Daily questions about extended warranty

[Foy]

Gents and ladies;

I just registered and spent about 2 hours reading threads back well into 2006 concerning extended maintenance and extended repair warranties. I have some questions concerning the OEM warranty to start with, then some observations to elicit comments from the group.

The vehicle: 2003 X5, purchased 47 months ago by my then 70 y/o mother. V6. Garaged and lightly driven for 27,200 miles at this date. One owner.

The OEM maintenance question: The service dept at the stealership tells her she can't bring the vehicle in for service before the clock rolls over next month since her "time" for the next service isn't until July. WTH? She's driven it so little she hasn't gotten to the 30,000 mi service. I haven't read the contract, if there is one, but I don't understand why she can't take it in just prior to the 48 month anniversary. Comments?

Extended repair warranty: I've had one before in my life and if I could have crawled through the phone wires and choked the people at the warranty company, I would have done it. One stealership service writer literally laughed in my face when I suggested they do the authorized work and bill the warranty company directly. Anyway, from a very close friend who owns a Beemer/Cedes independent shop in another city, I'm told to get Mom an extended warranty if she plans to keep the vehicle for a long time. She does. I know enough about warranties to know they are simply insurance policies and are worth zero if the backing company goes buns up, which seems to be a fairly common occurence. All of that said, the BMW "2OP" plan seems to be nearly pointless for her given the low miles today and the expiration in just 2 more years. She envisions obtaining something like 5 to 7 years coverage, if available, and as little as she drives, even a 50-70k miles add-on would surely cover her, as, truth be told, she's driving to the mountain house less and less frequently nowadays. Seems like there is some general satisfaction with Warranty Direct and perhaps APIProtection. Any updated current thoughts and experiences with these providers would be appreciated. A short list of companies to avoid would be nice, as well, if someone has such a link.

Extended Maintenance: Do these contracts require the holder to obtain maintenance svcs at the stealership or can the work be done by independents? If using the stealership is required, my take is: A contract priced at, say, $1,200 might cover $2,000 at dealer retail prices. But, the same services might cost, say, $1,000 at an independent. So, if the maint contracts require use of a stealership, am I missing some point about the costs/savings?

And back to that OEM maintenance warranty again: I keep reading about $1,200 brake jobs being a reason to purchase a maintenance warranty. Well, Mom's Beemer has the original brakes and she's primarily an in-town driver. Do I need to get forceful with the service people at her stealership before the OEM maintenance warranty expires next month? Hate like crazy for her to not get an extended maint warranty only to have her brakes require replacement soon after the OEM expires.

Very nice site here, Gents and Ladies. Thanks in advance for info and opinions.

Foy
Raleigh, NC