Warranty options on next car (bmw Z4m)....

Booner!

Booner!

Booner!

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So I think I have found my next car (at last) and looking into options for warranty on it.

The car is a 2006 BMW Z4M Roadster that I have decided to go for with lots of goodies on it, after many many weeks of deciding or finding the right one. I would very much like to cover the car with warranty at the price I am paying for it, it's only had 1 owner and it's now expired the 3 year warranty from stock.

I see my options are currently as follows, but I am know very little on warranties and trying to educate myself on the warranty options as I haven't bothered with previous cars. The car has full BMW service history and so this makes it eligible for the BMW warranty scheme, right?

BMW insured warranties (http://www.bmw-warranty.co.uk/Pages/Home.aspx):

1. BMW DriveLine - basic level
2. BMW Named component - selected components
3. BMW Comprehensive - full cover except wear and tear/consumables/discs (:()

OR

3rd party warranty companies?

The car itself comes with 6 months warranty with warrantywise, but I am not sure how reputable this company is. If I don't want this 6 month warranty (FOC with purchase), they will knock £200 off for me.

As you can imagine, I just want a bit of safety with it being an "M" car, parts being more expensive etc. Just looking for some advice, I know a few people here have cars with 3rd party warranties and official warranties.....I'll post up more info on the car if this goes ahead.

Thanks in advance :)
 
Tim said:
Are they much faster than 350Z's?
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That wasn't really my goal for changing, but yes they are noticeably quicker and much more sporty/focused. They totally different cars in my opinion, wouldn't put them in the same league.

Can we keep the discussion on topic please, I will provide a nice little opening thread with the car and also review it after actually living with it for a few weeks/months and compare to the 350z/other cars I tried out, cheers!

:)
 
I have a Tesco warranty on my 5 series, if they were still available I'd certainly renew next year as I'm currently in the process of putting through a £2k claim on it.

Unfortunately most of the other 3rd party companies seem to have far less component coverage at a higher price. Warranty Direct seem to have the best overall reputation.

What sort of prices are the BMW warranties? I assume it's only just coming to the end of it's manufacturer warranty, as the website seems to imply that you need some kind of renewal letter?
 
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Tesco have stopped their warranty scheme apparently? or at least for new customers....

BMW prices were between £56 to £70 ish per month for 12 months from a bit of digging, I am going to speak to them to get an exact list of prices. Don't hold me to this info though.

The car was covered from march 2006 to march 2009 by manufacturer's warranty, but based on the company selling the car from now offering 6 months warrantywise cover I don't think it's been covered under warranty or it's just expired (seeing as it's had 1 owner and assuming he extended it for 1 year).
 
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Booner! said:
Tesco have stopped their warranty scheme apparently? or at least for new customers....
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Unfortunately so. Considering they covered wear and tear on a huge range of components I'm not surprised.

BMW prices were between £56 to £70 ish per month for 12 months from a bit of digging, I am going to speak to them to get an exact list of prices. Don't hold me to this info though.
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I'd probably go for this, but are you sure your car is eligible if it doesn't currently have a BMW warranty? I thought the BMW warranties had to be carried on straight from the end of the original BMW warranty.
 
Tesco never covered M cars either, so that would have been a non starter.

Different people seem to get different answers, but I'm pretty sure that once the BMW warranty has expired you can't then go and take a policy out again. Their prices are stupid on M cars when you go over 60,000 miles anyway (that and they drop cover for loads of components).
 
Do any of the BMW warranties cover wear and tear? If not then they probably aren't worth paying that much for anyway, since they won't pay out unless a component fails completely.
 
So go for 12 months warrantywise and then pocket the change from having a BMW warranty and put it in the "it needs fixing" pot?

I had read somewhere that there is a cooling off period where you can take out the policy even though it's not covered by warranty. You pay for a check over on the car and then take out the policy, but it's not as good as the AUC warranty.
 
Booner! said:
I'll give BMW warranty a call and see what they say.
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BMW will offer you any of the 3 warranty options. You can take whichever you want. EDIT: assuming it hasn't done a huge mileage, think 100,000 miles was the cut-off for BMW.

From the digging around I did recently, if you're thinking of selling within a year, I'd get a BMW warranty. It can help buyers chose your cars over others. If you're not selling, shop around as other warrnties will be cheaper and possibly cover more.

As said above though, not all companies will cover M cars.

EDIT 2: I should add, you may feel more comfort knowing your M will be fixed at a franchised dealers. Check the small print on warranties to see if you can take it to a BMW dealership for any repairs. I was lucky enough to own my M3 for 5 years without anything going wrong, other than me stuffing it into a pile of sand.
 
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A lot of the Z4Ms are hitting 3 years old now and most people on the z4-forum are opting for the fully comprehensive option from what I've seen (about 950 a year).

Theres also a warranty thread running over there which might help you make up your mind but 14K for a replacement engine + labour I think I'll be renewing the warranty!

Be interesting to see how much the named components comes in at just covering the expensive bits. I've just had front discs and pads replaced so not worried about that.
 
Rang BMW and discussed it with them.

They said that I could take out a "lapse policy", which allows me to take up a warranty from one of the following:

1. BMW DriveLine
2. BMW Named component
3. BMW Comprehensive

IF the car meets the following requirements:

No modifications
Full BMW service history
Under 100,000 miles on the clock
No recorded malfunctions or known mechanical problems
Policy takes effect 1 months after agreement.

I asked twice whether the car needs to be taken into a BMW dealership for inspection and he said that it didn't need to be checked if it meets the above, the policy literally just starts after 1 month of agreement.

I am not totally convinced by the person I spoke to on the warranty desk, so will fire off an email to confirm everything with them tomorrow.

It's the engine, transmission and gearbox that really worries me on a car like this as Giddy says, so ideally want to take out a BMW warranty to avoid potential problems later down the line.

Seems like this might be the best route to take, as the car meets the spec they set out over the phone, just surprised they don't want to inspect the car?
 
Wouldn't consider running one without a warranty, to be honest. Get the comprehensive one with no excess.

Good luck with it all. And seeing as a Z4M (or an M3) is going to be my next car, any offers of rides at motors meets will be gratefully received :D
 
Spuderoony said:
Wouldn't consider running one without a warranty, to be honest. Get the comprehensive one with no excess.

Good luck with it all. And seeing as a Z4M (or an M3) is going to be my next car, any offers of rides at motors meets will be gratefully received :D
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You would be most welcome Spuderoony. I spotted in your sig that you have the Z4M wheels, with Falken 452's? I didn't think you could get them in that size (225/40/18?)? I use Falken 452's on my 350z and they are great bang for buck. Lastly, where's the best place to get a stubby from? :D
 
my z4mr is out of warranty in June and I'm going with BMW for the renewal. Best place for a stubby is a peugot part of the bay or from a pug dealer. About £4 and the rubber matches the BMW base pefectly.
 
Did you get any prices Booner? I'd be interested to find out how much the named components option comes out with engine/transmission, although the fully comp option includes BMW assist.

I reckon I've had about 2ks worth of warranty done on mine in the last year, so £950 doesn't sound too bad, though its sods law nothing will go wrong with it in the next 12 months!
 
Thanks BigT, think I found the one you mentioned.

I'll get prices tomorrow when I email them for confirmation and let you know Giddy.
 
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