Extended Warranty / Service Agreements

My 2011 550xi is approaching 48,000 miles... I average 25,000 miles per year and plan on keeping the car..

What's the consensus on going for the BMW extended Warranty and/or Service Plans?

The Extended Service plan to 100 K miles looks like this makes sense since it covers brakes, fluids, filters etc...

The Extended Warranty plans are a little more dicey...

Opinions or ideas of reasonable MSRP discount amount to haggle?

I'm in the same boat, but maybe 10 months away from having to make the same decision. I'm not a fan of extended warranties, but those turbos are expensive.

Originally Posted by dunderhi

I'm in the same boat, but maybe 10 months away from having to make the same decision. I'm not a fan of extended warranties, but those turbos are expensive.

Did you ever determine if the extended warranty will work with your Dinan tune? I've hesitated on getting the stage 2 because I plan on keeping the 550 with a BMW extended warranty. I know a lot can depend on the service folks, but it would be nice to have some assurance.

I have cut and pasted the below from a prior post. I believe for drivers like you (ones that are putting 20,000 plus miles a year on your car) the maintenance plan is good and will pay for itself if you buy it right.


Back in 2009 I toyed with the idea of buying an extended maintenance policy for my 2006 E60 530. I did my homework and learned a lot from the various forums. One thing that came out was BMW dealers could charge what ever they wanted to. There is no set price. Some of the prices were in the $3,000 range. Most were in the low $2,000 range with a few in the high teens.

I won't debate if they are a good purchase or not. That has been beaten to death. I decided to go ahead and buy one. I called several local BMW dealers in the Los Angeles area and found the wide range of prices as I mentioned above. One was $1,695 plus tax. Nice try, there is no tax on these policies.

In my search, I came across a posting that recommended United BMW of Gwinnett in Duluth Georgia. The Internet Sales Manager, Justin Hoisington, handles the sales of the extended maintenance policy for the dealer.

I sent him and email with the year (2006), Model (530I) and mileage (33,000) and he quickly emailed me back a price of $1,695. I sent him the key with a credit card authorization form that he emailed me and it was a done deal. I have no affiliation with Mr. Hoisington besides being a satisfied customer. I am not even sure he is still working with BMW.

Here is his information;

Justin Hoisington
Internet Sales Manager
707-622-8251 direct line
478.918.7093 mobile
jhoisington@penskeautomotive.com
United BMW of Gwinnett
3264 Commerce Ave.
Duluth, GA 30096
www.gwinnettbmw.com
770.476.8800 main line
770.623.8933 fax

The other side of it is the extended warranty. On that one I elected to go with Mercury Insurance based on my SA recommendation. BMW CPO and other extended warranties do not cover some electronics or the iDrive. Mercury does.

I have bought two from them; one for my 2006 530I for $2200 zero deductible for 5 years 75,000 miles. Another for my daughters 2007 328I for $1900 zero deductible for 5 years 100,000 miles.

Email Damien Trombetta at damien.Trombetta@alliedsolutions.net. Good luck.

Damien Trombetta
Auto Warranty Specialist
Allied Solutions Insurance Services, LLC
800-826-9384 x 23319
800-447-9395 Fax
949-257-7515 Cell

Does Mercury cover wear-and-tear in addition to mechanical breakdown?

I bought the extended warranty for my 2008 535 xi - first car I ever bought warranty from. I am glad I did - in the 7,000 miles out of warranty I have had to take the car in three times for issues that would have cost a couple of thousands. The profit margin on extended warranty from BMW is quite high - I would shop around. I got the best price from Daniel Dutton at Pacific BMW.

Originally Posted by skohler

Did you ever determine if the extended warranty will work with your Dinan tune? I've hesitated on getting the stage 2 because I plan on keeping the 550 with a BMW extended warranty. I know a lot can depend on the service folks, but it would be nice to have some assurance.

I suggest that you check with your dealer. I've been told it's not a problem and I know of one Dinan-tuned 750 owner who got both of his turbos replaced under the extended warranty. Dinan also offers an extended warranty, but I haven't looked into it yet, since I'm trying to decide whether I am keeping the car or not.

Thanks- my dealer told me that Dinan and BMW had competely separated and that dealers no longer install or maintain anything Dinan. For me that was a red flag that I wouldn't get any love with a repair that they could in any way pin on Dinan. That is what got me thinking about the extended warranty issue if I chose that route. I asked about the DC dealer(s) that still install Dinan software and he mumbled something about them not being allowed to do that.

Of course I could to to one of the few dealers around that work with both, but I think the closest one is well over an hour away. Do-able but not my first choice.

Originally Posted by Ace535i

Does Mercury cover wear-and-tear in addition to mechanical breakdown?

No. For that you would want BMWs extended maintenance plan.

Which is the wiser choice:

- a platinum BMW extended warranty plus the extended maintenance?

- a third party policy that covers both mechanical breakdown and wear n' tear?

I would buy BMW every time. Deepest pockets and most harmed by negative publicity if they try to weasel out of a repair. "Wear" items are usually not as costly to replace as "broken" items

Originally Posted by fplanner2000

I would buy BMW every time. Deepest pockets and most harmed by negative publicity if they try to weasel out of a repair. "Wear" items are usually not as costly to replace as "broken" items

Good point! The BMW platinum does not cover electronics however. Any suggestions?

My understanding is that Platinum covers Navi screen and i-drive, but I could be wrong.

You can download the BMW NA Extended Warranty Brochure Here:

http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Conte...rotection.aspx

Says Platinum covers the Navi etc. I normally prefer the manufacturer backed extended warranty. However, I had one issue with the BMW product.

One coverage I don't see is some suspension items such as the tie rods. I had another car that required their replacement after 5 years ($500). That car was known to have more tie rod problems than other models so it was clear that it was a manufacturing/design issue.

The dealer finance guy had other options. I finally opted for a 7/100K extended warranty from Fidelity Warranty Services - an alternative plan offered by a few BMW dealers in the DC area. It is the same underwriter that backs Audi. I went to the Audi NA website to confirm this fact.

http://www.audiusa.com/us/brand/en/f...re_select.html

Look on the right side of the web page for the link to the brochure. At first read, it is a bit confusing due to Audi throwing in "brake pads and other wear items." However, if you review it carefully it becomes clear that this is Audi's extended warranty with Fidelity indicated on the first page.

Since other DC area dealers offer that contract, I called around. They were all within 10% of the $3450 quote I got from my selling dealer (by the way the BMW NA 7/100K platinum product was quoted at $3900). To simplify the negotiation process, I offered a 20% discount to make a deal on the Audi (Fidellity) contract. The finance rep accepted my offer.

A few conclusions:

1. If you are interested in an extended warranty when you purchase the vehicle, state that fact to the Sales rep before visiting the dealer. My sales rep put me in touch with the finance guy right away. He sent me brochures, answered my questions and then negotiated over the phone/via email. All was agreed before visiting the Finance office; documents were ready with little need for face to face negiotiation.

2. I still prefer a manufacturer extended warranty. However, it pays to read the fine print of what is covered and the exclusions clause of the contract. Something may jump out that is not covered and you have experienced problems with that component. The exclusions clause is critical if the contract states "all components" are covered."

3. Whatever contract you select, shop around for the best price. If you do not wish to pursue the manufacturer product, attempt to find other dealers that offer the alternative product that your dealer pushes. If that fails, research who underwrites the alternative non-manufanturer product and go to the corporate site of the entity that underwrites it. I noticed the Fidelity site has a way to get a quote from its web site. One note of caution, there are a lot of internet warranty scams out there and message boards are effusive with horror stories. If you depend on the internet - be extremely careful as to who you are dealing with.

Finally - I will put in a plug for my selling dealer; BMW of Silver Spring. They accomodated my buying strategy 100%. I made the deal on a 2012 BMW 528i and the extended warranty over the phone and via email. I spent a total of about 2.5 hrs in one visit to the dealer to take delivery; including test drive.

Salesman - Jakob Reykehl
Finance - Anthony Lucas
l

Originally Posted by FreqMan

You can download the BMW NA Extended Warranty Brochure Here:

http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Conte...rotection.aspx

Says Platinum covers the Navi etc. I normally prefer the manufacturer backed extended warranty. However, I had one issue with the BMW product.

One coverage I don't see is some suspension items such as the tie rods. I had another car that required their replacement after 5 years ($500). That car was known to have more tie rod problems than other models so it was clear that it was a manufacturing/design issue.

The dealer finance guy had other options. I finally opted for a 7/100K extended warranty from Fidelity Warranty Services - an alternative plan offered by a few BMW dealers in the DC area. It is the same underwriter that backs Audi. I went to the Audi NA website to confirm this fact.

http://www.audiusa.com/us/brand/en/f...re_select.html

Look on the right side of the web page for the link to the brochure. At first read, it is a bit confusing due to Audi throwing in "brake pads and other wear items." However, if you review it carefully it becomes clear that this is Audi's extended warranty with Fidelity indicated on the first page.

Since other DC area dealers offer that contract, I called around. They were all within 10% of the $3450 quote I got from my selling dealer (by the way the BMW NA 7/100K platinum product was quoted at $3900). To simplify the negotiation process, I offered a 20% discount to make a deal on the Audi (Fidellity) contract. The finance rep accepted my offer.

A few conclusions:

1. If you are interested in an extended warranty when you purchase the vehicle, state that fact to the Sales rep before visiting the dealer. My sales rep put me in touch with the finance guy right away. He sent me brochures, answered my questions and then negotiated over the phone/via email. All was agreed before visiting the Finance office; documents were ready with little need for face to face negiotiation.

2. I still prefer a manufacturer extended warranty. However, it pays to read the fine print of what is covered and the exclusions clause of the contract. Something may jump out that is not covered and you have experienced problems with that component. The exclusions clause is critical if the contract states "all components" are covered."

3. Whatever contract you select, shop around for the best price. If you do not wish to pursue the manufacturer product, attempt to find other dealers that offer the alternative product that your dealer pushes. If that fails, research who underwrites the alternative non-manufanturer product and go to the corporate site of the entity that underwrites it. I noticed the Fidelity site has a way to get a quote from its web site. One note of caution, there are a lot of internet warranty scams out there and message boards are effusive with horror stories. If you depend on the internet - be extremely careful as to who you are dealing with.

Finally - I will put in a plug for my selling dealer; BMW of Silver Spring. They accomodated my buying strategy 100%. I made the deal on a 2012 BMW 528i and the extended warranty over the phone and via email. I spent a total of about 2.5 hrs in one visit to the dealer to take delivery; including test drive.

Salesman - Jakob Reykehl
Finance - Anthony Lucas
l

Thanks for the great write-up! Do have a feel for the wholesale pricing for BMW warranties?

No feel for wholesale pricing...I tried searching for wholesale pricing when I was working my deal but couldn't find specific posts on bimmerfest or elsewhere

There is a lot of discussion about extended warranty mark-up in several forums for various car models. I recall Bimmerfest posters providing their input too.

Good luck.