Quote:
"1. The service rep at BMW claims that all dealers charge identical prices for the same job.

2. My research condraticted her statement, suggesting some sort of wrongdoing or incompetence on her part."

You're right at #2 and thanks for the research. You and I know more about our E34s than the girl who gave you the quote. The lesson learned for me is do it yourself and spend the money saved on labor for more parts. Just fact of life if you want to run a nice E34 on a reasonable budget. Your research supports this. We're in to drive a nice car for minimal unnecessary expense, they're out to maximize profits on the lastest models in all their glory and complexity. For 17 max year old cars now, I do think our problems are pretty simple and there's no way I would pay maint costs on a new bimmer... (thus again, we appreciate what we have in the E34).
Cheers,
Rob.