CarMax Warranty for the M3 Saved My Wallet

"Danny Korecki" (dannykorecki)
05/15/2016 at 10:52 • Filed to: carmax, carmax warranty, bmw m3, m3 warranty, rightfootdown

100

A few months ago, I wrote up an article showcasing !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! from CarMax. In that article I referenced the desire to purchase the M3 from CarMax due to their apparently great warranties. Little did I know that purchasing the additional CarMax M3 warranty would be one of my best automotive decisions………………of my life.

When I began to collect my thoughts on how to describe the following experience in an article, it was hard to not feel lot like Top Gear USA following the footsteps of Top Gear UK. Car enthusiasts on the internet know about !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! with his Range Rover as well as his CarMax trade-in attempts of crazy vehicles such as his Ferrari 360 Modena and his Nissan Skyline GT-R. This is much like that, except I think I may have topped the warranty work he has had done with just one issue.

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It Happened

It was the end of March, I was driving home on my normal 20 mile commute, stuck behind an old black Chevy S10 pickup truck. No spirited driving, no speeding, no abuse. Halfway through my drive, still behind the same truck, my M3 begins shaking and enters “Limp Mode”. I receive two error messages on my display: “Engine Malfunction” and “Increased Emissions”.

I immediately pull over and turn the car off. Fingers are crossed the error disappears after a restart. I restart the engine again. The messages remain. Damn.

This time I actually read the full description of the error messages. I could care less about the Increased Emissions error (because racecar), but the Engine Malfunction error informed me that it is possible to continue onward, but to drive to the nearest service center as soon as possible. The nearest service center is 3 times the distance to my house so I decided to just drive home and have CarMax tow it to a shop.

My drive home was best categorized as what a race driver feels when they are limping their busted cars back to the paddock. My M3 felt like it was running on 4 of the 8 cylinders.

As luck would have it, I had ordered the Carly BMW Bluetooth adapter a couple days before and it was waiting for me on my porch. I opened it up, downloaded the free version of the app on my Android phone and ran every diagnostic I could to the tune of $3.00 each. Luckily, I had some Google credit so to me it was free. As for the diagnosis – Carly said my car was misfiring on cylinders 4, 5, 6, 7.

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The CarMax Repair Experience

The next morning I called CarMax to report the issues. They logged everything in their computer and provided me the number of a towing company they work with whom I called to scheduled the pick up. The towing company picked up my car and said they would fill out the night drop box information for me.

The next morning I got a call from a CarMax service rep. He mentioned he started the car and immediately noticed the issues and shut it right down and was calling me to get some background. I give him the rundown of what occurred and what codes I was able to pull. With that, and presumably some diagnostic of their own, CarMax attempts to change the coils and spark plugs, to no avail. They then requested my permission to send the car to the nearest BMW dealer. Of course I agreed. I would much rather BMW work on my M3 than CarMax anyway.

There was a point during all of this where CarMax kind of goofed up. An employee noted the low mileage and instantly passed the buck on to BMW to fix the vehicle due to it being under 36,000 miles. Guess they didn’t bother taking a look at the model year because factory warranty had long expired. Due to this former employee initially saying my car is under BMW warranty it caused a big mess trying to get a rental car. The CarMax warranty system kept denying the claim for a loaner car as it’s apparently all approved digitally.

But it all worked out. The service advisers at CarMax were extremely helpful and asked me to come in to borrow a car from their lot. My loaner was none other than a Chevrolet Malibu in Grandma Gold. With a working ride in hand, I chatted with my service adviser and he informed me that their technicians ran a compression test and the whole driver side bank was zippy – no compression. Phrases like determining “if the issue can be repaired” or “if we need to replace your engine” were in the air.

With my M3 now at BMW, they performed a leak down test as well as check the timing. BMW determined that the problem was a broken valve spring on cylinder number 6 and informed CarMax that it would be over 30 hours of labor to fix the issue. CarMax informs me that they would be sending out a “Warranty Inspector” to check it out. That’s basically an insurance adjuster but for the CarMax warranty claims. Apparently, he was dispatched because CarMax did not understand how BMW wanted to fix the issue. Turns out that BMW likes to drop engines from vehicles in order to repair many issues. This of course costs more and CarMax wanted it to be done with the engine in the car but CarMax caved-in and approved all work BMW needed to do.

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That CarMax Warranty

As soon as I heard official word of the damage and the repairs required I immediately began calculating what CarMax would be shelling out. I knew this warranty was going to pay for itself but I didn’t realize how far off my estimate was. The labor alone for the job was $5,005 and the parts were another $1049.01. Along with other miscellaneous charges the total came out to $6,130. From the paper work there was also a CarMax diagnosis charge of $315 for a grand total of damage was $6,444.80.

That CarMax warranty I purchased? Yeah, that only cost me $2,079 and covers my M3 up to 75,000 miles or 60 months, whichever comes first. This is why I chose to buy my car from CarMax.

I will admit when I finally got the M3 back I babied the hell out of it for the first few days, never taking it above 4,000 rpm. This was just my initial hesitation and overly cautious behavior to ensure the engine was not going to fail on me again. So far I have no complaints and I feel like the car is back to normal.

Hopefully this is the last warranty story I write but if a new issues arise, just like Mr. DeMuro, I will have this amazing warranty to cover my ass.

//Follow me on !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and continue following the journey of my M3 on !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

DISCUSSION (100)

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Danny Korecki
05/15/2016 at 11:32

2,000 is chump change for a warranty on a car like that. You made a gold decision!

gawdzillla > Danny Korecki
05/15/2016 at 11:36

glad to see the warranty paid off

*note to self - NEVER buy a German car without warranty ( ok ... the 911 that i’ll be getting in a few years might be out of any warranty period ... )

Biggus Dickus (RevsBro) > Danny Korecki
05/15/2016 at 11:56

My first thought was the Throttle actuator but the Valve spring is also an issue. I also bought a full warranty through the BMW dealer I bought my E92 M3 from.

Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. > Danny Korecki
05/15/2016 at 12:10

I paid about that for the warranty on a 10 heart old 75k Mike truck. Already have $700 saved when the blend door broke.

E92M3 > Danny Korecki
05/15/2016 at 12:28

Woah, never heard of a broken valve spring on the S65. I assumed a throttle actuator failed..

Chasaboo > Danny Korecki
05/15/2016 at 15:28

BMWs are brutal. I'll never own another one again. Just not worth the headaches.

His Stigness > Danny Korecki
05/15/2016 at 15:36

It’s not that BMW “likes” to drop motors for everything, they have to for a lot of things. To do a valve job you have to remove the cylinder head, and in order to remove the cylinder head on that motor, you need to drop it, as there’s not enough clearance to get it out.

It may sound like a lot of work but in the grand scheme of things it's not that bad, and you can do a lot of things much easier.

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > Danny Korecki
05/15/2016 at 19:05

It makes sense... At any OEM, they’re not assembling the engine while it’s in the car. Plus less risk of damage to other stuff if the engine is outside the car.

jimmy-buffett > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 09:35

A close friend of mine from college, and one of the cheapest men I know, married into a family of BMW fans including one highly trained master mechanic.

The master mechanic brother in law does labor on the family cars for free, and charges his cost for parts. For years, my friend drove an ‘02 330 and his wife drove an ‘05 530.

In the last year, they’ve both switched to Hondas. Because, for the cheapest person I know, even free labor and parts-for-cost on a BMW is more expensive than owning a Honda.

Kudos on buying the CarMax warranty and getting on the right side of it, but it’s not exactly rocket science when you buy an expensive car known for having expensive parts that break.

Turbolence1988 Loves Magic Turn Circles > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 09:35

That’s awesome. All I need now in life is a CarMax dealer to offer an FD RX-7 with one of these warranties and it’ll pay for itself before I get to the highway onramp!

Flavien Vidal > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 09:37

I wish we had carmax in Japan... Imagine a FD RX7 with a carmax warranty. Gosh, I’d rev the shit out of that cold engine just to make sure I get a rebuild ASAP :)

jimmy-buffett > Santiago of Escuderia Boricua
05/16/2016 at 09:37

At any OEM, they’re not assembling the engine while it’s in the car.

Understood, but it’s the “design the motor and enclosure to be maintained without having to drop the motor? that’s on the next owner” mindset that is frustrating.

lurker342 > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 09:39

Broken valve spring!!! I was upset when my HPFP went and I had to pay out of pocket, on top of that they wanted to charge double MSRP for the pump. But valve spring? That should never ever break. My e36 M3 motor is @200k, and never needed anything besides spark plugs. I guess a lot of things changed in the last 20 years... besides my age.

F1NY > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 09:43

DOUG - Are you reading this? Where is your spiff?

Kinja'd!!!

hofbrauwatts > His Stigness
05/16/2016 at 09:43

Yep, there isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t drop the front subframe out of a car for some sort of engine/mechanical repair. Just comes with the territory when working on BMW’s.

Prophet of hoon > His Stigness
05/16/2016 at 09:47

I wondered about that, labor being 5x parts is pretty steep. I’d sleep a lot more comfortably if they pulled the head after a dropped valve. That could have been pretty catastrophic if the motor had been at full song when the spring broke.

DrPain55 > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 09:50

Sounds like my wife’s X3 experience but replaced the entire engine and didn’t have a CarMax Warranty. Learned a hard lesson that day.

Prophet of hoon > gawdzillla
05/16/2016 at 09:50

I don’t do cars with warranties, of course, 90% of my cars come home on a roll back with words like “what a POS””complete project” or “are you sure you got all the parts? project”

That said, there are companies out there that warranty old and older cars... of course the value for price paid can be a little steep.

rayJoyal > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 09:50

$6000 for ONE BROKEN VALVESPRING?

OMFG. I am so glad I didn’t buy that 335xi a few years ago. I was worried about the cost of replacing the high pressure fuel pump.

$1000 in parts? for ONE BROKEN VALVESPRING?

DrScientist > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 09:54

well done on the solid purchasing choices! glad to hear good stories like this.

are we all certain that it was the broken valve spring?

how long have you been driving post repair?

TommTucker > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 09:56

Being a 2012, it isn’t necessarily “obvious” that the car is outside of the 4 year/50,000 OEM BMW Warranty. What are the last 7 of the VIN? You can find the exact production/in-service date.

Jim is one of KFCs secret ingredients > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 09:59

I immediately pull over and turn the car off. Fingers are crossed the error disappears after a restart. I restart the engine again. The messages remain. Damn.

I’ve done the same thing with my BMW. Funny how these things behave more and more like computers with every generation.

68Comments > His Stigness
05/16/2016 at 10:03

Back in the 90's a buddy of mine routinely dropped the front end/ motor of his Mustang to do engine work. There just wasn’t enough room under the hood to do much of anything. We got to the point that we could drop the front carriage in less than an hour. Then the motor was a joy to work on.

Josh Bailey > Flavien Vidal
05/16/2016 at 10:03

The only issue I have with CarMax is that they charge considerably more than you would pay anywhere else, and they are firm on price. This is before you consider the cost of a warranty. I have seen 3 year old vehicles listed within $1,500 of brand new vehicles.

Ff5pUnBTFZiL > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 10:03

> misfiring on cylinders 4, 5, 6, 7

> whole driver side bank ... no compression

> broken valve spring on cylinder number 6

Help me connect the dots here? The cylinders listed don’t seem to correspond one side of the car, and a broken valve spring shouldn’t affect more than one cylinder.

Also, I’d have expected a broken spring to lead to piston/valve contact. Maybe you’re safe at low RPM?

Finally, even with the BS powertrain warranty, I’d have expected BMW to be responsible for fixing a valvetrain issue under the emissions warranty.

Travis M. Cotton > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 10:05

I have an X5 from Carmax. I didnt buy their warranty because the one from the credit union was slightly cheaper and same coverage and no bullshit I was told. Enter two months later I see oil accumulating on the garage floor. I take it in and Im informed there is a leak that will cost $1000 to fix. Warranty kicks in and costs me $100. I paid $3400 for the warranty ....so 1/3 of it is nearly paid for. Since its warrantied until 110k or 60 months I drive worry free as well lol. Well almost...

TL;DR version: You made the right choice.

Ididthisalready > Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street.
05/16/2016 at 10:07

This?

Shiftright > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 10:08

Glad this story had a happy ending because you were wise enough to purchase the excellent warranty Carmax offers, but if this hadn’t been ‘the ultimate driving machine’, the Internet’s attitude would be to focus on how unreliable the particular make is and not on the tech details of the mechanical failure. If it were any FCA product which seems to be the kicking boy of the Internet auto forums, then there would be pitchforks and torches. My cousin had an ‘07 M3 he bought new that needed a new engine at 13k miles due to failed main bearings...So much for supposed German quality and engineering. As a die-hard auto enthusiast, I like and respect German cars but don’t understand how they maintain such an image of quality / reliability given all the seriously frightening stories I hear.

Anyway, great car; glad you can enjoy it again.

GasolineLollipop191 > Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street.
05/16/2016 at 10:10

Whats a “10 heart old 75k Mike truck”

thedarks > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 10:11

Id never buy an e9x m3 without warranty or $8k on the side for an engine rebuild. And I’d probably do the rod bearings as a precaution anyway.

zedx79 > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 10:11

Euro cars, expensive to maintain and fix when things go south it seems.

OldManMcKenna > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 10:15

Been contemplating buying my next car from CarMax. Through research (read: Google and calling my local CarMax) I came across that it isn’t actually a “CarMax” warranty, but a “MaxCare” warranty. A 3rd party.

Can you comment on that at all? It sounds like everything went swimmingly in your (and Doug DeMuro’s) case, but I am still hesitant, having been burned repeatedly by 3rd party warranty providers.

SoManyBlueCars > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 10:17

I’ll counter all of this with a “not worth it”.

Having owned an E92 M3 for 6 years, I can testify to their reliability if taken care of properly. Aside from the cost of the warranty, Car Max itself is more expensive to buy the car from.

So while I am glad everything worked out for you and in this case it was the right decision, most of the time it’s money spent that you’ll never make back.

serega13 > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 10:17

If you think about it, warranty on all the reliable Japanese cars on CarMax parking lot is what is allowing them to extend the same warranty to the shitty German cars. I mean don’t get me wrong, M3 is an awesome car, but owning one without a warranty is going to be expensive and downright stupid as BMW is one of the least reliable brands out there and you are lucky this particular M3 is not turbocharged which would make it even less reliable. Diehard BMW fans always get butthurt when they are faced with the truth but let's be honest, $5000 in labor is what you pay to double your power, not to get back on the road.

427zeo6 > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 10:19

Federal mandated emission laws dictate a 5YR/50K mile period of life expectancy of all vehicle emission control systems......depending on when the M3 was sold it COULD still be under warranty. Remember this Kids! 5YR/50K miles! My buddy received a replacement Z/28 motor back in the 70's when his 302 Chevy chucked a rod out the side of his block under this warranty period. Seems BMW is keeping the tradition alive.........

gla2yyz > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 10:26

We need CarMax in Canada. We have nothing like it. I was looking at a 2010 CTS-V yesterday and having one of those sweet sweet CarMax warranties would take a lot of the uncertainty out of the purchase.

Mind you, given it’s a CTS-V you can probably just grab a fistful of GM small-block valve springs from a bin at the nearest Canadian Tire for a few bucks and bash them in with a hammer.

PilotMan > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 10:26

Strong move there Danny Boy. BMW makes some very amazing and interesting vehicles. It is my personal opinion that the amazing engineering behind these vehicles tends to lean towards the performance aspect rather than reliability. My experience has also shown that reliability tends to drop drastically just past 50K miles, more than long enough for the original owner to move onto their next new BMW. Never own a BMW without a warranty!

DontBroMeYouNerd > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 10:27

God bless those warranties.

A friend of mine just bought an STi from them, and also snagged their warranty just incase his ringlands decide to crumble like a ritz cracker.

drdude > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 10:30

Thats cheap. I just paid over $500 for a waterpump.
Just the pump. No labor. No install. No coolant or gaskets or hoses.

OmerCarrothers333 > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 10:30

I got a warranty like this from a local dealership on my wife’s used MDX. I’m ok with spending $100 to replace an engine if something like this happens.

And if I decide lose my mind and buy a used German car it will be from CarMax and I’m getting the warranty.

Rensho > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 10:31

it is outrageous the 2012 bimmer doesn’t have a powertrain warranty extending more than 36kmi. Wow.

I wonder if the broken spring was due to crap parts, or previous owner bouncing off the rev limiter and coil binding.

OHWHATDA > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 10:33

BMW’s are great cars, but I’d never buy one due to reliability. I’ve owned Japanese cars my whole life so the whole “your engine might blow up at any moment” reality is not worth it IMO. Although I have been looking at Audi’s cause it seems their reliability has really improved over the last 7 years.

chris209 > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 10:36

How did you get that warranty so cheap? My wife and I priced them at Carmax for a x3 xDrive28i and they were $3-6k.

MC2017 > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 10:39

An E60 M5 would be great for this.

Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. > GasolineLollipop191
05/16/2016 at 10:39

101

It’s what happens when autocorrect meets give negative fucks

CompWizrd > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 10:39

My ‘96 Trans AM ran up about 10k of work in under 3 years on extended warranty, and another 10k or so in the next 6. Took Pontiac three months to rebuild the engine the first time, the next time it died I just replaced it.. Replaced the transmission the first time it died, had it rebuilt when it died 4 years later.

Not sure how much money Pontiac spent on the car while it was on factory warranty, but one stood out in that it popped the head gaskets at 3,000 miles...

Total outlay was about 20k on a 22k 3 years old used car...

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > GasolineLollipop191
05/16/2016 at 10:39

Shhh... it's code.

protodad > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 10:42

Glad you wrote this. Just about the time our Carmax in town finishes gets constructed I was planning to take a hard look at the E90 M3. Not that I would buy one without the warranty but it is good to know that it works like it should.

Also, what ended up being the culprit of making your warrantly worth it?

Jimmy Joe Meeker > PilotMan
05/16/2016 at 10:44

Ulitmately that’s why I didn’t buy a BMW. I like to keep my cars a long time and sooner or later warranties run out.

d15b > PilotMan
05/16/2016 at 10:44

You know, that honestly makes me sad to hear that reliability on new(-er) BMWs drop after 50k.

It’s like they do not want clients (as Ferrari would say) to truly enjoy their vehicles for what they are.

But, then again, the 320i lease special exists, so I shouldn’t be too surprised.

offyatindy > His Stigness
05/16/2016 at 10:46

Still, 50 hours of labor (at $100 per hour estimated) to replace a valve spring? That sounds bad.

maximum_sarge > Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street.
05/16/2016 at 10:50

Would that also explain what a blend door is?

theCHEESE25 > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
05/16/2016 at 10:52

That, to me, is the most surprising number in this post. That’s a fantastic deal.

Dolemite > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 10:54

“broken valve spring”. $6,500 to repair a broken spring. Now I remember why I don’t buy cars like BMWs, Audis, etc.

salmon > maximum_sarge
05/16/2016 at 10:54

Blend door mixes A/C and heat.

DerW220 > Flavien Vidal
05/16/2016 at 10:54

Never revving it would probably be worse with those.

Matt > maximum_sarge
05/16/2016 at 10:55

Blend door is a part of the HVAC system that “blends” the air from cold to hot and all variations in between.

Maximum 4C > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 10:58

Pfft $6444.80 I got that beat three years ago my BMW M5 started making a growling noise so I took it into the dealer. Long story short they needed to replace two VANOS adjustments units to the tune of $2800 each plus $1000 in labor for a total with tax and other misc fees was $7003. I had an extended warranty thru BMW so in the end it cost me $100.

SimonGuertin > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 10:59

I think this labor is exaggerated. That amount of hours is almost the same amount of hours to rebuilt an engine. Are they charging 200$ an hour to do that ??

Rand0nS > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 11:00

Wow, to hell with BMWs.

FiveLiters1 > PilotMan
05/16/2016 at 11:01

This is why I find it so ironic when some people go on about “foreign car reliability”; CarMax warrany or no,I wouldn’t expect a 4 year old,near the top-of-the line BWM with less than 36k on it to break down on that level. Routine maintenance items (like when they thought it was the coil packs), sure. I get that all cars,domestic or foreign, will have issues at some point,and that’s life. But if I’d bought a car like that and had to foot the bill for it...

Anyway,glad it all worked out!

TommTucker > Shiftright
05/16/2016 at 11:02

There was no such car as a 2007 M3...

JD2112 > offyatindy
05/16/2016 at 11:03

That’s German engineering for you.

The Stig's graphic designer cousin > maximum_sarge
05/16/2016 at 11:07

10 year old 75k mile truck. Blend door is part of the HVAC system that controls the amount of hot air coming through the system (iow, the temperature).

DerMitDemWolfTanzt > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 11:07

Doug is very proud of you!

Provolone > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 11:07

Holy crap what else did they replace? Did they do all of the valve springs or just the springs on that cylinder (cylinders)? This makes me want to buy a warranty on my car now in case of anything happening. LS3's aren't cheap!

Charley V > JD2112
05/16/2016 at 11:13

Meh, my old Subaru pretty much required pulling the engine to do the head gaskets. Soooo, that’s Japanese engineering for you too?

Dake > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 11:14

Did you have the zero-deductible too? Two grand seems pretty low for the warranty, but I guess it was low miles.

ApplesaucePorkchops > maximum_sarge
05/16/2016 at 11:15

The blend door is probably inside the dash, one of the servo-based doors that handles blending warm and cool air for climate control.

eye-surgeon > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 11:20

M3 engines have been surprisingly unreliable over the years. BMW seems relatively immune to the bad rep of things like this. And I’m not a hater, I’ve had a multiple BMWs including an E36 and E46 M3.

NeilOld > maximum_sarge
05/16/2016 at 11:21

A blend door is what controls the temperature of the air coming out of your vents.

gofry > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 11:25

The truth is most warranties are a bad deal for the buyer, no matter what car it’s for. The odds of you getting more out the warranty than what you put in are very low. Insurance companies are not stupid.

mercedes-SD > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 11:28

6k???? I bought a 2007 911 turbo with a carmax warranty. On the way to a prepurchase inspection for a potential ebay buyer, check engine light went on. Dealership worked it up, turned out it was some kind of camshaft position sensor failure. Final tally: ~$20k in repairs. The ebayer still bought it after repairs, good as new. GET THE WARRANTY.

WowReallyWow > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 11:30

“I could care less about the Increased Emissions error (because racecar)“
Wow, really? Self entitled much? This attitude needs to stop.

CDICKGO > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 11:31

This won’t be your last claim. I had a 2011 E93 M3. Had to replace a module to fix the windows which were doing the door lower 1/8" thing on its own (without opening the door)...$1200. Next up, throttle actuator needed to be replaced...$1100. I loved they car but traded it in last month.

ObamaisaLIAR > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 11:36

WOW great article RARE on these threads....excellent...most OP’s are ignorant millennials living in the basement of their parents houses with huge socialistic chip’s on their shoulders.

So refreshing.... an intelligently written article, thank you

Dolby109 > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 11:37

Wow...$5000 labor to replace a valve spring? That is crazy.
I don't know the specifics for the BMW V8 but I feel like replacing the entire head would cost less than that in parts and labor.

PilotMan > FiveLiters1
05/16/2016 at 11:39

I had an X5 with issues and then a MINI which was a complete basket case. Having a car with issues isn’t what bothered me, it was BMW’s attitude regarding their sub-par engineering and reliability. Big repairs were looked at more like standard dealer service items with customers expected to pay out the nose for BMW’s poor engineering. When brakes, turbos, the PCV system, timing chains, clutch, and the VANOS system all failed and needed replacement I was a bit frustrated.

I went back to a Ram 1500 pickup for our family car and daily drive a Fiat Abarth. The Ram is an American pickup with no issues whatsoever for its 65K miles. On the truck, service is cheap as dirt, I just changed the transmission fluid myself with a filter kit from O’Reillys and $4 quarts of fluid from Walmart. Other then tires and oil, the truck hasn’t needed anything. My little Abarth has been a sweetheart as well.

With two reliable vehicles, it’s been a lot of fun to spend my car time just doing scheduled maintenance along with some basic performance modifications.

Viperfan1 > gofry
05/16/2016 at 11:39

They can be. As Doug has written before there are plenty of warranties they've offered on AMG and other high performance makes that they don't offer anymore.

RockyPi > Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street.
05/16/2016 at 11:42

I didn’t know John Gruden was a Jalopnik commenter

Ducky > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 11:43

20 mile commute, not doing anything strenous... and the engine drops a valve spring. Yep, would not touch one of these without a warranty and a second car.

Kyree S. Williams > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 11:43

Yep. My CarMax-bought X5 gave me no end of trouble, and I’m glad I had the MaxCare warranty. Yay iDrive errors...

Kinja'd!!!

That said, I always took my car straight to the BMW dealership. The MaxCare warranty—which isn’t even underwritten by CarMax itself, but rather by one of two third-party companies—will pay for any reputable dealership or service department. The BMW dealership gave me loaners. I had a 428i Gran Coupe, a 320i, a 328i GT xDrive, a 428i coupe, an X5, two X3s and a bunch of other stuff (yeah, I had hella issues with my X5).

If your local Bimmer dealership provides loaners freely, you don’t need to deal with CarMax’s loaners at all.

gcodori > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 11:44

These Carmax ads must stop. They are getting to be as bad as the Infinity “whatever we call these SUVs now” is the greatest thing EVAR “stories.”

Luckily the Infinity money must have run out last year because there was a sharp drop in Infinity adverts stories at the end of last year.

Now we get to hear how great it is to buy a car at Carmax. “It’s just like buying at a dealer but at a higher price! COOL!”

KingWulfgar > offyatindy
05/16/2016 at 11:46

Figure more like $130-150/hour at a BMW dealership. That’s more realistic.

I'm Abe Froman > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 11:48

Good deal! My CarMax warranty paid out s out twice what it cost me. A lot of it was labor but that still counts.

Goodeveningofficer > His Stigness
05/16/2016 at 11:53

I would consider that poor packaging/engineering.

I'll allow it > Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street.
05/16/2016 at 11:55

#COTD

Rand0nS > FiveLiters1
05/16/2016 at 11:56

Foreign car reliability refers to Toyota and Honda.

Rand0nS > JD2112
05/16/2016 at 11:58

If you can call it engineering.

Rand0nS > Goodeveningofficer
05/16/2016 at 11:58

Bingo.

Goodeveningofficer > His Stigness
05/16/2016 at 12:01

2006 BMW X3

3 hour of labor at $120/hour indie rates to change a $2.00 water pump gasket because it buried up and behind the suspension.

$3,000 to replace an evap unit because it’s buried inside the dash.

It’s honestly like they don’t give a shit about the long term ramifications of their packaging.

Rand0nS > gla2yyz
05/16/2016 at 12:02

CTS-V does not need an extended warranty.

imperialist1960 > gofry
05/16/2016 at 12:04

The house always wins on insurance.

MK6GTI-now with added Miata > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 12:08

This is awesome but why do I get the feeling Carmax warranties on M3s will double in cost now? Doug already ruined my Range Rover plans :P

Vzwolf > Shiftright
05/16/2016 at 12:15

Bmw and Audi are generally much worse in reliability than Mercedes and Porsche. The Mercedes V12 needs a little more maintenance sure but it’s nothing like BMW.

Vzwolf > gla2yyz
05/16/2016 at 12:17

That engine is pretty good. It’s the LS7 you have to worry about.

Vzwolf > eye-surgeon
05/16/2016 at 12:21

BMW makes some of the worst engines from a reliability standpoint. The 4.8 V8, the v10, the 4.0 v8, the 3.0l turbo. The 6 series drained its battery like no other modern car. Just really stupid stuff. I owned two.

Vzwolf > eye-surgeon
05/16/2016 at 12:26

Also for the n63 V8 turbo engines you have to replace the battery every 10,000 miles. All this for just a run of the mill BMW.

Oh No He Didnt > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 12:29

When Doug shills for CarMax I laugh. But now you too?!

Come on Gawker - shouldn’t these be labeled ‘sponsored’

Zaggie > Danny Korecki
05/16/2016 at 12:32

I just bought a well-maintained used car. I went for the warranty. Everything has been wonderful, but the piece of mind alone makes it worth the money.