Warranties?..worth it or not?
 

Hi,

Can of worms I know but, what's the general opinion on warranties?

Got a quote on a BMW one to cover the engine and drivetrain for around £1600ish pa.

Having had warranties in the past on various cars, I'm well aware how far over some companies bend to try and avoid coughing up should the worst occur. My current GP doesn't have one and although any serious fault costs aren't going to be as eye watering as a CSL, they aren't going to be cheap!

At the moment am leaning towards not bothering and, in theory, putting the annual warranty cost to one side to pay for potential mishaps. Yes things can go pop but, on a modern car things may be better designed and put together meaning drastic failures aren't a regular occurrence?

So, thoughts and advice appreciated, as ever

Secondly, did the CSL have an alarm as standard? May look like a silly question but the R53 GP never had one as standard.

Cheers :beer:

BMW Warranty is great and they cover most things

Yes the CSL has a cat 1 alarm :thumbs:

Thanks for that Mark. :thumbs:

Just trying to get all odds and sods sorted so when Aviva lay the golden egg I can just concentrate on finding the right car having already looked into the trivial stuff.

In 5 yrs I'm about even on cost v claim. But had peace of mind along the way (which IMO has value). So I fall on the the yes side.

For some it's paid dividends, for others not.

There really isn't any right any right answer tbh.

Thanks bud.

I appreciate there isn't a right or a wrong answer hence my can of worms comment in the OP.

Just thought it'd be worth gauging opinions,do you have the BMW Warranty?

Anyone else think we could do with a "thanks" button? :whistle:

I had a BMW warranty on mine for four years, but due to how long they take to get a an engine decided to cancel and put money aside for any problems rather than line BMW's pocket for a poor service.

I also had a BMW warranty for 4 years but decided to cancel as I had exceeded my limit of £33,500.00 of claims.

£33500 worth of claims??

F***ing priceless shim.


I have just cancelled mine after 5 years of Direct debits and no claims submitted...........so I'm due a thrown rod on my next TD!!!!!

It was for me but not anymore. Similar story to Shimmy

Thanks for the replies guys.

With at least one of the answers I was swerving toward buying a CS.

Then you start to get the gist of who the jokers are :thumbs:

Still learning my way around remember :whistle:

Yup, BMW mondial, monthly payment.

Does look like a joke.......but not I am afraid :smokin:

What can go wrong to cost that much?

Unless you had a shite run of luck.

You can soon get to 30k

Engine is the main one

But it can start with a head gasket and go from there.
Then Diff, smg pump, clutch, flywheel , alternator and on and on

I don't drive mine now, it's a new car and I prefer to keep it that way, I had my fun with the old parts ;)

Ok, so, anyone not had major problems?

I have read many times how the M3 engine is a gem. Is there any mechanical difference to the CSL version besides a more aggressive cam? IIRC it has a different map to the std M3 but can't see BMW mapping it so it becomes very highly strung, enough to make it a liability?

SMG faults are normal on all M3's with it fitted are they not?..or does the different settings on the CSL create more hassle with it?

I'm not expecting a 2003 car to not have problems but the only answers to this topic have been doom and gloom...144 views and 16 replies at the time of typing this, not a very good ratio of views to replies.

The whole idea of buying one is for it to be an investment, one that will also be used and looked after, not a bank draining liability.

Have to say, answers so far make me wonder if it's going to be worth the hassle of starting it up and wondering when it's going to blow up.

It's not all doom and gloom and if we didn't have warranty you could fix for a lot less cash.
Great cars but like any car that gets tracked you will have money to spend.

There are more cars that are kept like garage queens these days

Like others I used to have one, but I never got value for money, the car doesn't get used so much any more and parts were getting scarce, so I sacked it off and am prepared to pay the money saved up if anything does break.

Cheers bud,

Appreciate that any car that gets tracked is likely to have more potential issues however, I wouldn't track it. If I got the urge for a track day I already have an ideally suited car that would far outweigh my driving abilities.

It wouldn't be a 100% garage queen, intend to insure for 5000 miles pa and to use every one of them.

Your reply is appreciated though.

Notice you're Notts way, I'm in sunny Derby :thumbs:

I've had my CSL almost 7 years and I actually broke even with my warranty costs over the first 3 years that I had warranty cover but only due to a head gasket replacement. I haven't had warranty cover for almost 4 years now and have saved thousands although I use the car much less nowadays and have had nothing go awry... I would be inclined not to bother with warranty cover personally.

Thank you

I had warranty for the first four years and no warranty for the last 4.

84,000 miles in and warranty cost far out weighs claims.

no claims for me in 2 years so far .. but previous owner had new cylinder head after Vanos failed ( almost £8K) and previous owners to him had bits & pieces done, think it had a diff

Lots of things are replaced under warranty that are also not needed.

Bmw tend to function on a replace part basis. When you're not paying that's fine, but when you are paying you find specialists that fix things, or have spares dotted about.

Other than the cams the engine is no different to m3. Head gaskets can and do go. SMG is same.

It's totally a personal question, think of the warranty as just insurance as that's what it is. Do you need the insurance or do you take the risk.

I absolutely hammered my CSL and other than a noisy vanos, that was replaced, it was reliable.

I wouldn't have a warranty nowadays.

Many thanks for the replies.

Have to say I'm leaning toward not getting a warranty, not sure I'd overtrust Main Dealers with any work needed.

No warranty on my current vehicle and all servicing or anything that has needed doing (in the case of the modifications not needed doing) has been done by a Mini specialist. Fraction of the cost of the dealers and, more importantly, they know what they're doing and don't look at you as though yiou have a £ sign tattooed on your forehead!

Hate tempting fate, but I did not extend the original manufacturers warranty after it ran out. Only had to replace a broken spring & a wheel bearing since then Long may the reliability continue. :smt055

I've now reached the conclusion that the warranty honeymoon is over.

For me the success of the warranty was because of the support and expertise of the dealer (Elms) and the parts backup available. Now it seems both of these are questionable.

The priority is making sure the car is A1, if I can't trust the dealer to do that then what's the point of the warranty.

The balance of cost vs vehicle performance risk used to be clearly in favour of having a warranty, now it's nowhere near as clear cut.

Proactive maintenance, frequent oil/filter changes (engine, gearbox and diff), careful warming up every time it's used (road and track) and cooling down after track sessions along with an element of mechanical sympathy has paid dividends in my experience. No warranty for me.

*Edit* Actually, having no fookin time to drive the bastard over the last year has also contributed!! :banghead::bigcry: