Should I maintain warranty?

[deanobeano]

Evening all

Your thoughts on maintaining my Mondial Fully comp warranty would be appreciated.

Firstly, my CSL is not my primary or secondary mode of transportation (I wish it was!)

Last year I did less than 1500 miles and he spends the winter tucked up in the garage.

Since purchasing the only warranty claim was for a diff seal.

Warranty was taken out on monthly DD just before the car turned 60K miles.

£105 per month

My tight wad gene tells me to cancel the warranty after the car has been run for a few months over the summer.

However the mileage (61.4k) is getting to the stage where head gaskets etc may rear their ugly heads

Anyone know how much to reinstate fully comp cover with >60K miles if I change my mind in the future?

With the warranty suspended, the ongoing annual costs are (on the surface small) and the afore mentioned gene likes this...

Your thoughts, gentlemen and CSLgirl please.

[Trawler]

This is where you will get a split in answers.

I will start it off by saying NO.

[shimmy]

I'd say no as well, but just to counter that 60-75k is in my experience the most expensive age of the CSL (for BMW) :supz:

[j88 csl]

My indie told me when i bought mine to put £100 a month aside instead of the warranty. Especially as it's a weekend car doing less than 3k a year....I have of course saved nothing and will probably get bitten in the arse very soon.

[deanobeano]

I like the idea of 'setting money aside'

how much would a head gasket by at a indie or (god forbid) main dealer?

[0836whimper]

For that mileage I would say no.

[cslsuperfan]

putting 1200 quid away a year is a sizeable sum and as long as its 2 to 3 years before you need to fix something major then it would work.

I have had warranty for 4 years and never claimed. I would never cancel the warranty because I know my car, like yours is heading into the middle age spread period (60K plus)

If you can finance the monthly outgoing keep the warranty going. just my opinion since you asked.:thumbs:

[Graham]

I like the idea of 'setting money aside'

how much would a head gasket by at a indie or (god forbid) main dealer?

At an indie you're looking about £600.

Setting money aside seems best.

[shimmy]

putting 1200 quid away a year is a sizeable sum and as long as its 2 to 3 years before you need to fix something major then it would work.

I have had warranty for 4 years and never claimed. I would never cancel the warranty because I know my car, like yours is heading into the middle age spread period (60K plus)

If you can finance the monthly outgoing keep the warranty going. just my opinion since you asked.:thumbs:

I have had a warranty for about 3.5 years and I think BMW have spent about £23k on her.

[Trawler]

I have had a warranty for about 3.5 years and I think BMW have spent about £23k on her.

Nothing to do with the driver then :hahaha:

[s1csl]

I have had a warranty for about 3.5 years and I think BMW have spent about £23k on her.

£26K when I had mine in 2years , I would keep the warranty while you can as you may not have a choice soon

[Pip1968]

I would say "No". Save the money. I say that with someone who has a BMW/Mondial warranty. I have had it since buying the car in 2007 with 24,500 miles on the clock. I am now on 38,000 or so and have only had a claim for rear springs and that was after much pushing (car was sat noticeably higher one side over the other much to BMW's insistance that it was not).

Hindsight is great. With that sort of annual mileage and the fact that this is not your primary or even secondary car the pointers are to save the money.

Pip

[shane@mbtech]

£26K when I had mine in 2years , I would keep the warranty while you can as you may not have a choice soon

You can't compare BMW bill to mondial to what it would cost in reality.

[shimmy]

You can't compare BMW bill to mondial to what it would cost in reality.

But even if you say 50% cost it is worth it for a tracked car. And at meats BMW give you new bits, not old seconds hand stuff if you do it yourself.

[titan]

I never had a warranty on mine and didn't miss it for one moment. When I sold it, none of the enquiries I had were deal breakers due to lack of it.

I know lots of you have had warranty work done, even on cars with modifications so it sounds a good'un. There are however plenty of stories of people with warranties not being honoured - knackered engines are the drivers fault for not checking oil levels etc.

Warranty on a 10yr+ old car? Its not a warranty from the manufacturer, that's just an insurance policy.

Sticking £1200 away a year does start to build up and if you get your issues fixed at an independent I think you would be cash positive.

On a modded CSL what are the things you're protecting against or worried about ? Engine, SMG, Floor are surely the main things. Rumour is that floor repairs for cars over 10 years are now not being covered, or is that the goodwill freebie for people without warranties?

I've never had any issues with cars that have been looked after and treated right. So I wouldn't bother.

It is exactly like insurance - never make a claim and you wondered why you bothered. I suppose the day you need a new engine you'd be glad you did.

[s1csl]

You can't compare BMW bill to mondial to what it would cost in reality.

The point was it cost them not me, I don't think a saving of £1k a year over 2years would cover the cost of my bill so warranty worked for me

[mattCSLnut]

This is where you will get a split in answers.

I will start it off by saying NO.

If the Cecil in question was a daily driver then I'd say YES, keep paying the Warranty monthly DDs ... but since it's a "Weekend Warrior" and spends the winter months in hibernation, just like mine, I'd say NO as well.
I've had warranty on mine for the first 3 years of ownership by which time I got to know my Cecil very well and managed to get a few Big ticket items like the Diff in the bag :smokin:
Also since my car always had Warranty all of it's life it's had most of the common things (and then some) changed anyway :thumbs:
Now that BMW are struggling in supplying items like engines under Warranty (just look @ Bill's predicament) it seems a bit pointless since most of us have this warranty for the BIG stuff like the engine going Bang! ... I've decided to end my monthly DDs about 18 months ago and I haven't looked back :smokin:
Like others have said, put a few £££ aside into an ISA or whatever saving AC you have and keep checking & changing things like engine oil & filter Religiously and a lot more often then BMW recommend. Also get to know a decent, knowledgeable BMW Indy, should the worst happen.

[Bounce]

Just renewed mine on DD at 80k miles.peace of mind and all that.always get back more than I paid in,so it makes sense for me;)

[Mark CSL]

My car had over 60k of warranty work in the 6 years i owned it
i would never buy another m car without it

Just my 2p worth :whistle:

[glendog74]

I haven't had warranty on mine for 3 years now and have had no need for anything since I let it lapse in 2011 and have saved myself over £3500 by doing so.

My car has done minimal miles during this time however (<10k) and has sat in a garage for much of it!

[JBird]

My car had over 60k of warranty work in the 6 years i owned it
i would never buy another m car without it

Just my 2p worth :whistle:

Geewiz 60k? Isn't the sum of all warranty claims capped at the price you brought the car for?

I got mine with 23k on the clock, ran it as a daily for a year to get to know the car and uncover any gremlins. Ended up cost neutral after 2 years. Now since its become a second car am also thinking of ditching the warranty, atleast till it reaches 59,999!

[shimmy]

Geewiz 60k? Isn't the sum of all warranty claims capped at the price you brought the car for?

I got mine with 23k on the clock, ran it as a daily for a year to get to know the car and uncover any gremlins. Ended up cost neutral after 2 years. Now since its become a second car am also thinking of ditching the warranty, atleast till it reaches 59,999!


Only the Mondial warranty, not the original BMW warranty.

[Trawler]

My car had over 60k of warranty work in the 6 years i owned it
i would never buy another m car without it

Just my 2p worth :whistle:

I'm speechless, 60k.

On the other side of the coin. Had cesil nearly 8 years and added nearly 37k on the clock, now 54k. Never took up the option of warranty. Costs so far other than consumables, (new APs, etc) are broken spring and one wheel bearing. Hope my luck holds out as Cesil is a keeper.

[deanobeano]

Interesting replies all.

I'm taxing the beast tomorrow and will spend the next few months trying to put some more miles on him.

After that I will take another look at the warranty yes/no question.

I must admit, for a couple of days this week, I was tempted to sell and get a M135. However, the video on the m235 v's CSL made me realise that this was pure folly.

A monthly warranty costs alot less than how much a new 1 series would shed.

[gav]

Yes.
But it may take a long time for them to get oem parts so may work out better just to sort Indy if problems can be managed quicker.

[s1csl]

Yes.
But it may take a long time for them to get oem parts so may work out better just to sort Indy if problems can be managed quicker.

You have to put oem parts on a CSL after all it is the greatest M car BMW built, scrap yard parts off a M3 would not do:bigcry:

[gav]

You have to put oem parts on a CSL after all it is the greatest M car BMW built, scrap yard parts off a M3 would not do:bigcry:

There was no indication in relation to standard m3 parts.
This relates to the fact that BMW simply don't have certain csl specific parts any more and rather than wait for them to try and make them and go warranty repair route, other avenues may need to be explored. An example could be replacement carbon roof (not a great example), they just don have them so would need to work something else out in that instance.
I would definitely recommend warranty on a csl though.

[GregorJP]

I have had a warranty for about 3.5 years and I think BMW have spent about £23k on her.

I asked exactly this question on this forum after I bought mine on 55k miles just over 3 years ago. At the time, I used her as a second car, putting about 5k miles a year on. I did about 5 track days a year, including two Ring and Spa trips. Resoundingly, the answer I got was "yes". Elms also advised that I should put one on.

Between 55k and 66k miles, BMW did a ton of work, including top end rebuild of the engine, new gearbox, new clutch, new alternator, etc. I also had the subframe repair completed, no questions asked. I reckon on 20k at least. I also spent at least 8k of my own money maintaining and improving the car. When running regularly, a warranty brings peace of mind.

Since April of last year, I've put her in storage because I bought a GTR and at that time, I stopped the warranty.

1,500 miles a year is such a middling amount of mileage that it's hard to justify a warranty. But if something significant goes wrong (and unfortunately, CSLs are far from perfect, as the Technical section of this site shows), then it will easily cost more than £1,200 to get fixed properly at Elms.

That's my two cents as well. Now, who wants to buy my car? :finga:

[JBird]

Only the Mondial warranty, not the original BMW warranty.

Interesting, when is a warranty a mondial one and when is it a BMW factory one? Doesn't every warranty become a mondial one after a year? Mine was retailed as stealer approved used car in 2009, has had a continous warranty since, but seems to be the mondial one (they deal with the claims anyway). I still have an additional wallet in the glovebox from when it was retailed, and the warranty booklet is the mondial one, presumably just paid for 1 year in full.

[shimmy]

Not 100% sure if it swaps after 2 or 3 years but what matters is that BMW carry out the inspections and manage the works.mondial (now Axa I think) don't get tok involved,just underwrite the CSL losses :)

[CraigMillwardCroft]

Not 100% sure if it swaps after 2 or 3 years but what matters is that BMW carry out the inspections and manage the works.mondial (now Axa I think) don't get tok involved,just underwrite the CSL losses :)

Would not trust anything with AXA's name to it.

[s.mac]

Mine is due for renewal in May. I won't be renewing. The car went to Germany and back last year, not worth it for the limited mileage .
Most parts are new so another reason for me not to renew. The cars at BMW getting a full check over and MOT before it runs out :)

[s1csl]

There was no indication in relation to standard m3 parts.
This relates to the fact that BMW simply don't have certain csl specific parts any more and rather than wait for them to try and make them and go warranty repair route, other avenues may need to be explored. An example could be replacement carbon roof (not a great example), they just don have them so would need to work something else out in that instance.
I would definitely recommend warranty on a csl though.

Lucky I have a spare CSL roof then:blalalala:

[CraigMillwardCroft]

Lucky I have a spare CSL roof then:blalalala:

You don't have a car for it though :whistle:

[CraigMillwardCroft]

Just wondering if I should cancel my BMW warranty as car is a garage queen ;)

[Das Chin]

once the last of the late reg cars go past the ten years that will be your lot.

I think there are a few 05 cars out there. that's it. 10 years is done and BMW won't be interested in the slightest. same as Porsche.

if you are doing small mileage then no point in the warranty. my car is over 100k miles but did not bother me. put the money in the bank and if after 3 years you have saved 3.5k then great. I save £100 a month for running costs/wear n tear just in case.

you can't expect to run a car, that was 60k new, to have the running costs of a 114i. especially when they are 10 years old now and have been 'well used'...

CSLs (like any other road car if you use it on the track) will wear more quickly. they are still heavy compared to caterhams and Atoms so they will wear parts. 1 track mile = 10-15 road miles. do the maths.

I think a lot of certain CSL dealers did very well out of BMW when it came to 'warranty' repairs and maybe there was a case of things being done when they did not need to.

when I had my black one I had a friendly dealer that would pretty much replace anything you asked them to. BMW HQ were severely burnt on the CSL warranty costs.

[mattCSLnut]

once the last of the late reg cars go past the ten years that will be your lot.

I think there are a few 05 cars out there. that's it. 10 years is done and BMW won't be interested in the slightest. same as Porsche.

if you are doing small mileage then no point in the warranty. my car is over 100k miles but did not bother me. put the money in the bank and if after 3 years you have saved 3.5k then great. I save £100 a month for running costs/wear n tear just in case.

you can't expect to run a car, that was 60k new, to have the running costs of a 114i. especially when they are 10 years old now and have been 'well used'...

CSLs (like any other road car if you use it on the track) will wear more quickly. they are still heavy compared to caterhams and Atoms so they will wear parts. 1 track mile = 10-15 road miles. do the maths.


That kind of calculation will make Shimmy's Cecil at least a 1 000 000 miler ;)

[shimmy]

once the last of the late reg cars go past the ten years that will be your lot.

I think there are a few 05 cars out there. that's it. 10 years is done and BMW won't be interested in the slightest. same as Porsche.

if you are doing small mileage then no point in the warranty. my car is over 100k miles but did not bother me. put the money in the bank and if after 3 years you have saved 3.5k then great. I save £100 a month for running costs/wear n tear just in case.

you can't expect to run a car, that was 60k new, to have the running costs of a 114i. especially when they are 10 years old now and have been 'well used'...

CSLs (like any other road car if you use it on the track) will wear more quickly. they are still heavy compared to caterhams and Atoms so they will wear parts. 1 track mile = 10-15 road miles. do the maths.

I think a lot of certain CSL dealers did very well out of BMW when it came to 'warranty' repairs and maybe there was a case of things being done when they did not need to.

when I had my black one I had a friendly dealer that would pretty much replace anything you asked them to. BMW HQ were severely burnt on the CSL warranty costs.

That kind of calculation will make Shimmy's Cecil at least a 1 000 000 miler ;)


I think you both need to take a break and do something else :birdman:

[s1csl]

You don't have a car for it though :whistle:

You may be right but I could cut it about and fit it to my 2cv :smokin:

[s1csl]

Just wondering if I should cancel my BMW warranty as car is a garage queen ;)

Have you had Brett round to build one or does it sit out still?

[0836whimper]

once the last of the late reg cars go past the ten years that will be your lot.

I think there are a few 05 cars out there. that's it. 10 years is done and BMW won't be interested in the slightest....

.... BMW HQ were severely burnt on the CSL warranty costs.

There's just a sliding scale of cost and >100k miles gets prohibitively expensive. But they will keep taking your money I suspect.

And the BMW HQ costs for keeping the UK CSL fleet running sweetly are a drop in the ocean of their overall figures, not sure anyone even noticed the specific model anomalies. Comes with the territory of a major manufacturer making a low volume car, all the normal post sale support applies.

[CraigMillwardCroft]

You may be right but I could cut it about and fit it to my 2cv :smokin:

:hahaha::hahaha::hahaha:

[CraigMillwardCroft]

Have you had Brett round to build one or does it sit out still?

No still outside and off to Circuit de Bretange in August again great track. :thumbs: Could not bring myself to make the car a garage queen (What a waste of a great track car)