Tuning + warranty concerns, how real is the risk?

[BPMSport]

I've said everything I needed to say and I've gone above and beyond to try and help you Paul.

The point of this thread was to discuss tuning and warranty concerns - and the take away here is that taking a car in with multiple aftermarket components is potentially going to cause warranty issues. I've heard of cars flagged with downpipes alone. It really depends on your relation with your SA and tech. There is always a risk when modifying a car.

[allmotor_2000]

My previous car wasn't flagged for the longest time as I always went to the same SA and Tech who knew all the mods. Plus I only went in for maintenance and never asked for anything under warranty. When the Driveshaft broke I had the car towed in at midnight and by the time I made it to the dealer in the morning it was already written up by another SA - this is also likely when it was flagged in the DCS. I didn't realize until much later.

My current car is also flagged (knew it when I bought it) but it never deterred the dealer from doing all the basic checks. Of course when the project is don't it will barely resemble anything from factory but that's for another thread.

[Eddybro]

The SA doesn't want to flag your stuff if he doesn't have to, but sometimes it's obvious..
This banter is useless..

You gotta pay to play. End of story.

[f10eugene]

Quite honestly having a good SA or tech relationship is not enough to avoid denial of warranty coverage. I will give you my scenario.

After having my DME's flashed, I ruptured a coil; the rupture was so violent that it backfired and fried a part of the DME. Unfortunately, the only way to fix was to replace the DME. My dealer had to create a PUMA case for BMW to review...this easily saw that the car had a different calibration and denied DME replacement under warranty. Only after I threw a shit storm and had to get BMW of NA involved did they replace the DME at their cost (which was still $900). Furthermore, BMW of NA placed a permanent note on my vehicle saying that it's modified.

It simple, ff you dont want warranty issues, leave your car stock. Little things will get covered; but as soon as it's a costly repair and BMW corporate gets involved, they will dig deep and find out that the car is modified.

[TheHouseWon]

Raise the octane and reduce probability of failure. For the ACN 91 guys, here is a list of 95-100 octane stations in CA.

http://www.240turbo.com/Unleaded_Rac..._in_SoCal.html

[BMWAUDIO]

I appreciate everyones input and Thank you to Mike for trying to help out .
All i was saying to the op is there is a risk and if you want your warranty use Dinan
if you want more power use Mike at BPM or other known tuners.

[josec70]

Originally Posted by BMWAUDIO

I appreciate everyones input and Thank you to Mike for trying to help out .
All i was saying to the op is there is a risk and if you want your warranty use Dinan
if you want more power use Mike at BPM or other known tuners.

This ^^^^ If you tune, do so knowing the inherent risks, $$$$ and time that may come along with it.