'official' bmw warranty on a modified 'm'

B

boz

Member
 London
I've been having a dig around and it seems that the official bmw warranty won't cover a modified car. I've also seen that a number of you seem to have official warranties on not very stock cars - what am I missing? :(

I'm looking to invest in one over the coming month as I don't want to be faced with any nasty surprise bills apart from tyres/brake pads/services.
 
I think it depends on what you change. Not sure an extended warranty would cover a complete brake fitting change, fitted turbo etc unless of course you declare the mods and the company agree.
 
Some garages won't work on any vehicle that's been modified in case there's problems with the claim later on, but that's just them not wanting the business.

Most will take warranty work on, but only on standard components, and dealers have been instructed to note modifications to vehicles when they come in, so that a future claim for a damaged engine can be refuted if there's a history of the car previously having a remap/turbo/supercharger on it where it's been removed to attempt to defraud the warranty company.

The biggest problem will arise when there's a dispute over whether the warranty covers something they believe has been caused by a modified part - e.g. warped brake discs from using racing pads, suspension bush wear from running sticky tyres, sat nav fault caused by running a dodgy/infected DVD from ebay, MAF issues from running oiled filters, etc.

I prefer to stay more of less standard until the cars out of warranty, or is old enough to have a good source for aftermarket replacements to save a trip to the dealer.
 
Never had any issue over non standard exhaust on my car but if the engine blows BMW might try to dodge claim. I did have an issue with sat nav screen motor not working and dealer tried to blame non OEM disc. A few sharp words from me was enough to blow that arguement out of the water but I can see mods to brakes, suspension etc giving dealer/warranty company oportunity to doge claim. Just a chance you take I guess.
 
warranty not applying to modified items would make sense (in my case that would be the exhaust/brakes/wheels). my car is a late 2006 model and the standard warranty expired a while ago. i think i will probably give bmw a call and see what they say.

am i right in thinking that third-party warranties from places like warranty-direct aren't worth the paper they are written on?
 
mmm-five said:
I prefer to stay more of less standard until the cars out of warranty, or is old enough to have a good source for aftermarket replacements to save a trip to the dealer.
Click to expand...


ditto :thumbsup:
 
I've just had a claim through warranty-wise on my MG for a failed clutch slave cylinder, They paid out OK. Had a bit of a haggle over renewing the friction plate but they went 50% cost on that as well so no real complaints. Bill was £800 and only cost me £30.
 
just to throw a spanner in the works, my z4m is hugely modded as you all know, i still have the extended warranty which my dealer aggreed to honour on the car for any item not related to the supercharger ect ect.... cant say fairer than that really!! But to be fair if my roof fails, whats that got to do with my engine mods?? so i think within reasin and actually the law you should still be covered if modded.

byron
 
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