BMW Extended Warranty

[Knoxville2410]

Hi,

I have an F30 2013 320d which for the last 10 months has had a pay monthly comprehensive BMW warranty, taken out when the car was on 58k miles.

I am now on 72k miles and last weekend took it to my local tyre guy to have a new front tyre fitted. I was getting steering wheel wobble at 40-60mph and occasional wobble when braking. They advised me that the OSF tyre was out of shape, and I could see it was visibly worn on the outside edge. It now has a new tyre and the wobble when driving has disappeared, however there is still a very faint wobble at motorway speeds when braking - although nowhere near as bad as it was.

The tyre guy checked the bushes and advised the control arm bushes were on their way out and showed me the movement with a pry bar. The warranty states that suspension components are covered up to 100k miles. I guess I would just like to hear your views on;

- If you think I will face any issues getting these replaced under warranty? I don't want to be lumbered with an £85 diagnostic charge from BMW. It is booked in for 17th October as they can provide a loan car on this day.

- My other question is do the above symptoms of steering wheel wobble at motorway speeds when braking sound like the control arm bushes? I had the front brake pads and discs changed a few k ago so I assume they should be okay.

Thanks for any help!

[cgauk]

If the computer doesn’t diagnose it for them i doubt you’d find a dealer able to find a fault (based on recent experience with failed engine mounts that took multiple visits to have diagnosed and fixed under warranty)

Similarly I have some worn suspension parts that I can feel are affecting the ride, but until they have actually failed they will not be replaced under warranty according to my servicing dealer. They will only replace the actual failed parts, so if normally advised to replace both sides they won’t do both under warranty unless both have failed.

[Knoxville2410]

That isn't sounding promising!

So they will only replace the part when it has completely failed? I'm not really clued up on suspension parts - how would I know when it is at the point of failure? Would leaving these bushes cause damage to other parts of the system?

[Darlo74]

Do you service your car at BMW?

Mine is 12 years old, I have the approved warranty and often when servicing they have raised issues and resolved under warranty with no charge to me. I've always found them reasonable. I guess having the FBMWSH helps as they know me and the car well. If it's not causing an issue for you right now, I'd say wait until the next service if you use BMW.

If you don't use BMW for servicing and it is a genuine issue then you should be okay and they'll fix under warranty.

I do see the BMW garage's view on this as if they can't claim from the warranty they have a business to run and need to charge for time spent looking at the potential problem....

[cgauk]

Knoxville2410 said:

That isn't sounding promising!

So they will only replace the part when it has completely failed? I'm not really clued up on suspension parts - how would I know when it is at the point of failure? Would leaving these bushes cause damage to other parts of the system?

That’s what my dealer tells me about the various ‘worn’ suspension parts and joints with play in them. I’m not sure how it works as I have just had a lot of warranty work done: injectors, DSC control unit and now engine mounts (and last year sump gasket, various other parts) so I don’t know if they’re holding out on the suspension due to some behind the scenes limit. They do keep pointing out how lucky I am that the warranty has covered so much.

Mine is 12 years old and FBMWSH. I only keep it in network and in warranty as it’s had an oil leak since ~45k miles that they have never successfully diagnosed and given the repeat engine issues I worry about it going bang. Either way I’ll be changing cars once I’m at 100k miles and the warranty doesn’t cover as much.

I’d lean toward spending the £85 worst case to see what the issue is and to see if the warranty will cover it at this stage; at least if it gets worse you know what it is and can be stronger on the next go.

Some dealers seem better than others for interpretation of the warranty too, I’m bitter as I’ve had a lot of issues over the years but others have been well served.

[RichardJS]

Mine sometimes has a slight vibration when braking gently that could feel a bit like wheel wobble. It's done it for a couple of years at least on and off and at one point it got quite bad before the rear discs were changed. Having done a bit of research on this it seems that the pads can leave a very small bit of material on the disc when stopped with your foot on the brake after braking hard, like you do in an automatic when waiting at a roundabout at the bottom of a motorway slip road.

The cure is simply to brake hard a couple of times - but check there's nothing behind you first because otherwise a slight vibration will be the least of the problems with your car!

[sjj84]

cgauk said:

Some dealers seem better than others for interpretation of the warranty too, I’m bitter as I’ve had a lot of issues over the years but others have been well served.

It's not only dealer dependant, it's down to the individual service adviser too. I've had one at my local dealership tell me that rear springs aren't covered, fortunately our conversation was over heard by another adviser who corrected her or she'd of happily presented me with an invoice.

I've had bushes replaced that were highlighted at mot as having 'slight play'. The service adviser on that occasion booked it in as having a knocking sound, investigation and replacement then covered by warranty.