BMW 12 year anti corrosion warranty

[beanitos]

My Z4MC has started to develop two small areas of concern:

1: Inside the hatch (the internal part that is horizontal when closed and facing you at eye-level when open) has a couple small areas of rust starting to come through. They are not in a place where water could collect and are symmetrical in size and location so this suggests a manufacturing issue.

2: Just under the very front of the bonnet there is a small amount of corrosion starting to come through. You can only feel it rather than see it.

I work in the car industry but I'm a spreadsheet guy, one of colleagues is ex BMW service and looked over the car and advised to take it to BMW and make a claim. Two weeks ago I took it to Barons (hindhead) for their guy to look it over, he took photos and sent off the claim to BMW. Got the call today, all approved and they will do the work immediately

They are going to prepare and paint the inside of the hatch (matte finish to match original) and then completely replace the bonnet with a new one. That's pretty handy as I have a small dent in it

The BMW warranty claim will only pay for the exact panel to be painted, so I'm going to pay extra (about £150) for them to paint out from the bonnet to the tops of the front wings, that way there won't be two panels right next to each other that don't match. I just hope they don't f**k it up but if they do I'll be a PTA unless it's perfect.

Advice: If your car is less than 12 years old, have a good look over it and get a claim in before you get past the deadline!

Here are the key terms:
All new BMW cars registered from 1st January 2004 are covered by a 12-year anti-corrosion Warranty against perforation by rust.
All repair work carried out under the anti-corrosion Warranty must be carried out by an Authorised BMW Retailer or Authorised Repairer. The Warranty covers corrosion which occurs from inside the metal panels or box sections of the car.
The Warranty does not cover corrosion caused by neglect, accident damage, stone chips or other external influences.

[flimper]

Do you have any pics of your issues?

[dgm]

You should have a look at this thread and push for a new tailgate as well.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=96985

[beanitos]

Do you have any pics of your issues?

Will do later, can't upload from my phone

[Silverzedtom]

Good to read a warranty success story . I think I'm all good but going to give my zed a once over and save any issues up for a year or so as I'm not far off the ten year mark

[beanitos]

Got it working. Bonnet last but very hard to make out:

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_20170630_181133.JPG (106.68 KiB) Viewed 2313 times

_20170630_181337.JPG (69.55 KiB) Viewed 2313 times

[Steve84N]

I had the same corrosion on the tailgate but not as bad. I pushed for a new one but they refused and just painted it. That was 2yrs ago and I've just had them redo it as it started to peel. They put it down to a 'product fail' (primer came off apparently but it was so thin it didn't look like there was any... ) and repaired it with a fresh respray under their internal warranty. The trouble is there's no fresh warranty period on any work so after 12yrs you're on your own. I feel like they are just buying time to get me out of warranty.

[buzyg]

I had the same corrosion on the tailgate but not as bad. I pushed for a new one but they refused and just painted it. That was 2yrs ago and I've just had them redo it as it started to peel. They put it down to a 'product fail' (primer came off apparently but it was so thin it didn't look like there was any... ) and repaired it with a fresh respray under their internal warranty. The trouble is there's no fresh warranty period on any work so after 12yrs you're on your own. I feel like they are just buying time to get me out of warranty.

I'm no lawyer, but In my experience, if they replace with new then the warranty would match the new part. If they simply respray the old part that is not the same. Certainly when I returned a pair of defective walking boots recently, after several months ware, I received a new pair, with a new warranty, from that date. It should state it in the warranty some where.

[Steve84N]

It is definitely only the original 12 years.

[mmm-five]

BMW's normal stance is that if you've not paid anything towards a repair, then there is no extension to the warranty as it's as if it was the original part.

However, if you pay for a respray or replacement yourself, then a new warranty is in place.

It's one of the reasons I continued the insured warranty after I'd had a new engine, as BMW said I'd only have the remainder (2 months) of the AUC warranty to claim if the engine went 'rattly' again.

[Steve84N]

Trouble with that theory is that the paint is new and it has failed in a short period of time so may well do again. Therefore, the repair wasn't up to scratch but it then becomes my problem.

[kammy1975]

It is definitely only the original 12 years.

Is it defo 12 years? I have a spot of rust on my tailgate on the inside, and when I went to my local BMW dealership they told me it was 10 years and had missed my chance with my car being a Dec 2006 car !

If it's defo 12 years, I think I will be paying them another visit, but this time to kick a stink!!

Cheers
Kam

[Steve84N]

It's 12 years...

Mine is mid 2006.

[Danz4coupe]

Mines an early 2007 and is in Coopers BMW Chelmsford now getting new tailgate under warranty.

[-Tom-]

Cheers for sharing. I have the exact issue in the exact same position. I need to pull my finger out and get it looked at.