BMW Extended Warranty for M3

[mclarenmaniac]

Guys,
My 2011 M3's factory warranty will expire end of April 2014. Currently i have 15500 miles on her.
My 15000 miles maintenance service is due next month but my brake pads wont be replaced until 2016 or 9000 more miles.

1. I was wondering if its worth going for BMW extended service protection plan based on the mileage i have.

2. If yes, Is GOLD or PLATINUM package recommended for additional 2 years?

3. Which dealer would provide me the best quote?

Appreciate all your help!
thanks
MM

[///M///]

I would go with extended warranty on the powertrain only. Runs under 3k for 3yr/70k miles. The rest is a waste of $$.

[dparm]

BMW EVP is definitely the way to go. Give Dan Dutton a call at Pacific BMW. Best rates by a mile.

I went for gold coverage out to 100k -- the extra expense to cover the nav system just wasn't worth it in my opinion. I really got it just for "catastrophic event coverage", i.e. blown motor or trans, EDC failure, etc.

Don't bother with the extended maintenance plan. You don't save that much money.

[mclarenmaniac]

Interesting!! So there is a separate maintenance plan which is not part of the gold or platinum package ?

[grantmax]

Originally Posted by dparm

BMW EVP is definitely the way to go. Give Dan Dutton a call at Pacific BMW. Best rates by a mile.

I went for gold coverage out to 100k -- the extra expense to cover the nav system just wasn't worth it in my opinion. I really got it just for "catastrophic event coverage", i.e. blown motor or trans, EDC failure, etc.

Don't bother with the extended maintenance plan. You don't save that much money.

More details please. (aka PM me the price.)

[mjposner]

There are two types of coverage, and extended maintenance plan (oil, brakes, etc) and extended warranty. The warranty plan is gold or platinum, and runs 1-4 years after end of factory warranty and 76-100k total miles.

My car has 39k, likely 45k when my warranty wil lexpire and I was quoted platinum:

6/100 msrp is $5990.00, I will sell for $5290.00
7/100 msrp is $7430.00, I will sell for $6730.00

[mclarenmaniac]

Originally Posted by mjposner

There are two types of coverage, and extended maintenance plan (oil, brakes, etc) and extended warranty. The warranty plan is gold or platinum, and runs 1-4 years after end of factory warranty and 76-100k total miles.

My car has 39k, likely 45k when my warranty wil lexpire and I was quoted platinum:

6/100 msrp is $5990.00, I will sell for $5290.00
7/100 msrp is $7430.00, I will sell for $6730.00

Thanks!! So you know where i can get the platinum 6/100 for $5290?
Also extended maintenance plans worth buying? if yes how much would they cost?
thanks
MM

[jphughan]

No way is extended maintenance worth it with the low mileage you have. You generally need a rotor service during the life of the plan to even have a hope of coming out ahead, which usually doesn't happen -- after all, if it usually DID happen, the dealers wouldn't make money offering extended maintenance plans! You've already lost most of the money you spent buying Ultimate Service as part of the car's price by having such low mileage, and if you're only driving ~4K miles per year, you won't get any meaningful service in the extended maintenance window, so don't throw away any more money than you already have. Hell you might not get ANY service done if you're only at 24-28K miles after the 2-3 year maintenance window, not even an oil change after the one you're about to get. Maybe front pads, but that's literally it.

Warranty is the classic insurance gamble. Most issues occur based on mileage rather than time, but (like maintenance plans) most customers run out their coverage period based on time rather than mileage -- again, that's how they make money. I'd argue that even a warranty would be a statistically bad investment for you since even after another 2-3 years you'll still have only half the mileage the original factory warranty was designed to cover, but then again there's something to be said for peace of mind.

And FYI, practically no maintenance is done at 15K. Unless your front pads are worn down, I think it's just an oil change actually, and maybe an AC microfilter. And pads are replaced when they're worn down, whether that's before or after what iDrive says. iDrive just gives you an estimate on remaining life.

But most importantly, why aren't you going out and enjoying your car more!?!?

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by mjposner

There are two types of coverage, and extended maintenance plan (oil, brakes, etc) and extended warranty. The warranty plan is gold or platinum, and runs 1-4 years after end of factory warranty and 76-100k total miles.

My car has 39k, likely 45k when my warranty wil lexpire and I was quoted platinum:

6/100 msrp is $5990.00, I will sell for $5290.00
7/100 msrp is $7430.00, I will sell for $6730.00

WOW that's way higher than I was expecting an extended warranty to cost, even on an M3 with platinum coverage!!

I will be thinking long and hard whether to spend $5-7K for an extra 2-3 years of coverage when I get there in May of next year seeing as I probably will have less than 40K miles by then. I may just set that amount aside as a rainy day fund. Even considering M3 repair costs I can't imagine I'd be very likely to incur that much in repairs (that would be covered by the warranty) in that amount of time -- which of course is exactly what the warranty providers have determined.

[zamboni]

Save your money and get the extended warranty instead, for me I skipped the maintenance and it would makes sense to invest your money on the warranty.

[mjposner]

I was surprised how high as well, this is what I was told:

BMW warranty vehicle categories are A thru G, A being a 328i sedan, 1 series, G being an Alpina, a M3 is a category F, a 650i is a category C.

Where to buy:

John Andrews
Finance Director
Schaeffer BMW
2013 BMW Center of Excellence
4920 New Center Dr
Wilmington, NC 28403
910-392-2700 fax 910-397-0041

[mclarenmaniac]

I was wondering if 7yrs/70,000 miles extended warranty platinum package worth going for instead of extended maintenance plan ?
For m3 (category F), the list price is $6120. If any dealer is ready to offer this for $5120, will take it!

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by mclarenmaniac

I was wondering if 7yrs/70,000 miles extended warranty platinum package worth going for instead of extended maintenance plan ?
For m3 (category F), the list price is $6120. If any dealer is ready to offer this for $5120, will take it!

You sound like you're considering these two items interchangeably. Extended maintenance and an extended warranty are two completely different things, so you don't just pick one or the other. Figure out what you want and buy accordingly. But as I said above, based on your mileage per year, I honestly think that if you got extended maintenance you would literally only get a set of front brake pads out of it, which isn't anywhere close to a good deal.

Even an extended warranty with your mileage is highly unlikely to get used for anywhere near $5-6K worth of work, and might even go completely unused. Ask people what sort of warranty work they've had done by the 28K mile mark; I doubt you'll see very many (if any) responses that add up to $5-6K. Your low mileage is the type of customer the extended warranty people love most because they're practically guaranteed to make an enormous profit off of you.

I'm at 27K and thus far have only had a master vacuum sensor failure warranty claim, but even that turned out have been damaged by someone spilling brake fluid on it during brake service, so that wasn't even a true breakdown.

[Genericuser1]

I'll be considering an extended warranty, probably gold as I mainly want the convertible top and drive train covered. But then I'll be putting 16k-17k miles on per year (car has almost 30k now).

If I was only doing 4k I doubt I'd bother with the warranty at all or if you did just the drive train.

[mclarenmaniac]

So...No maintenance plan... Only Warranty ... Guess power train plus is the way to go then as gold and platinum might be waste of money given the low mileage my M has!!!

[geneatals]

Originally Posted by mclarenmaniac

So...No maintenance plan... Only Warranty ... Guess power train plus is the way to go then as gold and platinum might be waste of money given the low mileage my M has!!!

i have til feb of 2015 util my factory warranty expires..from my research and info on this forum I think I'll be going with just power train as the engine and dct are my biggest concerns and would be the most costly to repair out of pocket...

[Giggs]

DO NOT buy your warranty through BMW. they sell third party warranties and slap their name on it and charge ridiculous premiums on them. Go to a VW dealership and have them sell you a Platinum extended warranty through Fidelity. You'llbe covoered for an additional 6 years and an additional 60,000 miles. I bought one for my M3 and my R8. They've already paid for themselves tenfold. Im one year into the R8 warranty and they've already replaced the engine and many other things. $40,000+ in repairs/replacements so far and it only cost me $3,700. Oh and I still have 5 more years and 50,000 more mileage of coversge.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by Giggs

DO NOT buy your warranty through BMW. they sell third party warranties and slap their name on it and charge ridiculous premiums on them. Go to a VW dealership and have them sell you a Platinum extended warranty through Fidelity. You'llbe covoered for an additional 6 years and an additional 60,000 miles. I bought one for my M3 and my R8. They've already paid for themselves tenfold. Im one year into the R8 warranty and they've already replaced the engine and many other things. $40,000+ in repairs/replacements so far and it only cost me $3,700. Oh and I still have 5 more years and 50,000 more mileage of coversge.

Some dealerships do, yes. It's their choice to sell third-party warranties. It's up to YOU, the consumer, to look at who the underwriter is and if BMW's name is anywhere on it.

The BMW EVP is a factory-backed warranty. Tons of us have it without problems.

[Giggs]

Originally Posted by dparm

Some dealerships do, yes. It's their choice to sell third-party warranties. It's up to YOU, the consumer, to look at who the underwriter is and if BMW's name is anywhere on it.

The BMW EVP is a factory-backed warranty. Tons of us have it without problems.

I get that. My point is why buy a warranty through BMW when they build a hefty premium for profit when you can buy a third party aftermqrket warranty for the same price or less that has a much longer term and covers the same things. I did a temendous amount of research for weeks and weeks on this topic shopping 9 different warranties including BMW warranties. In no way did. I say BMW warranties are bad, they're just too expensive for what you get.

[s85e90]

you could take the 5 grand and invest it and come out ahead either way. And have more money in the bank just in case.

I work on my own cars and maintain them very well. If it was me I would not purchase a warranty at all. Too much money IMO.

Remember that warranty is no diff than insurance. You as a buyer are banking on some failure and the warranty company insures you thinking that there will not be an issue.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by Giggs

I get that. My point is why buy a warranty through BMW when they build a hefty premium for profit when you can buy a third party aftermqrket warranty for the same price or less that has a much longer term and covers the same things. I did a temendous amount of research for weeks and weeks on this topic shopping 9 different warranties including BMW warranties. In no way did. I say BMW warranties are bad, they're just too expensive for what you get.

Well, paying MSRP for the warranty is not something people here are doing. I got mine for just over cost.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by s85e90

you could take the 5 grand and invest it and come out ahead either way. And have more money in the bank just in case.

Maybe. Even if you can make 10% a year for three years, that could still be a lot less in the bank than say, a new DCT. But yes, it is an insurance policy and is a way of hedging your bets.

I don't mind paying a bit more for the simplicity of just driving into the dealer and not worrying about reimbursement, labor rates, authorized shops, etc. BMW makes it very easy, and you pay for that.