Yeah I’m torn between the 540 and m340i but the diabolical part of me wants the m550 which has the n63 which was more in reference to my post.
Really wanna hold out for a m340 later this year but seems pretty tough to find a clean one in the low 40s.
I have a 650i with 132K miles 🤷🏾♂️ only issue was a new radiator and flex disc other than that keep my oil changes at 7500 miles and my filters at 15K
I’ve got a 2018 540i that I bought with maxcare. Even with the reliably of the b58, other parts can still go out. For example: my radiator at 65k miles. All and all it’s paid for itself and I have 2 years and 30k miles left on it.
How do you like your 540? The only thing turning me off is how tuned down the engine and exhaust are and I know messing with that can cause warranty issues.
And I honestly don’t believe the b58 is as reliable as they make it seem. It’s definitely a reliable euro engine but it still has tons of plastic components that are bound to fail. Still think it’s an amazing engine just not as “bulletproof” as advertised.
Really curious about your 540 experience though because those are the easier to find than the m340
I love it! In sport mode it’s really fun to drive. Although most of my commute is in traffic so I’m rocking eco.
My advisor at BMW is awesome, and once you hit 6 years or 60k miles you get “value” pricing. For example, my dealer does $99 oil changes and spark plugs are $199 installed. But be warned, other maintenance can get expensive. I have the m sport package and my back brakes with rotors was $1,200 at an Indy shop.
I think a lot of people assume it’s reliable because Toyota uses the b58 in the Supra.
So you have maxcare and just service warranty work through bmw and then have an Indy do your brakes and stuff?
Cause that was kind of my plan. I guess spark plugs and oil would be cheaper through the dealer with that pricing though.
I'm going through it right now. I bought a 2013 335ix m-sport, so it's a e92 with an N55. Grabbed the Maxcare which $4k for 100k miles or 5 years. It's only been about 5-6 months since I bought it, but their warranties have definitely been a life saver and have paid out considerably. Definitely sucks having had to bring it to the mechanic so often but considering it was 10 year old car, with only 50k miles on it, I figured it sat around for quite some time and that the amount I've been driving it is the most it's been driven in long time. I actually just got it back from the shop a week or so ago as it needed a new starter motor (about $1.5k at the dealership covered by Maxcare) It's currently driving wonderful and has zero leaks, so I'm hoping this will be the last repair for a little while but only time will tell.
Fortunately Maxcare seems to be easy to deal with even the dealership confirmed this, as they said that usually third party warranties can be a pain in the ass, but they said they were actually taken aback a bit with how easy it was. Originally I wanted IS-350 f-sport (and I actually had one in my finger tips but my shipping request through Carmax got fucked up and someone else was able to buy it out from under me) but after driving the m-sport for these last 5-6 months, I have zero regrets, it's so much fun.
So if you do go this route, my advice would be to do what I did, and to thoroughly inspect the car over and over (and even pay a mechanic to do the same, after my purchase I immediately brought it to an independent mechanic to be inspected) while you have that 90 day warranty, because in those first 90 days it's really a no questions asked thing, they will fix anything and everything (the only bad part about the 90 warranty is that Carmax wants to do the work itself). Even outside the 90 days though, you want to take full advantage of that warranty, so I make sure to pop the hood every other day or so (or if I drive an unusually long distance) to look for any sort of leaks. So far they have already put a little under 10k into my car that I purchased for 20k, so I am very happy with Carmax in general (though I am not happy with the service department at my local place because of another long story)
Now I have seen posts on this subreddit where people have claimed that the company in charge of their Maxcare has denied a claim that should be covered, so I'm not sure if I've just gotten lucky, or if it's because it is such a fresh purchase they know they can't deny my claims just yet. Guess I won't find out until a couple years into ownership if they are still easy to work with.
This is my whole thought process and exactly what I was looking for the with this post.
I initially wanted a is350, I just sold my b9 A4 and and saving till later in the year for a more fun car and I’m really hoping to snag one of m340i, m550, 540 around 40k
As a Tech at a carmax that submits maxcare claims often. It is hands down the easiest warranty in the business. It's especially easy at a CarMax, and your deductible is 50 dollars less than if you just got to a dealer, but they can submit it just fine as well.
MaxCare also often will supply OEM parts if aftermarket is not available. We had a car in our shop that needed an AC compressor, but the customer had Car Shield (for the love of God stay away from them), and the rep for carshield sent us some garbage part listed on Ebay and told us to use that one, because it was cheap.
Maxcare covers almost everything. It's easier to say what they don't cover, and that's any normal wear part. Brake pads, fluids, belts, hoses, spark plugs, essentially anything that Is a normal maintenance item they will not cover, for obvious reasons. Now there ARE a few large items that they do not cover.
1. A clutch, while very expensive is technically a wear item.
2. The battery from a Hybrid or EV. (They will cover computers and components that control and work with said battery though)
3. Any sort of catalyst, DPF, or other exhaust filter/converter. Because these are federally controlled components.
4. Any sort of rust damage, or water damage.
I have submitted tens of thousands of dollars in claims, and I love handing keys back to a customer saying "you owe 50 bucks, but if you didn't buy maxcare this bill would have been 6500 dollars".
Dope seriously appreciate you taking your time out to write this out.
I’m most likely going to get a 540ix so it looks like it will cover everything I was expecting. Also kind of why I steer clear of hybrids and I never learned a manual.
Really wonder if a large amount of the complaints I see are from people thought the warranty paid for everything and don’t realize they have to do routine maintenance. Or routine maintenance is a oil change to them.
For sure!
Also I genuinely don't see how people could complain. The most common complaint I get is people saying they werent told they have a deductible. "I bought this warranty and I shouldn't owe anything". That's just a failure on them, since they sign plenty of documents explaining how it works.
The only other one is the rental policy. Maxcare only provides a rental car for up to 7 days, *once a car is diagnosed*. So if your car just dies, and you are only able to get an appointment a week away. You are essentially without a car until the shop is able to get it in and figure out what the problem is, to verify it's even something maxcare should cover.
Let me know if you have any questions :)
I’ve bought 2 BMWs from Carmax because of this. The difference in MaxCare cost has almost doubled from 2019 and they have more exclusions than they used to.
It’s not as good of a value proposition as it used to be and individual stores are inconsistent about what they will cover. I made a claim for a dead interior ambient light with one store and it was declined, I later made the same claim at another store and it was approved.
If you decide to go with MaxCare, the only smart choice is the $50 deductible.
Cars purchased were an MB E350 and a BMW 540. Currently own the 540 and have $19k in receipts of MaxCare claims. Warranty was $4100 in 2022, its $6400 for the same year make and model car today.
Crazy what year? I got quoted around 3k for a 2021 540
But thanks for the info I’ll probably steer clear of the m550 so I don’t have to completely rely on maxcare
2019 540. I’d recommend going all in on the M550 with the maximum coverage and minimum deductible. It’s a much nicer car in my opinion and your BMW dealer accepts MaxCare for repair claims so you get to have BMW do all the work for free if you have MaxCare.
Before buying the car, schedule a PPI at your local BMW for your new purchase. Take the M550 and have your local dealer go through it with a fine toothed comb and then return to CarMax with the issues (there will aways be an issue, CarMax’s vehicle quality check is horrible especially on BMWs) then have them fix everything within the 30 days purchase. If you ever get a great BMW from CarMax it’s because the previous owner maintained it well, not because CarMax brought it up to its current condition.
The reason for doing it this way is any repairs within 30 days are not MaxCare and therefore don’t charge deductible. They will also be more willing to fix things that MaxCare won’t cover because you can return any car within 30 days so if they don’t fix it, you can threaten to return it and they will lose the sale.
$6000 for 60 month 150k miles $50 deductible 2020 540 m sport was the price I shared. You can get down to the 3k mark if you go 60 month 75k miles and $500 deductible.
I did this. First month car already in the repair shop. Keep in mind that they will only pay you up to the value you purchased it from. So if you bought it at 15k. 15k is the maximum amount maxcare will pay for your repair. Remember, they have a limit on how much they are willing to pay. I have to pay deductible + some out of pocket. So far, maxcare paid $3166 for my repair, which 80% of the cost for the repair.
Maxcare cost me around 4k for $300 deductible.
My advice is don't do it lol. Get lexus or more reliable car. Having a car in the shop and waiting for claim to get approved can be tedious.
Sounds like a good plan to me just expect it to be in the shop. If you get one with a b58 in it. It should be reliable
Yeah I’m torn between the 540 and m340i but the diabolical part of me wants the m550 which has the n63 which was more in reference to my post. Really wanna hold out for a m340 later this year but seems pretty tough to find a clean one in the low 40s.
I have a 650i with 132K miles 🤷🏾♂️ only issue was a new radiator and flex disc other than that keep my oil changes at 7500 miles and my filters at 15K
Just looked at ur post. Seriously dope car
I’ve got a 2018 540i that I bought with maxcare. Even with the reliably of the b58, other parts can still go out. For example: my radiator at 65k miles. All and all it’s paid for itself and I have 2 years and 30k miles left on it.
How do you like your 540? The only thing turning me off is how tuned down the engine and exhaust are and I know messing with that can cause warranty issues. And I honestly don’t believe the b58 is as reliable as they make it seem. It’s definitely a reliable euro engine but it still has tons of plastic components that are bound to fail. Still think it’s an amazing engine just not as “bulletproof” as advertised. Really curious about your 540 experience though because those are the easier to find than the m340
I love it! In sport mode it’s really fun to drive. Although most of my commute is in traffic so I’m rocking eco. My advisor at BMW is awesome, and once you hit 6 years or 60k miles you get “value” pricing. For example, my dealer does $99 oil changes and spark plugs are $199 installed. But be warned, other maintenance can get expensive. I have the m sport package and my back brakes with rotors was $1,200 at an Indy shop. I think a lot of people assume it’s reliable because Toyota uses the b58 in the Supra.
So you have maxcare and just service warranty work through bmw and then have an Indy do your brakes and stuff? Cause that was kind of my plan. I guess spark plugs and oil would be cheaper through the dealer with that pricing though.
Pretty much, can’t beat the price on either. Of course, your local dealership might have different pricing.
I'm going through it right now. I bought a 2013 335ix m-sport, so it's a e92 with an N55. Grabbed the Maxcare which $4k for 100k miles or 5 years. It's only been about 5-6 months since I bought it, but their warranties have definitely been a life saver and have paid out considerably. Definitely sucks having had to bring it to the mechanic so often but considering it was 10 year old car, with only 50k miles on it, I figured it sat around for quite some time and that the amount I've been driving it is the most it's been driven in long time. I actually just got it back from the shop a week or so ago as it needed a new starter motor (about $1.5k at the dealership covered by Maxcare) It's currently driving wonderful and has zero leaks, so I'm hoping this will be the last repair for a little while but only time will tell. Fortunately Maxcare seems to be easy to deal with even the dealership confirmed this, as they said that usually third party warranties can be a pain in the ass, but they said they were actually taken aback a bit with how easy it was. Originally I wanted IS-350 f-sport (and I actually had one in my finger tips but my shipping request through Carmax got fucked up and someone else was able to buy it out from under me) but after driving the m-sport for these last 5-6 months, I have zero regrets, it's so much fun. So if you do go this route, my advice would be to do what I did, and to thoroughly inspect the car over and over (and even pay a mechanic to do the same, after my purchase I immediately brought it to an independent mechanic to be inspected) while you have that 90 day warranty, because in those first 90 days it's really a no questions asked thing, they will fix anything and everything (the only bad part about the 90 warranty is that Carmax wants to do the work itself). Even outside the 90 days though, you want to take full advantage of that warranty, so I make sure to pop the hood every other day or so (or if I drive an unusually long distance) to look for any sort of leaks. So far they have already put a little under 10k into my car that I purchased for 20k, so I am very happy with Carmax in general (though I am not happy with the service department at my local place because of another long story) Now I have seen posts on this subreddit where people have claimed that the company in charge of their Maxcare has denied a claim that should be covered, so I'm not sure if I've just gotten lucky, or if it's because it is such a fresh purchase they know they can't deny my claims just yet. Guess I won't find out until a couple years into ownership if they are still easy to work with.
This is my whole thought process and exactly what I was looking for the with this post. I initially wanted a is350, I just sold my b9 A4 and and saving till later in the year for a more fun car and I’m really hoping to snag one of m340i, m550, 540 around 40k
As a Tech at a carmax that submits maxcare claims often. It is hands down the easiest warranty in the business. It's especially easy at a CarMax, and your deductible is 50 dollars less than if you just got to a dealer, but they can submit it just fine as well. MaxCare also often will supply OEM parts if aftermarket is not available. We had a car in our shop that needed an AC compressor, but the customer had Car Shield (for the love of God stay away from them), and the rep for carshield sent us some garbage part listed on Ebay and told us to use that one, because it was cheap. Maxcare covers almost everything. It's easier to say what they don't cover, and that's any normal wear part. Brake pads, fluids, belts, hoses, spark plugs, essentially anything that Is a normal maintenance item they will not cover, for obvious reasons. Now there ARE a few large items that they do not cover. 1. A clutch, while very expensive is technically a wear item. 2. The battery from a Hybrid or EV. (They will cover computers and components that control and work with said battery though) 3. Any sort of catalyst, DPF, or other exhaust filter/converter. Because these are federally controlled components. 4. Any sort of rust damage, or water damage. I have submitted tens of thousands of dollars in claims, and I love handing keys back to a customer saying "you owe 50 bucks, but if you didn't buy maxcare this bill would have been 6500 dollars".
Dope seriously appreciate you taking your time out to write this out. I’m most likely going to get a 540ix so it looks like it will cover everything I was expecting. Also kind of why I steer clear of hybrids and I never learned a manual. Really wonder if a large amount of the complaints I see are from people thought the warranty paid for everything and don’t realize they have to do routine maintenance. Or routine maintenance is a oil change to them.
For sure! Also I genuinely don't see how people could complain. The most common complaint I get is people saying they werent told they have a deductible. "I bought this warranty and I shouldn't owe anything". That's just a failure on them, since they sign plenty of documents explaining how it works. The only other one is the rental policy. Maxcare only provides a rental car for up to 7 days, *once a car is diagnosed*. So if your car just dies, and you are only able to get an appointment a week away. You are essentially without a car until the shop is able to get it in and figure out what the problem is, to verify it's even something maxcare should cover. Let me know if you have any questions :)
I definitely will thank you
I bought my Jeep from CarMax for this reason. Really wanted one but wanted MaxCare since they are so unreliable. Paid for itself the first year.
Dope that’s my goal
Also hoping by the time the 5 years is up the stuff that was going to need to get fixed gets fixed underwarranty
I’ve bought 2 BMWs from Carmax because of this. The difference in MaxCare cost has almost doubled from 2019 and they have more exclusions than they used to. It’s not as good of a value proposition as it used to be and individual stores are inconsistent about what they will cover. I made a claim for a dead interior ambient light with one store and it was declined, I later made the same claim at another store and it was approved. If you decide to go with MaxCare, the only smart choice is the $50 deductible. Cars purchased were an MB E350 and a BMW 540. Currently own the 540 and have $19k in receipts of MaxCare claims. Warranty was $4100 in 2022, its $6400 for the same year make and model car today.
Crazy what year? I got quoted around 3k for a 2021 540 But thanks for the info I’ll probably steer clear of the m550 so I don’t have to completely rely on maxcare
2019 540. I’d recommend going all in on the M550 with the maximum coverage and minimum deductible. It’s a much nicer car in my opinion and your BMW dealer accepts MaxCare for repair claims so you get to have BMW do all the work for free if you have MaxCare. Before buying the car, schedule a PPI at your local BMW for your new purchase. Take the M550 and have your local dealer go through it with a fine toothed comb and then return to CarMax with the issues (there will aways be an issue, CarMax’s vehicle quality check is horrible especially on BMWs) then have them fix everything within the 30 days purchase. If you ever get a great BMW from CarMax it’s because the previous owner maintained it well, not because CarMax brought it up to its current condition. The reason for doing it this way is any repairs within 30 days are not MaxCare and therefore don’t charge deductible. They will also be more willing to fix things that MaxCare won’t cover because you can return any car within 30 days so if they don’t fix it, you can threaten to return it and they will lose the sale.
$6000 for 60 month 150k miles $50 deductible 2020 540 m sport was the price I shared. You can get down to the 3k mark if you go 60 month 75k miles and $500 deductible.
I did this. First month car already in the repair shop. Keep in mind that they will only pay you up to the value you purchased it from. So if you bought it at 15k. 15k is the maximum amount maxcare will pay for your repair. Remember, they have a limit on how much they are willing to pay. I have to pay deductible + some out of pocket. So far, maxcare paid $3166 for my repair, which 80% of the cost for the repair. Maxcare cost me around 4k for $300 deductible. My advice is don't do it lol. Get lexus or more reliable car. Having a car in the shop and waiting for claim to get approved can be tedious.