Sharing $tealership joy - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

DrDave · 8th March 2006, 09:41

Just thought I'd pass along a very happy dealership experience with the board - took the beast out to the track this weekend and had a blast

- until Sunday when the "check brake lining" light came on

. I knew their days were limited and checked them and sure inough one pad was mighty thin - anyhow, cut the track time short but nevertheless there was already significant metal scraping metal noise on the way home

. Since I'm fortunate enough to still be covered by my maintenance plan (as well as an aftermarket warranty I bought just in case), I dropped it off at the stealership and they replaced my front pads, sensors, rotors - and all the same for the rears as well. So after I don't know how many grand of work, I picked up the car Monday afternoon, signed the "no charge" form, and drove off with the new brakes ready to sign up for another track day

, letting them eat the whole whoppin' thing.

Nearly brought tears to my eyes, so freakin' happy...

kees · 8th March 2006, 11:30

Abusing your maintanence plan is hardly an honourable thing to do in my opinion...it's the other customers that end up paying for it anyway.

With regards to track driving with OEM pads - it's much better to swap in dedicated track pads. You'll get much more enjoyment out of your M5 and won't end up inflicting needless damage to the brake system of your car.

TQ2K · 8th March 2006, 17:33

I really can't say it's abusing the maintenance plan since the M5 is designed and meant to be driven hard and the only place to do it is in track events.

No way to push the car hard in roads due to tons of restrictions and understandably safety concerns so normal driving really won't show you the potential of the car and you as well throw out the FREE maintenance items(brakes/rotors) down the drain.

It's nice to see owners bring their cars to the track and enjoy it there as supposed to regular streets.

I agree that using dedicated track pads is ideal but if you only go to the track once or twice a year, IMHO the OEM setup is more than enough.

zbolts · 8th March 2006, 17:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrDave

Just thought I'd pass along a very happy dealership experience with the board - took the beast out to the track this weekend and had a blast

- until Sunday when the "check brake lining" light came on

. I knew their days were limited and checked them and sure inough one pad was mighty thin - anyhow, cut the track time short but nevertheless there was already significant metal scraping metal noise on the way home

. Since I'm fortunate enough to still be covered by my maintenance plan (as well as an aftermarket warranty I bought just in case), I dropped it off at the stealership and they replaced my front pads, sensors, rotors - and all the same for the rears as well. So after I don't know how many grand of work, I picked up the car Monday afternoon, signed the "no charge" form, and drove off with the new brakes ready to sign up for another track day

, letting them eat the whole whoppin' thing.

Nearly brought tears to my eyes, so freakin' happy...

I agree with kees,
You shouldn't be bragging about this kind of stuff.
I guess if your malpractice insurance goes up... you'll know why!!

gsfent · 8th March 2006, 17:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by zbolts

I agree with kees,
You shouldn't be bragging about this kind of stuff.
I guess if your malpractice insurance goes up... you'll know why!!

I am not sure I would advertise it either, but I am not sure there is anything wrong. I don't remember any driving restrictions under the maintenance plan. Taking the car to the track while not driving in a competitive event (usually timing and unlimited passing) is covered by a lot of insurance policies (but check yours, YMMV). It is the "ultimate driving machine", where better to safely utilize some of that 400 hp and 155+ top speed potential, on the highways????
There are plenty of cars that don't see much mileage that BMW NEVER has to replace the pads or rotors on during the 3 or 4 year maintenance plan. Should those folks get a free set of rotors and pads? The few who track their cars get some benefit, but BMW has calculated the cost over the fleet of cars and built it into the price. I really don't think BMW is losing out over a few sets of pads and rotors.
It would make sense to have track pads on the car; not only does it save some wear on the street pads, but more importantly they will perform much better on the track.

Regards,
Jerry

jclyman · 8th March 2006, 18:35

I am thinking long and hard about this post.

1. I think I know the $tealership the good Doc is refering to (actually, two possibilities, and either one deserve it ... but, it ultimately gets paid by BMW NA! And, I know most of you would probably love to see BMW PAY! But, if everybody did "stuff" like this, the purchase price of our cars would climb. Basic economics.)

2. On the other hand, I can't see anything the good Doc did wrong. When he realized he had a problem, he quit racing that day. What's the difference if he had been driving down the street, taking his kids to school, and he had the VERY SAME THING HAPPEN? Isn't that what the free maintenance is all about.

3. I don't track my car ... I go out in the hinterland and thrash it ... but, if it happened to me while on the track, I think I would take it in ... let them fix it ... and, if they said, "No charge," I would drive away smiling ... If they said, "It looks like you were on the track and wore things out there, and we aren't going to pay for it," I would raise my eyebrows and say, "Are you kidding me? What part of free maintenance am I misunderstanding?" (I wouldn't volunteer that it happened on the track. Guess I am a little devious, after all! Or, maybe not ... You decide.)

zbolts · 8th March 2006, 18:57

J man,

You bragg when you walk away from a $5 blackjack table at Vegas up 5K. That's when you beat the house at it's own game, fair and square.
Of course, BMW has deep pockets and write-off's like this are factored into the equation.
I also agree that the "good Doc'' really didn't do anything wrong, technically.
But, this doesn't excuse the way the "good Doc'' presented his ''get over story'' to us.

brian_jm · 8th March 2006, 19:38

There is nothing wrong with taking advantage of the 'free' maintenance program in this way. if anybody thinks that BMW hasn't already factored this into their program cost budget is fooling themselves. BMW pads the sales price on every car they sell to cover this cost, and I will bet that they are still making a bunch of money off of us. I'm not saying that we should try to deceive the dealers, but taking our cars out on the track a few times a year would fall into what I'm sure BMW would consider normal 'wear' on what they're marketing as basically a 4-door race car.