Weekend Toy or Daily Driver? ~~~YOUR NEWBIE NEEDS YOU!!~~~

Well that is the positive that should be there with a dealer. The car should be prepared until its next service. Whether it be tyres cosmetic, mechanical anything.

Then you get the warranty included so no extra payment as its part of the deal and as they are giving 2 years with M cars its worth it. I paid around £700 more for the privilege at the time and wouldn't hesitate again as long as the deal was right.

Depends on situ. But the 2k quoted figure isn't always right either and if the worst thing happens like Jimbo then your sorted.
 
I forgot I also got another warranty claim with a sticking caliper. Was £320 including labour without warranty. So that's nearly 2ks work, which isn't due to excess stress on the vehicle but just that sometimes things go wrong.
 
Tom you're like an elephant (memory wise!) Yes, there were a few other little things to sort out, but I wouldn't call them components. The glovebox kept falling open, thankfully that was a plastic screw missing so was fixed by me for under a £1. The ashtray wouldn't close, so bought a new unit from eBay for £25 so good as new now and sold the old one to Neil with his orange Z :wink:. One of the air vents was strangely missing the chrome trim insert so replaced by buying a new one from eBay and selling my one on here (person didn't mind the missing trim) as had a cup holder; so after the 'swap' that cost me £5. The other thing was tax running out which I've obviously bought now! I have replaced the rear springs and rear brake pads & discs, but factored that into purchase price. The car is purrrrfect now, I would like cruise but that's the only option I'm missing (heated seats are nice right now :) )

But we obviously differ in opinion and have had very different car buying experiences in the past it sounds like...

Your car is amazeballs, we all know that but I just wanted to reassure the op he doesn't HAVE to buy auc as buying privately isn't all bad :) I echo what I said earlier about going to see the car first, get a good check etc whether private or dealer.
 
And a warranty, I'm on the fence with that one!! Already given my views about that above...
 
Woody said:
And a warranty, I'm on the fence with that one!! Already given my views about that above...
Click to expand...

Agreed..........as the value of our cars drop especially on the 2.0l to 3.0l variants I think a monthly sum into a car fund bank account would be a better alternative.
If I had no warranty on my car and a £3000 repair was needed, I'd definitely have to consider scrapping the car.
On an "M" with a value of £10k upwards it's a different story.
 
I bought my MC privately 5 years ago and saved about £5k over a similarly priced BMW/AUC cars at the time. I have no warranty but that £5k could have fixed a whole load of things that 'might' have gone wrong, but to this date nothing has (touch wood).

having a warranty is just personal preference and just another form of insurance. How do you think these warranty people make money, they play the odds.

I could have all kinds of extended warranties or insurances on the things I own, like my boiler, washing machine, TV, fridge etc. but I don't bother. I play the odds instead. I think of all the money I could have spent over the years on these warranties and so far when the odd thing has gone wrong its not been anywhere near the amount I would have spent maintaining warranties.

Granted you need to be in a position to be able to payout in the event of a malfunction so should be prepared for this and this is the salient point. Some people would rather pay out to ensure someone else is prepared for them. I just choose to be prepared myself.
 
OK, I'm relatively undecided on this warranty issue.

Tom you said you paid £700 for yours, but what age/ mileage had your car covered at that time. Was that the comprehensive warranty and were you subject to excess payments?

Does anybody know of any information regarding rough prices of warranties at each stage given mileage etc?

Like Tom I am not mechanically minded and would be more than useless should something serious happen. Peace of mind motoring sounds appealing. I guess logically more cars don't need the warranty than do (else BMW wouldn't offer it).
 
I paid a £700 premium through BMW over a similar car, private sale which was 18 months ago, the car had 46k on it. The car had £500 off it but managed to get a further £500 so £1000 in total, it is a 56 plate registered 18th december 06. I bought mine from BMW so I got a full BMW warranty it was just extended at no additional cost for 2 years, but I no BMW were offering it as a selling point to compete with Porsche.

But as described above I got all the extra you could call 'value added' with the price of the vehicle. Tyres, pads, full wheel refurb, 2 year warranty So it would not need anything done to it by myself until the next service schedule or 12k or if I went through the tyres.

The warranty is a personal preference, but in my case I have had nearly £2k worth of unexpected work as described above, more than paid for itself... and seen as tho I got it with the car at no extra change with an extra 100% cover it made sense. Since then the car has been fine, neither were major just the calliper and ECU/electrical components. Just took a lot of labour+ the parts. Also depends on your situ, putting another £150 a month away for the car after tax, insurance, fuel and monthly payments might be hard to justify?? I dont know. If you got a £3000 repair bill its more like £250 a month. But that is worse case scenario, worth being safe tho?

But like said if you are willing to haggle and have valid proof of other prices etc on the market and be willing to walk away you wont pay as much BMW premium as quoted usually about £1500-£2500 depending on time of year. BMW M cars are a niche they want to get rid of them. But a 3rd party or BMW warranty on a privately bought car will cost £1000 or more depending on age and milage, so really you are paying £1000 premium. Took me 2 weeks to seal the deal with BMW and on collection it wasn't as agreed so went back for some smaller issue to be sorted.

If you put the money away and end up without problems then quids in, but things do go wrong. And although £14-18k doesn't sound much these were £50k cars (with options) with £50k car repair bills. Its not buying its looking after it to recommended BMW standard/to what another enthusiast would appreciate as these cars are a niche market, you will sell it to an enthusiast. Specialists might not cut it to a buyer and also means they wouldn't be able to buy a BMW warranty if they so wished.

Again before grilling, this is my experience and its worth describing both sides of the coin to a new member.
 
I appreciate the advice Tom, it's always best to gather all the info you can.

Effectively what you're saying is that buying an ///M from BMW will allow you more room to negotiate.

I'd like to know what the prices for the various options of a BMW extended warranty are for say a Z4MC of 40k mileage?

Anybody received any quotes recently?
 
Well I wouldn't say there is more room to negotiate, but BMW should sort it for you as an approved used car, and you get 1 year warranty with an AUC car 2 years sometimes with the M. If they haven't you can use it to your advantage and have BMW to fall back on if something goes wrong. Like in my examples above.

Whereas if you buy privately you need to do your homework and offer appropriately. Basically is the service history up to scratch, the M needs to have the 1200 mile run in service anything over 100 miles over I would question or walk away. Then the car is serviced every 2 years (oil and brake fluid) regardless of milage done in that time or every 12k. Inspections are done at specific milage or around that, I think its 25k for the first and 50k for the Inspection II, but thats off the top of my head dont quote me.

Then there is tyres, brakes, suspension and overall cosmetic condition etc electronics what works? Seats can get tatty also trim is easily broken, Air conditioning - when was it last gassed and filters changed? does it work? Couple of engine checks how does it sound? The S54 naturally is tapperty so makes a metallic noise but if loud excessive then there may be a problem. Vanos can also be a problem, but cant think off the top of my head the symptoms. Also check exhaust fumes, should be grey not bluish grey, blue could mean there is an issue of running rich etc Check for hesitation, if you are at 1800rpm and hit the throttle does it instantly give you feedback if not then that shows it has the hesitation issue. Also valve adjustment needs to be done on the major services may be documented on whether it was altered or not all things you can use to your advantage.

Stolen from another thread think i summed most up:

• Engine
Check the service book for the initial, 1200-mile service. This is where the fluids are changed from the run-in spec to the normal spec, and if it wasn’t done then serious wear could result.

Curiously, the throttle system can go out of tune. Resetting it can improve throttle response and its really simple to do: turn the ignition on and wait for 10 seconds, then turn it off for 10 seconds, then turn it on again for 10, then start the engine.

The crankcase ventilation oil separator assembly can clog with sludge; in extreme cases this can lead to combustible vapour building up in the intake and going bang in a big way when you next start the car. The valve is fitted to many BMWs and is one of the most ‘popular’ replacement parts!

• Transmission
If there is a rattle when you switch the engine off, which doesn’t happen if you have the clutch down, then this is probably the clutch springs. If this is the case, then it’s fairly normal and nothing to worry about. Shift from first to second are notchy.

• Body and chassis
Your Z4 M should come with two keys, so check that they both operate the remote central locking. If not, then it is a main dealer job to get them reprogrammed.
Be aware that the strut braces can crack near the strut tops – it’s actually the weld on the body that breaks so replacement is expensive – so check this area carefully.

• Brakes and suspension
The road springs have been known to snap at 35-45k, so check the car sits level and there are no rattles from the corners when driving. Some owners fit uprated Eibach or H&R springs.

Creaking from the rear can be worn anti-roll bar bushes, but they are reasonably cheap to replace.

Search for ///M buying guides. There is extensive written guides

I think in a recent warranty thread people were being quoted about £800-1000 for an 06 car with average milage for a BMW warranty.
 
Thanks Tom, really appreciate your help.

£800 - £1000 shouldn't pose a problem. I saw £2400ish quoted in one thread, which would start to make me waver.
 
Steve if you're not fussed for options/toys and don't mind a few more miles, this is a bargain...

http://content.bmw.co.uk:80/bmwuk/bmwauc/details?ch=WBSDU92020LF78537

Previous owner is a forum member too :)

It was discussed fairly recently:

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=45492

A bargain to be had there if you REALLY want a (cheap) auc MC!
 
As far a colour combo goes that is basically what i'd be after....that or Midnight Blue/ Sepang Bronze....although I do want CSLs. I don't mind spending £15-17k for the right car, not yet though. July my search will start, which I appreciate will be entering higher prices again, but for financial reasons July is the earliest opportunity I'll have.

Mileage is a little high for me. I'd be after something <40k. Especially if I'm going to go for a warranty a car with ~80k I'd imagine would be significantly higher.

And, if I'm not going for a warranty I'd want a lower mileage example, which I'd imagine (on average) would encounter less issues?

I don't think that the car needs to be an AUC for me, but having spoken to Tom I can see it would have it's benefits. On the flip side getting a forum members P&J where I can delve a little deeper into the car's history also appeals to me. I think both have their pros and cons, ultimately for the right car, I wouldn't mind if it was AUC or not.
 
This warranty decision is going to be the death of me. I spent all afternoon reading through past threads and am no closer to deciding whether I'd be better off or not with a warranty.

I'll be doing <6k per annum in the ///M, so part of me is leaning towards not getting a warranty, then I read the stories of people significantly benefiting from one and thinking I could do without a £3k+ repair bill, especially if it lands soon after I get the car as my funds would be depleted and render the ///M sidelined for a while.

As you may have guessed I am a worrier, which may make a warranty beneficial for stress (ish) free driving.

All depends on cost...like most things really.
 
I had a daily driver and a 'weekend' car for the last 10 years. I ended up driving the daily driver every day and rarely drove the weekend car. The result? It just sat in the garage and I never enjoyed it. Last year I got fed up and sold them both and now I just have a z4 (3.0). I'm done with the daily/weekend driver setup - to me it is silly. Buy something you love to drive and drive it. The only exception I could see would be if you buy a rare collectible car and don't want to put miles on it or if your weekend car is an unreliable maintenance nightmare. My next car is going to be a Ferrari 360 and I plan on driving it everyday rain or shine.

Hope this helps!
charlie
 
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