[Bunkei]

I really thought it would be best to create such a thread because there are going to be folks like me that have bought BMWs out of warranty. Since you cannot purchase anything other than the Powertrain warranty from BMW, then it stands to reason that we need good alternatives.

I have came up with a small rule of thumb: If you are in the process of searching for a pre-owned BMW, try hard to find one that's sold from a dealer that deals with a specific major car brand (i.e. Ford, Toyota, GM, etc) as opposed to those luxury automarts and the like. It seems that the ESP sold through major manufacturers need to be comparable to the ones sold by BMW.

There's one user here (Quisp) who bought Ford's ESP that covers everything that BMW's Gold package covers for $1700. Take a look: http://www.fordespwarranty.com/index...plansExtraCare

GM also a pretty comprehensive ESP as well, and their top-of-the-line "Major Guard" would also cover Idrive and navigation making it potentially a better deal than BMW's own service plans: http://www.extendedgmwarranty.com/wa...jor-guard.html

There's the 3rd party heavy hitters like Warranty Direct and such. I do not know much about them other than that the prices that were quoted were WAYYY higher than those from Toyota (I bought my BMW from a Toyota dealership).

What have you guys experienced when it comes to service contracts?

[Bunkei]

Man .. Warranty Direct is persistent. I asked for a simple quote and in a span of a half hour I got a phone call and two emails.

[Bunkei]

I just learned that my service contract through Toyota is NOT comparable to BMW's extended warranty. I think I made a mistake by not comparing the coverages while at the dealership. The biggest thing that has me worried is that in every service contract, normally "all lubricated internal engine components are covered". Not mine :/

I don't regret buying the car, it's a wonderful car. I just hope nothing on it breaks inside the engine or I might be screwed. Yeesh....

Edit: Take a look: http://warranty.actontoyota.com/wp-c...components.pdf

[chromisdesigns]

Originally Posted by Bunkei

Man .. Warranty Direct is persistent. I asked for a simple quote and in a span of a half hour I got a phone call and two emails.

Yeah, and you are going to go on getting them for months, too! I made the same mistake. Nationwide Auto Warranty is the worst, though -- I get calls from them every week on my cell now.

[Bunkei]

Originally Posted by chromisdesigns

Yeah, and you are going to go on getting them for months, too! I made the same mistake. Nationwide Auto Warranty is the worst, though -- I get calls from them every week on my cell now.

Yikes!! Maybe I should have title this thread as "Extended Warranty Dealers to AVOID". lol

[halfpast3]

Not sure how WA is but in CA you can cancel the service contract and get all your money back within 60 days and a pro-rated portion after that.

[Bunkei]

Originally Posted by halfpast3

Not sure how WA is but in CA you can cancel the service contract and get all your money back within 60 days and a pro-rated portion after that.

If the car was still under BMW's original warranty, it'd be worth looking into another service contract. But I can tell that they will be expensive as heck and will require inspection because it's out of warranty; plus, most of the reputable service contracts only deal with cars still under the original warranty. :/

But if there are any prospective BMW owners, I hope they will learn from my mistake.