Used BMW. Can you get a warranty from BMW?

DHFrame

Hey, Just bought a lovely 2008 118i. I was wondering if anyone can tell me if BMW offer some kind of warranty on a car brought in off the street, not purchased from them originally. I am definitely going to get them to service me in the future anyhoo.

Anan1

If the car has a current BMW warranty then it can be extended, otherwise no.

DHFrame

Ok thanks. Good to know. I might look at getting a warranty online or something. Skeptical about that though. Just handy if your gearbox falls off one day.

Victor Meldrew

DHFrame wrote: »

Ok thanks. Good to know. I might look at getting a warranty online or something. Skeptical about that though. Just handy if your gearbox falls off one day.

http://www.bmw-warranty.ie/Pages/Home.aspx

Yes you can.

But it is not cheap. however it does cover a lot and can go up to the value YOU paid for the car.

Note, over 100,000kms, you can only get driveline, which has a cap of €6,700.

Anan1

Victor Meldrew wrote: »

http://www.bmw-warranty.ie/Pages/Home.aspx

Yes you can.

But it is not cheap. however it does cover a lot and can go up to the value YOU paid for the car.

That's new.

Nonoperational

Not sure about the BMW warranty, but be very careful of companies selling warranties online. You basically have to prove that it was a failure not any wear or tear. This usually means you pay for everything and you might get something back after they inspect the parts.

If they do cover wear and tear, it can still be a disaster especially in Ireland because garages aren't used to dealing with 3rd part warranties, and are unlikely to wait for 20 minutes on hold to a company in the UK.

Victor Meldrew

Nonoperational wrote: »

Not sure about the BMW warranty, but be very careful of companies selling warranties online. You basically have to prove that it was a failure not any wear or tear. This usually means you pay for everything and you might get something back after they inspect the parts.

If they do cover wear and tear, it can still be a disaster especially in Ireland because garages aren't used to dealing with 3rd part warranties, and are unlikely to wait for 20 minutes on hold to a company in the UK.

Also look at the ceiling on what they will pay out. €3,000 is not a lot when you need to replace a modern engine...

coylemj

Those warranties should be viewed in the same boat as mobile phone insurance policies, they are full of exclusions and most of your money goes in sales commission so there isn't much left over to pay actual claims, hence they try to weasel out of paying using any excuse they can dream up.

I bought a new car several years ago and before the manufacturer's warranty expired I had the option to purchase an extended warranty. When I phoned the sales guy who sold me the car to enquire about exercising the option, he was completely upfront and said the following: "an extended warranty is an insurance policy, I will get commission for selling it, the local salesman for the insurance company will get his commission and the insurance company themselves will make a profit. In short, there are too many snouts in the trough so if I was you, I wouldn't bother, it's crap value for money!".

So I did, and fortunately the car gave me another three years trouble-free motoring.

bazz26

As said these after market warranties even ones being offered through BMW are really only insurance policies and should be treated as so. They are usually full of terms and conditions so make sure you read and understand all the small print before signing up. They may look attractive in offering peace of mind when signing up but when it comes to actually making a claim against one that's when all these exclusions come into play.

Cerco

As other have said, it is and insurance policy. If you plan on getting main dealer servicing I would certainly recommend the BMW warranty. The dealers will be only too willing to identify other issues, during servicing, and have them repaired under your warranty.
In my experience the warranty company provide a first class service when you are unfortunate enough to have a breakdown.

shagal

hi
friend of mine bought a used 320 diesel from a BMW dealer car was a 08 22k i think for the car plus trade in .
with in 4 months battery was going flat had to keep charging it .
brought it back to the dealer and had to leave it with them for two days to run diagnostics to be told the battery was knackerd due to not driving the car enough and got a phone call from them to inform us what was wrong and how much to replace the battery (not covered under warranty )battery was costing 200 odd quid then few hours later second call to be told they quoted the wrong battery , that the right battery was to cost 520 odd all in .
we went in to them and eventually they recharged the batt and reset the computer as if there was a new battery in it 70 quid paid over for that .
while car was there they said timing chain was a little rattly and that it need to be changed soon to bring it back in a month or so for warranty work on it .
so car went back for the warranty work only for them to say that it wasnt bad enought to need doing now to bring it back when it needs to be serviced
at that stage they told us they done a check on the car and it needs some ball joint , track rod end,wish bone bushes , wipers , front left tyre and tracking car has done about 12k miles since it was bought from them ,and guess what ?
it is not covered under warranty looking for 727 euro for the parts and labour and still not doing the timing chain


any thoughts

DHFrame

22k is very low for a 08, Is it not driven? Not driving a car can play havoc. Electrics can fail, oils and lubricants can evaporate and engine plugs, coils can all start to degrade.

Still it's a lot of un-expected problems, personally I would have all the wrk done, doesn't sound to expensive to me.

bazz26

On BMWs with the iDrive system the battery needs to be coded to the car otherwise the charge cycle will be incorrect and the battery will have a shorter life. Timing chain change is a big expensive job that is a well documented problem on that engine so be glad that your friend has that BMW warranty. In comparison my 2008 3 Series diesel has nearly 80k miles on it and still on it's original battery, suspension bits and timing chain.

George Dalton

That is pretty poor from BMW, I would have expected better from them to be honest.

DHFrame wrote: »

22k is very low for a 08, Is it not driven? Not driving a car can play havoc. Electrics can fail, oils and lubricants can evaporate and engine plugs, coils can all start to degrade.

I think he means the car cost €22k, not that it has 22k on it.

DHFrame wrote: »

Still it's a lot of un-expected problems, personally I would have all the wrk done, doesn't sound to expensive to me.

It sounds pretty expensive to me for someone who has paid a premium to buy a car from a main dealer in order to avoid this sort of thing. It is pretty much the worst of both worlds.



Those third party warranty companies are worse again, they are little short of a bunch of scammers in my opinion. The recovery service is about the only worthwhile part of the warranty they offer.

keith_d99

George Dalton wrote: »

Those third party warranty companies are worse again, they are little short of a bunch of scammers in my opinion. The recovery service is about the only worthwhile part of the warranty they offer.

Just used a Mapfre warranty (Freedom) on a BMW, and it was fine.
They don't cover the diagnosis of any problem, but covered the job (labour and part) which was replacing the glow plug controller. The mechanic thought it might be a failed injector, and the warranty would have covered that too. The thing is that you need to be sure of what the issue is before you even contact them. They are an insurance policy really, and you need to know the T+Cs (or your mechanic does).

You have to know what comes under the "wear and tear" condition.

As for the BMW warranty .... that sounds poor. There is a premium to buy a used BMW with the famous BMW warranty (probably 2K extra on a regular car dealer).

Regarding the timing chain issue, your friend should be pushing to get that work done - maybe even bring it to an good indy BMW mechanic to get their opinion. The preventative work on the timing chain is €1700 + VAT from an indy garage. A BMW dealer would easily double that cost.

Henry Ford III

coylemj wrote: »

Those warranties should be viewed in the same boat as mobile phone insurance policies, they are full of exclusions and most of your money goes in sales commission....

51% or more?

shagal

yea we thought it might be expensive for the timing chain and are wondering if they are trying to get money off him for it by charging for warranty work on suspension parts that may or may not be needed ie trying to cover the cost of the timing chain repacement .
dunno if BMW cover the cost or is it the dealer themselves
but having said all that the sales documant that was issued with the car just says 2 yr warranty nothing about terms or contitions excess milage or wear annd tare
dealer friend of mine looked at it and recons it should be covered bumper to bumper that there is no conditions attached to it and that they cant then say what is covered and what isnt when the car comes in to them for repair
could go legal yet just see what happens next week

Victor Meldrew

shagal wrote: »

yea we thought it might be expensive for the timing chain and are wondering if they are trying to get money off him for it by charging for warranty work on suspension parts that may or may not be needed ie trying to cover the cost of the timing chain replacement .
dunno if BMW cover the cost or is it the dealer themselves.

I know the warranty I have covers parts and labour, and is an Insurance product, which the main dealer will draw upon. A no excess version is €1,000 a year. I have an excess version, which drops the cost, but basically it is a wash, and in no case will they pay for diagnostics.

And I can use it in any BMW main dealer.

Can your mate do similar, or is he confined to the dealer who sold him the car?

As a general point, anything suspension related tends to be deemed outside the scope of warranties, or, failure will always be assigned to road conditions , pot holes or abuse. Engine, gearbox and electrics are really all that is ever covered in any warranty IMHO.

shagal

Victor Meldrew wrote: »

I know the warranty I have covers parts and labour, and is an Insurance product, which the main dealer will draw upon. A no excess version is €1,000 a year. I have an excess version, which drops the cost, but basically it is a wash, and in no case will they pay for diagnostics.

And I can use it in any BMW main dealer.

Can your mate do similar, or is he confined to the dealer who sold him the car?

As a general point, anything suspension related tends to be deemed outside the scope of warranties, or, failure will always be assigned to road conditions , pot holes or abuse. Engine, gearbox and electrics are really all that is ever covered in any warranty IMHO.

not sure if he can go to another dealer with it , but considering that they told him origanly that he wasnt driving the car enough was the cause of battery problems and he has less then 12k on the car in 14 months makes us wonder are they trying to cover some of the cost of the timing chain replacment which they have put off untill the next service of the car
but basicaly 2 year warranty is a 2 year warranty ,there were no conditions attached so we just wait and see

SalaKash

I am buying 2008 BMW E90..any known issues or recommendations.. its 318i

MetzgerMeister

This thread is very old. Please start a new one in the Motors forum.

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