Glad I have BMW Extended Warranty

[PersonaNonGrata]

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.

[bigfish]

Kevin,

Thanks for the input, I have been going back and forth over this very issue. I have a 4.6is and the warranty expires later this year. However I'm getting mixed messages from the dealer about the extended warranty. I think I will go in first thing Monday and get some clairification on what is covered and what is not. From what I understand it is not an extention of the bumber to bumber warranty but something similar?!

Todd

[benathon]

I just having a feeling that most of things that could go wrong wouldn't be covered.

[bnz2bimmer]

how much does ext. warranty cost ?
do they cover regular maint like oil changes/brakes/ etc?

[statdoc]

Originally Posted by bnz2bimmer

do they cover regular maint like oil changes/brakes/ etc?

No. Look at the home page of this board, and you will see articles listed. In the first column (GENERAL INFO & GUIDES) you see items 10 and 11, discussing in detail the differences between extended maintenance and warranty plans.

[PersonaNonGrata]

Originally Posted by bnz2bimmer

how much does ext. warranty cost ?
do they cover regular maint like oil changes/brakes/ etc?

The warranty from BMW is MSRP $3250. Cost is less $750 so negotiate accordingly.

The extended maintenance is a seperate item. I bought it too, figuring that pads and rotors all around will pay it off.

[PLAYERPRO]

And While you check that..I can tell you the Maintenance part is not covered or part of the CPO Warranty..
Maintenance covers "Wear and Tear"
Oil Service's
Brakes
Wipers
and both Engine Belts(AC and Alt)

Good Luck