BMW extended warranty

[Wayfarer]

Just had my invitation to take out BMW’s extended warranty, any thoughts on the optimal excess level and whether annual or monthly is the best option long term, although I note that monthly is substantially more expensive than the annual premium. I am thinking about either the £100 or £250 excess as it appears they generally fairly expensive to fix if they go wrong.
Any specific benefits to the monthly over the annual or visa versa other than initial outlay?

[X5Sport]

In my case I went with the £150 excess as the £250 made less than that difference to the policy price.

I also went with monthly on both the X6 and 220d as it’s a rolling one month contract and the price stays fixed unless IPT rates change. I believe annual policies have price increases every year. The monthly ones also mean you can cancel and it’s at worst a one month payment lost rather than a pro-rata for the annual which doesn’t (to me) offer as much money as I think that it should.

I’ve kept the X6 going after my ‘experiences’ with the E53 and the costs of major component failures being eye watering! BMW don’t repair, they just replace. I wasn’t pleased to be told (rightly or wrongly) that items such as LED headlight failures weren’t covered as it’s seen as wear and tear. Those modules are stupid money.

For the 220d, I only have it until we give the car back when (if) the new order goes through.

[Wayfarer]

Thanks for the info
Spoken to BMW reference the comprehensive cover and LED headlights as mine has the adaptive LED ones fitted, they don't cover replacement parts, such as replaceable LED's, but to cover the them if they are sealed units, with no serviceable parts, which I believe they are, which is fair enough.
Interestingly they say they don't offer recovery for a caravan even if its attached to the vehicle when it breaks down, so probably not worth adding breakdown cover and just stay with caravan club service.
The costs between monthly and annual policy is staggering, its around 25% difference in cost when you work it out per year.

The excess are now £0, £100 and £250, and impacts on the premium by around £350 from £0 to £100 excess and another £250 for the £250 excess, so zero excess is around £600 more expensive than £250 excess.
So time for some serious thinking, take it out or just put money aside each month and use a good indie although its good that it does cover wear and tear

[X5Sport]

I use a good indie for servicing as you aren’t required to use a main dealer. You do have to show that genuine parts and processes were used though. My indie is run by a couple of ex-Master Techs and all of their team are ex-BMW technicians. Indie’s pay better it seems.

[Wayfarer]

Reckon after going through the numbers that I’ll go for the annual policy with a £100 excess and remove the breakdown cover (~£82) as it doesn’t cover the caravan apparently even if attached! and we have a policy in place that covers all our vehicles and the caravan, plus all the double destinations that may be required with the Caravan and Motorhome Club. Still not cheap but fairly comprehensive.
Will look into servicing costs at the suppling dealer who to be fair have been excellent so far in all my dealings with them and compare with the local indie who I have used for interim oil changes etc. Again they too have been excellent.

[Leslie]

My indie is run by a couple of ex-Master Techs and all of their team are ex-BMW technicians. Indie’s pay better it seems.

Paid better but charge much less , sounds like a win win there

[IanP]

Last repair bill on the x6 came to around 6 grand I understand (to change 2 injectors )
Paid for by the extended warranty.
Which costs about £900 a year....

[Leslie]

Last repair bill on the x6 came to around 6 grand I understand (to change 2 injectors )
Paid for by the extended warranty.
Which costs about £900 a year....

Bloody hell Ian did they change the engine as well !

[IanP]

Last repair bill on the x6 came to around 6 grand I understand (to change 2 injectors )
Paid for by the extended warranty.
Which costs about £900 a year....

Bloody hell Ian did they change the engine as well !

They did remove the engine and box. Started with two injectors, then all had to be done. Broke one on the head so the head had to come off which led to the engine removal.

[X5Sport]

When my glowplugs snapped during repair, I feared that might be the outcome too. Fortunately there are kits that allow extraction without disassembly. It was still £800 at an Indy.

We’ve possibly got a dodgy injector on the E46 (M57/30d) and I have said to my wife that it is not a job that I’m going anywhere near ‘just in case’.

[Wayfarer]

Ouch, that’s a very good reason for having the extended warranty, dealer service guy said to me repairs are either quick and relatively low cost or substantially more, often over a thousand pounds, but presumably the average warranty repair cost per year across all the cars in the scheme, must be less than the warranty cost, as they need to make a profit to continue to exist, so it depends on your view of the risk involved and luck to some degree.
After having a Land Rover Discovery crank fail on a two and a bit year old car with less than 20k miles from new, fortunately cover by the LR warranty, cost to LR was approximately £20k for new engine turbos etc. Not to mention loan car for 5weeks!
So I am a little risk adverse at present.

[X5Sport]

……and that’s why the almost 11 year old X6 is on warranty too.

[Leslie]

Nightmare and just shows how things can get quickly out of hand