[Dr Forinor]

My warranty runs out at the end of this month so I got a letter through asking if I want to out insured warranty.

Called them up, with their top level of warranty cover, including their top level of roadside recovery, £100 excess, my premium for the year would be £522.

Is it worth it? Should I leave or include roadside recovery? Should I up the excess to £250 (can't remember what it brings the premium down to)?

[teaston]

That sounds very reasonable, can you pay it monthly?

[ByTheSea]

See here...

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1521692

[RobUK]

Very much depends on your view of risk. When my car reaches 3yrs old in November I'll be taking out the extra warranty (on a monthly basis) until its replacement comes along.

[Dr Forinor]

Originally Posted by teaston

That sounds very reasonable, can you pay it monthly?

Yeh they did give me the option of monthly payments. Would you take out the roadside recovery also?

Originally Posted by ByTheSea

See here...

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1521692

Doesn't really help me personally in regards to "should I go for it, and which one"? As personal advice for me I mean.

Originally Posted by RobUK

Very much depends on your view of risk. When my car reaches 3yrs old in November I'll be taking out the extra warranty (on a monthly basis) until its replacement comes along.

That's what I'm trying to figure out. I keep thinking "it's a relatively new car, it's a German car, blah blah blah, shouldn't have any issues" but we all know issues happen all the time. It's Sod's law, I'll take it out and nothing will happen, I don't take it out and something will go wrong all the time.

[Pobsey]

I took it out on my e87 and over the last 3 years I’m better off having it, light control unit failed - said bulbs had gone when they hadn’t £650, flywheel failure £1400 and since it has the n47 I’m covered for the timing chain eating itself!
All for £42 a month including recovery

[teaston]

Originally Posted by Dr Forinor

Yeh they did give me the option of monthly payments. Would you take out the roadside recovery also?

Doesn't really help me personally in regards to "should I go for it, and which one"? As personal advice for me I mean.

That's what I'm trying to figure out. I keep thinking "it's a relatively new car, it's a German car, blah blah blah, shouldn't have any issues" but we all know issues happen all the time. It's Sod's law, I'll take it out and nothing will happen, I don't take it out and something will go wrong all the time.

What price difference is the roadside recovery?

[ByTheSea]

Originally Posted by Dr Forinor

...Doesn't really help me personally in regards to "should I go for it, and which one"? As personal advice for me I mean...

It was intended to provide you with information which you appeared to lack. However, if that was not helpful then no problem.

[Dr Forinor]

Originally Posted by teaston

What price difference is the roadside recovery?

£69per year

Originally Posted by ByTheSea

It was intended to provide you with information which you appeared to lack. However, if that was not helpful then no problem.

Ah ok, cheers, appreciate it

[2CRO4TV]

I'm in the same boat. Going for comprehensive with £100 excess and no breakdown service. Will Quidco for breakdown with AA or RAC which will work out cheaper.
I have the n20 engine which there are a lot of horror stories about so I'm not risking it even though my car has been rock solid (touch wood)

[ByTheSea]

If you have a Platinum a/c (maybe Gold also) with NatWest/RBS you get breakdown cover for free via GreenFlag. Android app for Rescue Me.

[goodbyalfa]

Risk averse or not...

Personally, I'd not bother. These are modern well made cars and therefore pretty unlikely to break. This is essentially insurance you are buying, which will be risk weighted to ensure that the provider is pocketing significant cash.

My advice is put the £500 in a separate account so that if you need it, it is there.

Of course you could be unlucky and get hit for a big bill, but based on the the odds, I'd say this scenario is pretty unlikely. Each to their own, but I'm in the no camp.

[Soul_Glo]

I have had insured warranty on our last three BMW's.
In my case I think I came out on top.

E92: more than £12,000 of warranty work. New DME, valve head, valve body for gearbox...

F30: Steering rack and no other claims so far.

F32: based on the above I thought things can and do go wrong. So I took out the comprehensive warranty for the year with £250 excess. It works out cheaper to pay it annually so I did. Didn't make a claim in 3 years. Still worth it in my opinion. A lot to pay for peace of mind.

Breakdown cover: I have cover with Green Flag via my bank (NatWest). The monthly £15 covers household items and even mobile phones. It has only been used once for breakdown recovery. Otherwise we had breakdown assist on new cars as you do. It might be worth shopping around to see if you can find breakdown cover cheaper. I once had an RAC policy with unlimited call outs and from home cover for £78 per year. After that I made friends with a guy via a work colleague who worked in recovery and if I ever needed him he said he charged 50p a mile.

So yes I think it is worth it and competitively priced. Genuine parts. Two year warranty etc. Yes, I think you should take out a warranty.

[Jeff123]

Originally Posted by goodbyalfa

Risk averse or not...

Personally, I'd not bother. These are modern well made cars and therefore pretty unlikely to break. This is essentially insurance you are buying, which will be risk weighted to ensure that the provider is pocketing significant cash.

My advice is put the £500 in a separate account so that if you need it, it is there.

Of course you could be unlucky and get hit for a big bill, but based on the the odds, I'd say this scenario is pretty unlikely. Each to their own, but I'm in the no camp.

These are exactly my thoughts as well. Mine is 3 years old next week so I have the decision to make.

If you keep the car in the BMW dealership for servicing, there is a very good chance that they will cover all/some of the cost of a major failure - as Audi did for me when I had an engine cease up many years ago now.

If you examine some of the small print, it seems like its only major components that are covered anyway - not dissimilar to the AA/RAC-type warranty that smaller garages sell with used cars.

[ByTheSea]

I ran a 3 series for twelve years and 70k miles from new with no out of warranty insurance other than breakdown cover (free with my bank a/c). Never had a breakdown and only ever paid for MOT failures like suspension bushes or track rods. Put the money in a bank a/c.

[Pobsey]

Just need to watch the maximum claim limit as a N57 is north of £11k for a replacement some of the non BMW warranties have a maximum single claim limit

[Ridg]

Originally Posted by Pobsey

Just need to watch the maximum claim limit as a N57 is north of £11k for a replacement some of the non BMW warranties have a maximum single claim limit

Isn't the original cost of the car?

[Tengocity]

It's a personal decision like any insurance, but for me it's about the value if something really big happens to go wrong.

And it does happen!

Anyways, I think the roadside assistance is one of the best bits of it, especially if you take your car abroad as the service v cost of it is great value compared to other options. Also, they'll sort you with a car for a few days if required. In the past they lent me a car for over two weeks whilst mine was repaired in France and then repatriated. Clearly if you just pootle about your local area then this is not all that useful.

[Dr Forinor]

Hehehe, all of you lot are basically reinforcing the different for/against points I had in my head and hence could not decide.

The total they will pay out is up to the amount of the car, I think.

[PX3]

Yes, do it as it's not my money

Seriously though, as someone else said, it's a personal decision. I currently pay for it for my X3, but only due to the timing issue and the fact it is an xdrive (paranoid something big might go wrong!).

[OneExtra]

I would 100% do it, its not a huge amount in the grand scheme of things.

Piece of mind has to be worth £43.50 a month

Its a no brainer

[Dr Forinor]

My previous BMW, a 2010 E90 330D, I bought in 2014 with 35k on the clock. I had it for just over 4 years and got rid of it at 77k (or close to), and never had any issues. This is one of the big reasons I am (naively?) confident about not going for the warranty, as I have good experience.