cost £60.29 including fitting and vat.

Reply to
aussie bongo

I don't know how long a lambda sensor normally last. As for replacing the device, I'd consider DIY or at least take the car to an independent garage, not the BMW dealership; the sensor is not specific to the BMW Mini.

First off, as a guide, the list here shows that the sensors are not expensive, though labour cost is (it may be tough and take time to unscrew the sensors).

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Second, you can do the pre-cat one first and test.
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Good thing is you can take your time, meanwhile the car is still serviceable. To go hand in hand with the replacement, you need to investigate what caused the malfunction in the first instance.

Reply to
Lin Chung

Seconded. This is fun and seems a lot easier to do if you're over 40. Grumpy old man syndrome :)

"ONE WEEK OUT OF WARRANTY AND I GET A BILL FOR £450!?!?"

Si

Reply to
Mungo "Two Sheds" Toadfoot

How can the dealer determine the rear o2 sensor is kapput if the front one is spannered? Answer, he cant, as you need the ECU in closed loop running to get any meaningful signal from the rear one.

13k in 3 years could be afew very short runs, and we all know o2 sensors and cats dont like this treatment.

You may be looking at a replacement cat convertor also, once the spanners are gotten out.

Nevertheless;- if you have a proper BMW history at the right intervals, i would be leaning on the dealer quite heavily to replace all defective parts FOC as you are only a week outside the warranty!!

I always find a busy saturday morning when the showroom is full of potenatial customers the time to speak quite loudly and directly at the service manager....

Tim..

Reply to
Tim (remove obvious)

Might be worth trying another dealer.

Many years ago I had a Mk1 Astra, only 1 year warranty in those days, and I had done my own servicing. After 2 years and about 18K the camshaft wore out. The supplying dealer just said tough luck it will cost XXX pounds so I took the car to another dealer who contacted Vauxhall on my behalf, Vaux admitted there was a design fault in the new OHC engine with oil flow to the camshaft, they changed the camshaft FOC . I just had to pay for an oil change and filter.

J
Reply to
JimS

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