Warranty Extension Question 2009 M3

[chaseman5000]

I'm buying the extended warranty for my car because it ends in the next 2 weeks. I spoke with the BMW finance office and they offer a maintenance 2 year 60k mile extension for $3000 and a Platinum package (bumper-bumper) 3 year 70k mile extension for $6000.

I'm pretty sure I'm just going to only buy the maintenance package, but was wondering if you guys had any input on this decision. My car has 31,000 miles, never had any problems with it. I'm currently in college and only drive the car to work twice a week (5 miles) and for other close proximity errands. I plan on selling the car in two years right before the maintenance warranty expires.

Is the platinum package worth it? I feel like it's way too much $ especially for how often I will be using my car.

Thanks in advance for any input you guys have, just want to figure out what's best.

[kscarrol]

Be careful, are you buying the extended warranty or the extended maintenance plan? Two different animals... Extended maintenance only covers planned oil changes etc but not mechanical failures. That is covered by the warranty. Given that you only have 31k on the car after four years I doubt the extended maint. is worth it to you. To get your money out of the maint. plan you need to be a high mileage driver. If you are at the same driving pace, you will get a couple of oil changes and maybe a brake service out of the maint. plan...

[chaseman5000]

It would just be the extended maintenance plan not the extended warranty, the women at the financial office recommended I get the maintenance plan because my brakes have never been changed and she said that alone would cost me around $2000.

But to be honest I don't know what I'm doing so any guidance would be great!

[Twinbo]

I am doing some math in my head. Based on your driving you will have in the next two years:
- 2 oil changes - $500
- set of brake pads (maybe) - $600

Is there a spark plus service at 40K or 50K? I would RTFM but I don't have my M anymore. If there is you can add that service.

I don't see you getting $3000 out of that package. And I always recite the basic money principle, "Money now is better than money later." I can't remember who formed that theory (might be Smith) but since you are still in school you may remember if from an economics class.

Put the $3000 in a high interest account and pull from it for service until you sell the car. Then if you don't use it you can actually keep the rest.

[chaseman5000]

Interesting, that is a great point, not sure about the spark service. That is a good idea about the $3000 though, now I'm leaning towards not getting that, but I'm not sure which warranty extension I should get.

Also can I go in before my warranty expires and have them do a bunch of updates i.e. change the brakes now, update the idrive software, change oil? Or will they only do those things if its necessary?

[Twinbo]

Make friends with you SA and they may get some of those things done. I sold my car right after warranty expiration (not bc of it) and I was able to get an oil change, e-brake adjustment, seat release mechanism and bunch of other little things done.

[chaseman5000]

I definitely want to purchase some kind of extension on the warranty though and I'm just not sure which warranty is best for my current scenario?

[quadpipes]

Originally Posted by chaseman5000

I definitely want to purchase some kind of extension on the warranty though and I'm just not sure which warranty is best for my current scenario?

There are a LOT of posts on the subject of extended warranty. Search and you will get much more info than you probably want or need.

I just purchased the BMW NA Powertrain Plus Extended Warranty 7 years/70K miles. It fit my situation (low miles, high years).

This summarizes my recent purchase experience and, of course, my opinion;

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=760936

By all means get competing quotes from other BMW dealers as prices vary.

And I agree with others who have stated that the Extended Maintenance in your situation is probably not worth the $.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

[chaseman5000]

Just spoke with the dealer and I've decided I'm going to go with the Easy Care package for 3 extended years and 75k miles

[adc]

Not sure what that is, but my SA told me today there is also a power train only extended warranty for about $3k.

[quadpipes]

Originally Posted by chaseman5000

Just spoke with the dealer and I've decided I'm going to go with the Easy Care package for 3 extended years and 75k miles

Originally Posted by adc

Not sure what that is, but my SA told me today there is also a power train only extended warranty for about $3k.

You guys may be confusing apples and oranges. BMWNA does not offer an 'Easy Care' package and has no packages at 75K miles (only 70K and 100K miles). It would be offered by a third party. BMWNA, as well as others including Fidelity, offer a so called 'PowerTrain Plus' package.

And BMW dealers do push third party extended maintenance programs - like Fidelity - which would be fine for some people. BMW dealers also, of course, offer BMWNA extended maintenance. But curiously, I had to ask my dealer for the BMWNA programs only after being offered a program from Fidelity (probably due to higher markup on the third party programs).

It pays to research this topic a bit before buying and then to get multiple quotes. In my research, only BMWNA assures OEM parts at a BMW repair facility. Both were important to me with an M car.

Here is a link to what BMWNA offers;

http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Conte...rotection.aspx

Download the brochure.

Good luck!

[adc]

Originally Posted by quadpipes

You guys may be confusing apples and oranges. BMWNA does not offer an 'Easy Care' package and has no packages at 75K miles (only 70K and 100K miles). It would be offered by a third party. BMWNA, as well as others including Fidelity, offer a so called 'PowerTrain Plus' package.

And BMW dealers do push third party extended maintenance programs - like Fidelity - which would be fine for some people. BMW dealers also, of course, offer BMWNA extended maintenance. But curiously, I had to ask my dealer for the BMWNA programs only after being offered a program from Fidelity (probably due to higher markup on the third party programs).

It pays to research this topic a bit before buying and then to get multiple quotes. In my research, only BMWNA assures OEM parts at a BMW repair facility. Both were important to me with an M car.

Here is a link to what BMWNA offers;

http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Conte...rotection.aspx

Download the brochure.

Good luck!

Much obliged!

[HeartMD]

Originally Posted by quadpipes

You guys may be confusing apples and oranges. BMWNA does not offer an 'Easy Care' package and has no packages at 75K miles (only 70K and 100K miles). It would be offered by a third party. BMWNA, as well as others including Fidelity, offer a so called 'PowerTrain Plus' package.

And BMW dealers do push third party extended maintenance programs - like Fidelity - which would be fine for some people. BMW dealers also, of course, offer BMWNA extended maintenance. But curiously, I had to ask my dealer for the BMWNA programs only after being offered a program from Fidelity (probably due to higher markup on the third party programs).

It pays to research this topic a bit before buying and then to get multiple quotes. In my research, only BMWNA assures OEM parts at a BMW repair facility. Both were important to me with an M car.

Here is a link to what BMWNA offers;

http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Conte...rotection.aspx

Download the brochure.

Good luck!

+1 GOOD post. My car is relatively new but I plan on keeping it and Like OP was also confused.

[dsm918]

Which one of the three packages, powertrain plus, gold or platinum covers the DCT 100% ?

[Mike Benvo]

I bought the extended warranty on mine through the dealer (third party warranty) the day I purchased the car. It was about $3500 and extended it to 6 years or 75K miles, whichever comes first. 5 months out of the factory warranty I had a faulty idle control value and fuel pressure sensor. The warranty company paid $4K to have the dealer fix the car.

I also bought a tire warranty when I bought the car. Over the course of about 5 years, they have purchased four tires and one rim. Paid for itself.

Finally, before my factory warranty ended, I paid $3,495 for the extended maintenance. I haven't really used that yet - but my thoughts are that rotors/pads/oil changes/and spark plugs should all be due before the warranty expires, and I think adding all of that up might exceed the amount I paid...

So to sum it up, the eight thousand I paid in warranties was well worth it so far. My warranty company is Zurich and I was impressed at how fast they paid the last claim. Just make sure you do your homework on the extended warranty company and their policies. I had an extended warranty on my Jaguar and it didn't cover 'incidental damage'... so when a bearing failed inside the transmission and destroyed everything, they paid for the bearing, I paid for the rest

[adc]

Originally Posted by dsm918

Which one of the three packages, powertrain plus, gold or platinum covers the DCT 100% ?

The way I read the brochure, none of them cover the clutch in the DCT or manual boxes... So the answer is, no 100% transmission coverage is available.

[dsm918]

Originally Posted by adc

The way I read the brochure, none of them cover the clutch in the DCT or manual boxes... So the answer is, no 100% transmission coverage is available.

Any idea what goes wrong in the DCT, if at all?

[bchang2001]

Originally Posted by dsm918

Any idea what goes wrong in the DCT, if at all?

i think everyone is concerned with the clutch being part of the extended warranty. It is not because it is a maintenance issue. It is technically on the maintenance plan, but according to the service manager, clutches should not need to be replaced within the 4yr/50k miles maintenance warranty. If it does, it typically means that it has been abused which would not be covered.

[Coltgus]

First, I wouldn't consider anything that wasn't offered by BMWNA. 3rd party warranties are fraught with potential problems including bankruptcy and denial of claims. A lot of BMW dealers sell them and often people assume they are buying a warranty backed by BMW when they are not. The consenus on another BMW site is extended maintenance is not worth it but an extended warranty might be. You can get a discount of about 20% on a BMW extended warranty if you shop around, like a google search.

[oberthan]

Is the 20% discount that one can find available on the BMWNA warranty? It would be a big # for me as I've got an e92 M3 / DCT.