Quote:
Originally Posted by pbonsalb
Do you know that to be a fact? If accountants were involved, don’t you think they would be getting approval from the engineers as to what the engine needs? For example, do you think accountants decided the engine needed 10W60? Did accountants set the valve adjustment interval for the solid lifter S54? Given BMW warranties the cars for 4 years, I think engineers must have been consulted as to the maintenance schedule. I doubt the accounting department is coming up with random maintenance schedules purely based on minimizing upfront service costs without any input from the engineers that put together the drivetrain and tested it and actually know or should know what it needs for maintenance.
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In BMWs specific case, no. In general automotive and mechanical, yes. I make these calls on occasion as do my colleagues in other sectors including automotive who are our customers. If engineering does not have a forcefully compelling argument and we and or marketing want to provide “free” maintenance or sell the customer on reduced running costs we will make said adjustment to the end user warranty maintenance requirements. This of course tempered with acceptable risk that some units may have significant failures under or just outside the warranty period. Finance/accounting may make the call without marketing’s input if we are attempting to preserve profit margin or recover profit margin that is often sacrificed in the engineering phase.