What sort of quality service have people received at their official bmw dealer , how much does it matter that its an official dealer stamp in the service book ? Charges for servicing and how they look after your car . What about independent bmw specialists do they do a better/same job for lower cost ?
indy bmw service
- Thread starter saskia
- Start date
Never used a dealer for mine, but the consensus seems to be that an Indy will do as good a job, if not better, at half the labour rate... Which makes a big difference when a dealer is charging £100+ an hour. However - and this is the kicker - if you have a warranty you pretty much have to have everything done at an approved dealer. If you break the service schedule at an Indy then you will invalidate the warranty. I think you can buy yourself back into a warranty scheme, but no idea how much more expensive it would be. Mine has no warranty so it doesn't matter - just need to keep the stamps up to date to demonstrate good service history, and I have found an excellent Indy near me. However if I had an ///M and a warranty I wouldn't break it... And I am not sure I would have an ///M without one.
Hope that helps
Hope that helps
Depends what the car is also its age, if you want a BMW warranty then there is no choice but BMW. If the car is over 5 years old I would say indi unless it is an M. The indi will look after you better than BMW tbh they have people trained to read computers not figure out what is wrong the old fashioned way.
Liverpool
My Indy gives me a choice to supply any of my own parts, including the Edge 5/30 oil from Costco & has saved me shed loads of cash, ensuring all is written on the invoice when finished.
For cars over 5 years of age, my view is main dealers will have access to lots of info, though in diagnosing items that can wear out over time won't have as much experience as a specialist Indy in more mature motors who deal with this on a day to day basis.
J
For cars over 5 years of age, my view is main dealers will have access to lots of info, though in diagnosing items that can wear out over time won't have as much experience as a specialist Indy in more mature motors who deal with this on a day to day basis.
J
the generalist
Member
It depends on what work you're needing to get done. My car has full BMW SH and recently needed an oil service and brake fluid change. Ordinarily I would supply my oil to a BMW. However dealers vary in grades of accepted and willingness to use customers oil.
But on my last service, I checked out maindealerdiscount.com and found BMW Rybrook in Warwick (not too bad for me as I use the M40 to Birmingham quite often). They did the oil and brake fluid for about 1/3 less than their list price, which is already cheaper than some other BMW dealers. Very impressed with them. They didn't 'find' anything to fix, took 1.5hrs, with a good waiting area...WIFI, coffee, tv, papers etc. and more importantly the car still has Full BMW SH. I don't think this affects resale price much, but it does help to sell it quicker and buyers are more attracted to a full dealer service history.
But on my last service, I checked out maindealerdiscount.com and found BMW Rybrook in Warwick (not too bad for me as I use the M40 to Birmingham quite often). They did the oil and brake fluid for about 1/3 less than their list price, which is already cheaper than some other BMW dealers. Very impressed with them. They didn't 'find' anything to fix, took 1.5hrs, with a good waiting area...WIFI, coffee, tv, papers etc. and more importantly the car still has Full BMW SH. I don't think this affects resale price much, but it does help to sell it quicker and buyers are more attracted to a full dealer service history.
This is no longer the case. Provided that the servicing has been done at the specified intervals, using genuine BMW parts and the correct grade of oil, having the car serviced outside of the dealer network will not invalidate the New Car, AUC or Extended warranties.Bing said:
(Proving that the servicing complied, in the event of a warranty claim, may not be so easy, and you can say godbye to any chance of a goodwill repair.)
For a manufacturer one you are correct. For BMW's (Mondial) Insured Warranty their terms speficially state otherwise (see below). Other warranty providers have differing T&Cs, and I assume most would prefer you got it done at an indy to save them money.ZedFourM said:
There's a legal difference between a warranty provided by the manufacturer (where you have no choice in the matter) and one bought by the customer (where you choose the one that suits and abide by their specific T&Cs).
The Insured Warranty Policy Booklet specifically states...
AFAIK. there is only one BMW Service Authorised Workshop (in Basingstoke). The rest are BMW Dealerships.
Warranty Direct's terms state: "You must look after the vehicle in line with the manufacturer’s servicing handbook, and have it serviced by a VAT-registered garage within 30 days or 1000 miles (whichever is sooner) of the recommended service interval and ensure that the manufacturer’s recommended type, grade and quality of engine oil is used. If you have provided parts for the servicing of the vehicle, this will only be acceptable if there is proof of purchase of such parts. Your vehicle must have a valid MOT certificate at the time of a claim." So looks like BMW Indys are OK with this warranty, but you need to keep copies of all receipts...
Apologies - you are absolutely correct. If you are under an AUC Warranty, you do not need to use dealer servicing. Equally, a car does not need to have a dealer service history in order to buy an Extended Warranty (either continuation or lapsed) for the first time. However, once you buy an Extended Warranty, it is a requirement of the policy (as you have quoted) that any ongoing servicing is carried out by a BMW dealer.mmm-five said:
Given that I have 3 Comprehensive, £0 excess, policies (Z4M, M5 and my wife's Mini Cooper S), costing over £2.5k a year, you'd think that I'd remember all the requirements
They call it a "lapsed" policy, and it is indeed more expensive than a continuation of an existing policy. There is no requirement for a dealer inspection, but you cannot claim for the first month that the policy is in force, and any pre-existing conditions are not covered. The car must have a full service history, and have used BMW parts and the correct grade of oil, but (as mentioned above) the work does not need to have been carried out by a BMW Dealer.Bing said:
As an example of the difference in cost, a lapsed policy on an M car (uder 60k miles, with Fully Comprehensive cover, European breakdown cover and £0 excess) is £1,236, whereas a continuation policy is £951.