Oxygen Sensor Replacement and Cost

[direfan]

Hi,

I have a 2002 330i with around 22,000 miles on it so it is really low mileage. It just came off warranty and the "Service Engine Soon" light came on. Just my luck! I am not at all happy about it and it seems really convenient that it happened after the warranty ends.

Anyways, I took it to the shop and they told me that it was a bad oxygen sensor. They also told me that the car had 4 oxygen sensors 2 before the cat and 2 after. I was also advised to have 2 of them replaced at the same time as I was told that sometimes after replacing one of them, the other one goes bad soon and to save on labor they were recommending that I replace 2 of them together. They also told me that it is difficult to distinguish which one of them is bad. I thought that sounded strange. Anyways they quoted almost $600 for it. Is that a good price? I thought it sounded really steep. What do you guys think about it?
I also think it is really soon for an oxygen sensor to go bad and I wonder if it a statement on the quality of BMWs. My car is impeccable maintained and I actually perform oil changes every 7500 miles. How could the oxygen sensor have gone bad so soon? What causes an Oxygen sensor to go bad?

I would appreciate any advice. Thanks a lot.

D

 

[Jay Frem]

Hi,

I have a 2002 330i with around 22,000 miles on it so it is really low mileage. It just came off warranty and the "Service Engine Soon" light came on. Just my luck! I am not at all happy about it and it seems really convenient that it happened after the warranty ends.

Anyways, I took it to the shop and they told me that it was a bad oxygen sensor. They also told me that the car had 4 oxygen sensors 2 before the cat and 2 after. I was also advised to have 2 of them replaced at the same time as I was told that sometimes after replacing one of them, the other one goes bad soon and to save on labor they were recommending that I replace 2 of them together. They also told me that it is difficult to distinguish which one of them is bad. I thought that sounded strange. Anyways they quoted almost $600 for it. Is that a good price? I thought it sounded really steep. What do you guys think about it?
I also think it is really soon for an oxygen sensor to go bad and I wonder if it a statement on the quality of BMWs. My car is impeccable maintained and I actually perform oil changes every 7500 miles. How could the oxygen sensor have gone bad so soon? What causes an Oxygen sensor to go bad?

I would appreciate any advice. Thanks a lot.

D

Oxygen sensor is destroyed at $100,000 miles.

I am not sure if there are four.

Seek a different opinion.

The light Service Enginer Soon has many meanings.

 

[jrt67ss350]

Oxygen sensor is destroyed at $100,000 miles.

I am not sure if there are four.

Seek a different opinion.

The light Service Enginer Soon has many meanings.

Umm, actually, O2 sensors should be replaced long before 100k miles. There are four. Yes, the SES light hs many meanings, but if he took it to the dealer for the issue, then they pulled the codes and it told them there was an O2 sensor bad. There's no reason not to believe them.

It's not a testament to the statement of the quality of BMWs - the O2 sensors are made by Bosch, not BMW. Parts fail. Sometimes some parts fail earlier than they "should." Unfortunately, that's what happened to you. I can believe that it costs $600 to have the O2 sensors replaced at the dealer, but that's a ton of money to replace 2 O2 sensors. Shop around - pretty much any kind of shop should be able to replace a couple of O2 sensors for you - it's an easy job.

 

[Jay Frem]

Umm, actually, O2 sensors should be replaced long before 100k miles. There are four. Yes, the SES light hs many meanings, but if he took it to the dealer for the issue, then they pulled the codes and it told them there was an O2 sensor bad. There's no reason not to believe them.

It's not a testament to the statement of the quality of BMWs - the O2 sensors are made by Bosch, not BMW. Parts fail. Sometimes some parts fail earlier than they "should." Unfortunately, that's what happened to you. I can believe that it costs $600 to have the O2 sensors replaced at the dealer, but that's a ton of money to replace 2 O2 sensors. Shop around - pretty much any kind of shop should be able to replace a couple of O2 sensors for you - it's an easy job.

That's what the dealership charges here also in Atlanta.

Are the 01 sensors problematic also?

 

[zman]

22K is kind of early for oxygen sensor. It could send a wrong signal.

However, You can have SES reset to make sure and wait to see if it comes up again with the same code. If so, I guess it could be a bad oxygen sensor.