Maintenance Plan cancelled due to modifications?

[keperna]

Hey guys,
I own a 2015 M4 and I was thinking about increasing the performance of the engine with either a downpipe and JB4 tune or get a Meisterschaft complete exhaust and a aFe Cold air intake.
The only thing that scares me is the Maintenance Plan getting waived due to these changes to the car. Does this differ from each BMW dealer or once there are changes I would have to pay for the Service and so on out of my own pocket?
Has anyone else gone through the same problems? Any solutions?
Thanks!

[04RC51]

Shouldn't be a problem. Just stop in, sit down with them and ask before you chop your car up.

[SakhirM4]

I can see the warranty being affected, but why would mods affect the maintenance plan

[RowanBuds]

Did your dealership say this to you or is this just a worry? I don't think any of the members here with mods have reported maintenance items being denied.

[keperna]

Thanks for the quick reply guys!
I went to dealership and they told me not to touch the car at all!
Then went on to saying that if I wanted a sportier sound and increased horsepower I should get the M performance exhaust from them.
That would be a great add-on but with a 4k price tag I think it is way overpriced.
I felt like they wanted to help but only by me buying parts from BMW itself.

Again thank you!

Also what could these mods affect when it comes to the warranty? Would it be expensive to fix if something goes wrong? I would rather sleep better at night with a stock car rather than having a higher performance car and always worrying that a part of the engine could go wrong?

[AYTifosi]

A new motor is what, $30,000?

[brian30tw]

All due respect, and I am not at all trying to be rude, but you have a lot of research to do before modding your new $70k car! Please spend a lot of time reading before jumping into anything.

[robbieMWM3]

From my understanding M performance parts and Dinan mods dont effect warranty so I would stick with them. I could be wrong though...

[G1n Mast3r]

M Performance and Dinan are I believe are both covered under the BMW Factory Warranty. That being said there are multiple users and some SA's that are on this forum that can help you find a mod friendly dealer and SA within your area. I have a few things done to my vehicle but nothing that would or should void Warranty. like my muffler delete

[Powaup]

Originally Posted by keperna

Thanks for the quick reply guys!
I went to dealership and they told me not to touch the car at all!
Then went on to saying that if I wanted a sportier sound and increased horsepower I should get the M performance exhaust from them.
That would be a great add-on but with a 4k price tag I think it is way overpriced.
I felt like they wanted to help but only by me buying parts from BMW itself.

Again thank you!

Also what could these mods affect when it comes to the warranty? Would it be expensive to fix if something goes wrong? I would rather sleep better at night with a stock car rather than having a higher performance car and always worrying that a part of the engine could go wrong?

Go to another dealer where u can meet a mod friendly SA. If not then dinan is ok with BMW dealers just a bit pricey

[SakhirM4]

Originally Posted by darge82

Anytime you modify a car with aftermarket parts you take the chance or having warranty issues. There is nothing set in stone that if you modify something if your warranty is going to be good or not in the event of a failure. Its up the dealers discretion....

Warranty and free maintenance are not the same thing.

[tom @ eas]

Originally Posted by SakhirM4

Warranty and free maintenance are not the same thing.

But dealer has full discretion to refuse work on your vehicle if warranty was affected, since BMW would not reimburse them for the work.

[9SECDD]

Originally Posted by keperna

Thanks for the quick reply guys!
I went to dealership and they told me not to touch the car at all!
Then went on to saying that if I wanted a sportier sound and increased horsepower I should get the M performance exhaust from them.
That would be a great add-on but with a 4k price tag I think it is way overpriced.
I felt like they wanted to help but only by me buying parts from BMW itself.

Again thank you!

Also what could these mods affect when it comes to the warranty? Would it be expensive to fix if something goes wrong? I would rather sleep better at night with a stock car rather than having a higher performance car and always worrying that a part of the engine could go wrong?

Stop asking and start telling. if they keep that attitude, go to a new dealership. MPE is for sound, not performance. Nothing beats JB4 and DPs.

[Warranty P]

So much crap in here. Dinan certainly voids your BMW warranty, they simply may cover damages themselves if they determine their unit is at fault. Lots of grey area here.

[schnazzy]

Lets not perpetuate the myth that Dinan is covered under the BMW warranty.

Lets also note what is warranty, maintenance and "additional maintenance/warranty" you buy in the finance office.

BMW may have some rule that says if the warranty is void so is the maintenance. Maybe, not sure, unlikely. If I mod my car by putting nitto tires on it instead of the factory approved Michellin's and I have a transmission problem, BMW may not have to pay for the fix if they can reasonably prove or otherwise outright state and you need to prove them wrong that the mod you made caused the issue. It has to pass muster. My focal speakers won't void the scheduled oil changes. Voiding parts of maintenance would be nutty. However if you put in a tune and the motor blows up, this may or may not be a problem although in any situation it's going to be sticky.

If you had extended warranty.service (paid extra) most states require your remaining reimbursement if cancelled by either party.

The only mod that can't void a part of your warranty is a BMW factory part.

What Dinan has done is "insure" their products so if their tune blows your motor AND BMW won't pay it and they can't find fault in you (other parts like a non-dinan non-bmw exhaust....) then they put a claim in on their (dinan) insurance policy. They are big enough now they might be self insured.

I am unaware of any other tuner that has this level of "insurance" btw.

Just talk to your SA and if they have a problem with your parts, then go to the other BMW dealers.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by keperna

Hey guys,
I own a 2015 M4 and I was thinking about increasing the performance of the engine with either a downpipe and JB4 tune or get a Meisterschaft complete exhaust and a aFe Cold air intake.
The only thing that scares me is the Maintenance Plan getting waived due to these changes to the car. Does this differ from each BMW dealer or once there are changes I would have to pay for the Service and so on out of my own pocket?
Has anyone else gone through the same problems? Any solutions?
Thanks!

Sounds like your dealership is just trying a scare tactic in order to make more money off of you
You should be fine, and if they give you problems in the future go to another dealership

[doberzus]

Originally Posted by AYTifosi

A new motor is what, $30,000?

More, exactly the reason I would never mod this car. That and it has way more power than it can put down on the street.

I remember buying a 2015 STI, pro tuned it at 1500 miles with a catted downpipe, only to have a ring land failure at 3000 miles.... $8k later and I learned my lesson. Got to pay to play, and right now I don't feel like paying $30-$40k for an engine

[Mike@N54Tuning.com]

Originally Posted by mike@x-ph.com

Sounds like your dealership is just trying a scare tactic in order to make more money off of you

Ya thats what I was thinking with the instant sell to the MPE.

Mike

[stealth-twntrbo]

Maintenance should not be voided to to modification. You will come in for regular maintenance intervals they should service it and be fine.

BMW Factory warranty can be voided due to modification. This depends on the dealer.

BMW does not warranty any car with Dinan modification they do not have an agreement.

[Mike@N54Tuning.com]

Originally Posted by stealth-twntrbo

Maintenance should not be voided to to modification. You will come in for regular maintenance intervals they should service it and be fine.

BMW Factory warranty can be voided due to modification. This depends on the dealer.

BMW does not warranty any car with Dinan modification they do not have an agreement.

+1

Not sure how having an intake or tune, or anything should stop them from changing your oil, etc.

Mike

[A Frankfurt]

Originally Posted by keperna

Hey guys,
I own a 2015 M4 and I was thinking about increasing the performance of the engine with either a downpipe and JB4 tune or get a Meisterschaft complete exhaust and a aFe Cold air intake.
The only thing that scares me is the Maintenance Plan getting waived due to these changes to the car. Does this differ from each BMW dealer or once there are changes I would have to pay for the Service and so on out of my own pocket?
Has anyone else gone through the same problems? Any solutions?
Thanks!

I never heard of a dealership declining a maintenance service due to aftermarket mods.
As long as you are not going to the dealer for a drivability issue, then the mods should not be an issue for servicing.

[mose121]

Let's be clear, the only people who have the legal power to void your warranty is BMWNA. No dealer can void your warranty. All they can do is call BMW and report their findings, which really never happens. It's too much of a PITA for dealers to take the time to mess around with that stuff. There's too much grey area and it's not making them any money to argue over your warranty. If anything dealers can refuse service just like any other business can to limit their liability. That hardly means your warranty is void. But they do have to be careful because as the "administrator" of BMWNA's warranty they are required to fix defective parts under warranty. So they don't want to get in hot water by refusing legitimate warranty repairs either. Which is why unless you've done something crazy like supercharged a N/A car or something like that they usually just do the repair and move on. I've been in the car business for 15 years and worked for several high line dealers. I was with BMW for almost 9 years and now manage a Porsche dealer service department. I have never in my 15 years seen a manufacturer void a warranty with the exception of cars that were totalled/salvage titles. I was the Dinan Performance Specialist at the BMW dealer and have been an enthusiast myself modding cars for many years. I will tell you from my experience that Dinan's quality and customer service is second to none. They also design, test, and manufacture most of their components themselves where as most other companies farm everything out and slap their name on it. We sold one of the first carbon fiber air intake kits for an e60 550i to a client. He had an intermittent rough idle on cold starts and the CEL would come on. In just a few days Dinan had traced it back to the way air was flowing inside the intake tubes causing turbulence and reducing air flow under very specific conditions. They 3D printed a new prototype (this was in 2006!!!), over nighted it to me, installed the next day and verified it fixed the issue, then Dinan had a brand new redesigned carbon fiber part in my hands two days later. Steve Dinan called my client personally to apologize for the inconvenience without any urging from us to do so. Then they sent him a complete suspension kit that retails for almost $3,000 for free. I don't know another tuning company on the planet that could have physically achieved that level of support and customer service let alone cared enough to do so. Dinan lost a couple grand but they made the client a customer for life. I've dealt with many companies over the years and some of them won't even talk to you. Any issues that people try to attribute to Dinan are almost never on Dinan's end and are usually a result of the dealer/service advisor not knowing how to properly handle the situation and nothing more. As usual, the Service Advisor will make or break your experience so it's important to choose wisely or ask the manager who you should deal with. In the end you get what you pay for and that's not just the tangible product you can hold in your hands. Sure we can complain about the higher cost but it is certainly justifiable in every way. As far as maintenance goes, it's free money for the dealer. They would be fools not to just do the service and modifications should have nothing to do with it. The warranty and maintenance "contracts" are two separate agreements so mods shouldn't effect anything on the maintenance side.