Must make use of the warranty!

[Ade]

This is where people confuse human frailty with bits of replaceable tin put together

Glad to say this is my first trip to BMW, and the car's otherwise been perfect.

[shane@mbtech]

Originally Posted by jcremonini

I don't have a warranty and I don't (necessarily) moan. I've got £3k in the bank that you haven't I guess what ires me is that all the advice on here is you must have a warranty and you should not buy a car without one which is total ball locks.

My point is simple - if you , let's say, instead of putting £1k a year into the warranty put it in your bank account then if something goes wrong the chances are that it can be repaired for considerably less than the cost of replacement.

Also - am I the only one who would avoid a car, at all costs, which has had considerably warranty work done on it ? The warranty covers the cost of replacement - it does not cover the cost of inconvenience at being left in the middle of nowhere/ having the car off the road for weeks .

James.

Agree with what you are saying to a degree, but the only reason you have 3k more than me in the bank is because you have been lucky and not had issues.

If however you were unlucky and had say for instance a vanos failure, or an smg failure (pump etc) or even worse engine problems i know for a fact you wish you would have taken warranty out.
Electric issues can affect any car, i own a mercedes benz specialist and some ecu failures are very expensive, ecu's alone can be £1200.

Whether you have warranty or not, the inconvenience of being stranded at the side of the road is exactly the same, only if im stranded i wont be worried as ill know my car will be covered on warranty.

Even though i run my own garage i took out the warranty for piece of mind..

My time is free if a problem where to arise with no warranty, but i like to spend my weekends with my family not fixing my own car when a measly £1000 covers me for the whole year.

[jcremonini]

Originally Posted by lawsy

Agree with what you are saying to a degree, but the only reason you have 3k more than me in the bank is because you have been lucky and not had issues.

If however you were unlucky and had say for instance a vanos failure, or an smg failure (pump etc) or even worse engine problems i know for a fact you wish you would have taken warranty out.
Electric issues can affect any car, i own a mercedes benz specialist and some ecu failures are very expensive, ecu's alone can be £1200.

Whether you have warranty or not, the inconvenience of being stranded at the side of the road is exactly the same, only if im stranded i wont be worried as ill know my car will be covered on warranty.

Even though i run my own garage i took out the warranty for piece of mind..

My time is free if a problem where to arise with no warranty, but i like to spend my weekends with my family not fixing my own car when a measly £1000 covers me for the whole year.

Fair points. I have to add though that I did have an issue last year where the tyre deflation light was coming on 10 minutes into every journey. Took that to an independent who reset the fault code (for £0) and I have not seen it again. A BMW dealer would have, I am sure, replaced sensors etc unnecessarily.

My point in regards to being left in the middle of nowhere is that an unreliable car is still going to dump you in it, in terms of inconvenience, regardless of warranty and was enforcing my view that would steer clear of anything which was likely to do so.

James.

[Ade]

Well, a quick update before I forget - the fault turned out to be one of the SMG sensors that thought the car was braking hard all the time. Whilst in there, they replaced out the intake potentiometer and one of the cat sensors that started throwing a fault. After replacing the sensors and resetting everything, the car now shifts better than before with perfectly crisp and smooth changes, without any thuds. Although the parts changes were relatively minor, the complicated diagnostics took several hours. And when BMW are otherwise charging £129+vat per hour, the warranty is well worth it.

[NZ_M3]

Not trying to be rude or anything jcremonini, but that £3k you have in the bank wouldn't cover a major warranty claim on a car like a CSL (e.g. if your gearbox failed - and they do trust me - then you'd struggle to replace it with your £3k (it wouldn't even be enough to buy a new gearbox with discount), chances are you'd probably have to pick up a used gearbox and go to an indie shop to put it in). The electronics in these cars also take a ridiculous amount of time to reprogram (standard SMG reprogram and clutch initialisation is 6 hours charge out by dealerships).

Let me explain it from my perspective. I 've got an extended warranty on my CSL here in New Zealand until Aug 2010 - I've just been told that BMW NZ will no longer be offering extended warranty coverages on all BMWs from now on (i.e. they have effectively cancelled all forms of extended warranties) - I'd hate to have the car break down after my warranty expires and I have no choice but to look at an aftermarket version (which is in no way as comprehensive or as good as the BMW variant).

From my perspective it's better to have the option of being able to buy a genuine BMW warranty, then it is to have none at all (or in my case, an aftermarket alternative which will not be as good).

If it was any other car, like a Honda, Toyota or even a Nissan, then what you are saying makes complete sense (as parts are cheap for the Japanese equivalent - I know because I have friends in the industry in both Jap and Euro brands) but for a BMW, £3k is bugger all when it comes to warranty claims (heck, I've seen minis here locally with warranty claim values over £3k and this was dealership invoice price NOT retail!!)

[Mark CSL]

My new engine was 24k under warranty