2006 325 warranty... what gives?

I was thinking of buying one of these things, but I wanted to
investigate the extended warranty since german cars aren't really
known for their reliability. I dont want to own a money pit.

Their website doesn't tell much about the warranty, and asks me to
talk to a dealer regarding coverage details. What sort of nonsense is
that? I don't want some dealer to "give me his word" on what is
covered, I want to see the full details of regular and extended
warranty, all inclusions and exclusions in writing. Will the dealer
give me this BEFORE I plonk down $35k?

Better yet, does anyone already have this information they could share
here? I realize that pricing of the warranty could be something up
for negotiation, but I at least need to know whats covered before I
buy one of these things.

In ,
Choder > typed:
> I was thinking of buying one of these things, but I wanted to
> investigate the extended warranty since german cars aren't really
> known for their reliability. I dont want to own a money pit.

Sure about the money pit thing?? We own 3 BMWs, none of which have failed
"reliability". Only 1 has an extended maintenance warranty, but we aren't so
sure we needed it.

Kathy

On Fri, 12 Aug 2005 12:45:09 -0500, "KJM" > wrote:

>In ,
>Choder > typed:
>> I was thinking of buying one of these things, but I wanted to
>> investigate the extended warranty since german cars aren't really
>> known for their reliability. I dont want to own a money pit.
>
>Sure about the money pit thing?? We own 3 BMWs, none of which have failed
>"reliability". Only 1 has an extended maintenance warranty, but we aren't so
>sure we needed it.
>
>Kathy
>

I just have friends that had 2002-2004 3-series and they are in the
shop for 200 bucks here, 300 bucks there all the time. I seem to be a
little "harder" on a car than most, because american cars don't last
long at all with me driving, I've had success only with japanese
models.. thus my interest in extended warranties. It also worries me
that the new 3-series is brand new, and Im wondering if I should wait
till 2007 for them to work the bugs out.

"Choder" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 12 Aug 2005 12:45:09 -0500, "KJM" > wrote:
>
>>In ,
>>Choder > typed:
>>> I was thinking of buying one of these things, but I wanted to
>>> investigate the extended warranty since german cars aren't really
>>> known for their reliability. I dont want to own a money pit.
>>
>>Sure about the money pit thing?? We own 3 BMWs, none of which have failed
>>"reliability". Only 1 has an extended maintenance warranty, but we aren't
>>so
>>sure we needed it.
>>
>>Kathy
>>
>
> I just have friends that had 2002-2004 3-series and they are in the
> shop for 200 bucks here, 300 bucks there all the time. I seem to be a
> little "harder" on a car than most, because american cars don't last
> long at all with me driving, I've had success only with japanese
> models.. thus my interest in extended warranties. It also worries me
> that the new 3-series is brand new, and Im wondering if I should wait
> till 2007 for them to work the bugs out.

The BMW will require more preventive maintenance than a Honda or Toyota, but
given that (and in the US, it's free for the warrantee period of 50K / 4
years) the reliability is exceptional. OTOH, I would follow BMW's
pre-free-maintenance-era schedule for such things as coolant, differential,
transmission and power steering drain and refill. (I think 2 years for
brake fluid is adequate.) That would reflect an over-and-above cost that
could be a couple hundred dollars during the free maintenance period.

I find it hard to believe that you have friends with relatively new cars
that require significant maintenance on their nickel. The warrantee and
maintenance offered by BMW should cover the average driver for 3-4 years.
What specifically are your friends spending their money on?

If you're inclined to under-maintain your vehicles (late with oil and
various filter changes, never drain/refill fluids, never check tire
pressure, etc) an extended warrantee might be a good thing. But under those
circumstances, I think your needs would best be served by the aforementioned
Japanese cars. They absorb the punishment of neglect better than German or
Detroit iron.

R/ John

In article >,
Choder > wrote:
> I was thinking of buying one of these things, but I wanted to
> investigate the extended warranty since german cars aren't really
> known for their reliability. I dont want to own a money pit.

An extended warranty is a form of insurance, and therefore not sold at a
loss. So to benefit from buying one you have to be more unlucky with
problems than the average.

I didn't take up the offer on my E39, and am many hundreds of pounds
better off as a result.

Others will have different stories. ;-)

--
*In some places, C:\ is the root of all directories *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Fri, 12 Aug 2005 19:02:00 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
> wrote:

>In article >,
> Choder > wrote:
>> I was thinking of buying one of these things, but I wanted to
>> investigate the extended warranty since german cars aren't really
>> known for their reliability. I dont want to own a money pit.
>
>An extended warranty is a form of insurance, and therefore not sold at a
>loss. So to benefit from buying one you have to be more unlucky with
>problems than the average.
>
>I didn't take up the offer on my E39, and am many hundreds of pounds
>better off as a result.
>
>Others will have different stories. ;-)

I think that's generally true. But as I said in an earlier thread, I
seem to have worse luck than average with regard to reliability.

Also, I like not running into expensive surprises, I'd prefer to
operate on a fixed monthly budget that stays relatively constant.
Even if paying for repairs out of pocket turned out to be a few bucls
more than paying for repairs as they arise, I like avoiding the stress
of an expense here, an expense there, etc.

In article >,
Choder > wrote:
> >An extended warranty is a form of insurance, and therefore not sold at a
> >loss. So to benefit from buying one you have to be more unlucky with
> >problems than the average.
> >
> >I didn't take up the offer on my E39, and am many hundreds of pounds
> >better off as a result.
> >
> >Others will have different stories. ;-)

> I think that's generally true. But as I said in an earlier thread, I
> seem to have worse luck than average with regard to reliability.

> Also, I like not running into expensive surprises, I'd prefer to
> operate on a fixed monthly budget that stays relatively constant.
> Even if paying for repairs out of pocket turned out to be a few bucls
> more than paying for repairs as they arise, I like avoiding the stress
> of an expense here, an expense there, etc.

Then you'd need more than an extended warranty and add something like a
fixed price maintenance scheme, since many things will be wear and tear
and not failures.

--
* I like you. You remind me of when I was young and stupid

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Fri, 12 Aug 2005 23:18:34 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
> wrote:

>In article >,
> Choder > wrote:
>> >An extended warranty is a form of insurance, and therefore not sold at a
>> >loss. So to benefit from buying one you have to be more unlucky with
>> >problems than the average.
>> >
>> >I didn't take up the offer on my E39, and am many hundreds of pounds
>> >better off as a result.
>> >
>> >Others will have different stories. ;-)
>
>> I think that's generally true. But as I said in an earlier thread, I
>> seem to have worse luck than average with regard to reliability.
>
>> Also, I like not running into expensive surprises, I'd prefer to
>> operate on a fixed monthly budget that stays relatively constant.
>> Even if paying for repairs out of pocket turned out to be a few bucls
>> more than paying for repairs as they arise, I like avoiding the stress
>> of an expense here, an expense there, etc.
>
>Then you'd need more than an extended warranty and add something like a
>fixed price maintenance scheme, since many things will be wear and tear
>and not failures.

I suspect you're right, but I would like to see the warranty options
and evaluate things for myself before making a decision.

Who said that the german cars arent known for reliability?? Thats the
biggest load of crap I've ever heard!! Maintainance is the only key..
take care of your vehicle and it will take care of you. I have seen
bimmers running up in the 350-400k range on original powertrain
components with no major (over $500) work done on them.
If you are planning on buying a bimmer and then driving it into the
ground like a honda or a toyota, then dont buy it.. your car will fail
and it will be expensive. Sure you can get a honda or toyota to the
150k miles range but it will drive like a big hunk of crap if not
maintained. Same goes for the bimmer, but your honda, toyota, whatever,
will never give you the driving experience of a well maintained bimmer.

On 12 Aug 2005 12:37:01 -0700, "Corey Shuman" >
wrote:

>Who said that the german cars arent known for reliability??

Consumer Reports and other ratings boards show a clear disparity in
overall reliability between German and Japanese brands. Do not
compare BMW to Honda or Toyota, compare them to Acura and Lexus... and
yes you can certainly get an equivilent if not better in some cases
driving experience.

Anyway, my question is what exactly is or isnt covered under the basic
and extended warranties. It wasnt to debate reliablity statistics
across brands.