Warranty work question

[SpacegrayMe90]

So I need some advice. Upon a recent oil change, I've come to find out that my DCT is leaking. I have an extended warranty through Assurant that I purchased prior to my factory warranty expiring.

My question, is it best to bring my car to an indy shop or bring it to BMW? The reason why I ask is these extended warranty companies can be a real pain to deal with as far as what's covered and what's not, and BMW generally charges a higher rate than an indy shop, so the more reason for the warranty company to try and deny coverage. Plus I'm trying to circumvent BMW trying to hit me a diagnosis charge when I already know the issue at hand.

In addition, my DCT leaking does not fall under complete mechanical failure. They might try to hit me with the DCT related seals being a wear and tear component. I'm just a little unsure how to proceed, I generally don't like to keep my cars out of the factory, but the M is a little harder to let go, hence why I got the extended coverage.

Your thought, please.

[roastbeef]

Bmw claims the dct doesn't require any maintenance. Therefore, it isn't wear and tear or maintenance. I'd take it in.

[W Cole]

There is no way this is a wear and tear part.

[SpacegrayMe90]

Thank you for your insight. Just trying to arm myself with enough insight in the event BMW or the warranty company tries to BS me.

[Rajmun340]

Originally Posted by SpacegrayMe90

Thank you for your insight. Just trying to arm myself with enough insight in the event BMW or the warranty company tries to BS me.

They can try to BS you now for a simple seal repair or you can let it leak until the dct mechanically fails, i don't know how long that would take but they could not deny replacing the whole dct at that point.


PS : I feel BMW is really not good at owning obvious shortcomings in their design. I don't read any porsche forum but i wonder if Porsche dealers and Porsche NA take better responsibility when there is an obvious design flaw.

[SpacegrayMe90]

Originally Posted by JoeM3SSII

They can try to BS you now for a simple seal repair or you can let it leak until the dct mechanically fails, i don't know how long that would take but they could not deny replacing the whole dct at that point.


PS : I feel BMW is really not good at owning obvious shortcomings in their design. I don't read any Porsche forum but i wonder if Porsche dealers and Porsche NA take better responsibility when there is an obvious design flaw.

Thanks for the insight. I read through my contract once again, and the language throughout the contract seems to be "mechanical breakdown", which leads me to assume they won't cover a repair unless there is a complete mechanical failure of the vehicle, and directly related to a part(s) that are not excluded in the contract.

I would definitely agree with you on BMW lack of accountability with their design flaws. We the loyal customers end up paying the price.

[Saandiaago]

Wrong post.

[vitalsigns]

Originally Posted by SpacegrayMe90

Thanks for the insight. I read through my contract once again, and the language throughout the contract seems to be "mechanical breakdown", which leads me to assume they won't cover a repair unless there is a complete mechanical failure of the vehicle, and directly related to a part(s) that are not excluded in the contract.

I would definitely agree with you on BMW lack of accountability with their design flaws. We the loyal customers end up paying the price.

If it's anything like BMW's own warranty (in my case, the powertrain warranty), then it is not covered. I'm told I have both a bad DCT temp sensor and a leaking seal (side seal), neither of which are covered by BMW's powertrain DCT warranty. Those issues require the entire transmission to be dropped, at significant labor expense. About $3K total.