[Blubaron79]

Originally Posted by M2BMW

Guys it might be best to just ignore his post, it really adds no value to this discussion. Ignore him than he has no one to respond to.

#truth

[BentZero]

Has someone actually done the math to see what the average cost of the reduced maintenance coverage will be to the consumer?

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by BentZero

Has someone actually done the math to see what the average cost of the reduced maintenance coverage will be to the consumer?

Some have. Answer depends on if you need new brakes in that 4th year. If so, it could be as much as $1,400 if you include the other maintenance items in that 4th year that are now included for free.

I don't usually need brakes that soon so my number is probably closer to $300. Even if it were $1,400, I spent 8 times that difference just in upgrades on my current BMW. I'm not going to let $1,400 dictate which car I buy if that's the car I want otherwise; especially when those other cars I might consider don't have free maintenance either. And besides, we can always use this BMW marketing blunder as negotiating leverage and make it a sporting contest on our next purchase.

[mdefalco25]

I question whether this is really going to be that big of an impact with a year less and less included? It sounds bad at the surface, but for the majority, I'd be willing to guess brake pads/rotors don't need to be replaced by year four and you end up paying for perhaps one additional oil change. Don't get me wrong, the current free maintenance sounds like a dream, and anything can go wrong, but is this really a big deal considering most of these maintenance programs are a gimmick to entice you to buy a particular brand?

[verruckt]

Lets be honest here - BMW hasn't always had maintenance as part of the new car purchase. Didn't stop me then, and wouldn't stop me now.

Is it a nice bonus? Yeah, but it's not going to stop me from buying their cars. BMW owners are some of the most fair-weather car owners ever

[MN2///M]

Interesting article:
http://www.autonews.com/article/2016...s-dealer-bonus

Article claims this was done to "pay for a new dealer bonus."

The article further claims:
"Starting in April, dealers who meet BMW's brand standard, customer satisfaction and used-vehicle sales targets and hire Genius product specialists will be paid a monthly bonus of 1 percent of the sticker price of new vehicles sold, Ludwig Willisch, CEO of BMW of North America, said in an interview at the auto show here."

and
"The plan was reduced because dealers told management that more than half of their customers replace their cars after three years, so the longer program was unneeded, said Willisch"

[speeddeacon]

I've had multiple BMW's and the only thing the maintenance program ever had to pay for was oil & filter and wipers. Brakes, clutch, belts and hoses have never needed replacing within the 4/50 frame. I don't recall if the cabin filters were replaced or not.

Make sure you get your oil service done @ 35.9k and you should be good to go (unless you track, then you don't want BMW brake pads anyway).

[Zyal8r]

Originally Posted by 08njSTEP

Maybe they found out that their cars start accumulating serious repair costs after 36mi and instead of building a better car they can just unload the cost onto the purchaser.

Nothing to do with repairs. This is for scheduled maintenance and some consumables.
Notice that they will let us purchase longer coverage. BMW has always been in the warranty business rather than quality.

[ny325]

During the first 4 years of ownership, I've only had oil changes, and wipers blade changed. Granted, I only drive about 7,000 miles a year. I would say this change will not be good for those who drive a lot.

[Mr. Toad]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

The majority of modern cars don't need brake work before 50k miles.

It may be the exception, but my car needed new front brakes (including rotors) when I bought it CPO, at about 27,000 miles. You'd think they would've caught the steering vibration during braking when they performed the CPO "inspection", but I'm glad it was covered by the maintenance plan.

[Two Snails]

Jaguar has a 5 year / 60k mile warranty for 2016+ cars with no cost maintenance for that time & now BMW is cutting theirs...hmmm

I wonder how this will affect the sales between the two with Jaguar offering more sports sedans and crossovers

[pz619]

Originally Posted by atomic

Because Audi offers better value at the same price. Take away free maintain ace and BMW can't compete. I guess for people leasing it doesn't matter as BMW leases seem to be a lot cheaper than Audi.

Depends what you are looking for. For a guy that doesn't like fwd or awd, cars that look pretty much identical to any other car in their lineup, and cars that don't cheat on emissions tests, they no longer seem like a good value.

But I do agree. I don't like the change to the maintenance program.

[snaimpally]

The Koreans offer much better warranties. Considering their recent hires of former German car make executives, it will be interesting to see what happens if they can put out cars similar to the 2 and 3 series.

[Golfgeek]

Had the dealer tell me the brake pads won't be replaced on our last visit (36 mos).
Said usually we do, but yours have more life.
Something tells me we get to buy new ones ourselves very soon.

[plina]

I live in NYC and I am not as rich as some of you guys. Free maintenance and peace of mind means a lot to me, I have a 2010 535 and during the first 4 years I had two brake jobs and that would have been close to a $4000 hit. living in NYC is not easy on the brakes. I am not like many of you guys I am a working stiff who likes his cars and i plan my payments and the rest of my bills. I cannot say hey I'm willing to spend $4000 more on brake jobs and no matter how good a negotiator you are like a lot say here you cannot make that money.
What really hurts me is that BMW by doing this I see a downgrade in their products. Their free maintenance was got them the sales records not the enthusiasts. Most people who drive BMW never try to find out what the cars can do, they want the status symbol with free maintenance. And basically since 2008 BMW has been making a lousy handling car they have made them soft compare to the M cars, and in NYC it would be stupid to own one with the potholes. So I'm going looking around and i might drop by my local church and light a candle, hopefully BMW will see all the pissed off people and try to fix this.

[Mr. Toad]

I just read in Consumer Reports that, starting with the 2016 model year, all Jaguars will come with a 5 year/60,000 mile warranty and free scheduled maintenance.

[BGR]

I'm sure this has already been pointed out, but to add a year of maintenance on a standard 3 series is $1,000 from BMW, and $1,700 on the M3.

Yeah have to pay for their $10 backup camera mandated for 2017 somehow!

[Herofmine]

Originally Posted by plina

I live in NYC and I am not as rich as some of you guys. Free maintenance and peace of mind means a lot to me, I have a 2010 535 and during the first 4 years I had two brake jobs and that would have been close to a $4000 hit. living in NYC is not easy on the brakes. I am not like many of you guys I am a working stiff who likes his cars and i plan my payments and the rest of my bills. I cannot say hey I'm willing to spend $4000 more on brake jobs and no matter how good a negotiator you are like a lot say here you cannot make that money.
What really hurts me is that BMW by doing this I see a downgrade in their products. Their free maintenance was got them the sales records not the enthusiasts. Most people who drive BMW never try to find out what the cars can do, they want the status symbol with free maintenance. And basically since 2008 BMW has been making a lousy handling car they have made them soft compare to the M cars, and in NYC it would be stupid to own one with the potholes. So I'm going looking around and i might drop by my local church and light a candle, hopefully BMW will see all the pissed off people and try to fix this.

I agree with you for 100%!

I live in NYC too, and my breaks rotors+ pads has been replaced 1,5 year of ownership on my 2014 535i, at 12k miles on the dash my car started vibrating during breaking on freeways so they had to replace whole thing.
One of the main reasons i have purchased bmw over benz or audi is Free maintenance program because i knew that every year or two it needs break job done!
I'm defiantly sure their sales numbers will drop.

[hybrid_eg]

so if they reduce it to now 3yrs/36K and take away wear and tear parts such as brakes etc.. what about issues one would encounter with vehicle during initial 3 years where things simply fail or don't work as they are designed.. that should all be covered under factory warranty as it had been prior to 2017 models correct?

[Bimmerforlife]

Wow BMW is hurting more financially than I thought. They are trying to save money by taking things away from the customer. These are signs of a company cutting costs to stay alive in the business. I seriously didn't think BMW was hurting but now it appears they are this and the move to Mexico it's all adding up.

[tc328]

I owned 3 bmws for 11 years...I have to say this might be my last one

Cost cutting and their cars are getting too soft

[SakhirM4]

Originally Posted by Bimmerforlife

Wow BMW is hurting more financially than I thought. They are trying to save money by taking things away from the customer. These are signs of a company cutting costs to stay alive in the business. I seriously didn't think BMW was hurting but now it appears they are this and the move to Mexico it's all adding up.

They are not moving to Mexico - they are adding Mexico.