extended warranty?

[spurto]

i have a 2006 3.0i roadster, the factory warranty expires in October. I'm not sure if it's worth getting the two year extended warranty offered by BMW. Thanks!

[GP20]

Extended maintenace warranty - yes. (the brakes and inspections pretty much cover themselves).
Extended bumper-to-bumper warranty - no. (Just set the money aside in your bank account for unexpected repairs)

[spurto]

thanks!

[mfanatic325]

I would personally vote no for the maintenance warranty as well, but only because I can do a lot of the maintenance items myself or with a friend. Brake pads, rotors, lines, fluid, engine oil and filter, transmission fluid, steering fluid, windshield wiper fluid, wiper blades, etc. etc.
Those are all really basic items that can't really be done wrong (besides maybe bleeding the brake fluid; but that's about it). And if OEM parts are needed, I can always get them for relatively cheap from Tischer BMW. Worse comes to worst, I can have a local BMW dealer price-match with Tischer, and then pick up the parts locally, etc.
This way I save on parts and labor.

But if you're not as mechanically inclined, nor care to get your hands dirty, then it might be worthwhile as far as the extended maintenance warranty goes. Try not to get ripped off though. Shop around for the best rates possible. They always claim they're giving you rock bottom prices, but we all know they're full of crap..

[schwank]

Mine is up on the m in a month ( wow exactly a month. I brough her home October 16. 4 years ago). Anyway I was quoted 2500 locally. I know I'll need inspection 2 on about 3500 miles (which is $1200) and I believe I'm going to pass on the extended maintenance. In my case it's probably almost a wash either way. I just don't drive it enough to get the remainder of the cost of the extended maintenance back.

[mbonadio]

I look at it as insurance. We bought extended warranties for our other non-bmw family cars when they were new. Got them pretty well discounted, but probably didn't use up all the cost. Both cars did eventually need something over 5 years. Mostly small stuff, but the dealers were good about doing what we asked so all the little stuff probably added up. My wife's honda needed a new driver seat track and an electrical harness which definitely validated her warranty!

Before my Z4 I had an older Audi TT. It was a maintenance nightmare. I bought it used, and spend a fortune on it. I finally got tired of fixing it, and traded it for my Z4. Glad I did!! Not just because of maintenance, but I did get a warranty for the Z4. It's just nice piece of mind for the next few years.

I'm not mechanically inclined - otherwise I'd definitely agree with what a few others have said. I tried to fix my TT once, and made it worse! LOL!

[Phillymb75]

I'm a high mileage driver, it was a given to get it. My original warranty expires this month. If you don't drive a lot, it's probably not worth it. I've already had the top motor replaced (clogged drain rusted it out), hoping to get brakes and a bunch of free maintenance.

It's worked out great on my X5, front and rear brakes plus a lot of other stuff (oil leak, hoses, belts). I'm hoping to hit a 100k miles on it just before it runs out next December, I'm at 75k now.

2006 X5 3.0i
2006 Z4 3.0i

[CalRick]

The maintenance plan is fairly easy to figure out - if you are likely to need an inspection and brake job - those are the two major maintenance expenses - in the next two years, it will probably be worthwhile, though one should also price out the local indy BMW shops to see if it still makes sense at their rates.

The warranty, as noted by others, is insurance, so it's a crapshoot as to whether it will pay off, though as usual the odds are stacked in favor of the house. If annual mileage is high then the odds move closer to being in your favor. Generally the best thing to do is to bank the premium and while one particular car may see covered repairs exceed the warranty cost, over a lifetime of cars you will be many dollars ahead by not buying the warranties (otherwise the warranty companies would not be in business.)

[Spaceman Spiff]

Note that the extended warranty's coverage falls shorter than the original warranty. To give you an idea, I had a problem with the softtop motor and they said they'd look @ it but if it turns out to be anything but an electrical problem (which is the only part covered by the extended warranty), they'd charge me $1,500+ for the diag. That's AFTER they charged me $180 to say it wasn't related to something else that the warranty also covered. Basically notwithstanding serious engine/trans/electrical problems, the extended warranty is not worth a dime.

[spurto]

Thank you all!
it's currently got 28k miles. i put on a lot of miles initially because i went on a road trip but i actually don't drive that much. haven't had any major problems since i bought the car, just minor squeaks and rattles that BMW has been glad to fix. I'm starting to think i don't need it, but my biggest concern is that if the squeak comes back when it's not under warranty. It squeaks on warm days when the roof is down, it's been fixed once before and returned. I'm taking it in today to have it repaired for good hopefully!

[dekaliber]

The fact that the economists and statisticians at BMW have figured out that the cost and likelihood of warranty work is less than the cost of the extended warranty plan makes me think that buying an extended warranty is foolish. The fact that this and this can happen makes me think twice.

[spurto]

good point