[SquareWheels]

I bought a 2020 440i convertable last June. I have heard all of the jokes about saving money for the repairs. It even started with the high pressure finance person who wanted to sell me almost 10k with of protection plans, he was astonished I selected none of them as 80% of his customers bought all of it.

One of the items he said may fail in the future would the the digital display. He said if I bought the full protection, it would be covered, otherwise I'd be looking at spending about 8k on the repair.

The car is in perfect condition (I baby it) and still under warranty, and guess what just died? The digitial display.

I know you don't have a magic ball to look into, but am I looking at years of expensive repairs when this is out of it's 50k mile warranty? I drive about 15k miles a year, so that warranty will last just over 3 years.

[hans007]

LCD panels fail in a lot of devices though. Probably just the luck of the draw right?... The more cars go to digital displays (since they cost less than actual physical gauges to make) you won't be able to escape it.

I had a 328i before with the N26 and 8ZF and have m340i with the B58 and 8ZF and at least drivetrain wise, I've heard nothing but good things... so I'm not particularly concerned with that warranty wise. If that fails out of warranty, I'd imagine there will be parts available as none of these cars will be that rare ..... they sell replacement gauge clusters on ebay and they aren't that expensive

[Burrcold]

There is no way it's $8,000 to replace the LCD.

[golferboy2312]

Google the bathtub curve. Basically most electro-mechanical parts will fail early or late in their life. You probably just got a rare display that failed early in it's life.

People at dealerships are trained to scare you with the types of stories you heard. I very rarely buy an extended warranty, in my opinion they are not worth it.

Like you said, no one can tell you what will happen in the future, but I will personally not worry about my car until it gets to 100k miles.

[SquareWheels]

Thank you all.

[Wgosma]

bummer on display, but infant mortality is not totally uncommon with electronics, particularly with solid state devices.

I've been driving Bimmers for 15 years-every car purchased used from original owner- never had a warranty; I do some of my own service/repairs. I drove two 18 y/o 5 Series sedans to over 225K miles and never any major issues- engine and driveline are generally VERY solid; it's often the smaller stuff that gives owners fits, like the eco soybean gaskets used on the motors.... they have somewhat short lifespan, thus valve cover, oil filter and some pan gaskets need replacement at/near 75K or so miles

Be diligent regards service and preventative maintenance and you'll get reliable performance from the car. Going to keep the car past 100K miles....drain/fill new tranny fluid ~ 75K mile mark, ditto for differential gear oil, new coolant every 3-4 years.

[vtown]

Originally Posted by SquareWheels

I bought a 2020 440i convertable last June. I have heard all of the jokes about saving money for the repairs. It even started with the high pressure finance person who wanted to sell me almost 10k with of protection plans, he was astonished I selected none of them as 80% of his customers bought all of it.

Lying sack of shit.
They make most of their money on that crap, little on the car itself.
Like anything it's a bit of a gamble, but feel like you generally come out ahead without the warranty in the long run with most things in life.

[Gen13 F36]

Its called finance agent scare tactics to get you to buy just anything he is selling.... from paint protection to extended warranty.

I'm more worried about the convertible for failing.... damn that shit expensive.

[Gen13 F36]

Originally Posted by Burrcold

There is no way it's $8,000 to replace the LCD.

It's called price shock tactics.

[kpgray]

Originally Posted by Gen13 F36

Its called finance agent scare tactics to get you to buy just anything he is selling.... from paint protection to extended warranty.

I'm more worried about the convertible for failing.... damn that shit expensive.

Originally Posted by Gen13 F36

It's called price shock tactics.

+1

So you get a 2020 model and the display is not covered under the factory warranty? If the dealer actually charged $8K for a display, find a new dealer. The extended warranty is about $2.5K for an additional 2 years? That would give you coverage when driving 15K miles annually till 75K miles. The question is, would you have $2.5K in repairs from the 36K to 75K miles of your drive and would it be $2,500 or more??? This extended warranty is a HUGE money maker for the dealers (dealers rarely have to tap into this insurance), so reality, you would be paying a premium for blanket insurance for IF you have a problem. My last two F30's had 65K trouble free miles on them each! You are getting a 2020 that has had a 7 year model run to get any bugs out, the digital display was a fluke IMHO (it was new option in last couple years). Don't lose sleep, BMW really does make a pretty good product.

[SquareWheels]

Originally Posted by Gen13 F36

I'm more worried about the convertible for failing.... damn that shit expensive.

Me too.

----

I get it about the scare tatics. The test drive was fun. The sale went terrific. I ordered it as I wanted a special color, that took a few months to get to me as there was an airbag recall when it got to the US port.

The finance part was the only awful part. When I sat in his office there was a wheel sitting in the corner, a massive chunk of it missing. It had some customers name written on it in sharpie. I asked, what happened to that. I cannot believe I fell for that. Why would a finance guy have a customer wheel in his office?

Anyhow, still happy with the car. No idea when I'll get it back. The part had to be ordered (yes it's under warranty).

[SquareWheels]

Can I ask an unrelated question? I am subscribed to this thread, but I am not receving emails, not in my spam either. Any thoughts on why not?

[Gen13 F36]

Originally Posted by SquareWheels

Can I ask an unrelated question? I am subscribed to this thread, but I am not receving emails, not in my spam either. Any thoughts on why not?

I don't either....and I don't want email for every thread I commented on. I just check my post subscription list on the user CP tab. Maybe check there if you can set an email notification.

I only get email when I get PM'ed.

[jhm5]

Only 21,000 miles on my 440i Manual Tranny Coupe. No issues at all. Great car!
John
BMWCCA