[Kar15]

Hey Guys,

So my car is currently sitting at 79,000KM and I have an appointment for my car tomorrow morning to fix a burnt out break bulb.

My car is 2010 328ix, built in January 2010, CPO, and covered under the extended warranty until January 2016 or 160K KM (whichever occurs first obviously).

So my 3 questions are as follows:

1) Since my regular 4 year/80K KM warranty will expire shorty, does the extended warranty kick in right away or does it only start January 2014?

2) What can I do to make BMW perform a thorough inspection on my car to make sure if anything needs to be changed before the regular warranty expires, is changed without them low-balling me? What are the steps? Is there anything specific I need to say to the service representative? If so How much does the inspection cost?

3) Or should I go to an independent BMW specialist to perform this inspection?


If anyone can help me out with these questions i'd greatly appreciate it!

[Yvette]

1. right away
2. you can pay
3. I prefer this route.

[Kar15]

Originally Posted by e90sexion

1. right away
2. you can pay
3. I prefer this route.

Ok, but if i go to the independent BMW specialist and they give me the report, and I present this report to BMW, will they respect it and change whatever is required?

[Bender]

That will probably be up to that dealership, I doubt it tho...

[Kar15]

So i spoke with the guy at the BMW service department. He made me an appointment for Wednesday at 8:00AM to perform the entire inspection. It costs $200 + tax over here in Montreal, Canada. He told me it's the same inspection they do to all cars when they CPO them.

Therefore is it worth it to get it done? I purchased my car August 2012 at 63K KM, it was CPO'ed. Do you guys think much could of happened within the 11 months i've driven the car and put 16K KM on it?

Or since I have the CPO warranty, is the majority of things covered where I don't need to perform this inspection again?

[Kar15]

Bump...can anybody give me any insight to my previous post?

[Chriztofor]

Ok, 1) taking it to the dealer for a burnt brake bulb?! Sigh

2) Paying $200 to a dealer to have them inspect it? Nah, that's like asking the fox to guard the chickens.

3) Agree with e90sexion take it to an independent. Bring the report to BMW and they should fix whatever the report shows. Why wouldn't they?

4) You would want an inspection done before your original warranty is over because there are maintenance items (ie: brakes) that are NOT covered by your CPO. Again, another reason to take it to an independent shop. BMW has incentive to overlook such work and wait until your original warranty is over to tell you that you need brakes. Brakes may be a bad example, your dashboard will show when you need brake service.

[Kar15]

Originally Posted by Chriztofor

Ok, 1) taking it to the dealer for a burnt brake bulb?! Sigh

2) Paying $200 to a dealer to have them inspect it? Nah, that's like asking the fox to guard the chickens.

3) Agree with e90sexion take it to an independent. Bring the report to BMW and they should fix whatever the report shows. Why wouldn't they?

4) You would want an inspection done before your original warranty is over because there are maintenance items (ie: brakes) that are NOT covered by your CPO. Again, another reason to take it to an independent shop. BMW has incentive to overlook such work and wait until your original warranty is over to tell you that you need brakes. Brakes may be a bad example, your dashboard will show when you need brake service.

Ok so in order for BMW to respect the report by an independent shop, do I have to make sure this shop is certified or anything of that nature to deal with and work on BMW cars?

Also, how positive are you that BMW would respect the report? Let's say I pay X amount to the independent shop to furnish this inspection for me, than take it to BMW and they tell me they have to do their own inspection to make sure the report is valid...I would essentially end up paying for 2 inspections. Have you ever heard of such a thing? Or from experience you know BMW would respect the report of another shop.

Sorry for the multitude of scenarios, I just want to be certain I choose the correct course of action and not waste of a bunch of $$$ in the process.

[Chriztofor]

Originally Posted by Karman15

Ok so in order for BMW to respect the report by an independent shop, do I have to make sure this shop is certified or anything of that nature to deal with and work on BMW cars?

Also, how positive are you that BMW would respect the report? Let's say I pay X amount to the independent shop to furnish this inspection for me, than take it to BMW and they tell me they have to do their own inspection to make sure the report is valid...I would essentially end up paying for 2 inspections. Have you ever heard of such a thing? Or from experience you know BMW would respect the report of another shop.

Sorry for the multitude of scenarios, I just want to be certain I choose the correct course of action and not waste of a bunch of $$$ in the process.

They should respect the report. If something needs repair, it needs repair there really is no debate. It either is out of spec or it is not. When you get the report, you don't ask the dealer to inspect. You tell them that you got an inspection and you want the items in the report repaired under warranty. Whatever they don't do have them put it in writing why they didn't do it. Please post an update/experience.

PS: Don't be scared of the dealer. You are the customer, they are there to serve you, not the other way around.

[Chriztofor]

One more example, if your mechanic finds a leaking valve cover and notes it in his report and you show it to the dealer then they need to fix the leak under warranty for free. It doesn't matter that the dealer had to perform its own inspection. It is either leaking and requires a repair or it is not.