[b-man]

My car has 30k miles on it, and it is under warranty until 50K. I want to get some mods but as far as I know any problems that somehow relate to the aftermarket part will not be covered by the warranty.

Anyone out there who got mods on his car while it was under warranty? Is it a bad idea? Any regrets?

[PR3CI5N]

Really depends on your mod list. A tune like the JB4 will be no problem because you can delete the shadow and fault codes before taking your car to the dealer. As far as downpipes and a FMIC goes, you can have these mods on your car but you'll have to uninstall them each time you need to get your car serviced or have warranty work. An exhaust system is one mod I don't think BMW cares about so you wouldn't need to uninstall that. They 100% care when you mess with the OEM cats though.
I'd start with a tune and go from there. It might provide all the power increase you're looking for.

[StevenY.]

If I'm recalling correctly, BMW can only deny warranty work on the specific part if they can prove the mod is the thing that caused the part to not work. There are mod friendly dealers out there, call around. Or you can make friends with an SA or mechanic and they should take care of you.

[cotmfk]

My dealer won't touch my car anymore. I'm not sure what happened, as they used to work on it in the past. When I went in the last time (less than a month ago), they said they wouldn't work on the car anymore because it's modded. I wasn't asking for warranty work at all. I'm at 111k miles and needed a new footwell module. Just another thing to think about when you are debating mods. Just make sure you have a good indy network you can take the car to if you can't do it yourself.

[ken1137]

The dealer cannot legally deny warranty unless said part failed due to your mod. In addition, the dealer has to prove the mod caused the failure versus simply stating it. I've modded all my BMWs and spent $14K on my 135. I only ran into one issue with a dealer and my 135. The dealer was denying warranty work due to my suspension mods. I contacted BMWNA and they agreed with me and backed me up. I think the problem is most people just walk away and give up, and dont fight back. We have the Magnuson-Moss Act and FTC report about warranties to back us up. Happy modding

[Moony]

Depends on the dealer. I have a dealer that's less than 5 miles from my apartment that won't accept my car as I have coilovers and an after market exhaust. But the dealer 30 miles away welcomes modded bimmers. The general manager and service manager both mod their cars and love enthusiasts so it really depends on the dealership

[kfriceman]

Originally Posted by cotmfk

My dealer won't touch my car anymore. I'm not sure what happened, as they used to work on it in the past. When I went in the last time (less than a month ago), they said they wouldn't work on the car anymore because it's modded. I wasn't asking for warranty work at all. I'm at 111k miles and needed a new footwell module. Just another thing to think about when you are debating mods. Just make sure you have a good indy network you can take the car to if you can't do it yourself.

It’s pretty easy to understand, your car is no longer stock. The technicians are not certified to work on a car that cannot be serviced as an OEM. If enough changes to a car have been made, standard service regimes no longer apply…….meaning service activity “X” no longer delivers expected result “Y”. There is an OEM standard because the cars are all manufactured per a specification. A modified car at some point can fall outside of the specification at which the OEM standard cannot be applied and then becomes a risk for the dealer to work on and warranty the technician’s efforts.

-Kevin

[cotmfk]

I hear what you're saying, but they had been working on the car with its current mod list multiple times in the past. (Including software updates and other items). So, to suddenly deny service was surprising. I'm fine with it, as I think I can get better work for cheaper in my network of Indy's, I just can't be lazy and take it to the dealer anymore. Plus, I may learn a thing or two doing as much of the work as I can myself.

[b-man]

Originally Posted by PR3CI5N

Really depends on your mod list. A tune like the JB4 will be no problem because you can delete the shadow and fault codes before taking your car to the dealer. As far as downpipes and a FMIC goes, you can have these mods on your car but you'll have to uninstall them each time you need to get your car serviced or have warranty work. An exhaust system is one mod I don't think BMW cares about so you wouldn't need to uninstall that. They 100% care when you mess with the OEM cats though.
I'd start with a tune and go from there. It might provide all the power increase you're looking for.

What do you mean by fault codes? If I get a tune like JB4, will I have check engine light on all the time?

[Maestro]

Originally Posted by PR3CI5N

Really depends on your mod list. A tune like the JB4 will be no problem because you can delete the shadow and fault codes before taking your car to the dealer. As far as downpipes and a FMIC goes, you can have these mods on your car but you'll have to uninstall them each time you need to get your car serviced or have warranty work. An exhaust system is one mod I don't think BMW cares about so you wouldn't need to uninstall that. They 100% care when you mess with the OEM cats though.
I'd start with a tune and go from there. It might provide all the power increase you're looking for.

What people do not realize with a mod that messes with the exhaust especially the Cats, there are fed laws requires them to be in place to pass emission requirements. Even if your state or location does not do emission testing Car companies are required to make sure these things stay in working order. Tunes can also mess with emission as well.

Yes you can argue the mod did not cause something to fail, but the cost to you to fight and win is far higher than the cost of the repair or the mod. Remember not everyone has lawyers on retainer to prove they were right in the first place.

Today if you going to mess with anything which is not cosmetic plan on having troubles getting a repair done without some sort of hassle unless you have a very good personal relationship with the dealership. After warranty most dealers do not complain about doing the work since you are paying anyway.

[PR3CI5N]

You sound paranoid...Anyways OP, get all the performance mods you want but just make sure your car is stock before a dealer trip. You won't have any problems. I haven't in over 3 years.

Originally Posted by Maestro

What people do not realize with a mod that messes with the exhaust especially the Cats, there are fed laws requires them to be in place to pass emission requirements. Even if your state or location does not do emission testing Car companies are required to make sure these things stay in working order. Tunes can also mess with emission as well.

Yes you can argue the mod did not cause something to fail, but the cost to you to fight and win is far higher than the cost of the repair or the mod. Remember not everyone has lawyers on retainer to prove they were right in the first place.

Today if you going to mess with anything which is not cosmetic plan on having troubles getting a repair done without some sort of hassle unless you have a very good personal relationship with the dealership. After warranty most dealers do not complain about doing the work since you are paying anyway.

[David1]

The Magnuson-Moss Act only applies to replacement parts that are OEM specifications, not moddifications. Also, any mod that is before the cats such as IC, blow off valves, airboxes, etc are tecnically not legal so you would have no protection from the Magnuson-Moss Act. Don't count on that act for a thing. Also, following the Magnuson-Moss Act guidlines, if the manufacturer states what will void a warranty as what BMW does in the warranty book, then the manufacturer has the right to deny service.

[Mardio]

Seems each dealer has their own policy on mods, I would check first.

[Bingobimmer]

I have very few mods, the only performance one is a an dci (I will be getting a tune soon). I was a little worried what they would say when I took it in the first time, but they didn't even mention it. I have a good relationship with the dealer but I think u should be fine as far as a tune that you can remove and other simple mods.

[b-man]

Thanks for all the input guys. I think I'm gonna wait on the mods until I'm sure my dealer will be ok with them. There aren't a lot of dealers in ME

[Pete Schweaty]

Just stick with mods that you can take out quickly if you need to. A tune and intake can be out of your car in 30-40 minutes.

[W.WCherry]

Originally Posted by baris

Thanks for all the input guys. I think I'm gonna wait on the mods until I'm sure my dealer will be ok with them. There aren't a lot of dealers in ME

What kind of mods did you have in mind?

Are they for your 328ix?

[b-man]

Originally Posted by B.Corso

What kind of mods did you have in mind?

Are they for your 328ix?

They are for my 328ix. I'm planning on tune and intake. I've heard that euro box doesn't void your warranty so I may go with that, but I'm going to ask my dealer. They seem like nice people, I hope they'll understand a young fella's passion for mods

I've been reading on the forums, and everyone seems to have a different ideas on tuning. Some people say they cause problems in hot weather, some people say how can a small company tune your car or manufacture an air filter/intake better than bmw.

I'm kinda confused about what to do. I was looking at burgertuning's website and saw that you can actually install bms power box yourself. Is this a good idea?

For intake, I want to get the eurobox with k&n but will talk to my dealer first. I don't really want to switch it everytime I go to the dealer. Although, if I'm going to the dealer very often, I guess that will mean I have bigger problems

http://burgertuning.com/BMS_Power_Box.html

[b-man]

This is my first bmw, bought it a week ago. So my choices are based on what I've been reading for the past couple weeks. I'll appreciate it if anyone can suggest tune-intake combos

[David1]

None will do much for that car. Save your money on the air box and just get a K&N and cut out the charcoal filter in the factory box.

[b-man]

Originally Posted by David1

None will do much for that car. Save your money on the air box and just get a K&N and cut out the charcoal filter in the factory box.

Does cutting out the charcoal filter cause any damage? It makes me wonder why it would be there if it's not preventing anything.

Also I heard some people put K&N in their eurobox. I'm sorry if this sounds stupid I'm very new to this, but what if I install eurobox with K&N, and get rid of the charcoal filter? I think this may cost the most amount of money, but will also yield more gain, if it's possible

I know none will do much for 328 but I'm trying to find out what gives more gain and how much it costs.

Any ideas on tunes?

[e90Nate]

i personally think doing any bmw performance mods will help you retain your warranty, although they are somewhat pricier than most other aftermarket mods. you could always do bmw performance intake and bmw performance exhaust. these are mods that you wouldnt have to remove prior to going into the dealership.