[m@rk]

So the letter from BMW arrived this morning informing me that my warranty expires in 30 days.

Had a good play with the numbers and established the following

Emergency cover adds £80 - The policy without this will recover you to a BMW garage if needed but only in the UK. I travel to France a couple of times each year and European recovery costs more than £80 to buy.

Adding in a £100 excess does not knock £100 off the annual cost of the warranty. All I need is a single claim and I am out of pocket. More than a single claim and things start adding up

There is a noticeable price jump once the car goes past 60k miles.

If I pay monthly, I am paying a 10% premium and there is no guarantee that the monthly cost won't increase after 12 months anyway.

I can have comprehensive cover on the car all the way up to 100k miles. Beyond that I can still have a warranty but drive train only.

So at 58k miles, comprehensive cover and emergency assist, £520!

Compared to other options out there, this is a competitive price and works out at £43 (or just over half a tank of fuel) per month.

It also means one other thing.

I won't be changing the car this year and I may even run it into year 5 unless the new 3 comes out in the meantime. Considering I normally only keep my car for 18 months before getting bored, this thing must be doing something right.

[E92Fan]

Originally Posted by m@rk

So the letter from BMW arrived this morning informing me that my warranty expires in 30 days.

Had a good play with the numbers and established the following

Emergency cover adds £80 - The policy without this will recover you to a BMW garage if needed but only in the UK. I travel to France a couple of times each year and European recovery costs more than £80 to buy.

Adding in a £100 excess does not knock £100 off the annual cost of the warranty. All I need is a single claim and I am out of pocket. More than a single claim and things start adding up

There is a noticeable price jump once the car goes past 60k miles.

If I pay monthly, I am paying a 10% premium and there is no guarantee that the monthly cost won't increase after 12 months anyway.

I can have comprehensive cover on the car all the way up to 100k miles. Beyond that I can still have a warranty but drive train only.

So at 58k miles, comprehensive cover and emergency assist, £520!

Compared to other options out there, this is a competitive price and works out at £43 per month.

It also means one other thing.

I won't be changing the car this year and I may even run it into year 5 unless the new 3 comes out in the meantime. Considering I normally only keep my car for 18 months before getting bored, this thing must be doing something right.

That's a very good deal at £520. Especially when you also take into account the breakdown and recovery service costs. I have separate breakdown/recovery packs for the UK/Europe and Germany on its own (with ADAC). Combined is almost 60% of your quote!!

[rogerxp]

I did this on my 330d and also thought it was good value (especially when I got a new clutch, flywheel & gearbox out of it!!!). For me, I dropped the all-singing breakdown as I don't go too far away from home & never abroad, so dropped my premium to £32p/m.

This reminds me, the X3 will be dropping out of AUC warrant in a couple of months, will have to budget for that in the new year...

[TMP]

Good breakdown of cost mate - cheers

Originally Posted by rogerxp

I did this on my 330d and also thought it was good value (especially when I got a new clutch, flywheel & gearbox out of it!!!). For me, I dropped the all-singing breakdown as I don't go too far away from home & never abroad, so dropped my premium to £32p/m.

This reminds me, the X3 will be dropping out of AUC warrant in a couple of months, will have to budget for that in the new year...

5er due to expire in Dec...
3er next Feb...


Reaches for the C1 lease deal after all

[m1bjr]

How does this deal compare to a similar selection from WarantyDirect?

[m@rk]

Originally Posted by m1bjr

How does this deal compare to a similar selection from WarantyDirect?

Warranty Direct comes in at £634.56 not including any emergency breakdown cover so you would compare that against a BMW price of £440.00.

Big difference and the WD policy only covers names components has a lot more limitations.

[russtic]

Originally Posted by m@rk

Warranty Direct comes in at £634.56 not including any emergency breakdown cover so you would compare that against a BMW price of £440.00.

Big difference and the WD policy only covers names components has a lot more limitations.

WD are IMHO a bunch of thieves you have to pay out for the initial investigation and then thy choose not to pay anyway! Had a car that blew a hole in the cylinder head - despite being a named item they wouldn't pay as they decided it was due to the failure of the driver ?

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by m@rk

Warranty Direct comes in at £634.56 not including any emergency breakdown cover so you would compare that against a BMW price of £440.00.

Big difference and the WD policy only covers names components has a lot more limitations.

The BMW post year 3 insured warranty appears a good deal, but because ALL work has to be done by franchised dealers under the terms of the agreement, any savings on premium are lost in labour costs as soon as it even needs an oil change, let alone other services, brakes, fluids, plugs etc etc.

Also for those of us with any mods, the insured warranty wording seems to strictly rule out any non approved mods or accessories, whereas the 3 year new car BMW UK warranty is not to bothered about mods unless they are related to the failed parts.

[m@rk]

Originally Posted by doughboy

The BMW post year 3 insured warranty appears a good deal, but because ALL work has to be done by franchised dealers under the terms of the agreement, any savings on premium are lost in labour costs as soon as it even needs an oil change, let alone other services, brakes, fluids, plugs etc etc.

Agreed to a point however as I tend to be only looking at 1 service per year and one set of pads every 2 to 3 years as I only drive about 20k per year, then I would probably stick with the franchised dealer anyway.

Plus year 5 means you are into the 4+ servicing costs which are a LOT cheaper.

Also for those of us with any mods, the insured warranty wording seems to strictly rule out any non approved mods or accessories, whereas the 3 year new car BMW UK warranty is not to bothered about mods unless they are related to the failed parts.

Would any warranty cover you though?

Again maybe not as much of an issue for you.

Horses for courses I suppose.

[AlwynMike]

Originally Posted by m@rk

Compared to other options out there, this is a competitive price and works out at £43 (or just over half a tank of fuel) per month.

Great information, Mark.

I'm on the lookout for an E91 335d. . . . .but either you have expensive diesel where you live or its a big tank! I don't think I've ever put more than £60 worth in the 5-er!

[m@rk]

Originally Posted by AlwynMike

Great information, Mark.

I'm on the lookout for an E91 335d. . . . .but either you have expensive diesel where you live or its a big tank! I don't think I've ever put more than £60 worth in the 5-er!

60L tank at £1.20 per litre = £72 to fill

[m1bjr]

Thanks fort he feedback to my question.
I'll just upgrade stuff as I destroy it then.
I see theres an imminent turbo upgrade path over on N54 post

[russtic]

Seems a pretty good deal to me. Will probably either keep warranty up or sell at the end of the 3 years.

[ASR1]

Avoid Warranty Direct - I had a policy with them last year, was a terrible experience.

Am now back to the BMW warranty.

[kingjon]

I was in exactly the same situation - 55k miles on the clock and a ~£500 quote - good deal, so went with it.

Bear in mind that once the car goes over 60k miles, there are certain things that the BMW Comprehensive Warranty will not cover you for - I believe this is currently limited to steering, brakes and suspension. Fortunately for me, both my wheel bearings went at 59,600 miles, so were covered on the warranty (I assume they come under one of the above categories) - £300, so that's already paid off half the cost of the warranty, and I'm glad I went with the £0 excess!

[MPTREE]

Originally Posted by m@rk

Warranty Direct comes in at £634.56 not including any emergency breakdown cover so you would compare that against a BMW price of £440.00.

Big difference and the WD policy only covers names components has a lot more limitations.

I pay £53 a month with BMW direct ( mondial ) all inclusive, only one claim this year & that was the turbo boost hose leak, but this would have probably cost £500 to put right, I also like the peace of mind....don't fancy footing the bill for a blown turbo ! Etc,,,,mileage now 58k car feels great...brilliant engine, love the ride, like the austere cabin, no stupid switches to break, never had a car so long...14 months now....must say something !

[zltm089]

thanks for the heads up guys....think i'm gona stick with BMW warranty next year....and i'm not gona go with warranty direct!...

[Mani59]

I was thinking of going with warranty direct a while back but changed my mind when I read loads of stories where WD failed to pay up.

When customers were making a claim and WD were disputing it, customers had to go and get a third party garage to verify the fault, so that put me right off.

[ihpj]

We've had the BMW Extended Warranty on our E90 for the last 20 months. Just prior to taking out the policy (after expiry of AUC) we were <60K miles. I opted to renew monthly (NIL excess, no Emergency Assist @ £41 PCM) because although the Warranty Company monitor the mileage during the term, they do not necessarily increase cost of premium even if you do >60K miles after the first 12 months expire.

Although they monitor the mileage the driver for change of cost has to do more with claims paid/met than mileage itself.

I reckon I have gained over the term of our policy, by going monthly and paying the sub-60K premium, even though we're @ 65K.

The monthly option is a very attractive proposition. although this is now moot as we sold our E90 yesterday (and are now on the hunt for an E60 M Sport ).

[foxy-367]

Its not very clear in the policy wording if you have the BMW warranty do you have to have all work done at a franchised dealer? I wouldn't entertain consumables generally at a BMW dealer due to costs (brake pads etc) but wouldn't mind having them doing the routine service. I like the peace of mind of the BMW warranty but want to understand any implications of the policy jargon!

I also saw this and wondered whether it was any good seems awful cheap to me!

http://www.rac.co.uk/uk-breakdown/warranty.html

Has anyone had any experience of it and knows about restrictions?

[PhilL]

I've just spoken to Mondial about BMW extended warranty on mine due next month. NB. if you don't want to call the 0871 number listed call them on 020 8666 9204 instead

Comprehensive cover with breakdown cover and zero excess will be £520 for 12 months, or £48 per month for mileage under 60k.

If your mileage is over 60k the same cover would cost £870.

Seems reasonable to me and the monthly option seems like a no-brainer as I was told the monthly figure doesn't change regardless of mileage from the point of taking out the policy. So assuming I will go over 60k this year then if I took out a 12 month policy then over 2 years the cost would be 520+870= £1,390

However paying on an 'ongoing, monthly basis' I was assured the premium doesn't change even after 12 months so long as there's no break in the cover so for the same period would cost me 24x48= £1,152. I asked her to double check what she was saying was correct and she confirmed it was, sounds a bit too good to be true to me though

[creepy coupe]

Originally Posted by doughboy

The BMW post year 3 insured warranty appears a good deal, but because ALL work has to be done by franchised dealers under the terms of the agreement, any savings on premium are lost in labour costs as soon as it even needs an oil change, let alone other services, brakes, fluids, plugs etc etc.

Also for those of us with any mods, the insured warranty wording seems to strictly rule out any non approved mods or accessories, whereas the 3 year new car BMW UK warranty is not to bothered about mods unless they are related to the failed parts.

I can understand the warranty work having to be done by a dealer, but servicing? If it does mean servicing, then it's even more restrictive than the 3 year standard cover