# To Extend Warantee or Not? SMG blowout



## ThePleaser (May 23, 2004)

So I pick up my new M3 last Monday. What a thrill. You all know how that feels.

I take a 30 mile ride back home and then 2 minutes into giving my waiting friends a ride ; Shazam!, I'm on the side of the road. 
Defective SMG master/slave shifter assembly. Car won't move.

Yea, after waiting forever for the car, I was pretty happy about that. :bawling:

Funny, the flat bed tow guy says "you'll have to sign a waiver for me to load that on my truck" I say "why?". reply: "it might get damaged."  
(all the while, my cell phone has no signal, major thunderstorm rolls in, and I'm hungry as hell since the loan guy took forever trying to upsell me.)
(The BMW Assist saved my butt. I love that feature!! They can't do everything though; I asked "tell me this isn't happening to me." All I got was, "I'de be glad to help you with that, but first, are you safe?" I'de have to say; you are about as safe as you can be if you are sitting in an M3 with airbags in the ready but you can't even get the car to move.)

My new replacement is being built now. I'll have it by the end of June.

I may be crazy but I didn't want to begin my new life as an M3 owner with this particular car. I'll wait for a new one. Perhaps I should ship some extra beer to the assembly line..

So.. what do you think about the need for extending the warantee to 7yrs 100000k? Is my new sweet M3 going to be reliable? or is it worth $3k extra for 3 more years and 50k extra miles?
I think I'll still stick with the original 4yr 50k.


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## Pinecone (Apr 3, 2002)

If BMW offered an extended warranty, I would say go for it, but they don't.

The do offer an extended maintenance plan which covers things like oil changes, brakes, inspections, etc. But not failure items norammly covered by a warranty.

And all sorts of part can die early on. Nobody tests every part. So likely your car would have been fine after this fix. It isn't likely a problem with the assembly, but just a bad part from a supplier. What are you going to do the first time something goes wrong with you next car? Order another one?


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## Ajax (Feb 1, 2002)

Pinecone said:


> If BMW offered an extended warranty, I would say go for it, but they don't.
> 
> The do offer an extended maintenance plan which covers things like oil changes, brakes, inspections, etc. But not failure items norammly covered by a warranty.
> 
> And all sorts of part can die early on. Nobody tests every part. So likely your car would have been fine after this fix. It isn't likely a problem with the assembly, but just a bad part from a supplier. What are you going to do the first time something goes wrong with you next car? Order another one?


An extended warranty is offered. I don't think it's underwritten by BMWNA though.


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## JST (Dec 19, 2001)

Pinecone said:


> If BMW offered an extended warranty, I would say go for it, but they don't.
> 
> The do offer an extended maintenance plan which covers things like oil changes, brakes, inspections, etc. But not failure items norammly covered by a warranty.
> 
> And all sorts of part can die early on. Nobody tests every part. So likely your car would have been fine after this fix. It isn't likely a problem with the assembly, but just a bad part from a supplier. What are you going to do the first time something goes wrong with you next car? Order another one?


The real question is: Did he order another one with SMG?


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## Pinecone (Apr 3, 2002)

It IS a thrid party "insurance". BMW doesn't offer an extended warranty.

With any third party warranty CAREFULLY read the provisions. Many do not cover the stuff you want covered. Many require you to pay then file a claim. Many reg
quire repairs to be pre-approved. Many only are of use in certain dealers or shops, with in certain parts of the country.

In general, they are less than a bargain.


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## SteveT (Dec 22, 2001)

I know this gets off the topic of extended warranty. Maybe I'm missing something. Were you stuck because you had an SMG failure and you've told them you don't want the car? That SMG unit is repairable. Mine failed leaving the Performance Center and they had to fly me home and ship the car here two days later. They fixed it there and it's never missed a beat. Was there more wrong than just the SMG? It is your choice to get them to replace it, but it can be literally as good as new.

Extended warranties are insurance policies. They can give you peace of mind though.


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## ThePleaser (May 23, 2004)

Yes the SMG did fail.
I do have another car on it's way and will have it in 4 weeks.

Sounds like the car really would have been just fine but considering the other issues I had been having with this dealership, I opted to just start fresh. It's been painful to say the least.

By the way, I found out that BMW is possibly about to offer extended warantees. They may do this in a couple months and it may be possible to add it to a car which has already been purchased.
THey are basicly doing this for the certified used cars already, so It sounds like it makes sense.

Thanks for the info on 3rd party extended warantees.
I was offered the 7 yr 100kmile bumper2bumper for about $2.8k extra.


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## ThePleaser (May 23, 2004)

I know the SMG was repairable. It is now repaired and they are selling it as a new car. (the car wasn't titled yet) ... I don't know what to think about that business practice...


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## Pinecone (Apr 3, 2002)

Man, call your state dealer association or consumer protection people. Once the car is delivered to an owner, it is USED.

And call or email Car Fax.


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## SteveT (Dec 22, 2001)

Pinecone said:


> Man, call your state dealer association or consumer protection people. Once the car is delivered to an owner, it is USED.
> 
> And call or email Car Fax.


Terry's right. Let someone know.


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## BahnBaum (Feb 25, 2004)

SteveT said:


> Terry's right. Let someone know.


I can see why he might be reluctant to open his mouth. His dealer helped him out, but you gotta feel sorry for the guy who buys what he thinks is a brand new one. Even if it's 100% perfect the next buyer ought to know the history....

Alex


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## ekyub (May 25, 2004)

Hey! I'm NOT an M3 owner but I am considering one. I've been giving serious consideration to the BMW. However it seems that some M3 owners are having issues with dealer service and reliability. I AM NOT A TROLL...

Looks like BMW doesn't support an extended warranty product so how prevalant are M3 problems? Looks like many high performance cars have issues. Porsches, STI, EVO, and now M3.

Would you do it again? If so any differently?

Thanks. Kyu.


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## flashinthepan (Jul 25, 2003)

> To Extend Warantee or Not? SMG blowout


Sorry to hear bad news

With SMG you may consider a 3rd party extended warantee imo. When I purchased the manual foot clutch 6-speed it was partly due to long term potential problems. My Salesperson hinted a few M3 SMG's had blown at the BMW track. :dunno:


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## SteveT (Dec 22, 2001)

flashinthepan said:


> Sorry to hear bad news
> 
> With SMG you may consider a 3rd party extended warantee imo. When I purchased the manual foot clutch 6-speed it was partly due to long term potential problems. My Salesperson hinted a few M3 SMG's had blown at the BMW track. :dunno:


Nothing against the 6sp, but the I've never heard any negative comments regarding the SMG at the Performance Center. The PC is the only BMW track that I know about. We ran them very hard at M-School and they demonstrated launch control...no problems. Unless he had the 6sp in stock and just wanted to encourage the sale.


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## flashinthepan (Jul 25, 2003)

SteveT said:


> Nothing against the 6sp, but the I've never heard any negative comments regarding the SMG at the Performance Center. The PC is the only BMW track that I know about. We ran them very hard at M-School and they demonstrated launch control...no problems. Unless he had the 6sp in stock and just wanted to encourage the sale.


Steve,

I ordered a 6-speed, there were 2 SMG's immediately available in stock at the time, I chose to wait the grueling 90 days. I do agree it is unlikely anyone will have any trouble, but perhaps more likely than a traditional 6-speed. With the electronics and highdraulics involved, it is something I would feel better about under a warantee. (my opinion), but I also feel that way about the 3.2 M3 motor & may just do the same myself anyways.

Why the salesperson brought up the SMG problem at the track, I havent a clue ? he was actually talking the the parts guy also at the time ? would highly doubt you would hear of any mechanical problems from PC BMW employees.

Regardless, SMG are fun ! and I had a hard time deciding myself. :thumbup:


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## SteveT (Dec 22, 2001)

Certainly anything that adds complexity can also affect reliability. We've had people talk about failures like the one I had, but not really too much about reliability problems. There is the feeling that clutch life might be better because the computer maintains more accurate control. Of course a few launches will change the clutch wear rate some no doubt. The folks at the PC might not offer reliability comments, but enough people have gone to M-Schools that if there were regular problems we'd hear about it. There was talk that PTG tested an SWC car equipped with SMG and found that SMG couldn't keep up with their needs, but I've also heard that they didn't want the weight penalty they would have gotten for the sequential box. A good question for Tom Milner sometime.


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## ThePleaser (May 23, 2004)

What is a "Launch" sounds like fun.
Sounds like the SMG is pretty heavy duty.


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## SteveT (Dec 22, 2001)

ThePleaser said:


> What is a "Launch" sounds like fun.
> Sounds like the SMG is pretty heavy duty.


There's actually a couple of versions of Launch or Acceleration Control, this is where you put SMG in S6, Sport Mode and completely turn off DSC. You can then hold the shift lever all the way forward and push the accelerator to the floor. The engine will come to 1800 rpm and stay there. When you release the lever the car will drive away with minimum wheelspin and full acceleration. European cars are held a something like 3000 rpm for the launch. I think in sport mode and S6 (with DSC off) you can just floor the throttle and it will do more or less the same thing.


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## ThePleaser (May 23, 2004)

Sweet, Thanks for the info. I assume that besides the clutch wear. All's well to give this a try. What the heck, the Europeans get a bigger launch than we do. We like a thill more than they.

Thanks.


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## Pinecone (Apr 3, 2002)

SteveT said:


> There's actually a couple of versions of Launch or Acceleration Control, this is where you put SMG in S6, Sport Mode and completely turn off DSC. You can then hold the shift lever all the way forward and push the accelerator to the floor. The engine will come to 1800 rpm and stay there. When you release the lever the car will drive away with minimum wheelspin and full acceleration. European cars are held a something like 3000 rpm for the launch. I think in sport mode and S6 (with DSC off) you can just floor the throttle and it will do more or less the same thing.


You don't need Sport mode. Just DSC Off, S6. On M cars there is only 1 level of DSC, so just push the button to turn the light on.

There are two modes of Acceleration Assist (BMW term). If you slam the pedal down, you get burnout mode, which does not supply tration control. It just dumps the clucth and lets the tires spin.

Race launch mode is actiated by a slow push of the accelerator and gets traction control on the launch for minimal tire spin.


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