[unfoundnemo]

Extended maintenance is a little different than extended warranty from a "self-insure" perspective since if you do make it past the included maintenance plan, you are guaranteed to be pulling from that money. This is not the case from a warranty or insurance standpoint. You may pull from the funds in these cases too, and you might even go over the amount you put aside on a specific vehicle, but you shouldn't look at saving this way as a short term decision, you have to play the long game over multiple vehicles.

When it comes to extending warranty vs maintenance, keep in mind the maintenance plan is also not transferrable, so there is no added value if you do not keep the car for the full term and you're just throwing the money away. This is why they can sell the extended plans for less than the sum of the scheduled maintenance over the term.

I'm not really trying to argue either way, just pointing out some additional considerations. Yes, you could do the same maintenance yourself or at an independent shop for less than the cost of the maintenance plan as well, but at those costs, you won't have the same conveniences of loaner cars and should certainly consider the value of your time. When the maintenance is needed and you dont have the time to look at it as a fun hobby where you happen to save some money, I'm guessing any of us with an X7 would be billing our hours at a much higher rate than the BMW shop rate.