So I went to the bmw dealer for service and looky what I saw on the wall and of course i had to take a pic of this



"No other maintenance programs come close" eh...

consider how much lexus dealer charges for oil changes, there is a bit of a truth in it

*if you didn't see it from up close, you would think that's how they rank each car with Lexus on TOP

 

but the fine print reads **BMW RIP over 50,000 miles**

 

I was very tempted by this when I was shopping for new cars and considering a 335. Pretty cool. Best way to compete with the japanese

 

it's pretty darn true though. one great reason to lease a bmw is that you paid for all the maintenance already. keyword, lease. after lease and warranty, that's another story

 

There's some truth in that. That's why you lease a BMW for 4 years :P hahaha.

I mean, it covers wear and tear? so you can drive like you stole it and the brake pads get replaced for free?

 

^^ yes

however, in defense of bmw, I sold my old e46 when it reached almost 95k miles and the only major repair was my coolant resevoir cracked due to high heat in AZ. Otherwise, that car has been trouble free..

 

If they are just going to compare prices, what happens when they add $2116 to the price of a Lexus GS and BMW 5 series that are equiped as close as possible? If I added $2116 to the MSRP of my IS250AWD, I still wouldn't have enough money to buy a 328xi at MSRP that was comparably equiped.

 

Very good point. Its not like the 5 costs as much or less than the GS AND you have free maintenance. The 5 costs substantially more MSRP wise.

I still like the ad, very clever on BMWs part, I always have liked their marketing. It also shows the 2 threats they see, the E and GS.

 

Its just a marketing plot, nothing is life in free. All BMW did was add the maintence cost onto the price of the car. It is nothing more than a forced option in my opinion. You can buy pre-paid maintenance plan for Lexus as well and still come out thousands cheaper than a BMW 5 series, but I dont see too many owners here buying the maintenance plan.

 

Yeah, but you could actually lease a 5 series for less than what you would lease the GS for... and get free maintenance.

 

That's EXACTLY how I interpreted it at first glance, until reading the fine print. I disagree with 1SickLex--this is STUPID marketing, put out by an undergrad-level advertising guy who doesn't realize you have to consider all the angles and ways people can look at what you produce. The visuals on this ad are the dominant factor, not the text, and people have been trained to read graphs from left to right, and that generally higher means better.

BIG mistake. Then, as others have pointed out, even reading the fine print will only appeal to the most simplistic of thinkers. Someone who is swayed by the free maintenance but who doesn't consider the overall cost of ownership in comparison to the feature set, styling, reliability, comfort, and myriad other factors deserves what they get.

 

My favorite one is-- "we have free coffee too, the difference is you won't choke on it when you see the service bill."

 

yea but you probably paid more than $2116 for the equivalent vehicle. Most car dealers give you free oil changes (BMW maintainence is more than this obviously) so that lessens the incentive. I got 2 years worth of oil changes buying my car new. Which is 6 oil changes and not two BMW oil changes (15k interval)

 

you should see the other ad they have with the coffee cup.

 

d'oh, you beat me to it.