XSeries-forum

£890 gets me a full BMW warranty that's pretty comprehensive on a 2004 3.0d Sport I'm looking at that has 47k on the clock.

Should I save my money or do these cars give big problems?!

Enjoyed my test drive today though! Lovely vehicle.

The price for the warranty seems a little expensive but on the other hand if something goes wrong parts and labour/diagnostic work adds up .

Example : I bought my 06 3.0d from a dealer and took a 6months warranty out on it , the warranty didn't cover diagnostic work , which i knew about but thats a gamble , after a month of ownership the car developed an electrical fault , I took the car to a local bmw/merc/landrover specialist , someone who ive known for a long time , who spent all day tracing the fault , total cost of repair was £580 and out of that £400 was diagnostic work which I had to pay myself .

Try haggle the price of the warranty down if you can and make sure the price includes absolutely everything thing .

Tim

If its a BMW warranty on an approved Used Car, it covers absolutely everything in the first year of ownership including the battery.  The Extended Warranty which you can buy after the first year is not quite so comprehensive and excludes battery of course, plus any water ingress or damage, (like a cracked sensor which lets water in and fails)  blocked drains (common on sunroof), and damage to trim for any reason.   

Having said that, my Extended Warranty has more than paid for itself over the years I have owned the car - compared to third party insurance, it really is no quibble most of the time and the car is repaired at any main dealers of your choice.

It would be the extended... Just don't know if it is worth putting the £890 away each year and hoping I have a few years clear motoring!  Excited to pick up the new E53 this week.  Such a low mileage for a 2004 and in lovely condition.  Let's hope she's a good family wagon!

Its a gamble a lot of people take - you could be disciplined and just put the money in a car emergency fund, or like many others, just take a chance.  I have certainly had my warranty money back, plus, on my 4.8 over the past 4 years, and so have a few others on this forum, its a personal choice, really. 

Would anyone mind telling me what the "biggies" are that can go.  I have heard of the Turbo... But anything else??

Collected the car today.  Holds the road better than my E39 528i!  Have had  a great drive with the sunroof open (great extra!) And my first ever Xenon headlights!  Never will I be dazzled again!!!

The frequent ones to think about are:
Gearbox @ around £2k, probably more from a Dealer as they fit a remanufactured unit.
Sunroof Cassette @ around £2k
Nav Computers
Diffs occasionally
Nav display.
Pixels in the instrument display.
Radio Units in boot

There are others but they are rarer.

The top two are the transmission and sunroof.

Richard

Don't forget the self-levelling suspension........very frequent problem!
Or the BT module. 
Parking Sensors
Rear light clusters
Random electrical issues due to alternator faults that never show up on code readers [emoji1]

.....to name just a few more!

I agree totally with Condor and Richard we drive complicated and expensive cars.

If you brought a new car it will come with a Warranty, an indication that the Manufacturers (all Manufacturers) recognize that due to the complexity of a modern car and the multitude of components that make it up, some parts may fail.
To paraphrase Tom Hanks in Apollo 13 "here we are driving around in a car made up of thousands of parts supplied by the lowest bidders".
If a Manufacturer feels the need to insure against problems then so will I, particularly as my X5 is 12 years old.
Warranties like all insurances will vary but as a rule the more comprehensive it is the more it will cost, just make sure that everything major that you need is covered as a minimum. With good maintenance and a little luck you may never need it.
Enjoy your car

[quote="CondorX5"]
Don't forget the self-levelling suspension........very frequent problem!
Or the BT module. 
Parking Sensors
Rear light clusters
Random electrical issues due to alternator faults that never show up on code readers [emoji1]

.....to name just a few more!
[/quote]Also just to mention the No 1 to get on first Check Battery is OK! Then mainly all your 'troubles' on the display dissapear(hopefully)
Coats on.