I recently purchased a BMW 2007 335 with Dinan stage 2 and exhaust enhancements. I wanted to purchase the certified pre-owned program (CPO) upgrade from the dealer, as this was my first BMW. The dealer produced a letter from BMW that stated effective 9/1/08 BMW would not offer CPO certification on any vehicle with non BMW performance modifications. This issue has to do with vehicles not passing EPA emission checks and owners expecting BMW warranty to fix the problems. This is just FYI info for those considering purchase of used vehicles ADK
There is no upgrade. Vehicles are supposed to be CPO - or not. Dealers are not supposed to peddle the CPO program as an upgrade to begin with. Nor should they cover cars with such mods. But the issue isn't really limited to emissions inspections, esp. not from the EPA since cars don't get tested by the EPA after they are in service. Rather, performance modifications are likely to produce premature wear of other components and BMW correctly doesn't wish to be on the hook for that.
I bought a used 2000 VW New Beetle for my daughter in 2004, and the dealer had several cars on the lot that met the criteria but they didn't put them through the CPO inspection unless the customer wanted the CPO. They basically said it would add $200 to the price and I went for it. It turned out to be a great deal, as nobody knew until the first snowstorm after I bought it (while taking it in for its first service) that half of the rear window defogger was broken - Bam! a covered $600 expense. I didn't see anything wrong with their logic, and it absolutely worked for me. YMMV OBTW - Hello, this is my first post - Happy to be here! Have Fun, Rick
Who wouldn't go for a CPO at that price! The CPO on my old Lexus coupe would have added about $2000 to the price. My guess is the CPO on a BMW 3 series would be in the same ballpark.
I believe the dealer told me that the CPO on my vehicle cost them $1,500.00. I'll have to wait and see if the added coverage was worth it in a year or two.
Interesting - my dealer did the same thing with the CPO. But quoted me $2k - so the lesson learned is stay away from my dealer in Humboldt, California. Good post -thx for the info.
I have a similar question regarding Dinan and CPO warranty. My CPO 2007 335i is still under the 4/50k factory warranty (at 37 months old w/28k miles). I get to enjoy the extended CPO warranty until 2013 or 100k miles once that expires. I've been considering the Dinan stage 2 ECU upgrade. It is clear that this upgrade will not affect my 4/50k warranty, as touted by Dinan. But what about my extended warranty? Will BMW handle the extra 2 years of any needed warranty repairs as agreed at car purchase, or do I jeopardize that benefit by upgrading?
Don't confuse the factory warranty with the CPO. They're separate things Jonathan is correct. CPO is not an "upgrade" or an option on new cars. Any dealer claiming to offer a "CPO option" on a new car is clouding the issue on what the CPO program is. That's selling you an extended warranty, usually under a 3rd party. It has nothing to do with a factory CPO program. BMW cannot arbitrarily deny warranty coverage on an unrelated system unless they can prove the aftermarket part caused the problem directly or indirectly. For example, if the radio goes out in your car, BMW can't refuse to cover the radio replacement just because you have a Dinan chip in your engine UNLESS BMW can prove that the Dinan chip somehow caused the radio failure. Dinan warranty coverage will typically step in and cover what the BMW warranty will not. Now here's where it gets a little "messy." The CPO is not an upgrade or an extended warranty. It is a program to offer factory warranty protection to a USED (Pre Owned). CPO stands for Certified Pre Owned. Because the CPO program is for used BMW's only, there's no such thing as a CPO option for new cars. It's either a NEW BMW or a used (PRE OWNED) one. There's no such thing as a car that's both new and used at the same time. The typical rule of thumb is whether or not the car has ever been titled or registered before. An untitled vehicle is typically considered to be a "new car" with negligible test or demo mileage and still under the original factory warranty. A used vehicle is typically a car that has been titled and registered at least once, and has had at least one registered owner prior to its resale. The BMW CPO program basically "resets" a car's service schedule by performing an inspection of parts that are normally due to be serviced at a specific mileage interval based on the car's mileage when it is turned back in to be BMW (i.e. late model trade-ins or lease returns). The end result is a car that requires no more service than a new vehicle of the same model. Once BMW has certified that there are no service related issues left with the car under their CPO program, the car's original warranty is extended by another two years and the CPO vehicle is offered for sale. Where this gets tricky is whether or not the Dinan warranty is transferable from one owner to the next. You also need to read the CPO warranty to see if the Dinan replacement will void your warranty coverage. That's probably a conversation you should be having with both Dinan and the dealer you bought the CPO car from. It may require you to make a decision about what's more important: maintaining your car's CPO coverage until it runs out before hotrodding it with a Dinan chip, or forgoing the CPO coverage to enjoy your Dinan upgrade early, and risk assuming financial responsibility for the car's service and maintenance.
