victor_vvv

Hi,

I'm new to this forum and currently own a 2006 e90 which I'm about to sell for a 2011 550i. I did get an extended warranty from 3rd party for my e90 back when I picked it up used in fall 2010. Cost $3k for 5 year or additional 100,000km (canada). It was worth it as there's been now close to $4k in repairs. But I did purchase it when it had 85,000 km's on it or roughly 50,000 miles.

I'm currently looking at picking up a low mileage 2011 550i. About 20,000 miles on it. I'm debating whether or not a bmw or third party extended warranty is worth it. Original warranty will expire in June. Given that a lot of these will be coming into market this year as the original launch of the f10 was in June 2010 and 4 year lease returns are due, I thought it would be appropriate to get some feedback on the reliability of these cars from owners that have had them for the better part of 4 years.

So owners, any problems with your vehicles? If you are planning to keep the car, are you thinking about buying an extended warranty? Cost will be $3,500-$4,000 for 2-3 years extra. I will only put 10,000 miles on it a year. Do you think I'll get electronic problems due to vehicle age? I would think the engine components should be good till at least 40,000-50,000 miles. My concern is with a fully loaded car, all the tech will start causing problems, even if the car was lightly used. I would say that if you guys are going to bmw more than 1-2 times a year for a problem, over the past 4, then the warranty would be worth it considering each time would cost at least $500 if out of warranty.

Any feedback would be great. THANKS!

za3879

Hey -

I recently acquired a 2011 550. Its still under warranty until July 17th, so I'm waiting until I get close to the marker to decide. I got it with 30k on the clock. Since I've had it (several months only), a few strange things have happened. Slight engine/car shake, a weird metal'ish sound when starting, etc.

I have two close friends that are former BMW techs and after I bought the car, they both told me the 2011 550's had a bunch of issues and didn't recommend owning it outside of some sort of warranty. I may roll the dice since they can just do the work for me on the side for cheap and they're certified master techs from BMW. They also told me that the oil change interval scheduled is not sufficient and to get one in between, even if its out of pocket.

Lets stay in touch and share experiences.

victor_vvv

Hi,

Yes, I did end up purchasing a 3 year extended warranty direct from BMW. They had a special for me and it only cost $2,800. I had two years of CPO on the car, so it's on top of the CPO warranty. Effectively I'm good bumper to bumper till June 2019. Even though it was a low mileage car when I got it, it did have quite a bit of service history including the replacement of all the ignition coils last year. The car had a very early manufacturing date at June 2010 so I'm sure not all the bugs were worked out yet. The past 6 months I've had it, I've been to the dealership twice. One to fix some delaminated trim on a console button (no biggie), and the other was an issue with the front driver window malfunction. Ended up being a front footwell electronics module which was replaced. Only problem right now is some sort of rattling coming from the driver door lock pin when driving on rough pavement. Unfortunately that is not covered by warranty beyond 1 year.

As for the slight shaking, I do notice it sometimes when the engine is cold. I think it's normal though. It's very slight and goes away after the engine warms. I do make sure as an added precaution that when I start my car up, I wait 15 seconds for the rpms do drop (you'll notice it revs higher on ignition, and then drops after it warms). I've read it's not necessary to do that, but I figure it couldn't hurt.

Cheers.

3point6

Hello, I'm new to this forum and had a chance to read the extended warranty post, just purchase this 2011 550i, I'm not new to the brand since I've got the blessing and opportunity to own other bimmers in the past (e30 m3, e39 m5, 528i T, 318 ti and a couple of newer m3's), this will be my first 8 cylinder 5 series and after reading some comments from other forum members I'm a little concern about issues with this particular model and the cost of ownership and service..too late I guess since I couldn't resist the call of that beautiful shape and interior, now I'm struggling with the offer of an extended service maintenance plan from the dealer ($2800 for up to 100k miles or 5 years, this car is a CPO so I do have another 2 and a half years under warranty but my last service included in the deal is coming in about 6 months or so, I've been told that just a brake service will run close to $1200, do you think it will worth the money to get that service plan or will be less expensive to pay for the services as they're required? Any feedback will be greatly appreciated, thank you!

victor_vvv

Is $2,800 service/maintenance only? I paid $2800CAD, to extend my bumper to bumper warranty an additional 3 years beyond CPO which expires in June 2016. I think that's worth it with the electronic issues that sporadically creep up in this car. I'm not sure if $2,800 for maintenance only is worth it. Brake job you will probably only need to do once and can get it done for $1,000 outside of dealership. Other than that just oil changes, and other fluid stuff that probably won't cost you an additional $1,800. I would highly recommend looking at a long term warranty plan depending on how long you expect to keep the car.