BMW - 2 Year (New Car) Warranty

[Big H]

While having never owned (and probably never will, simply owing to the fact that €50k+ I feel would be far better spent elsewhere in motoring terms), it gets my goat that BMW's factory warranty is only 2 years. The modern BMW's are horrendously expensive to maintain outside of this with something as simple as a blown headlight bulb/module can cost €600+ to rectify on say an F10. Anything with a module attached that fails will empty your wallet each and every time....

Have BMW no confidence in their engineering or are they just not interested in building cars with longevity any more ? Are they only interested in shifting cars with PCP and once that's up, you're on your own ? I'm deliberatly excluding their AUC warranties...

The Japanese offer up to 8 years warranty (Mitsubishi) and the Koreans offer up to 7 years (Kia) yet BMW still offer a mickey mouse 2 year factory warranty (yes I know they're worlds apart in build quality, interiors, handling etc.) - discuss.....

[james forde]

While their AUC warranty is impressive in Ireland I do agree on the New Car Warranty.... I remember reading the below article and thinking the Germans need to pull up their socks.

http://www.thejournal.ie/which-car-b...72278-Jan2017/

[rebel.ranter]

Having experienced the BMW extended warranty I would recommend to anyone with a 2-4 year old car to invest in the warranty for peace of mind. While it wasn't nice to have constant problems with the car, every step of the way dealing with the warranty was fantastic, or putting it another way, I didn't have to deal with them, the process was seamless. I would have preferred not to claim a single penny though, I bought the car to drive not sit in a workshop. Thankfully I have not needed to make a claim in over a year, ironically since I started to pay for the warranty myself.

[Big H]

Having experienced the BMW extended warranty I would recommend to anyone with a 2-4 year old car to invest in the warranty for peace of mind.

That's the whole point - you have to pay (quite a lot I believe) for an extended warranty when you should expect a car to have practically zero issues for those next 2 years and if you do the manufacturer pays - we're talking borderline 'goods not fit for purpose' here if you ask me....

[Moe]

I agree 2 years on a new car is poxy, but having said that F generation cars seem to be much more reliable than E generation on general. I have had the extended warranty and its was flawless but expensive. AUC is excellent. My dad laughs at me, "all these expensive cars and sure they are always breaking down". What I have learned over the years is...keep a BMW in warranty if you can, and dont buy the first models of a new engine, gearbox or drive train. Ferrari offer 5 years on a new car...5 years !!!! and usually service inclusive too,, so the complexity and performance argument is not valid. Having said that anyone I know with a Ferrari (both of them ) have had loads of issues. Porsche have loads of issues too. ( I see a 991 Turbo S on a flatbed regularly round my area, and had a 997 5% of which are prone to catastrophic engine failure without warning) I have never had an issue with a F series BMW car except a AC compressor on a 420d.
I think a 5 year warranty would be more appropriate. I wonder seeing as BMW uk give 3 years I think, is it the fascination with diesel cars for city driving, that has them lowering cover in Ireland?
Kia 7 years on a 360 bhp stinger......

[Big H]

Kia 7 years on a 360 bhp stinger......

Sounds like it may well be a fantastic buy at 5 years old (when you'll probably pick it up for 30% of the new price).

Co-incidentally my SIL's 6 year old Kia Sportage has had a no quibble turbo changed under warranty even though it hasn't been serviced at Kia since it was 2 years old (none of the subsequent service invoices from her local garage specified the oil spec used, only the weight) - impressive service...

[dergside]

Have BMW no confidence in their engineering or are they just not interested in building cars with longevity any more ? Are they only interested in shifting cars with PCP and once that's up, you're on your own ?

I'm not sure that BMW marketing ever really had much concern for the second and subsequent owners, but in the past they made cars with a level of quality that despite this still had lots to offer to the second hand buyer in terms of quality and reassurance of solidity, etc. Residuals also reflected this. Long term BMW quality has gone downhill over the past decade or so, but by coincidence they also increased their production output by over 70% between 2005 and 2015 and residual %'s (not absolute £'s) are now there, or thereabouts, with Ford Focus and Mondeo at 3-4 years old in the UK. Your quality systems need to be fairly robust to handle that kind of growth without a compromise in the end product.

I've been putting the replacement of Mrs D's touring on the long finger for a while, but its probably 90% certain that it won't be a BMW. I'm not sure that a low-ish end 3 series really warrants a premium over other quality alternatives these days, either in terms of driver experience or quality. I honestly never thought I'd say that. She loves the car but from my perspective it has been far more niggly than it should have been, given its fairly easy life. The meaningless niches that BMW seem to find it hard to resist filling means a sprawling range with much less depth.

The prevalence of n4x engines and cars that have had significant fundamental problems, timing chains, injectors, leaking like sieves, cracking floorpans, etc. means relatively little real choice anymore - approx. 94% of BMW 5's from new back to 2010 on Carzone are 2.0d's, and within that I'd guess that 99% are 520d's. There's nothing wrong with a 520d as a car (if you discount the chocolate timing chains, etc.) but its not a car you'll buy to stand out from the crowd in. Aside from the timing chains, done under BMW goodwill, my last f10 520d (3-4 years old) cost more in wear and tear and unscheduled maintenance over a 14k mile interval than the 12 year old e39 I ran over a fairly similar timeframe and mileage immediately before it and the 10 year old e60 that I've run for more than twice the miles since.

If this all sounds a little rambling and disillusioned, then so be it......

[bazz26]

I thought new BMWs came with 3 year warranties here these days? The ones I've owned have anyway.

[Big H]

I thought new BMWs came with 3 year warranties here these days? The ones I've owned have anyway.

I believe that it's a 2 year factory warranty with an additional 3rd year tagged on by BMW IRL - probably them feeling sorry for the owners....