dealer modification rant...

[Chewyjr15]

I went to my dealership today to pick up my final order form and get my volvo appraised for a trade in. My volvo is not heavily modded, dp's exhuast, and lowered. First words out of the service manager mouth was BMW will void your warranty if you do any such modifications to your 135. I then told him that i have legal rights and unless my modification directly influences the failure of a part you cannot void my entire warranty. They seemed shocked and that was the end of that. So my question is have you had any problems with your BMW because it is modified? THe same guy also told me BMW is keene and looking for modifications, and are on the forums lurking. I dont know id thats true but i did not let him intimidate me!

[gatorfast]

Go to a different dealer if you are modded. Any dealer can refuse to service your car.

[Red Bread]

Crevier or Irvine? PM if you like, I'd be curious which one. I have a few mods on both cars, and haven't had any flak from the one that starts with a C.

[bimmerfile]

"No one on this forum is modifying his/her 1er"

[x97Melbourne]

maybe im weird but I like my car the way it is.

"mods" say to me......"kid car"........and i think a heavily modified car would be harder to sell or trade-in when the time comes.....

no one wants to buy a car that looks like the last owner was a "kid" and likely beat it to hell. thats my opinion, i am sure some others may have a different one.

maybe i'm in the minority, but 300HP is plenty for me and i like the way the car looks, stock. i want my 135i to look just like the new ones for sale on the dealer lot.

[atr_hugo]

Originally Posted by carnut

"No one on this forum is modifying his/her 1er"

I nominate this for 'Post of the Year'

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by x97Melbourne

maybe im weird but I like my car the way it is.

Mostly agreed, but I have powdercoated my M Coupe wheels darker to cut down on brake dust, as it's tracked quite a bit. It also has lowered springs and stiffer shocks.

The 1er is just electronic changes at the moment, but it will eventually get lowered a smidge and the stock shocks have terrible rebound control, so those will probably go too.

A two foot tall carbon wing and a chin spoiler with bolt on supports might be a little much, but there's still lots that can be done to rankle a dealer that doesn't make a car silly looking.

Some are good at recognizing quality and looking the other way, others take a more closed minded approach.

[gatorfast]

Originally Posted by x97Melbourne

"mods" say to me......"kid car"........and i think a heavily modified car would be harder to sell or trade-in when the time comes.....

I agree with you to an extent. Mods like blacked out lights, loud exhaust, crazy body kits, etc. scream kid car. But mods can definitely be tasteful if done right.

As for resale, yea mods absolutely kill that. If you are going to mod make sure to put the stock parts back on before trade-in or prepare to be raped.

[Chewyjr15]

well i am keeping all the stock parts just to be safe and when i sell if im going o return it to stock and part out my parts, just seemed a bit odd that they would threaten me like that. Its BMW of riverside btw. I dont think ill have problems... nock on wood! The volvo was my first real car adn it is modded like a kid would, I have grown out of that stage. But still would like more power, and classy modification. Suspension is a must as i will be taking the 1er to the track occasionally.

[Chewyjr15]

actually the guys exact words were " if you put any other exhaust other than the BMW performance than we will void your warrant."

[mtla4]

They cant void a warranty.They can refuse a claim and its hard to prove that a mod caused the damages. Honestly dealers like warranty claims but sometimes they cant pass it of warranty because sometimes Bmw of America will take the faulty parts back and test them in order to improve their products so they wont send back an aftermaket part. Ive never had any problems with my previous cars(other brands) I used to go to Audi with my stage 3 A4 no problem hell they changed a clutch under warranty. I bribe them all the time...per exemple when I go for an oil change I usually like to give 10-20$ more to the advisor. Dont treat them like crap and theyll treat you nice.

[Oz135i]

The problem is that it would come down to a technical debate as to whether the damage / problem was caused by the mod (either directly or indirectly). BMW could claim yes to almost anything and the onus would be on the car owner to take the legal action and then prove techically that the mod has in no way potentially caused the problem. Thats a lot of legal time, professional tech evidence etc. You may spend some serious $$ just to get the claim honoured by BMW. Like all large organisations, BMW are aware of the effort and money required to take legal action - so in many ways its a standard commercial tactic (unfair as it is).

So in short - mod away at your own risk (unless you are a lawyer).

[Call]

Wrong, the dealership has to prove the problem was caused by the mod you made, period.

Most of this is so yesterday. Don't mod your car if that is what you want. Many of us like to tinker, fine tune...it's part of the game. Some take it futher than others for various reasons. I'm 60 years old and I don't think what I do with my cars is "kid stuff"...not at the prices I pay:iono:

I've modded about 20 cars and have never had an issue with the dealership.

Call

[Chewyjr15]

got 3 in the family

[professor]

Originally Posted by atr_hugo

I nominate this for 'Post of the Year'

+1

[coco_m3]

I don't have any mod's, so I'm not worried about the dealer.

[1Ronnie]

Originally Posted by silverbullet135i

I don't have any mod's, so I'm not worried about the dealer.

Just another boring old stock 135i Huh !! Good on ya !! :thumbup:

[Chewyjr15]

they raved how stock it is a great car and i agree but there is always room for improvement, its in my nature to want more i guess.

[GemBm]

Hey my advice is if you want to Mod do it! What bothers me is when owners do and then want to hide them when something goes wrong. They take to the dealer and lie about what might of caused the problem.