4 yr/50k - Decided not to extend warranty/maintenance

[JoeFromPA]

Hi all,

As I'm about 500 miles away from 50k miles, and I'm right at 4 years of ownership as of 8/22, I shopped extending my warranty and maintenance packages. For historical references, here were the prices I received:

Platinum 6/100k - $6100
Gold 6/100k - $5100
Maintenance 6/100k - $3500

In essence, this is 2 years/50k miles (which I wouldn't use) extension for those prices.

I've decided not to extend my warranties and wanted to share this information for others. My f8x has been perfect. I've had ZERO issues - no warranty related replacements besides, literally, my floor mat on the drivers side wore out at 40k miles and one rain gutter needed a fresh piece of double-sided tape under it to keep it stuck down firm.

And on maintenance: DIY oil changes run about $50-60, my brakes say the original pads will last till 140k front and 100k rear, so it's just brake fluid and spark plugs and maybe 3 oil changes....

Great car - fingers crossed I'll have another 50k of excellent experience. But even if I drop $4k on maintenance and a repair or two, I'll still come out ahead.

[Mr. Hankey]

Congrats Joe! Thanks for all the updates, your posts have been very helpful to me over the past 3 years.

How is the Carbonstructure holding up?

[e90-4aj]

Great info - thanks

[gatorfast]

Those prices you quoted are absurd and you will likely come out wayyyy ahead over the next two years.

[dkhm3]

Great info. I am in the same boat going to pass on extended warranty. Car has been perfect. 35k Miles.

[gunsmoker]

If one has the income to afford the car in the first place, i would think they would have cash to cover emergency repairs to the tune of 2-3k a year so being what the warranty is in essence, the repairs will cost less on average and i wouldn't buy a warranty. However, it does bug me that my 2016 i bought 4 months ago with 6k miles on it has spent a considerable amount of time in the shop and had the following work done:
Front left strut replaced
Front right strut mount replaced
Front right thrust arm replaced
Fuel pressure sensor replaced
Valvetronic motor shaft replaced

I think the front right strut will have to be replaced too for creaking in sharp turns.
The car is all stock.

[SakhirM4]

I am coming up on 4 years on 8/24, although I only have 20k miles. The best price that I found was from USAA for $3,200. I have decided not to spend the money as the M4 has been perfect with only free maintenance for oil changes, etc. performed. Especially with my mileage, doesn't make sense to me to spend the money.

I have a 2001 Z3 that I bought new in October 2000 and it now has 60k miles. Has been without warranty for almost 14 years and has been just fine - only had to buy a new top which was way less than any extended warrantees.

With the reliability of the M4, I feel good about not going extended.

[avex8]

What about the SCH. It's expensive to repair and you don't know it until it happens

[nicknaz]

joe, I had the Geico MBI on my car from the start in anticipation of keeping it forever, and to avoid the prices you mentioned.

Guess "forever" ended up being 2yr / 14k miles for me

congrats on the full 4 years and hope you have another great 4 years.

[Fast4d]

my car hasn't been service by the stealership since 1200 miles. I am at 30k now.

[THEROK]

One of the key attractions of buying an M4 late into its production run was its reliability record. I've been impressed by how stout the S55 and DCT unit has proven to be and it'd be a tough decision to opt into an aftermarket warranty once the factory coverage runs out.

Bravo, BMW, bravo.

Can you imagine being an Guilia Q or C63 owner? No, thanks.

[marvinp]

Originally Posted by THEROK

One of the key attractions of buying an M4 late into its production run was its reliability record. I've been impressed by how stout the S55 and DCT unit has proven to be and it'd be a tough decision to opt into an aftermarket warranty once the factory coverage runs out.

Bravo, BMW, bravo.

Can you imagine being an Guilia Q or C63 owner? No, thanks.

Is there actually data available publicly that we could use to even know if the F8x M3/M4 are more reliable than its competition?

[SakhirM4]

Originally Posted by marvinp

Is there actually data available publicly that we could use to even know if the F8x M3/M4 are more reliable than its competition?

[Ian1973]

I also ran out my warranty, sold it with 57k miles. I would have done a lot of the normal maintenance stuff on my own and I wasn't concerned with reliability as it didn't give me a single problem the entire time. Except right at the end of ownership my windshield washer fluid pump died. But it was a 40 dollar part and an hour of my time and would have been back to normal.

[BluM4]

Originally Posted by avex8

What about the SCH. It's expensive to repair and you don't know it until it happens

^^ this. I read it cost over $30K to replace the engine.

My Porsche's SA recommends Fidelity. I plan to buy an additional 4 years extended warranty. A peace of mind and also I should be able to recover some of the cost when I sell the car before the extended warranty expires.

[Caliboy951]

If it makes any difference I went through USAA and purchased a extended warranty (6 year or 100k miles) for $4600.
It starts from the date I purchase the extended warranty so I'm covered through 6/1/2024. I had them before on my M5 and they were the absolute best to work with!

[marvinp]

Originally Posted by SakhirM4

Attachment 1859019

That's for the overall brands. I was thinking more something specific to the M3/M4. Regardless it's good to see that BMW has a high rating.

[JoeFromPA]

Originally Posted by avex8

What about the SCH. It's expensive to repair and you don't know it until it happens

Do you know how many SCH have been verified to have happened on a manual trans untuned f8x?

ZERO.

Do you know how many SCH have been verified to have happened on a DCT trans untuned f8x?

A few.

Out of >75,000 S55s running around today.

...

And of those spun crank hubs , the majority are fixed not with engine replacement but with a few thousand dollar repair.

So tell me again why this should be a significant concern for me?

[JoeFromPA]

Originally Posted by rhk118

Congrats Joe! Thanks for all the updates, your posts have been very helpful to me over the past 3 years.

How is the Carbonstructure holding up?

Carbonstructure is the shit man. I'm pretty serious on my car and use it for true daily driver status. I eat and drink in there, I haul 2 young boys around not-infrequently.

Carbonstructure is mint everywhere except the driver's bolster. The bolster had some wear at 15k miles so I started treating it religiously with leather conditioner and putting my seat back before entry/exit. Since then, wear has stopped or at least slowed dramatically.

I get into my car in the sun on 94 degree days and the seat is fine. I get in on 10 degree days and the seat is fine. Easy leather maintenance. Minimal vacuuming of the seats. Looks great.

[gatorfast]

Originally Posted by JoeFromPA

Do you know how many SCH have been verified to have happened on a manual trans untuned f8x?

ZERO.

Do you know how many SCH have been verified to have happened on a DCT trans untuned f8x?

A few.

Out of >75,000 S55s running around today.

...

And of those spun crank hubs , the majority are fixed not with engine replacement but with a few thousand dollar repair.

So tell me again why this should be a significant concern for me?

Seriously man this has become so blown out of proportion and created a sky is falling feeling here lately.

[JoeFromPA]

Originally Posted by gatorfast

Seriously man this has become so blown out of proportion and created a sky is falling feeling here lately.

I genuinely don't get it. I didn't get it in 2016, and I really don't get it today. There is now TONS OF EVIDENCE (albeit self-reported and with selection bias) that this is a non-issue.

The S55 is quite possibly one of the best performance engines ever built. Let's put aside sound for a moment, shall we? It requires minimal maintenance, has a great reliability record to date on every single part of the engine and related accessories, doesn't consume oil, can return 30-32mpg on highway trips in a 4 door sedan while trapping 118-119mph stock, has low emissions....is super tunable if so desired with very stout stock internals, etc.

Hell, even look at us manual transmission owners - somehow our stock clutches are even incredibly stout.

[SakhirM4]

Originally Posted by JoeFromPA

I genuinely don't get it. I didn't get it in 2016, and I really don't get it today. There is now TONS OF EVIDENCE (albeit self-reported and with selection bias) that this is a non-issue.

The S55 is quite possibly one of the best performance engines ever built. Let's put aside sound for a moment, shall we? It requires minimal maintenance, has a great reliability record to date on every single part of the engine and related accessories, doesn't consume oil, can return 30-32mpg on highway trips in a 4 door sedan while trapping 118-119mph stock, has low emissions....is super tunable if so desired with very stout stock internals, etc.

Hell, even look at us manual transmission owners - somehow our stock clutches are even incredibly stout.

The 2 door coupe does pretty well too