[Adsiii]

Hey everyone, my M235i’s warranty is about to expire, and I want to get the most thorough inspection possible before it does. I don’t want to miss a single issue, no matter how small—anything that could be covered, I want it checked. What specific things should I ask the dealership or an independent shop to look for? Are there any common problems or hidden issues I should make sure they inspect? I want them to go over this car top to bottom, inside and out. Any advice would be appreciated!

[BringBackButtons]

Tell them to inspect anything your warranty hasn't replaced already first.

If we're talking about a f22 m235, it's almost a decade old by now, so other than that, anything plastic or rubber...those usually last 40 to 75,000 miles without needing some attention at some capacity.

[morphomeman]

Do you have a list of what is covered by the extended warranty? These differ, sometimes greatly.

[Adsiii]

Originally Posted by morphomeman

Do you have a list of what is covered by the extended warranty? These differ, sometimes greatly.

essentially everything is covered, got the highest tier of warranty. im at 90k miles now & have replaced spark plugs ignition coils, motor mounts. i just wanna have the ease of mind of being able to push the car in sport with whatever parts are replaced or fixed if needed so.

[Adsiii]

Originally Posted by BringBackButtons

Tell them to inspect anything your warranty hasn't replaced already first.

If we're talking about a f22 m235, it's almost a decade old by now, so other than that, anything plastic or rubber...those usually last 40 to 75,000 miles without needing some attention at some capacity.

so far i've replaced motor mounts, spark plugs & ignition coils. just wanna have the ease of mind of being able to push the car without something having to need replacing causing further issues or causing the motor to go boom

[msej449]

M235i Coolant overflow pipe ends are prone to snap. Some people (incl. me) replace them at ~40K miles as it’s an easy and relatively cheap thing to do. If the car’s in the workshop anyway, then worth asking the garage for a quote to replace as pre-emptive maintenance. There are also some DIY threads on the forum, if I recall:

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Also the notorious turbo charge pipe - at least do a visual inspection to check it’s not cracked. BMW do a replacement part that’s now beefed-up as a result, but never admitted it was a fundamentally flawed component on the original cars. Thee are metal replacements available but the job is relatively difficult given where the charge pipe is, so it’s a pricey pre-emptive option. My 2016 M235i convertible is at 55K miles and I’m currently pondering the cost/risk of this as it’s around £1K to get it replaced by my independent specialist.

My BMW Extended Warranty fine print specifically excludes all water coolant hoses. This implies that they’re more likely to go with age than other components (which is no surprise). So worth checking closely.

Also consider Extended Warranty. It might not be economic for you but mine covers everything other than the water hoses. I’ve claimed on it once (about $5K of labour and parts) so I’m obviously a fan, but like all insurance you have to do the probability-cost equation for yourself. I gather the cost start to ramp up a lot over 60K miles.

[XutvJet]

Keep in mind that they will not replace anything unless it's clearly broken. They also will not replace weeping seals and certainly won't replace anything just because it might be prone to failure. If the car is running right, no CELs, and not leaking fluids, don't expect much of anything.

[XutvJet]

Originally Posted by msej449

MI’ve claimed on it once (about $5K of labour and parts) so I’m obviously a fan, but like all insurance you have to do the probability-cost equation for yourself. I gather the cost start to ramp up a lot over 60K miles.

What type of work was done?

I have a friend with a 2015 M235 that recently had a leaking OFHG and valve cover gasket. He also had them do spark plugs and replaced a couple of coolant lines along with a coolant replacement. All that cost $3500 at an independent shop. At the dealer, that's probably another $500+. Thing is, I could do all that work taking my time over a weekend and it would cost me $1500 or less in parts. Point is, $5K sounds like a lot of work on a BMW, but it really might not be

[msej449]

It was a replacement BMW M Performance limited slip differential (made by Drexler). Apparently a pretty rare manufacturing flaw: some of the teeth on the gears chipped. But diagnosis took a lot of effort, as it only manifested as a general vibration above 60mph and this meant looking at the whole drivetrain, starting with each wheel - which was removed, checked for damage, and substituted with another then test driven. Once each wheel had been tested they replaced all four but that made no difference. They then replaced the differential and the judder disappeared, and inspecting the diff’ oil, could see a lot of small fragments. So I got a new LSD. To test it had to be driven out of the city to a higher speed limit highway so it could run at 70-75mph, then brought back into the workshop.

So it added up to all that labour and road testing time plus a new LSD.

Vague vibration problems can be very hard to diagnose as once you eliminate obvious sources by visual inspection, you have to systematically work through the drivetrain bit by bit, trying to isolate the cause.