[MYK]

I took the car to the dealer to check on the brakes after a track day and also asked about warranty if I install an aftermarket cat back. We started talking and I praised the car and highlighted how much I was enjoying it. Thanking them for making this possible. The rep I was dealing with said he will ask the manager about the exhaust and get back to me. He calls me later and tells me the exhaust will void the warranty and ... taking the car to track would also void the warranty and explained that this wasn't a track ready car, unlike the M4 GTS!

I was shocked and asked to speak with the manager. He called me the next day and explained how while speeding on the street might not affect the car but constantly pushing the car then stopping all of a sudden might affect the turbo (isn't that what cool down laps are for?). I clarified and told him I'm not expecting a warranty on the brakes but he insisted that the full warranty would be void.

I tried challenging him with the M laptimer application and M Driver's package offered in the USA. The fact that on the far technical details on the website it says "track ready" and all the photos and video ads were of the M2 on a track. And the ads with the Nurburgring times but it was a waste of time. He said those were different markets, different regions and different policies. I gave up and told him I hope I won't need the warranty but if I do I will make sure to involve BMW Germany and local consumer protection and customer rights agencies.

I'm just fed up with the level of service here and emailed BMW Germany about it. Not to mention that MSRP here is 30% more than the USA, in a country where tax basically does not exist! I understand that volumes are not to be compared but you would be surprised at the number of cars sold, compared to the number of cars on the streets. I heard back from BMW ME who replied that an aftermarket exhaust would void the warranty but no comments on the track claim, they didn't confirm nor correct the statement. I replied asking for an answer and no money replied yet. This was a could of days ago and I sent a reminder today.

Dealers are so greedy and want to get away with as much margin as possible, by doing as little as possible!

[Bluenose-2er]

Track? What track? I didn't take it on any track

Put some electrical tape on the VIN when at the track in case anyone is snooping around and no way they can prove it. If they see you, you 'borrowed a friends car'.

I agree it is likely a bogus claim though.

[ric124]

Originally Posted by MYK

I took the car to the dealer to check on the brakes after a track day and also asked about warranty if I install an aftermarket cat back. We started talking and I praised the car and highlighted how much I was enjoying it. Thanking them for making this possible. The rep I was dealing with said he will ask the manager about the exhaust and get back to me. He calls me later and tells me the exhaust will void the warranty and ... taking the car to track would also void the warranty and explained that this wasn't a track ready car, unlike the M4 GTS!

I was shocked and asked to speak with the manager. He called me the next day and explained how while speeding on the street might not affect the car but constantly pushing the car then stopping all of a sudden might affect the turbo (isn't that what cool down laps are for?). I clarified and told him I'm not expecting a warranty on the brakes but he insisted that the full warranty would be void.

I tried challenging him with the M laptimer application and M Driver's package offered in the USA. The fact that on the far technical details on the website it says "track ready" and all the photos and video ads were of the M2 on a track. And the ads with the Nurburgring times but it was a waste of time. He said those were different markets, different regions and different policies. I gave up and told him I hope I won't need the warranty but if I do I will make sure to involve BMW Germany and local consumer protection and customer rights agencies.

I'm just fed up with the level of service here and emailed BMW Germany about it. Not to mention that MSRP here is 30% more than the USA, in a country where tax basically does not exist! I understand that volumes are not to be compared but you would be surprised at the number of cars sold, compared to the number of cars on the streets. I heard back from BMW ME who replied that an aftermarket exhaust would void the warranty but no comments on the track claim, they didn't confirm nor correct the statement. I replied asking for an answer and no money replied yet. This was a could of days ago and I sent a reminder today.

Dealers are so greedy and want to get away with as much margin as possible, by doing as little as possible!

Never tell them you went to the track or tracking your car. My friend with his M4 went through some issues with this and he got bmw corporate involved and the best they did was meet half way. So he had to pay half. The tech came out and asked him casually if he went to the track and he said yes.

You can track just deny ever going to bmw dealers.

I'm not sure why dealers give such a hard time when bmw corporate paying the bill anyway.

[MYK]

Originally Posted by Bluenose-1er

Track? What track? I didn't take it on any track

Put some electrical tape on the VIN when at the track in case anyone is snooping around and no way they can prove it. If they see you, you 'borrowed a friends car'.

I agree it is likely a bogus claim though.

Originally Posted by ric124

Never tell them you went to the track or tracking your car. My friend with his M4 went through some issues with this and he got bmw corporate involved and the best they did was meet half way. So he had to pay half. The tech came out and asked him casually if he went to the track and he said yes.

You can track just deny ever going to bmw dealers.

I'm not sure why dealers give such a hard time when bmw corporate paying the bill anyway.

I told them I took it to track and my photos on track with my liscence plates are all over Instagram. I can still deny all of this but still, why should I! BMW are selling the car and promoting it as a track ready car!

[ric124]

Originally Posted by MYK

I told them I took it to track and my photos on track with my liscence plates are all over Instagram. I can still deny all of this but still, why should I! BMW are selling the car and promoting it as a track ready car!

I'm sure they have themselves covered in the fine print.

[BAN_M2C]

I went thru this same conversation with my CA two weeks ago.. apparently it varies dealer to dealer..

My Sales Manager said I could do all bolt ons I wanted, just avoid programming.

My CA said basically I can do whatever I want to the car BUT whatever part I change, they will not warranty.

If I do a bigger brake setup or go CCB then they will not warranty that. If I change the stock suspension and install aftermarket coils they will not warranty the part I change, unless its an M Performance suspension. Same goes with an aftermarket exhaust.

What they do seem to go against is if you go change the programming on it with anything that is not BMW authorized, for example Dinan is approved by them.

He then proceeded to tell me about a customer they had who tracked his M4 heavily and recorded it and had it all over web. The car on his way to work one day ended up blowing a rod, making a hole in the block. Warranty took care of it since it was an engine failure.

He finalized summarizing, and I quote "Look the car is yours and you bought not leased so you can do whatever you want to it, these cars basically have a computer which is like a black box, we know everything you do with it. Its just handled on a case by case basis."

I plan to keep stock for now but then want to upgrade exhaust at a minimum and already ordered a suspension. Powerwise I feel its enough at this moment and plan to keep it as is for a while.

[mercedesc63]

Originally Posted by MYK

I took the car to the dealer to check on the brakes after a track day and also asked about warranty if I install an aftermarket cat back. We started talking and I praised the car and highlighted how much I was enjoying it. Thanking them for making this possible. The rep I was dealing with said he will ask the manager about the exhaust and get back to me. He calls me later and tells me the exhaust will void the warranty and ... taking the car to track would also void the warranty and explained that this wasn't a track ready car, unlike the M4 GTS!

I was shocked and asked to speak with the manager. He called me the next day and explained how while speeding on the street might not affect the car but constantly pushing the car then stopping all of a sudden might affect the turbo (isn't that what cool down laps are for?). I clarified and told him I'm not expecting a warranty on the brakes but he insisted that the full warranty would be void.

I tried challenging him with the M laptimer application and M Driver's package offered in the USA. The fact that on the far technical details on the website it says "track ready" and all the photos and video ads were of the M2 on a track. And the ads with the Nurburgring times but it was a waste of time. He said those were different markets, different regions and different policies. I gave up and told him I hope I won't need the warranty but if I do I will make sure to involve BMW Germany and local consumer protection and customer rights agencies.

I'm just fed up with the level of service here and emailed BMW Germany about it. Not to mention that MSRP here is 30% more than the USA, in a country where tax basically does not exist! I understand that volumes are not to be compared but you would be surprised at the number of cars sold, compared to the number of cars on the streets. I heard back from BMW ME who replied that an aftermarket exhaust would void the warranty but no comments on the track claim, they didn't confirm nor correct the statement. I replied asking for an answer and no money replied yet. This was a could of days ago and I sent a reminder today.

Dealers are so greedy and want to get away with as much margin as possible, by doing as little as possible!

I don't get how they knew u took it to the track. The whole thing sounds fishy and I would call BMWNA.

The dumbest reasons for voiding your warranty includes tunes, suspensions and, catless downpipes.

The car is nice as-is no need for any serious mods. If u do you assume responsibility for it even if some is covered.

[M3 Adjuster]

First. Print off a copy of the Magnusson-Moss warranty act and drop it on them.

It's FEDERAL LAW and it came out in 1979


It's amazing how stupid many dealer service managers are. They don't even know their own job.

Second - don't discuss your track activities with your dealer unless your dealer supports track events.

Third - don't mention your track activities to your insurance agent either ..

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by M3 Adjuster

First. Print off a copy of the Magnusson-Moss warranty act and drop it on them.

It's FEDERAL LAW and it came out in 1979


It's amazing how stupid many dealer service managers are. They don't even know their own job.

Second - don't discuss your track activities with your dealer unless your dealer supports track events.

Third - don't mention your track activities to your insurance agent either ..

Oops. I thought you were in the USA.
More than likely your country has a similar law. The dealer cannot " void " your entire warranty simply because you installed an aftermarket part.

They can refuse to warranty a part of the car if the item you installed cause the failure ... but that's a different situation

[PrematureApex]

Originally Posted by M3 Adjuster

Oops. I thought you were in the USA.
More than likely your country has a similar law. The dealer cannot " void " your entire warranty simply because you installed an aftermarket part.

They can refuse to warranty a part of the car if the item you installed cause the failure ... but that's a different situation

Look, someone who knows what they're talking about!

[pruettfan]

It is interesting that the dealer says that the M2 isn't built for the track when I just spent two days thrashing the M2,3 and 4 around during the 2 day M school. Seems to be a significant contradiction. The cars I drove had 3-4,000 miles on them and spent most of that time on the track and held up just fine.

Fortunately in the USA the good folks at SEMA have ensured that the law protects consumers who want to do aftermarket modifications (within some limits of course).

[SeanWRT]

Thought this would be an interesting thread when seeing the title. Turns out a rant on how BMW are not covering you if you do the exhaust mod (who else in the market is?) and how they don't promote track use of your car, all of which IMHO are justifiable.

They wouldn't be telling you any of the M products are built for track use because they are not. It's already a little bit across the line for the dealer to say GTS is more suitable for that.

All M cars are street cars.

[Nine Lives]

Same problem here where the OP actually blew his engine.
Has a positive outcome and you might be able to find something useful.Bare in mind different countries,different consumer laws.

It's a long read but interesting:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/t...&t=1481763&i=0

[BAN_M2C]

Originally Posted by Nine Lives

Same problem here where the OP actually blew his engine.
Has a positive outcome and you might be able to find something useful.Bare in mind different countries,different consumer laws.

It's a long read but interesting:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/t...&t=1481763&i=0

Long, but interesting read indeed, thanks for sharing.

[Zippster]

Originally Posted by WJSM5

I don't think they can tell you what you can and can do with your car. You should be able to take your M2/3/4/5/6 off-road and they should still honor the warranty as long as it's mechanical failure. Sounds like bs to me. I tell my CA that I track the car, and he does the same. Never any issues.

Just curious, have you had any warranty issues that the dealer has taken car of?

[SMC23]

Originally Posted by EL BAN

I went thru this same conversation with my CA two weeks ago.. apparently it varies dealer to dealer..

My Sales Manager said I could do all bolt ons I wanted, just avoid programming.

My CA said basically I can do whatever I want to the car BUT whatever part I change, they will not warranty.

If I do a bigger brake setup or go CCB then they will not warranty that. If I change the stock suspension and install aftermarket coils they will not warranty the part I change, unless its an M Performance suspension. Same goes with an aftermarket exhaust.

What they do seem to go against is if you go change the programming on it with anything that is not BMW authorized, for example Dinan is approved by them.

He then proceeded to tell me about a customer they had who tracked his M4 heavily and recorded it and had it all over web. The car on his way to work one day ended up blowing a rod, making a hole in the block. Warranty took care of it since it was an engine failure.

He finalized summarizing, and I quote "Look the car is yours and you bought not leased so you can do whatever you want to it, these cars basically have a computer which is like a black box, we know everything you do with it. Its just handled on a case by case basis."

I plan to keep stock for now but then want to upgrade exhaust at a minimum and already ordered a suspension. Powerwise I feel its enough at this moment and plan to keep it as is for a while.

...exception Dinan

[Jevi Javi]

ahh. that makes choosing an exhaust that much easier...
BUY THE MPE!

[MYK]

Originally Posted by Jevi Javi

ahh. that makes choosing an exhaust that much easier...
BUY THE MPE!

That's what I plan on getting but I have no intention of not tracking the car because of this.

[wjones14]

Originally Posted by SeanWRT

Thought this would be an interesting thread when seeing the title. Turns out a rant on how BMW are not covering you if you do the exhaust mod (who else in the market is?) and how they don't promote track use of your car, all of which IMHO are justifiable.

They wouldn't be telling you any of the M products are built for track use because they are not. It's already a little bit across the line for the dealer to say GTS is more suitable for that.

All M cars are street cars.

And in contrast, Chevrolet has publicly stated that the Camaro is able to withstand track use, and backed that up by saying they would honor the warranty even if the issue was caused by taking the car on the track!

http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars...-to-the-track/

[Aronis]

Dam! Is the M2 ok to drive in the SNOW? Or is that a no-no also!

Mike

[SeanWRT]

Originally Posted by wjones14

And in contrast, Chevrolet has publicly stated that the Camaro is able to withstand track use, and backed that up by saying they would honor the warranty even if the issue was caused by taking the car on the track!

http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars...-to-the-track/

Exactly my point: BMW is less track focused.

[BAN_M2C]

Read.. "the already track capable"

http://www.bmwusanews.com/newsreleas...?&id=2615&mid=