An often discussed topic here has been extended warranties and whether they are worth it, which one to get, and how much they cost. The answer to whether they are worth it is totally subjective but my answer is hell yes.

My '02 with 56K miles on it was just at the dealer for about 10 days. It was there for my PDC not working, my driver's window creaking, and the a/c not blowing cold. Yes, 10 days. The end result was a new front PDC sensor, a new window regulator (my 5th one!), and a new compressor with suction pipe and drier insert. According to my check of prices for those parts on RealOEM, the total for parts alone total more than $1425. (The compressor was $1000! The drier insert $111!) The labor was easily the same amount. I only had to pay a $50 per incident deductible. So right there with my first claim I think the price I paid for the warranty got paid back. Plus, I got a fabulous Ford Taurus rental for 10 days.

I wanted to post this because some people try to make the decision whether or not to buy an extended warranty and I just had a debate with a friend on whether he should buy one for his non-BMW car. The usual logic for not buying one is to bank the money for the warranty and pay for repairs as needed, thinking that it is unlikely that you would need $3000 in repairs. Not bad thinking but if you intend on keeping your X5 for a few years after your warranty expires, I highly recommend an extended warranty.

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