BMW Free 3 year service

[bach_congtu]

I heard BMW provides 3 year free service to their customers. Is this true? True for all models? Is there any other cars' manufacture does this? Mercedes? Acura? Lexus? How are these free services? Good? What happen after 3 years? Will the service be expensive?

[lanthuat]

it actually four years of services and it comes with the new car. The services are stuffs that you have to do every year for maintenance the car. Such as change break pads, rotate tires, engine oil change, windshield blade, towing fee if flat tire, 24hrs roadside assisst, etc.. stuffs that not cover by the bumper to bumpber warranty. All models of bimmers have this service. Other brand cars don't have this services. After 4 years or 48000 miles the service is over unless you buy extended warranty.

[hhnguyen]

yep, 4 yrs on all models. MB and Audi had the same program in the past, but they cut it. However, I heard that either MB or Audi just brought that promotion back recently because it attracts customers.

But honestly, with BMW 4 yrs promotion. they don't replace much items. My 2006 325i was in the dealer last month for 1st yr service. all they did was replaced oil and oil filter, not even microfilter. Transmission oil is lifetime. and all major service are either after 4 yrs or 50k miles. So, really they don't cover much. I am hoping that my break pads will go out before this period, else it will be expensive after that for me.

ohh yeah, they do NOT cover tires or alignment, or rotate tires because BMW is against tire rotation, even 4 tires are the same size. they replace oil once a yr because BMW use synthetic oil, but I change it out of my expense every 6 months anyway, just cheap insurance.

[alann]

Mua xe luxury thì "ráng" chịu khó chi cho "luxury" parts thôi, kêu ca gì nhỉ!! no pain no gain... mấy cái parts lẻ tẻ này đâu đáng bao nhiêu tiền :-)

Enjoy luxury life...

[seanguyen]

they do NOT cover tires or alignment, or rotate tires because BMW is against tire rotation, even 4 tires are the same size.
Can you please explain why they are agaist tire rotation?

[hhnguyen]

Tire rotation is a hot topic and what I say here is based on what BMW dealer and the manual told me. Other brands may say differently.

BMW is against tire rotation because:
1. Since most BMW cars are "sport" car, therefore the tires are staggered. so, it makes no sense to swap Front to rear tires.
2. BMWs are nearly 50/50 weight distribution.
3. like many other sport cars, tires are directional. therefore you can't swap from side to side.
4. BMWs run on more negative camber than other brands, especially sport models (like M series). therefore, it's fairly normal and expected for each tire wear unevenly, unless you rotate them like every 1k miles to prevent it.
5. each tires are wear differently due to camber and toe settings, everytime you rotate them, you will create new mark on the tire, which is different from the previous one. This creates road noise and less traction.

Again, I am not going to say tire rotation is bad or good since many people out there do it(even my own sister do that every 5k miles on her Camry and RX). I just simple state what the dealer and manual told me. Plus, how much thread we really save by doing that, extra 5k miles? If you're driving a BMW, the cost of the tires shouldn't be your concerned.

[hhnguyen]

Another hot topic with my experience with Run Flat Tires on BMW is whether to replace it or not after driving it with 0 psi. BMW is against this too.

[lanthuat]

Here in Honolulu they will rotate the tire for you. Like hhnguyen said, tires are directional. This is still depend on the package you get for the car. Premium package has different tires from sport and no package. If you have sport package like my 330i, then yes they will advice you against it. But if you have other tires then it is not a problem. I also have bad experience with run flat tires. I hate that sh$t. My fricking sale man did tell me about it when I replaced my 04 330i with 06 330i. I got a puncture and I asked them how much it costs to repair the tire. They told me to replace the tire instead of patch it likes regular tire. I went to gas station and got it patched for 14 bucks. It is still better then paying $500 for new tire.

[bach_congtu]

since we're on tire subject, why is it that performance tire cannot run during a snow season? My friend has a Minicooper, I was in her car last Fri during the snow storm here in MA. It was just a nightmare to stay in her car. It was almost dead on the road. It just crawled so slowly.

[hhnguyen]

I didn't like RFT as well, but after having a flat on highway in the middle of nowhere. I was glad that I had RFT. after this incident, I am sticking with it. My safety worths more than anything else. $500 each? to go tirerack.com and get it half price compare to dealer.

---performance tires aren't designed to run in snow or heavy rain because the rubber and thread pattern are very different and it will perform poorly. Same can be said about snow tires when racing on dry road. My friend with performance tires on her IS300 in snow and she spinned 2 times in snow. lucky that was at low speed. but her car looked like it came back from war from front to rear. in snow, try to get snow tires and AWD car if you can, it will save your ass and if you have BMW, make sure you turn off DTC.