[335AZ]

Pretty upset about this... Poor marketing move IMO. Not like BMW was making enough money beforehand!

http://www.bmwusa.com/ultimateservice


"For model year 2015 or later vehicles sold or leased by an authorized BMW center on or after July 1, 2014, BMW Maintenance Program coverage is provided for the exclusive benefit of the initial purchaser, owner, or lessee of a new vehicle, sales demonstrator vehicle"

[W12x]

Really BMW?

This is the first company that I heard doing this, and I wonder how much they charge the 2nd owner for the factory warranty....also, how would dealerships check this

[GTB/ZR-1]

Maintenance, not the warranty--but still a poor move, IMO...

[Law]

Business is business but this whole range-wide cost-cutting crap is killing BMW.

So glad i didn't even have to worry about this when i bought my 2011 used.

The warranty combined with the maintenance program is what made used BMWs so appealing in the past.

[1fastdoc]

I don't buy cars off the lot but rather look for a 1-2 year old from a private seller or through a broker.

As an M owner I have certain expectations and one of those is the service they provide. For the cost of the car over a 335 I don't think complimentary maintenance is too much to ask.

If they're going to tell people that buy the car independently to GTFO then it will simply knock the M4 or i8 off my list of potentials in the next couple years.

[cws]

How is this good for their brand and resale of their cars? Its built into the sales price the maintenance right? It makes a second owner go to the dealership, isn't that a good thing? Free marketing every time the car is serviced. I guess the Audi business model of you don't want to own one without the warranty and maintenance is the new direction for BMW.

[RR-NYC]

Originally Posted by GTB/ZR-1

Maintenance, not the warranty--but still a poor move, IMO...

+1

[cws]

BMW is also ware making the CPO warranty now a $200 transfer cost only if private party to private party, it becomes void if a dealer buys a car.

My reference having owned Audi (2008 RS4) that owning an Audi without a warranty or maintenance plan is a financial nightmare after the initial 4 year factory warranty/maintenance and BMW is taking a page from Audi.

[jphughan]

Well it's not like the maintenance program covered much of the maintenance a long-term owner should be a doing anyway. Still unfortunate though. But chances are I won't be buying another BMW anyway. If for some reason I decide not to keep my M3 until the wheels fall off, I could only imagine leaving it for the rumored Cayman GT4 or the C7 Z06.

[Wilsel]

Meh, it wasn't much to begin with. 2 free oil changes, an air filter, and 1 brake fluid flush. That's if you bought it after the break-in service, but before 18k miles. If you bought it after 18K you might only get 1 oil change, and an air filter. These cars don't suggest much before 4yrs/50K miles. If you follow the maintenance minder it will only suggest oil changes every 18K miles or so, brake fluid flushes every 2 years, and 1 "inspection" between 30-40K miles.

[aus]

That's pretty cheesy??

[1MOREMOD]

That's horseshit. I have maintenance and cpo on my second hand x5d. I would be pissed not to have either.

[Petros]

Wow. What a ridiculous move! This would only hurt their image and kill the resale value of their cars. What makes the whole thing pathetic is that all this so called "free" maintenance has already been pre-paid for since it's built into the price of the car. Does anyone think BMW will lower their new car prices now that the maintenance program is cut back?

[Candide13]

Originally Posted by Wilsel

Meh, it wasn't much to begin with. 2 free oil changes, an air filter, and 1 brake fluid flush. That's if you bought it after the break-in service, but before 18k miles. If you bought it after 18K you might only get 1 oil change, and an air filter. These cars don't suggest much before 4yrs/50K miles. If you follow the maintenance minder it will only suggest oil changes every 18K miles or so, brake fluid flushes every 2 years, and 1 "inspection" between 30-40K miles.

I find it highly annoying and a truly bad move from BMW. First, you might actually get brake pads and rotors under the program, depending on how you use your car. Second, even if it is mostly the small stuff, would that not be a reason for BMW to keep the program in place as a magnificent marketing tool? I just can't see the upside in this for BMW at all.

[1MOREMOD]

Originally Posted by Candide13

I find it highly annoying and a truly bad move from BMW. First, you might actually get brake pads and rotors under the program, depending on how you use your car. Second, even if it is mostly the small stuff, would that not be a reason for BMW to keep the program in place as a magnificent marketing tool? I just can't see the upside in this for BMW at all.

Agreed I got pads and rotors on my X5 even. Easily happened on my m3, a few times.

[elitex]

Terrible idea!

[M3-S65]

I am going to leave this equation open for the future...

New M = uglier + horrible sound+ crapped on maintenance program+ ?


1. Maybe since they had no excuse for the bearing failures on our generation M cars they want to leave the option to blame (whatever problems the new version has) on lack of maintenance...of used car purchasers....?
2. Maybe they think this will increase new car sales... here is who they are catering to:
Hmm, I better go run out and buy a new BMW at MSRP + because if I don't I wont get the maintenance program which changes my oil each year...that's definitely worth the 15k that I will lose when I resell it.

[Rewted]

Misleading thread title. Maintenance will be non-transferable, not the Warranty which is the greater of the two.

[///mawana]

Originally Posted by tyrewt

Misleading thread title. Maintenance will be non-transferable, not the Warranty which is the greater of the two.

Agreed,.. but I also think they are testing the market. If sales volume don't suffer much (which I believe) relative to the competition, I suspect the Warranty will be next.

[rantarM3]

While disappointing, this is not really surprising considering BMW's direction for some time now. BMW has been removing certain features from their cars as each generation is released (cheapening the cars all the while) so this is just another approach at cost cutting. Has anyone noticed that the new 4 series does not have weatherstripping on the rear window? It seemed important for many years and now it is gone. While these strategies will alienate many of us as potential buyers in the future, there are many more buyers who do not even look at such things - as evidenced by their record after record sales.

[Rewted]

Originally Posted by ///mawana

Agreed,.. but I also think they are testing the market. If sales volume don't suffer much (which I believe) relative to the competition, I suspect the Warranty will be next.

Considering the warranty is honored even when the car is purchased from out of country, that would be a bad move for BMW, from a resale/import perspective.

[TrevorM3]

Originally Posted by ///mawana

Agreed,.. but I also think they are testing the market. If sales volume don't suffer much (which I believe) relative to the competition, I suspect the Warranty will be next.

If they do this with the warranty, i hope they fail miserably. There are bad market moves, and terrible moves. They will figure that out if they cut the warranty.