My '04 x3 is about 10,000 miles beyond the warranty; i’m too cheap to buy the extended. I’m confident in a local guy who works on german makes to maintain my BMW instead of driving 70+ miles to the dealer. Pros and cons?
If I were in your position I’d do exactly what you are doing. Extended warranties are almost worthless. Find a good mechanic and pay as you go for maintenance.
I hate to tell you this, but you have been wasting you money having the dealer do maintenance on you car this long. You don’t need to have the dealer do maintenance to maintain your dealer warranty.
Dealers are no better (or worse) than independent mechanics for almost anything you might need done on your car. They will almost always charge more per hour and often more for parts and supplies. They also tend to look at repairs a little different than the independent.
A dealer may well recommend work that strictly may not be needed, but could be connected to the problem or maybe replace a part when a little repair would fix it ALMOST as good a new.
There is no need to bring your car to the dealer for any service other than service that is going to be paid for by a recall or original warrantee.
I suggest that most people would be better off finding a good independent (Not working for a chain) mechanic.
As for extended warranties, they are not even warranties, they are nothing more than expensive insurance policies that make lots of money for the dealer and underwriter.I hate to tell you this, but you have been wasting you money having the dealer do maintenance on you car this long.
BMW’s…scheduled maintenance is FREE while it’s under warranty…That includes oil changes.
I’ll also add…you’re doing EXACTLY what I would do. Find a good local trusted mechanic to maintain the vehicle for you if you can’t do it yourself.
Out of warranty definitely try the german independent mechanic. If they do not work out you always have the dealer to fall back onto albeit inconvenient in your case.
I also agree, find a GOOD independent shop that specializes in bmw and establish a relationship with them. They are likely to provide you better service in the long run than the dealership. Very few folks use the dealerships for post-warrantee maintenance/repairs, so they are not as familiar with issues on older cars anyway. You may find them to be less expensive than the dealer, usually because they can use alternate sources for parts, but a good shop will probably have labor rates similar to the dealer, so don’t expect them to be dirt cheap.