EW's are for non-betting men or those who are happy to pay generously for peace of mind. Presumably as a Beemer owner you may fall into the latter category :-)

Basically, if you trust your car you will prefer to keep the cost of a warranty in your pocket rather than donating it to a profit-making enterprise. If you don't trust the car, the choice is yours. Personally I think it makes more sense to put the warranty premiums in a piggy bank and use them if needed. If not, have fun on the savings.

Edited by SLO76 on 31/08/2019 at 00:19

You don't say if you looked at BMW's own warranty if they have one. After looking for an extended warranty for my VW at the same age as your car I came to the conclusion it was the only one worth having, the wording was very plain and simple with little scope for manoeuvre. One thing that did worry me was that any claim had to be the result of a "sudden failure", so did that mean things that gradually went wrong were not covered?

How worth while a warranty is is down to your attitude to risk and your ability to stump up if things do go wrong. If a £2500 bill would bankrupt you take out the warranty.

Edited by CHarkin on 31/08/2019 at 00:57

How much is the BMW warranty? Then it's a case of pay out for it or save the payments to use for any repairs. There are plenty of Indies around who do work at a more friendly cost too. I have an SLK 250 of 2012 vintage and use Indies. Even with a couple of £500 hits over four years it's cheaper than a Mercedes extended warranty. Up to you.

I own a X5. FSH by BMW, 10k on the clock, bought new.

Warranty runs out in a weeks time. ie 3 years old in the first week of September.

Have to admit some confusion with this post. OP been able to afford the new X5, and kept the mileage to a very low level, which begs the Q asked by another poster, why not extend the BMW warranty? Also, why is there no indication of the cost?

Extended warranty on a BMW and a Mini has three levels - Comprehensive, named components and drive line and IIRC there are different levels of excess within. Plus you can include the Mini emergency service. With the differing excess levels, the premium varies to suit budget.

I've personal experience of BMW/Mini warranty on three cars in the past 5 years as follows:

R56 Cooper S, bad engine misfire, diagnosed back in Mini workshop as broken No. 2 piston. New short engine fitted at (55k miles) at no cost to myself. Had a hire car at no charge for two weeks of repair, inc a small delay for parts from Germany. Invoiced cost with new thermostat and water pump etc, £6,600. Car later sold to a mate, who is still a mate and the car is going a dream.

R57 Copper S Cabrio - Air bag light on. Faulty passenger occupancy sensor diagnosed, and dealer was advised pax dealt belt did not retract and jammed on fastening in. Both replaced under extended warranty, no quibble. Invoice cost £750, paid first £250.

G01 BMW X3 (67 plate) - whine/whsitling noticed 2 weeks after (used) purchase. Initially thought to be wind but pitch changed as engine revved. Diagnosis was a differential fault. Diagnosed on a Thursday, into workshop on the Monday 0830, car back with me Tuesday evening. Invoice cost £2,600, under warranty. The 3-year new X3 warranty expires November 2020, but regardless of cost, the extended warranty will be taken out.

The extended warranty for the R57 for the next 12 months is £455. so at £9 a week to cover repairs to a complex car is peanuts.

While there may be financial satisfaction in obtaining a cheaper warranty, it certainly isn't like for like and that should be considered too. It will almost certainly riddled with exclusions to avoid paying - I've seen far too many cases of companies weedleing out of their obligations on technicalities, leaving customers in the lurch with delaying tactics while the customer is immobile.

Buying an extended warranty for the BMW will be expensive as the X5 is a very expensive car to buy and run, but if a turbo blows or the autobox has a failure, can you be sure the other cheaper warranties will repair with new OEM kit or simply use stuff from a motor factors, parts which originated in China? Is that right for a motor costing upwards of £55k new? I also have it in writing from BMW that the warranty covers failure of LED headlights too, which would be an arm & leg to replace.

Yes, stick £100 away each month as a Plan B, but if there's a failure after a few months, will it be enough?

I appreciate my views won't meet favour will everyone, but my experiences of in-warranty repairs from BMW have been faultless and worth paying that bit extra.

Edited by Miniman777 on 31/08/2019 at 16:12

With such a low mileage over three years-I just wondered if you had thought about ditching the extended warranty idea and upgrading to another new car?

"On further research I have noted that this site pushed WW and more recently ME. I apologise in advance if I've got that wrong."

As moderator can I assure you that this site doesn't 'push' anything. We carry advertising, as it's our main source of income, and individuals may comment on theor own experiences, but those are both different issues.

Welcome to the forum, Gooddriver: people on here speak their mind and sometimes you won't get the answer that you may have been looking for. But that doesn't mean we don't try to help.

I guess the lack of direct response to your question tells you something - albeit a message by silence. Have you researched claims history performance for these two businesses, compare your findings with comments about the BMW warranty and factor in any silence received as part of your decision making process. I know it's not great, I'd want more than just one poster to have useful comments to use as a basis for decision, and up to now there has not even been a trickle.