[rwdevan]

looking to get a catted downpipe for my leased 23’ g42 m240i for better sound/performance but worried about voiding the warranty. my m240i has a muffler delete and sounds pretty good but i want it a bit louder and a downpipe is pretty much the only way to obtain that. i want to know if anyone has done it yet and have had any issues with the dealer or talked to them at all about this. thanks.

[mike@x-ph.com]

no aftermarket part automatically voids your warranty. If your car needs a repair, the dealership may refuse to do the work for free only if they believe the aftermarket part directly caused the issue.

The downpipe upgrade can reduce stress on the turbo, so it's unlikely to be associated with any potential damage, making it one of the safest upgrades.

I suggest you consider the Active Autowerke catted downpipe. As it guarantee no 'check engine light'

[M2siast]

Originally Posted by rwdevan

looking to get a catted downpipe for my leased 23’ g42 m240i for better sound/performance but worried about voiding the warranty. my m240i has a muffler delete and sounds pretty good but i want it a bit louder and a downpipe is pretty much the only way to obtain that. i want to know if anyone has done it yet and have had any issues with the dealer or talked to them at all about this. thanks.

A couple of things in general (not specific to the M240i) to be mindful of when making the change.

- Some downpipes will trigger a check engine light because of the freer flowing design. If not immediately, in some circumstances. Some will never, but YMMV. If that happens, only a “CEL Fix” or tune can fix it. A tune will definitely void your engine warranty if something breaks in your engine/turbo (unless completely unrelated)
- Likewise, the freer flowing design of a downpipe has caused BMW to not honour engine warranty if something goes wrong in it, or in some related part (gearbox, driveshaft, half-shafts) because of the increase in torque, which could strain those parts.
- if you live in a place where emissions are tested, going with an aftermarket cat will void your emissions warranty.

Bottom line, warranty shouldn’t be affected as a whole, but if something breaks BMW will look for anything that could’ve caused the failure, and if you have an aftermarket cat, that will likely be blamed for it and they’ll likely deny the warranty claim.

People often say you gotta “pay to play”, in that you take a risk (albeit controlled, and localized) of not having warranty in a part related to what you’re modifying.

[Robyn]

Any performance modification that increase hp/torque over stock is grounds for the manufacturer to deny your powertrain/drivetrain warranty claims.

[rwdevan]

Originally Posted by mike@x-ph.com

no aftermarket part automatically voids your warranty. If your car needs a repair, the dealership may refuse to do the work for free only if they believe the aftermarket part directly caused the issue.

The downpipe upgrade can reduce stress on the turbo, so it's unlikely to be associated with any potential damage, making it one of the safest upgrades.

I suggest you consider the Active Autowerke catted downpipe. As it guarantee no 'check engine light'

awesome. i also really want to get a piggy back like jb+/jb4 or the dinan sport tuner and xhp for the trans. what’s the deal with the warranty if i decide to do those as well?

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by rwdevan

awesome. i also really want to get a piggy back like jb+/jb4 or the dinan sport tuner and xhp for the trans. what's the deal with the warranty if i decide to do those as well?

The warranty is not affected as long as you don't break anything.

The risk of causing damage is extremely low with a simple tune. Considering the vast number of BMWs tuned without issue, you can get a feel for how infrequent it is.

Nonetheless, it's important to do what makes you comfortable. If you're satisfied with the odds, go ahead with the tune.
If it still sounds too daunting, keep your car stock.

[M2siast]

Originally Posted by mike@x-ph.com

The warranty is not affected as long as you don't break anything.

I find this disingenuous.

If nothing breaks, we don’t need the warranty.
Warranty is there to support us when something breaks.

And, if it does, the warranty won’t be there if something was modified and caused/participated in that breaking.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by M2siast

I find this disingenuous.

If nothing breaks, we don’t need the warranty.
Warranty is there to support us when something breaks.

And, if it does, the warranty won’t be there if something was modified and caused/participated in that breaking.

Let me break it down further to help you understand, as there seems to be some confusion regarding the original thread.

When the OP inquires whether the downpipe "voids" his warranty, he refers to the entire warranty, not just a specific part.

Suppose he experiences an issue with his lights unrelated to his aftermarket modifications. In this case, his warranty remains unaffected as the problem has no connection with the modifications made.

However, if he has an exhaust leak, the dealership might attribute it to the aftermarket downpipe. The warranty work might be denied (and not the entire warranty void).

So it's not as straightforward as the warranty being entirely voided or completely intact. It's more of case-by-case, depending on the specific issue and its relation to any modifications made.

So back to the post you quoted, "The warranty is not affected as long as you don't break anything."

[M2siast]

Originally Posted by rwdevan

awesome. i also really want to get a piggy back like jb+/jb4 or the dinan sport tuner and xhp for the trans. what’s the deal with the warranty if i decide to do those as well?

Originally Posted by mike@x-ph.com

Let me break it down further to help you understand, as there seems to be some confusion regarding the original thread.

When the OP inquires whether the downpipe "voids" his warranty, he refers to the entire warranty, not just a specific part.

Suppose he experiences an issue with his lights unrelated to his aftermarket modifications. In this case, his warranty remains unaffected as the problem has no connection with the modifications made.

However, if he has an exhaust leak, the dealership might attribute it to the aftermarket downpipe. The warranty work might be denied (and not the entire warranty void).

So it's not as straightforward as the warranty being entirely voided or completely intact. It's more of case-by-case, depending on the specific issue and its relation to any modifications made.

So back to the post you quoted, "The warranty is not affected as long as you don't break anything."

I understand and agree (as my original post goes).

But in response to the quote above, I think it’s important to say “you can install the JB4, but if something goes wrong in your engine/turbo, your warranty will likely not cover those issues”.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by M2siast

I understand and agree (as my original post goes).

But in response to the quote above, I think it’s important to say “you can install the JB4, but if something goes wrong in your engine/turbo, your warranty will likely not cover those issues”.

Absolutely; if your mod breaks a stock part, do not expect the dealership to fix it for free. That's why using proven brands and recommended maps for your setup and fuel is essential.