E46 M3 - Has anyone had a speaker replaced under warranty?

[Rawhide]

Hi guys, I have an '02 M3 which still has an AUC warranty on it. The front speaker (Harmon Kardon) is failing and crackling a bit.

BMW say that it's not covered as it's part of the upholstery. I saw that thats not reasonable as the intent of the warranty is to cover against electrical and mechanical failures. I'm not asking for a new set of leather seats or carpet (upholstery) as that would deteriorate as normal wear and tear.

Am I being unreasonable here? I am progressing this with BMW customer services and the dealer but sometimes it's hard to make them challenge each other.

[MitchT]

I'm guessing that BMW's line will be that the warranty covers the vehicle's electrical system, not peripheral items which are powered by the vehicle's electrical system. If the car was less than a year old I'm sure they'd replace it and then look to the speaker manufacturer to recover the cost, but basically what you've got here is a six year old speaker that's faulty, not a six year old car that's faulty. Still, press-on, you might get lucky - just don't devote too much time to it.

[sjj84]

Don't waste too much of your time pursuing it, the replacement speaker only costs £30 and takes about 5 minutes to change.

[Rawhide]

Thanks - I was quoted around 80 + VAT from the dealer. I apprecaite I might seem like a tightass but a warranty is an insurance policy and it's a matter of principle. Exluding items in this way is a little unfair in my opinion. I appreciate the car is old but thats why I want the warranty, to replace the components that I bet will fail.

I paid a premium to get a car with warranty and to find them niggle on the small items is pretty poor.