Here's why my 4 yr full maintenance program is only good for 3 yrs (page 6)| Forums BMWauto.net

Here's why my 4 yr full maintenance program is only good for 3 yrs

My last (4th) free oil maintenance will not be covered because it takes a long time to get a service appointment with my dealer and I drive my E39 530i only about 7-8K miles a year. My free oil changes are performed at 12 month intervals and not mileage as per the owner's manual.

I took delivery of my 530i on 12/31/02. I had my first free oil change done on 12/15/03 at 8,052 miles. I tried to get an oil service appointment at the end of December 2004 for my second free oil change, but it took a month to get an appointment so it was performed on 01/12/05 at 15,807 miles. Today I called to schedule the third free oil change for 12/30/05 but I was told that if they changed the oil before 01/12/06 then it would not be covered for free because it would be less than 12 months since the last oil change (only 13 days less). This means that my last and fourth "free" oil change can not be done until after 01/12/07 which is after my 4 year free maintenance program expires!! Therefore, my 4 year free maintenance warranty is really only good for 3 years!!!

I talked with 3 people at the dealer and even called BMWNA but they all refuse to pay for my third oil change if it's done prior to 01/12/06 -- even though it was not my fault that the second oil change was performed late due to the dealer being booked up for so long. I'm only asking for it to be changed 13 days early from 12 months from the last one so I can be sure that the fourth oil change will be covered for free. When I told them that if they don't pay for all four oil changes as promised in the free maintenance program, then this will be my last BMW. They actually laughed and said okay. I can't believe they are willing to lose a customer over this.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Reply » Here's why my 4 yr full maintenance program is only good for 3 yrs

Quote:

If you can't afford it buy a Toyata

In case you haven't gleaned from my previous posts, it's not about the money.

Jeesh, I'm starting to regret even mentioning BMW's breach of contract.

Reply » Here's why my 4 yr full maintenance program is only good for 3 yrs

1) You get an oil SERVICE (or Inspection) each time the service indicator counts down to 0.

2) You get an oil CHANGE 12 months after the last time the oil was changed if the service indicator hasn't counted down yet.

3) The dealer should NOT reset the service indicator for an oil CHANGE unless you will hit the oil SERVICE within the next 60 days based on the average mileage per month.

So, if you drive 10K miles per year, you get an oil CHANGE 12 months after you pick up the car. About 4- 5 months later you will get an oil SERVICE because the service indicator will count down. You will get another oil CHANGE 12 months after that, which will be around 29 - 30 months after delivery. And then you will be Inspection 1 about 4 -5 months after that (as the service indicator hits 0) or about 33 - 35 months after delivery. Then you should get another oil CHANGE 12 months after that, or just before your maintenance agreement ends.

The only way to be SURE of your in service date is to have the dealer look it up on the computer. Our car was PCD and the inservice date was set a few weeks after the actual delivery date in case something happened.

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