[KevinC]

Hard to believe it's been 3 years already with my '21 M2 Comp. Time flies when you've having fun. The car has been an absolute blast. She's a keeper.

A while back, I realized that when I had my brake pads replaced at 14k miles with Carbotech 1521's (highly recommended!), my indy mechanic reset the CBS. As I approached 30k miles a couple of months ago, it was showing the next "inspection" not due for another 14k miles, rather than being due right then around 30k. Ruh roh, this could cause problems at my last free service, since I expected to get the spark plugs done, but now CBS is saying I'm not even close to being due as that's an "inspection" item. So I reached out to my SA via email about 6 weeks in advance and explained my dilemma - that the plugs should really be due at/around 30k, and I was coming in soon for that final free service and expected them to get done, despite CBS saying "not yet". He said he'd see if he could push it through. Also pointed out that I'm not technically due for an oil change yet because my last freebie was at 24k (I change every 5k, paying for the interim changes locally).

So last week I show up for my appointment and we discuss again in person. He seems skeptical that he's gonna be able to shove the plug replacement through, because of the fact that BMWNA only wants to pay for stuff based on what CBS is reading. Points out same thing about the oil change, which I was much less concerned about. I point out an SIB showing that the plugs are due at "approximately 36 months or 30k miles", and shouldn't that be enough for approval? I also show him some forum posts (from here) showing plug replacement intervals all over the map - dealers were often replacing them at silly-low mileage, for no apparent reason other than to get paid for the job. He agrees that my assertion makes sense. Disappears for a bit, comes back and says he's pushing it through, including air filters and oil change. Awesome. Huge relief as the plug job is ridiculously expensive because so much crap has to be disassembled to get at them. I've seen dealership quotes from $800 to $1800 for this job. Surely an indy would be cheaper if I'd had to go that route, but hey, I want this done today and at no cost to me, as it should be. Oh and brake fluid due at 3 years so that was done as well on the free 3/36 program. No issue there because it's time-based, not CBS-based. Cool.

A bit later I get the video of the standard inspection. Rear tires down to 4/32nd's (my second set) so they're gonna have to be replaced soon. My fronts are still original and at 3/32's, which means time to replace now (which I was going to do in the next couple of weeks anyways) - but also they are showing CORD on the inside of both! Yikes. So I ask them how much for alignment, "only" $189, which is quite reasonable for a dealership 4-wheel alignment. Do it. I then order new tires from Tire Rack and schedule a local install. Then I mentioned this to him, and he asked me to let him quote tires as their pricing is low and intended to be competitive with TR and other discounters. Sure enough the prices were very close, and they had 4 of each in stock (good inventory management there), so yeah, go ahead and do them too. He did me a solid so I was happy to throw him the additional business. Plus it saved me the PITA of having to do that install separately next week. By the time I'm out of there, both customer and SA were very happy. He's always treated me really well and now there's no doubt I'll get great service in the future, on the rare occasion I'm back (not much incentive to pay dealership pricing for most stuff when it's on my dime).

Lesson here - if you're having an indy due stuff during the first 3/36, be sure to make it clear to NOT reset your CBS data! If you have an issue like I had, be firm about making them make it right, but also be respectful and don't "go off" on your SA - he's just doing his job. Go over his head if you have to, but hopefully it won't get to that point.

1 year of warranty left and then I'm totally on my own. That's fine. I got totally caught up on maintenance today, including the expensive plug job, so I'm good to go for some time. Drive happy!

[ESB]

Nice!! In a few weeks mine will be 4 years old. Unbelievable! I love the car so much.

Good job getting all that service work done under the free maintenance program! I was unfortunately pretty oblivious to the 30k interval services until earlier this year when I passed 30k. That caused me to look stuff up but by that point I was well beyond the free maintenance window. It’s a mistake that caused me quite a lot of money. I’ve moved on though, lol.

Interestingly my CBS lags behind the service manual’s stated intervals. For example when I asked for spark plugs and other fluid changes my SA said they weren’t due until later but I said I wanted them done anyways. The one item I forgot about was the engine filter which is also stated at 30k. When I went back last week for something else I asked about the engine filter and SA said the car wasn’t asking for it until early 2025! The weirdest part is that according to the service manual neither the engine filter nor the spark plugs are CBS items! I didn’t press on it though.

[CSBM5]

Great to hear about a final free maintenance visit! That dealership sounds like a good one, especially with trying to match TR on tire prices.

I do all the maintenance on my cars myself, so with a car under warranty I'm careful to never reset the CBS items except for brake pad replacements which is generally required to do when using new brake sensors.

BMW's "system" flags/allows spark plug replacement at the 3rd oil change hence the reason you see cars getting them at 6k miles or whatever. I didn't pay enough attention to that when the M2C was still under warranty, so I missed out (warranty expired in Sept 2022, maintenance in Sept 2021). Therefore, I'm going to replace them nearing 30k miles which is going to be a while as I'm only just at 20k miles now after 5.5 years. I looked into the process, and while it's not a simple job like on an M54 or N52, removing/replacing the charge pipes and the brace only takes perhaps 20 minutes total extra time, so I'm not fretting it.

The M2C has been fantastic since new. I had one of the earliest allocations (June 2018 build), took delivery in Sept 2018, and it's never had any repairs needed (only regular maintenance with extra oil changes between CBS intervals). Oh it did have the LR turn signal light issue one time about a year ago, but it went away. I'll replace the unit with one from FCP if it starts acting up (lifetime warranty). Love the car and plan to keep it a long time.

[jefe2000]

Originally Posted by CSBM5

Oh it did have the LR turn signal light issue one time about a year ago, but it went away. I'll replace the unit with one from FCP if it starts acting up (lifetime warranty). Love the car and plan to keep it a long time.

Last I looked on FCP, they weren’t carrying the LCI/M2C rear light assemblies — only the ones for the OG M2. Have they started carrying them? Their lifetime guarantee would be an excellent way around the flakiness of these rear light assemblies.

[jefe2000]

Originally Posted by jefe2000

Last I looked on FCP, they weren’t carrying the LCI/M2C rear light assemblies — only the ones for the OG M2. Have they started carrying them? Their lifetime guarantee would be an excellent way around the flakiness of these rear light assemblies.

Answering my own question: FCP Euro is now carrying the LCI/M2C rear light assemblies. Yes!

Left assembly: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...mw-63217420993

Right assembly: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...mw-63217420994

[Brokenbones]

Sounds like reasonable dealership.
My dealership left my car with sudden power loss and check engine light needing a tow while driving home from last free maintenance….

Their prices were absurd for everything, 250 for alignment and no loaners for my broken down car. Glad to hear all bmw dealerships not crappy

[Fred Conoway]

I had my final free service come up in December of last year, which included oil change and cabin air filter replacement. My service advisor also threw in the brake fluid flush as well, even though I still had half a year to go until mine was due, so that was great to see. Just started ordering a bunch of stuff so that I can do the next oil change (switching to a 6k interval), diff fluid change, and transmission fluid change at home. Hope I don't find any surprises from dealer work...

Good to know about the tires as well. I believe when I priced out tires last year, the dealer was $100-200 more expensive in total than ordering through discount tire or TR, but I'll keep this in mind for when I have to replace the fronts. Noticed when I put my summer fronts on last month that the inners for both tires were definitely more worn than the outers, but tread depth was still good. Will have to monitor it closely so that I don't also end up on chords as well

[Puppetz]

Just had my 3 year final visit last week. Only 7500 miles on the car. No winter driving, plus it's just a weekend warrior. Needless to say they wouldn't cover anything except for the software recall. Mileage was too low for plugs, and even my next oil change.

[nismosao]

Originally Posted by Puppetz

Just had my 3 year final visit last week. Only 7500 miles on the car. No winter driving, plus it's just a weekend warrior. Needless to say they wouldn't cover anything except for the software recall. Mileage was too low for plugs, and even my next oil change.

You need to go back and call their bluff. That’s not how a maintenance warranty works. It doesn’t go by just mileage, it also goes by time. The maintenance schedule says plugs are due after 3 years. I had my plugs done about 2 months ago at approx. 6,000 miles. Same for oil change.

Go back and demand it!

[CSBM5]

Originally Posted by nismosao

You need to go back and call their bluff. That’s not how a maintenance warranty works. It doesn’t go by just mileage, it also goes by time. The maintenance schedule says plugs are due after 3 years. I had my plugs done about 2 months ago at approx. 6,000 miles. Same for oil change.

Go back and demand it!

The free maintenance schedule allows plugs every third oil change, not time. It's based on the assumption that every 3rd oil change is ~30K miles. This is the reason you see the ultra low mileage plug changes being done as some cars have yearly oil changes but hardly any mileage accumulation. At some point, BMWNA will correct this bizarre issue and adhere to the BMWAG published schedule based on mileage which for M engines specifies 30k miles between plug changes.