john banks

Would it not be fair to say that many of BMW's innovations produce a stream of problems for their customers and make their cars a PITA to run out of warranty? I am glad the injector problems are reducing, but still feel the tech is storing up trouble for later.

rookymatt

iTrader: (15)

I would agree yes, the problem with new technology is, in that it is new. With any new product, it can only be bench tested so much. Real world scenarios will always be different from the results of a r&d facility.
The only thing i can say is, BMW are making large efforts to improve customer relations, and will always warrant a fault component within the limits of reasonable grounds.
So generally they will always "look after" someone with a fault that is quite expensive through means of good will, or just a straight out discount on the cost.
I personally wouldn't run ANY modern presteige vehicle without a warranty in place, be it second hand or new.

zip106

Rooky - serious question coming up.

As I've said before, we've got a 2007 520d MSport.
It's the wifes company car and I absolutely love driving it - frugal, fast enough, big enough (she thinks too big, but..) looks ok.

Now, the company car scheme comes to an end in June 2011 so either the car goes back and we buy another car - we were thinking an Alpina D3 coupe in either Crimson red or Santorini blue, both with black wheels and other bits - or we buy this 5 off the lease company.

It's done about 53k miles at the moment and will probably have done another 9k by June.
So far there's been no problems at all with it but at this mileage and the projected 15k miles p.a thereafter, should I be expecting any issues to arise in the next 12-18 months of ownership?

It's now out of BMW warranty so should I be worried if we bought it in June?
Cheers.

eta - meant to say, we'll need to decide before January as there's about a 6 month wait for an Alpina of our choice.

rookymatt

iTrader: (15)

The alpina doesn't really come with as much spec as some 3 series (spec depends on what you'd class as essential, i.e pdc, dcs, monitor, etc)
It is a very accomplished car, with good handling/speed for a derv. Just down on gadgetry!
It's really down to you, and what you want from the car vs the cost of purchasing/running said vehicle.
The 2007 diesel units are generally very very good engines, with few problems.
HOWEVER, the only real major fault i have seen come though our doors, are broken timing chains! (approx 3 cars, so not like i see them everyday!)
So id say if you do buy any 2.0d do make sure you get an extended warranty just for piece of mind.
The E60 5 series is a very good car, and i'd say it won't give you any problems. However i would advise you to purchase an extended warranty if you decide to keep it.

zip106

Thanks Matt.

The Alpina I specced has all the 'essentials' for me (lux pack, is it?)

Is it possible to get a BMW extended warranty 12 months AFTER the original warranty has expired?

rookymatt

iTrader: (15)

Yes you can Zip, it is essentially an insurance, not a warranty.
You would pay an excess every time you bring the car in with a problem. You would pay this per visit, NOT per problem, i.e bring in the car with three issues, you only pay the excess once, not three times.
Your local BMW dealer can go into further detail on this mate.

Matteeboy

Zip - we decided not to extend the warranty on ours (it came with years Approved Used which carried on for 8 months after the BMW one expired).

1) It's insurance not a proper warranty and comes with a nasty excess.
2) They will try and wriggle out of any claim
3) If over two years nothing goes wrong, you save £1000s.
4) Warranties sell cars, insurance just makes money.

We've just made sure we've got enough set aside so that is anything did go wrong, we'd pay for it. But we look after it as well as we can and will hopefully not have an issue. Matt's history check was also very useful!

rookymatt

iTrader: (15)

Dingdongler

Must say I agree with Mattee boy. These warranties make money for the companies so on the whole people must put in more than they get out to produce a profit.

If the warranty costs a few hundred quid then fine, if it's thousands then I don't see the point. I think the cost for a M Car is close to £3k, so in the space of two years you'll have spent about the price of a new engine?

rookymatt

iTrader: (15)

New long engine for an s85 is about 17k.

zip106

To be honest, If we kept the 5 then it's unlikely to see the inside of a main dealer again.
We've got some very good BMW indys around here.

rookymatt

iTrader: (15)

I agree the Zip, the car is old enough now that most indys have caught up technology/training wise, to be able to offer a good reliable service.