I did the extended warranty because I plan to keep this car for about seven years. I've found in some of my newer ICE cars (Mazda, not BMW), the CPU or other electronic components tend to do fine until the warranty expires, then cost a small fortune to replace. I went with the tire and wheel coverage package because we don't have the Discount Tire option here in Hawai'i. Financially it may or may not make sense (just depends on how many flats I get. My family had two in the last year on other cars-lots of bad roads and nails etc. here). Also, If I damage a rim it will be worth it. They included the "cosmetic repair" rim coverage "for no additional charge" so I'll try to remember that when I ding my first rim or maybe take the car in every year or two to clean up the inevitable minor nicks in the rims. I decided financing these coverages over the course of my car loan was more palatable than dealing with the CPU replacement or wheel and tire replacement if they happen.

 

Interesting...I've always kept cars for 10 years or more (I have 3 that are over 20) but never regretted not extending warranties because repair costs have been pretty low. Going this high-tech route is more of an unknown. Theoretically there should be far less that could go wrong but, on the other hand, an electronic repair could be unaffordable outside or a warranty. Quite a gamble. Did you pay full price for your extended warranty? I've read that prices might be negotiable somewhere.

 

I did the windshield, dents, and key fob coverage for a similar reason. It was like $10/mo. I haven't decided if I'm going to keep it or not...

 

that's a warranty offered by the dealer?

 

You can generally opt for extended warranty towards the end of your primary warranty, so I'll make a decision in year 3 (roughly) of whether to purchase or not.

I'm leaning towards not buying it because my first EV was 6 years old and I had zero problems worthy of warranty usage. My only "big" purchase was to replace the 12V battery. The (car) battery warranty was for 8 years and didn't require using an extended warranty.

I haven't seen a reason to buy pre-paid maintenance services since the FACTORY recommended next service is every 2 years. Your first 4 years are covered.

 

I did the BMW All Surface. A big mistake. There are drip marks on my interior trim and its milky, horrible. The exterior isn't like a ceramic coating at all. I regret this decision all the time. Go to a reputable detail shop and you will be much happier.

 

I said no to all of them and my dealer didn’t push anything. Just the way I wanted. I’ll keep my money and roll the dice.

 

I decline everything and anything. The cars already got a 4 year warranty and 8 year on the battery and 12 year on rust. wheel and tire warranty is hogwash in most places. most regular car insurance covers wheel and tires as log as it was " a road hazard " you just tell them you hit a large rock in the road instead of saying I scrapped a curb and the insurance you already pay for covers the wheels. no to mention of the 40 plus cars Ive owned I have only ever damaged 1 wheel. the cost of that one wheel was way less then the money I would of spend in all the wheel and tire coverages I declined. Windshields in a lot of states is mandatory one free windshield replacement per year without deductible or marks on insurance. dent and ding... eh... I know a place can pop a dent or dink for 25 bucks. Generally everything the dealer offers is garbage coverage. And I absolutely do not and will not allow food or open drinks in my car so... those snake oil interior protectants.... nope.
Think about all the add on coverages you have spent money on over the years for cars tires, electronics blenders appliances and what not and now think of the times you actually used them. you could of probably bough 14 of what ever broke for the money you've wasted on unused extended warranties. plus the time saved not going through the bs of trying to get the extended warranty people to pay.
the key fob one is probably the only one i could get behind if you lose fobs. I personally never have .... yet but who knows. But again in my case if I had spend the fob insurance on all the cars I bought i could of bought 23 fobs with that money by now so would still be cheaper for me to just buy a fob if I loose it.

Can ya tell Im a hard no on any up sales LOL. dealer i just got my m50 from finance guy comes out starts up I stop him and IM like respectfully IM telling you now the answer is no to everything. so we can save some time and just sign the papers unless you "have to" per management. 5 min in signed and out was great no sales pitches. msrp no fluff and I was out and gone.

 

I wasn't offered any extended warranties.

 

Did the 7/100 warranty and 7/125 maintenance. We are keeping the car for the duration and at $5,550 all in and assuming it includes one brake change (brakes are included) plus piece of mind of getting bmw OEM service on a new model vehicle it seemed worthwhile for an incremental $800/yr as opposed to self insuring.

 

I ended up doing Mechanical Breakdown Insurance (MBI) through my auto policy at a cost of about $120/year…and it’ll cover any mechanical or electrical problem for 7 years/100,000 miles. I think it’s better choice for me because the payment is spread overtime and no interest paid on it.

More on MBI :Mechanical Breakdown Insurance (MBI): 2022 Guide

I’m not debating the value of the service plan for 7/125,000. I may be more willing to do this one since the cost/benefit is much clearer (and potentially a money saver in the end).

 

I took the 2 more years warranty, because I'm going for some track days 😇

 

Extended warranties are a huge profit center. That fact tells you they are not a good deal in general. On an EV there's much less to go wrong. If you want to do it anyway coz it gives you peace of mine, that's fine. It's just important to know it's like buyint a lottery ticket; the math is simple and it's not in your favor.

 

Exactly. That's why I never buy extended warranty. It's just a milking machine to milk the customers. It is very likely that if something is seriously wrong with the car then it will turn up during the normal warranty period. Wear an tear is not covered by the warranty anyway.

 

I did the 8 year extended "warranty" the dealer offers from a 3rd party called "Mechanic". I had second thoughts afterwards but in the end just bit the bullet for piece of mind. Anything that goes wrong on these cars is gonna be expensive if not covered by warranty!

 

I bought 6 years service pack but no extended warranty. My experience with cars and everything else is that extended warranty is waste of money. It covers all the parts which won't likely break down during the warranty period, but regular service is needed and that is performed best by the authorized dealer. I also intend to keep this car longer so I want to keep the car in good shape. Warranty does not include service here in Sweden, only what can be considered as manufacturing defect and parts which should have a longer life expectancy and break down before for some reason. If after six years I still want to keep the car I can always extend the service even longer.

 

I opted only for the clear coat and seat protector as it was the only actual "warranty" offered. The remaining items were service contracts that were essentially worthless. For example, the dealer rep. stated that the wheel protection plan would cover any cosmetic damage (no limit). I asked to read the agreement and the rep. was hesitant to print out any documents until I explained that I am attorney and I wasn't going to buy anything unless I read the agreement first. The agreement clarified that damage was capped to only $150. Don't let a dealership pressure you into buying anything until you read the agreements beforehand.

 

I was originally offered 3 years of additional full coverage warranty for $4800 which seemed high (7yr/100K miles). After balking at that price, it came down to $3600 7yr/75K miles. I decided to buy at that point. I have always kept cars way past their extended warranty and have always gotten my money back. The i4 might be different and they might have squeezed more money out of me. I decided to do the warranty because there is no history with the i4, so I don't know if it will behave like a typical ICE car, be better, or have more issues since this is the first model year (ok technically second...)

 

I buy insurance (and that's what extended warranties are) for catastrophic events. Home or complete vehicle loss, liability protection, legal requirements, whatever. Although each of us has different tolerance levels, I don't consider replaceable parts catastrophic; expensive sometimes, but not financially disastrous. As @CheddarKungPao mentioned above, these are profit generators for the "insurance" company. It's within my risk tolerance and, statistically speaking, a better bet. YMMV

 

An extended warranty is like some types of insurance.

Its kind of like pet insurance. You pay $50-100 a month so if/when your animal has a major crisis you don't have to panic at a $5000-10000 estimate. A modest cost now so you don't have to worry/panic about it later.

For a car. An extra $200 a month for an extended warranty is much cheaper peace of mind that I wont be stuck with some insane repair bill that if I were to trade in and buy a new car to have the same peace of mind.

 

An extended warranty is like some types of insurance.

Its kind of like pet insurance. You pay $50-100 a month so if/when your animal has a major crisis you don't have to panic at a $5000-10000 estimate. A modest cost now so you don't have to worry/panic about it later.

For a car. An extra $200 a month for an extended warranty is much cheaper peace of mind that I wont be stuck with some insane repair bill that if I were to trade in and buy a new car to have the same peace of mind.

Agreed. I have a 6yr old 911 that is just coming up on end of the warranty. I haven’t had any issues but I’m not willing to go naked on an asset that still has considerable value when the cost to replace the PDK transmission alone can run $20k. It’s about risk tolerance.

 

well for the insurance argument here in the USA you dont have a choice insurance is the law you have to pay or they cancel your tags and you can get fines and or jail time. Its basically legalized theft. You DO NOT HAVE A CHOICE on paying for insurance so there really is no argument there if money is wasted on it because mostly it is with the overcharging. The stuff pushed by dealers are snake oil and mostly worthless and YOU HAVE A CHOICE so Im not sure the comparisions there.

 

There are pretty big differences. Unlike a warranty, insurance protects you from [large-scale] financial losses even when it is YOUR FAULT in an accident. Depending on your net worth, not having insurance in the US is insanely risky. Just see how many billboards there are on highways and buses from injury lawyers. If you cause an accident in the US, you can be financially ruined without insurance. If you don't have a warranty, worst case you'll have to get rid of the car. Huge difference, IMHO.

 

Interesting opinions on the difference between insurance and extended warranties. Insurance is defined as: "a practice or arrangement by which a company or government agency provides a guarantee of compensation for specified loss, damage, illness, or death in return for payment of a premium." Extended warranties are optional and decisions to purchase are based on evaluation of risk, personal risk tolerance, and sometimes the means to deal with the potential loss. They may not be called "insurance" and may not be regulated or required in the same way, but they do act in the same way. If it waddles, quacks, and has web feet .....

 

Add to the fact that they’re extended warranties that are actual insurance products and are regulated as such and they are even more mixed up. And full coverage car insurance in some places (like Sweden) covers certain parts of the car even in the event that they break from defects after the warranty has run out.

Over here you are also only required to have coverage for damage to other people and their property which is normally quite cheap, the biggest part of the cost of insurance is to cover your own car.

 

Insurance is mandatory because when you rear-end someone and there is 15k in damage there is someone guaranteed to pick up the tab.

 

Not always mandatory. Some jurisdictions have exceptions if you can demonstrate Financial Responsibility. I found no exceptions available to me here in PA, but I didn't look too hard. Easy to find the exceptions for some other States. Florida, for example says you can demonstrate Financial Responsibility by:

1. By purchasing a motor vehicle insurance policy from a company licensed to do business in Florida.
2. By obtaining a Financial Responsibility Certificate from the Bureau of Motorist Compliance after posting a satisfactory surety bond of a company licensed to do business in Florida.
3. By obtaining a Financial Responsibility Certificate from the Bureau of Motorist Compliance by depositing cash or securities with DHSMV.
4. By obtaining a Self Insurance Certificate from the Bureau of Motorist Compliance by providing satisfactory evidence of possessing a net unencumbered capital.

So, you have to (figuratively) "put your money where your mouth is," but is possible to go without auto insurance if you have the desire and the means.

 

My 4 cents:

OEM warranty costs are built into the price of the car. After market? I'm not so sure there's value of dealer specific offers.

As a current EV warranty on are basically the battery and the infotainment/OS screens and brain. All the gear related to charging should also be covered. Inverters and chargers can be incredibly expensive.

The rest of the vehicle is not subject to the same sort of wear and tear that running oil, coolant, and gasoline fluids through a motor will bring no matter how fabulous the filtration might be. How expensive can it run to service brakes, cooling fluid, lubricate rolling parts, replace wipers, tires, etc? There's not really a series of oil changes, retunes, etc.

P&C Insurance is a good thing. But for the rest, it's more like health insurance which used to be strictly for major medical like major life threatening surgeries, but got extended to covering everything else under the sun from pills to cosmetics. Costs went up to the moon. THe risk in warranties is exactly the same - using it as a prepay mechanism will drive it up as the incentive is to game the system. Play if you want to.

As to warranty value, IMHO, few are mentioning residual value. Look at Carmax for 4 series vehicles from 2017 and 2018 - 4-year old cars...I'm seeing asking prices of $25 to $26,000. I'm not sure what the 430's were going for new, but I'd guess the dealer's spread might offer $ 5,000 less to buy your car for resale. How's that translate into the unexpired warranty miles / years etc. ? Don't know. But I wouldn't get lost in the value of extending warranties for the purpose of the NEXT owner's enjoyment. Used car dealers want to sell warranties as much as the new guys... so how's that affect what they'll offer you when you sell? Dunno.

But as always, your mileage may vary. Have fun. Save money.... you're gonna need it right? Maybe feed the car less and go to the Bahamas?

 

As to warranty value, IMHO, few are mentioning residual value. Look at Carmax for 4 series vehicles from 2017 and 2018 - 4-year old cars...I'm seeing asking prices of $25 to $26,000. I'm not sure what the 430's were going for new, but I'd guess the dealer's spread might offer $ 5,000 less to buy your car for resale. How's that translate into the unexpired warranty miles / years etc. ? Don't know. But I wouldn't get lost in the value of extending warranties for the purpose of the NEXT owner's enjoyment. Used car dealers want to sell warranties as much as the new guys... so how's that affect what they'll offer you when you sell? Dunno.

In my experience, buying a used 3 year EV, the car still had the original manufacturer warranty of 4 years/50,000 miles plus the 8 year battery warranty intact. The original MSRP was roughly $50k but I bought for less than $20k 3 years later. Carmax offered their standard extended warranty which I declined because i found out I could purchase an extended manufacturer warranty, as long as the original warranty was still available.

I wouldn't worry about what can be transferred to the next owner, simply because it doesn't change the resale factor. Most sales outlets will simply try to sell a new extended warranty knowing that many consumers won't research what's existing on the car AND shop around for the best deal, if they desire an extended warranty.

 

I bought the 10-year extended warranty because it covers everything including battery replacement. I’m so happy with my Tanzanite Blue i4 M50 that I plan to drive it until the wheels fall off. And I am not an “extended warranty” person normally.

 

Which one is this? I've not heard one that "covers everything."

 

We signed the paperwork this morning for our M50. We added an Allstate backed aftermarket bumper to bumper warranty. $100 deductible. 7 year 150k miles.

We are still driving ~30k miles per year. So one warranty will be gone quickly.

 

We added an Allstate backed aftermarket bumper to bumper warranty. $100 deductible. 7 year 150k miles.

Hmmm... can you give more details on this?

 

I’m limited so far to what the sales person said and need to do some homework when I get home.

We have 30 days to do our due diligence and back out with full refund.
Transferable with sale of vehicle.
Can be cancelled at any time with a prorated refund.
They said we can use it at any BMW dealer.
Warranty pays the dealer directly and we only need to pay our deductible.
$7600.
Puts us around $2k per year for the extension it adds to the factory warranty.

 

I’m limited so far to what the sales person said and need to do some homework when I get home.

We have 30 days to do our due diligence and back out with full refund.
Transferable with sale of vehicle.
Can be cancelled at any time with a prorated refund.
They said we can use it at any BMW dealer.
Warranty pays the dealer directly and we only need to pay our deductible.
$7600.
Puts us around $2k per year for the extension it adds to the factory warranty.

Is it just me or does this sound extremely expensive? What could go more than $2k wrong each year for several years straight?!! It sounds to me like there's not enough other EV owners who are willing to pay for an extended warranty and so the first buyers are going to be paying through the nose. For my situation, $7600 is a hard pass.

 

A headlight failure would cover most of that cost.

Anyone know what motor bearings cost? Or the display?

It’s pricy. But it’s peace of mind for <$200 a month on a very expensive purchase.

 

A headlight failure would cover most of that cost.

Anyone know what motor bearings cost? Or the display?

It’s pricy. But it’s peace of mind for <$200 a month on a very expensive purchase.

Right, I mean I get it. Everyone's situation, risk tolerance, skills, outlook, etc. are different. However, I've noticed in this thread that some folks tend to "pick on" the headlights because they're literally: unbelievably expensive ($6,500!). That being said, I haven't seen any discuss the reliability of the headlights.

Here's an article that mentions them being extremely reliable... more than 50,000 hours of operation "though the true longevity of such headlights should become more apparent in the years to come". At even a small fraction of that time, that's a very significant portion of the life of the vehicle.

I'm rolling the dice that the headlights last for a long while.

 

On the subject of lights, my extended warranty on my current Kia K900 covered replacing a failed light. $3000 part + $750 in labor. For one light.


Just an anecdotal experience point. I'll have to see the fine print vs cost to see if I go for the extended warranty when I take delivery in a few weeks.

 

I'll have to see the fine print vs cost to see if I go for the extended warranty when I take delivery in a few weeks.

From what I've read on BMW's site, the extended warranty can be purchased at any point before the base warranty period expires. Take your time.