This is the SH&^ that us UK owners have to deal with concerning Warranty

[drbru]

So many of you will know the headache that I am having with both BMW extended warrranty. Ill need to purchase this in May 2016 when My manufacturers warranty expires...The extended warranty, even though its branded as BMW is basically run by the third party underwriter Mondial...Mondial have categorically said that they will not offer any form of warranty on a BMW car that is in anyway modified....FULL STOP...they will even consider BMW performance part as a modification and invalidate the entire warranty!

Ive been going round in circles for months now arguing with BMW and Mondial as Im desperate to purchase an aftermarket exhaust and this is the email that I sent to BMW UK and Mondial.....Ive told them that I will be publishing their responses on the various BMW forums so watch this story unfold...

This is my original email

"HI there

I am an owner of a BMW F10 M5 that is becoming increasing frustrated by certain enquiries that I have been making for months now, with regards to potential modifications I wish to make to my car from a warranty point of view…

In May 2016 I will need to purchase the extended BMW warranty which I understand is underwritten by Mondial, a third party but still someone that is operating under the BMW brand…

1) I originally approached them and asked for confirmation if a full extended warranty could be applied to the car if it had an aftermarket exhaust. I was originally under the impression that they would cover the car and say that they would uphold any warranty claim as long as the failure was not as a direct result of the aftermarket modification ie the exhaust – if they had said this, I would accept this as this is what I have been used to when driving previous cars such as Audis (strangely which also had a Mondial third party extended warranty in place). Unfortunately I was told that no warranty AT ALL would be offered on the car if there were to be any form of modification on it…..

2) I subsequently then asked if I were to add a BMW performance exhaust to the car or subsequently any BMW performance parts (a part that is purchased directly from BMW and hence not an “aftermarket” part). Again Mondial confirmed that they would not offer any form of warranty on the car as the exhaust is not the original exhaust to be found on the car even though it is a BMW part…

So this entire scenario has left me extremely frustrated as a car enthusiast but one who wants to maintain a BMW warranty for piece of mind….With regards to point number 1, I have to question the legality of this scenario, ie if I changed the exhaust on the car but I have a problem relating to my heated seats for example where the failure is in no way related to the exhaust, how could Mondial legally deny a warranty claim against the seats…??

With regards to point number 2), this again makes absolute no sense to me as I am purchasing BMW parts.

In essence, as a car enthusiast, if I am not even able to purchase BMW performance parts and keep a BMW extended warranty I will simply not buy a BMW in the future and stick with something like an Audi where I know I will not have this problem through previous experience…

I will await for your response on this matter (this message has been sent to both BMW UK customer services and the providers of the extended warranty) and once a response has been received to ultimately clarify the situation I will post my original email and your response to the various BMW forums that I am very active on as I know there are numerous BMW owners that are asking the same questions that I am as far as aftermarket parts and their affect on warranty, whether it being manufacturers warranty or extended BMW warranty underwritten by Mondial as a third party but utilising the BMW brand

I await your response"

[IshR]

Hi there mate.

Shouldn't have bothered contacting mondial direct. The BMW extended warranty relies on decisions made by your BMW garage (sytner/rydale/stratstones etc)

As long as your BMW garage / service reception manager are happy with aftermarket exhaust / modification. There will not be an issue.

[stealth.pilot]

On point number 2 I would made one additional argument: Does BMW believe that its Performance Parts inherently introduce unreliability to their vehicles? If so then BMW is remiss in not disclosing this to their customers and you will report them to the regulators. If it is believes that BMW performance parts do not introduce unreliability, then surely they should insist that their warranty provider treat them as OEM parts.

[IshR]

Originally Posted by stealth.pilot

On point number 2 I would made one additional argument: Does BMW believe that its Performance Parts inherently introduce unreliability to their vehicles? If so then BMW is remiss in not disclosing this to their customers and you will report them to the regulators. If it is believes that BMW performance parts do not introduce unreliability, then surely they should insist that their warranty provider treat them as OEM parts.

+1
Exactly this.
Really is ridiculous that they don't accept an optional BMW part (m-performance exhaust). I mean even a non BMW aftermarket muffler isn't going to do any harm.
It's obvious that the warranty people don't have a f***ing clue about cars.

[bimmer-boy]

Originally Posted by IshR

+1
Exactly this.
Really is ridiculous that they don't accept an optional BMW part (m-performance exhaust). I mean even a non BMW aftermarket muffler isn't going to do any harm.
It's obvious that the warranty people don't have a f***ing clue about cars.

No offence, but most warranty companies are no different than car insurance companies in the UK. They will do anything to avoid paying paying out especially on high performance vehicles..

They are Quick to take your money however...

OP out of curiosity have you not researched any other warranty companies other than bmw/mondial?

Agree with the point on M PERF exhaust, that really doesn't make any sense as that is a bmw part.

Good luck

[drbru]

done lots of research with regards to pretty much all third party providers but I just dont have faith in them as I know as has been previously stated that they will do whatever they can to avoid paying up..Even if the Extended BMW warratny is operated by Mondial/Allianz they are still operating under the BMW brand so I can still go through BMW as well if any problems exist

Still waiting for BMW to provide a response and Ill put it on here as soon as I get it

[skansa]

+1 thanks for asking the question. The result of which will dictate which path i will also follow.

[drbru]

Ive spoken to both BMW and Mondial on the phone with no further success however I still await a formal response via email so I chased them earlier with this follow up message

"I am sending a further email through to ask you to provide a formal response from both Mondial and BMW

Incidently, I have again spoken to both BMW and Mondial and you both appear to have different stances which is leading to further frustration and confusion on my part

1) BMW – you have stated that I can add BMW performance parts to my car with no adverse effect on the manufacturers warranty itself. You have also confirmed that if I add an aftermarket exhaust to the car you will only honour the warranty if the failure is not caused by the aftermarket part itself..This has been confirmed by numerous dealerships as well as BMW centrally and has been my understanding of how warranty operates for all experiences that I have had with BMW as well as my previous cars with Audi’s and Nissans

2) Mondial/Allianz – You have categorically said that you will not offer any form of warranty cover if the car is modified in any form and that includes the use of BMW performance parts – I passed this message back on to BMW who were very confused as well with the stance and also stated that they would be escalating this matter internally. I am now back to square one going backwards and forwards between BMW and Mondial.

As it stands at present, the stance taken by Mondial is not only preventing me from purchasing aftermarket parts for my car but also preventing me from purchasing BMW performance parts (if under the scenario that I want a BMW extended warranty – the key word being BMW….I appreciate that Mondial is the third party offering the extended warranty but you are operating under the BMW brand and in my mind effecting the brand in a very negative way…) hence BMW you should take note of what I am staying as well as other BMW owners or potential owners that I know are thinking the same thing

I am now not able to purchase the BMW extended warranty together with the BMW performance/aftermarket parts so either Mondial looses me as a customer or BMW looses me as a customer.

I still await a formal response to this via email, both from Mondial and BMW…Just to re-affirm, this further email will be placed on the various forums that I am a member of as well as your response if in fact you ever decide to response to this and my previous email

Regards"

[soooma]

Very frustrating and makes me scared to buy another BMW!!

[TazOjla]

Originally Posted by bimmer-boy

They are Quick to take your money however...

Reminds me of the taxman haha