2013 X5 35i SA owner need advice on BMW extended warranty
 

Hello everyone, I ordered a 2013 X5 35i SA with HUD and automatic high beam, convenience package with NAV, and MSport package with Adaptive Drive. I'm very excited waiting on my first X5 which should be completed in next couple of weeks. I'm planning to get the Dinan stage 2 tune within the first month of ownership. I plan on keeping my X5 for 5 to 6 years before considering a replacement. I'm debating whether to get the BMW extended maintenance program and the extended vehicle protection. I'm hoping you can help me out.

1. In your experience, is the extended maintenance program worth the cost?

2. I'm a little concerned Adaptive Drive may not be too reliable in the long run, and although Dinan tune comes with a 4 year/50,0000 warranty, I'm concerned what would happen to the drive train after the Dinan warranty. So I was considering getting a 6year/100,000 extended vehicle protection (gold or platinum). I think the gold will cover the Adaptive Drive. Do you feel extended vehicle protection is a worthwhile investment? The difference between gold and platinum is coverage for the electronics (NAV, stereo, etc). Are BMW electronics generally reliable not to warrant the platinum coverage?

Thanks.

No need to buy either Maint or Warranty 'now'...
As for Ext Maintenance, you are betting that the entry fee will cover an oil change and brake pads/rotors all around. Expensive bet if you are only keeping car "5 to 6 years", as that '5th year' will only be one out of oe warranty.

There are a few mavens here on the Gold/Platinum warranty tier(s)...but, don't see a need to buy an Ext Warranty 'at delivery', when you/the car may have different circumstances 4 years out.

Hope that Dinan stage 2 doesn't put a kink in the OE warranty, but I admit I am not a Dinan expert.

Others here will have good opins, too. Congrats on the new car.
GL, mD

Motordavid, thanks for the advice. I was going to wait for the extended coverage, but my BMW dealer told me it would be significantly more expensive to buy later than at initial purchase. Is this true?

Yes, I am concerned if I get the Dinan tune, it will affect my extended coverage, but a service tech at a local BMW Dinan dealer told me that if there is a drive train issue after the standard BMW warranty, the procedure would be to check the Dinan ECU programming. If the there is something at fault with the Dinan ECU then, BMW will refer the problem to Dinan. If not, the extended warranty would cover it. Not sure if I trust the servicetech. How would one know if a drive train component fails, it would be due to the tune or something else?

There could be two reasons it would be more expensive later. Either the price could go up from BMW (due to inflation, probably 2-3% per year, and not surprising) or the dealer could be planning on putting a significantly different profit margin on the deal later. (Also not surprising, alas). Just remember that if your dealer wants to gouge you later, you don't need to buy it from him. You can buy it from any dealer who isn't adding an additional profit layer to the BMW price. It is best to stop thinking of it as an warranty with a longer term, it is really more like an insurance policy. Just like all insurance policies, not everything is covered, ie extended warranty isn't the same as base warranty for inclusions.

As to failure modes, you can't just look at what fails, that is an incomplete analysis. You need to consider why it failed. If a driveline component failed due to abuse, for example, it wouldn't be covered at any point in the warranty. If it failed due to product quality, manufacturing process, material defect, etc, then it is covered, in general. If it fails due to another component triggering a failure, then it is consequential damage, and may or may no be covered, essentially depending on whether the component that caused the failure is covered.

For a purely hypothetical example, let's say you had a 4 year Dinan warranty, and a 6 year driveline warranty on the vehicle. Leave aside the whole deductible issue for now. You have a failure in the 5th year, in the driveline. If it is due to a defect in the part, it would likely be covered. But if the Dinan component resulted in too much power being applied to the driveline, and that was considered a contributory factor, then you are looking at your Dinan warranty, which expired a year earlier. Yes, it is a contrived example, but that is how it works in principle.

Now, who decides what caused the failure? Your dealer, acting on behalf of BMW (for the main warranty) and Dinan (for the Dinan warranty, assuming they service the Dinan warranty). It is critical to have a good relationship with your dealer. They are either on your side or not, and that is key. You do not have a relationship with BMW or Dinan in this example, the dealer is the gatekeeper. If you have a problem you can call the manufacturer and tell them they should help you in the interests of protecting their relationship long term, but you are pushing on a rope. Unless it is a widely acknowledge problem, they will tell you to go see your dealer.

The Dinan warranty doesn't extend the BMW warranty. It adds a layer of protection for consequential damage, but inherent in that is you now have two separate insurers, and each will tend to look across the fence to see if it is, in their opinion, the other insurer's problem. Back to your dealer playing a key role in ensuring your continued coverage.

The simple answer to whether a driveline failure will be attributed to the tune is whether it is happening to all the non-tuned similar vehicles, or whether the dealer can decide that the tune may have accelerated (caused) the problem. And it doesn't have to be an ECU problem in year 5. The dealer could say that the part failed due to five years of more hp being applied to it than it was designed for (which is true, more hp was applied, whether or not it caused the failure), and thus tell you to call Dinan. The flip side is that if something was going to fail due to higher hp, then it is probably going to do it sooner instead of later. If it does fail in year 5 due to hp, it is on balance more likely to be worn out, not defective.

Jeff

JCL, thanks for clarifying what I may be faced with. Unfortunately, the my X5 dealer is not a Dinan dealer. I would have to get the tune installed from a different dealer from whom I got my CPO 128i. My relationship with my BMW dealers have been limited to maintenance issues, not with any major issues that would bring out their true colors. May be I should get the M performance package with its measly 15 hp and 30 ft-lb gain, but the difference between it and the standard engine is barely noticeable.

You are going to get different opinions on all of this. For me, I bought the Extended Maintenance and the Tire Protection. The Tire Protection has already paid for itself as I got 2 nails in both rears the 1st month of ownership--and still have almost over 3.5 years left on that coverage. The Extended Maintenance I got obviously because of brake cost (X5's are really hard on brakes I had an '01 3.0)--I project I will need 2 fronts and 1 rear (maybe 2) under it so it makes sense for me. As far as the Extended Warranty, I agree with motordavid and JCL--you have a little time to purchase and don't have to go to your current dealer. And the Dinan: unless you are getting a noticeable increase in performance I would just leave it.

BGM thanks. How much was the tire program? The extended maintenance can be purchased later too like the extended vehicle protection right?

I paid $1,000 for the Tire Protection and $2,000 for the Extended Maintenance--I bought my car from Beverly Hills BMW.

2 tires and it paid for itself?

Last time I checked tire rack has the tire at 300, ship and install.

But more importantly, why be a victim and pretend the BMW policy of "you can't repair these tires when they are on a BMW"?

It takes A LOT of $25 patches to break even on a $1000 tire policy (which is low compared to what dealers try to charge)

The maintenance is usually a scam, unless you wait until ~45k miles, then you'll know what your maintenance exposure looks like over the next two years...and also if the car is totaled the policies are non-refundable

A

Ps. People use the prices the BMW dealers quote them to evaluate the extended plans.... There are way cheaper ways to service your car

I paid $35 IIRC, to repair a nail in my Z4 RFT. That is the only flat I have had since 1997, when I cut a tire on a gravel road that needed a grader.

Another issue with the maintenance plan is that you get BMW OE parts. In many cases, that is a good thing, but for brake pads, it may not be. We don't get full maintenance in Canada, just scheduled maintenance, so brakes are not included. That said, on my new 2008 535i I removed the stock pads and threw them away in the first few weeks due to the dust (I found it time consuming to clean M wheels). I have never worn out a set of aftermarket pads on my X5, 535, or 3 series, I traded the vehicles after four years with the first set of OE pads in every case.

JCL, what brand of break pads are you using for your X5? Do they perform just as well as the BMW pads?

Thank you everyone for your input. Based on what everyone has told me, I think I will hold off on the extended maintenance and warranty. The tire program seems too expensive based on my past experience. I can use the savings to get better aftermarket stereo and Dinan tune.

The rears are $506 a piece at Discount Tire--they've never been $300. So, yes, as I mentioned, they've paid for the plan already.

My Indy said $1,300 to do fronts and rears. I will need 2 fronts and 1 rear (maybe 2 depending) again during my Extended Maintenance. So, break even most likely if not more.

Extended Warranty is a must have in my opinion and here is why. If you can have things fixed at the dealer for 50 bucks you are far more likely to have something checked than if you are paying the full job out of pocket. Just to get something looked at from and Indi will cost more. The dealer is also far better equipped than the best Indi shops to fix your BMW.

My 07 335 has the famous wastegate rattle and I would not have wasted a penny to fix it if I was paying, with extended warranty the dealer has replaced them and will be doing new turbos this week because the noise is not totally gone. Also had nav head unit replace and a leak in the trans. Easily winning and I have almost 2 more years of warranty.

Service IMO is a waste since I can do the service, brakes and fluid changes myself.

I would also pass on a tune, and spend the money on the 7/100K Plat. Warranty. Trade the car in after 7 years and do it all over :).

McLovin, I appreciate your comments. My plan is not getting the service or vehicle warranty. I will probably trade in or sell my vehicle after 4 to 5 years, so I don't have to worry.