[M4RAUDR]

Fuuuuuckkkk that. This will ABSOLUTELY make me reevaluate purchasing another BMW in the future. I'm on my 6th new BMW now (3rd M) and I always purchase as opposed to lease. The 4yr/48k warranty is something that inspires confidence in the brand and makes you feel comfortable with ownership. Dropping to 3/36 is a blatant statement that you cannot trust the quality as much as in the past. If they are cutting the warranty by 25% (not to mention dropping brakes and clutch - WTF????), what other corners are they cutting? I think this is going to hurt sales badly for BMW in the future. I can almost certainly say that I will not purchase another BMW in the future and I will switch to another brand. This is a HUGE disappointment. HUGE. HUUUUUUUGE!!

[M3 n X5M]

Originally Posted by mrmoua2u

Wow... I wonder how much its going to affect people on buying BMW now? I mean for the hardcore bimmer owner, they probably wont care and will still buy it but for me, the 4 years or 50k service maintenance did play a major part of my purchase of a 14 F30.


Not to steal the tread but would anyone know if BMW will honor "all" of the no cost service maintenance before my 4th year with mileage way below 50k, even though some parts or service is not needed yet??

Not that I can guess. My car was 3 months from the cutoff for service and given the brakes were not close to needing replacement, they did not change the pads. Oil? Well, you need to meet the criteria also, miles and time since last change.

The change to 3 years and 36 k miles is expected. These cars do not need much before 30 k miles so, it is a win for them. One or two oil changes tops. And new cars do not use the 10w-60 oil that kills older M-car service prices.

What is more important is the future of the WARRANTY. How long will warrantly last? Also 36k miles or 3 years?? If so, we are in VW territory.

[MKSixer]

Originally Posted by catchm3ifyoucann

Oh wait we aren't supposed to disagree with BMW by some peoples standards......... BMW for years have been marketing their no cost maintenance on leases and now they pull out and expect people to remain loyal to the brand? Do they produce a great product? Yes. But there are always quality issues and as people have mentioned sometimes you face weird brake issues and or other issues with the vehicle that require significant work to be done on a lease. Thats not a chance I want to face nor a cost I would want to experience. Remove the key ingredient in leasing and customers will start to look elsewhere.

[EfEightyM3]

They continue to cut costs in their cars, now this. Truth be told though, it was never really worth as much in "free" maintenance as people would have liked to think.

[David70]

Originally Posted by KGB_123_99

Looks like they are cutting out Inspection II, which is the most expensive BMW service available.

Pretty sure the difference in a 328 with a 36k mile maintenance plan and a 50k mile maintenance plan is an oil change and an air filter.

Originally Posted by Never Convicted

If buying a car meant I couldn't afford to put a set of wipers or brake discs on the car at my own expense, I think I might realize that I should buy a lower priced car in the first place.

X2. Then you are so upset you decide to buy from another manufacturer and realize none of them pay for brakes or wipers either.

[Falafel Combo]

Originally Posted by Z K

Wow, the new warranty doesn't cover anything at all!

A few oil changes and filters. That's barely a couple of hundred in costs.

Are we talking about the free maintenance here, or "warranty"?

Two different things.

[Falafel Combo]

It's very hard to take back these "freebies" that used to come with BMW's. They will get some push back on this no doubt. It will blow up in their faces.

[FLOSS M]

What about people with 3yr/45k leases - not fair to them


I feel this targets M cars and trucks more with the brakes/rotors not being included anymore. If you are going to track the car, it is a well known fact you can not use the OEM Pads anyway.

Customers will look to independent shops for the repairs due to the cheaper costs, lessen the re-sale value IMO

[bavarian19]

What a joke. Even if they were going to cut the brakes, I can see being as that is a significant cost. Wipers? Really?

That service plan was a large part of purchasing the 3 BMW's I have owned (and yes, I own all my cars, not lease).

Time to buy a Porsche instead of a BMW.

[tpm17]

Wow! This really really makes my next purchase which is coming up in the next 15 months focus on the other brands I had in mind. I'm on the low end of a middle class individual and the no cost maintenance and 4 year warranty was basically the only selling point that was making me stay with BMW over the years. BMWs since my last purchase are just beyond my reach anymore but with this significant change I can no longer justify the purchase of a BMW. It's sad but in my case it is the honest truth. I just know I can get better bang for my buck with a million other now very reliable car brands that are just as beautifully designed and engineered.

[mnhomes]

Bye Bmw!

[bavarian19]

FYI, I had a rear spring break (yes, break) at 49.5k miles. That should not happen at all, more or less just before 50k miles.

Replaced under warranty, but how much would that have cost me to repair at a shop? BMW engineering isn't bulletproof.

[trendy26]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

Why is that? This change will have virtually no effect on 3 yr/36k mile leases.

Oh yes it will... My brakes were replaced at 25k miles, and that's without driving the car hard. Add to the fact that my car is a manual 6spd, so not having any coverage on the clutch further affects people like me.

[drexplode]

probably been said already - Audi doesnt have a free maintenance plan. You have to buy audi care which increases monthly payment around $10-15/mo if you assume a lease. Give me the option to buy a plan like this for BMW and i will pull the trigger every time. This is me though.

[mPlasticDesign]

Originally Posted by Never Convicted

If buying a car meant I couldn't afford to put a set of wipers or brake discs on the car at my own expense, I think I might realize that I should buy a lower priced car in the first place.

Your statement is true, but really isn't the point. If you want brand loyalty the wipers are something BMW shouldn't sweat over. Or brake pads for that matter. It's like taking the bagels/donuts away from your employee lounge at work that been there every morning for the last 2 decades then you decide, you employees, you can afford your own morning pastry. Little things like that have an enormous psychological effect and destroys loyalty. Not worth it in my opinion. Studies show you will probably lose money in the long run having to recruit, retrain and loss of efficiency as a result. With BMW, there is no doubt in my mind they WILL lose customers as a result.

[mjc90]

Wow this is BS....

Definitely will push me towards other brands, in today's era, what we need is an enjoyable worry free car. And we will pay the price, but a persons worst nightmare is buying the car at a premium price and not having a worry free mind....

Bad move on Bmw, save a little lose a lot....

[spuntyb]

Originally Posted by FLOSS M

What about people with 3yr/45k leases - not fair to them


I feel this targets M cars and trucks more with the brakes/rotors not being included anymore. If you are going to track the car, it is a well known fact you can not use the OEM Pads anyway.

Customers will look to independent shops for the repairs due to the cheaper costs, lessen the re-sale value IMO

3 years/45k is exactly what I have and would get when this lease is up. This has me reconsidering brands even more.

[roastbeef]

Turbos, less steering feel, now less benefits. Congratulations Bmw, you're getting rid of all your appeal.

[Daftasabrush]

You folks in the US get free maintenance!? And now you're complaining because you get a little bit less free maintenance?

Wow

Free maintenance is *very* rare in the UK, you can buy two different 'service inclusive' packages from the dealer to cover your BMW if you want but no obligation to. Also you guys still have your warranty which isn't affected, me thinks the lady doth protest too much.

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by MKSixer

Not on ///M Cars.

My E63 M6 had about $6k-8K in maintenance done in the first 50K miles including a new clutch, spark plugs (2x), air filters, oil cooler (defect), diff fluid changes, 4 ignition coils, etc. The largest single expense, the clutch occurred at 47K miles. Mind you that today's M engines are a bit more pedestrian than the S85/S65, but this is still a major concern.

Not just wipers.

Cheers-mk

P.S. I purchased the additional year of warranty on my M6 for $3,500 in September of 2013 and had the engine replaced 2 months later. The best $3,500 I've ever spent, hands down. At that point the engine replacements were going for about $28,000-$32000 when subsidized by BMW.

I suppose you are right. I wrote my comment from the view of a non-M owner. You M owners have a really different situation.

Regardless of all the truly legitimate complaining that is going on about this move, I still don't see many of us actually leaving the brand over this change. M owners may be an exception because the hard dollar impact of that 4th year of maintenance is higher. But then, M owners want performance. So now your dilemma will be finding another brand with a 4 year free maintenance program that has a car that performs like an M car. How many brands fit that criteria? Zero or 1 if you think Cadillac makes your heart race like an M.

There is a lot of emotion going on right now. People are pissed. I get that. But, in the end of the day, after all the dust has settled, most of use won't change brands just because of this maintenance change. If we change brands it will also be for other reasons.

[n54fanatic]

Wow 100% switching only reason I stayed was for the "free maintenance" but I'm sure it's calculated into the total price of the car somehow...finally have a reason to go with AMG this time

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by mjc90

Wow this is BS....

Definitely will push me towards other brands, in today's era, what we need is an enjoyable worry free car. And we will pay the price, but a persons worst nightmare is buying the car at a premium price and not having a worry free mind....

Bad move on Bmw, save a little lose a lot....

Enjoy your worry free Cadillac. Let us know how that works out for you.