mods voiding warranty...

[jkr]

Whats everyones experience with modding and the most you can get away with before they void the warranty?

[LateBraking]

Originally Posted by jkr

Whats everyones experience as far as modding and voiding the warranty or service plan with bmw? I am trying to see what the most I can get away with is when my '11 m3 gets here.... That being said, what what get me the best bang for my buck, while keeping reliability as the second most important factor with a $10,000 budget? Any help will be greatly apprecaited...

From your other thread. You can just hit edit if you want to amend a comment, rather than creating a whole new thread.

IMHO, it highly depends on how anal your dealership is. My friend has had a dealership try to void his warranty just because he had aftermarket wheels on his car. Course, that didn't hold up, but you know what I mean.

I've rolled in to my dealership of choice with aftermarket wheels, muffler, coilovers, and filter, and haven't had a problem.

Just use common sense, to a certain extent. For example, it's highly unlikely that a dealership will void your warranty based off of your getting aftermarket wheels, or aftermarket mufflers. Generically, these things are viewed as "cosmetic" modifications, that don't impact the performance of the vehicle (at a dealership, I mean).

Now, if you changed out the X-pipe as well, and not just the muffler, AND if something related to emissions went wrong with your car, then you'd be pretty SOL.

Pretty much, stick purely cosmetic if you want to be 100% safe. An alternative would be to purchase Dinan parts: contrary to popular belief, BMW does not warranty their parts. However, Dinan's warranty matches your factory new car warranty.

Dealerships don't just jump up and void your whole car's warranty the moment you put a part on. It's only when something goes wrong that they won't claim responsibility for the components affected.



For about 10k, I think you'd get away with a few things, depending on what you purchase (I.E. Don't buy an Akrapolvic exhaust thinking you'll have 8k left over for mods): Wheels, suspension, exhaust, cosmetics (grilles and such), performance air filter (and scoops if you believe in those toys).

[major_kusanagi]

Also every service manager is different even from the same dealer. For instance, BMWSF is not a mod-friendly dealer, but my service advisor, being a total gearhead, always lets me bring my car as is and goes to the servie area himself to talk to the technician working on my car. Of course, he's been my service manager/friend for years now.

Try to find forum members in your area and ask for their feedback.

[LateBraking]

Originally Posted by major_kusanagi

Also every service manager is different even from the same dealer. For instance, BMWSF is not a mod-friendly dealer, but my service advisor, being a total gearhead, always lets me bring my car as is and goes to the servie area himself to talk to the technician working on my car. Of course, he's been my service manager/friend for years now.

Try to find forum members in your area and ask for their feedback.

+1, very good point.

[major_kusanagi]

Another example: I used to have a harness kit to up the voltage that goes to the AEs. But the resistor overheated and burned some of the wires in the headlight housing. Of course, the technician wanted to talk to me and the servie manager. My service manager told him to fix the wires and keep it off the record.

[jkr]

thanks for the help guys.

As far as mods are concerned I am going to try and stick to just performance mods and keep it looking as stock as possible (minus the obligatory window tint of course) exhuast, filter, pulleys? whats everyones experience with the torque advantage provided by different gearing?

[miamie92m3]

Treat your SA with respect and tip him. I also tip the tech. The one thing you want to avoid is having any SA enter your mods into the computer. That data will be there forever. Do a search on the regional forum for good SA's. At my dealer all of the techs and SA's are driving BMW's with mods. They are all gearheads. The tip also doesnt hurt when it comes to them taking care of your car and not letting valet's drive it or wash it. my car stays in the tech's extra bay till I pick it up. Treat them well and they will treat you well. There are of course situations they probably can't help you with..... (i.e. your engine blows and BMW Corporate comes down and plugs into your ecu to find a flash was done). Then you likely are SOL.

[LateBraking]

Originally Posted by jkr

thanks for the help guys.

As far as mods are concerned I am going to try and stick to just performance mods and keep it looking as stock as possible (minus the obligatory window tint of course) exhuast, filter, pulleys? whats everyones experience with the torque advantage provided by different gearing?

Try checking the PG Dyno Database for a better idea of what different mods net in gains. It'll be your quickest path to an answer.

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=254974

Also an overview of exhausts.

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=165145

And one of ECU's. (PencilGeek is like a god in man's form.)

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=138584

And of course, the obligatory for all new members.

[SV Concepts III]

Originally Posted by iBeJayKaying

From your other thread. You can just hit edit if you want to amend a comment, rather than creating a whole new thread.

IMHO, it highly depends on how anal your dealership is. My friend has had a dealership try to void his warranty just because he had aftermarket wheels on his car. Course, that didn't hold up, but you know what I mean.

I've rolled in to my dealership of choice with aftermarket wheels, muffler, coilovers, and filter, and haven't had a problem.

Just use common sense, to a certain extent. For example, it's highly unlikely that a dealership will void your warranty based off of your getting aftermarket wheels, or aftermarket mufflers. Generically, these things are viewed as "cosmetic" modifications, that don't impact the performance of the vehicle (at a dealership, I mean).

Now, if you changed out the X-pipe as well, and not just the muffler, AND if something related to emissions went wrong with your car, then you'd be pretty SOL.

Pretty much, stick purely cosmetic if you want to be 100% safe. An alternative would be to purchase Dinan parts: contrary to popular belief, BMW does not warranty their parts. However, Dinan's warranty matches your factory new car warranty.

Dealerships don't just jump up and void your whole car's warranty the moment you put a part on. It's only when something goes wrong that they won't claim responsibility for the components affected.



For about 10k, I think you'd get away with a few things, depending on what you purchase (I.E. Don't buy an Akrapolvic exhaust thinking you'll have 8k left over for mods): Wheels, suspension, exhaust, cosmetics (grilles and such), performance air filter (and scoops if you believe in those toys).

I've had the same experience with two local dealers here. For the most part, they complement me on the modifications and only once asked about the software tune when they were reflashing the car to make sure they could do it without damaging the car. It is highly dependent on the dealer so I would do your research and see where others are having success.

[e.n335]

if you care about warranty (IMO):

- bolt ons and ECU flashes are most critical.
- even electronic mod's are critical, e.g. SmartTop, which allows you to open the roof during driving ( up to a tbd speed you have to configure ).
- BMW started to treat modded cars different, effective 01.01.2010.

remove mods in advance of warranty claims and bring in the M3 to the dealership after clearing tune- or catalysts caused error codes stored in the ECU. e.g. BT cable is capable for this. top speed and rpm will remain in the ECU, only the BMW HQ's are able to access such data, not dealerships.

to remove an ECU flash, the car has to be re-flashed back to stock.

eugen

[MMMorish]

What's the new policy from BMW effective 1/1/2010??

[Pete The Greek]

dont mod if you care about warranty simple as that

[H Bomb]

i care about my warranty as i am not rich and could not afford to own this car without warranty so that is why i went with Dinan only mods and why i made sure i have a good relationship with my SA at the dealer i use. i take very good care of him

on the other note prior to finding him i have never had a dealer give me any warranty problems with any of my Dinan products and i have had full Dinan M cars with software and all the mods

i can't speak for other products personally but i have had friends with the same car as me just different brand mods and they have had many warranty problems with there cars. so after seeing that the Dinan products for me was a no brainer. i have never had a problem with there products either. i just put there pulley in and love it

[armorrig]

^^
Any recommendations on how to establish a good relationship with an SA? I don't have an SA yet as I haven't been to the dealer for any type of service, but I definitely would like to make a good first impression. Thanks.