[gorditoautoxr]

I very much want to mod my car and put it in STX class at autocross with lsd, cai, headers, exhaust, etc, but I'm worried about what will happen with my warranty. I'm aware that I only will lose my warranty on the part of the car that I mod, but parts aren't independent of each other, and if I put an lsd with intake mods on my car, and some part of the engine or tranny malfunctions, it's very plausible for the dealer to blame the broken part from the stress on the engine produced by my mods... is this a concern for any of you guys/ has this happened to you?
Scott

[dukesantos]

Why not start with the limited mods allowed in stock class: cat back exhaust, tires, shocks, air filter, plug wires and see how you like it. You won't have serious warranty worries and it won't cost as much. If you do major mods it could get nasty with your dealer if he's not competition oriented.

[stryder]

Quote:

Originally posted by gorditoautoxr
I very much want to mod my car and put it in STX class at autocross with lsd, cai, headers, exhaust, etc, but I'm worried about what will happen with my warranty. I'm aware that I only will lose my warranty on the part of the car that I mod, but parts aren't independent of each other, and if I put an lsd with intake mods on my car, and some part of the engine or tranny malfunctions, it's very plausible for the dealer to blame the broken part from the stress on the engine produced by my mods... is this a concern for any of you guys/ has this happened to you?
Scott

BMW dealers seem to be especially prone to avoiding warranty claims if you've poked at stuff. But it varies from dealer to dealer. I would think any signifigant drivetrain mod would end up exactly where you fear, though some dealers seem to be more supportive of racing efforts, perhaps you can check around and see if one will agree to be more lenient. MINIUSA certaintly is very good at avoiding all responsibility.

Keep track of what kind of costs you expect to incur. If you have a talented mechanic, you will be putting yourself into a much smaller liability, blowing an engine or transmission would involve finding a salvaged one, instead of having to pay for a brand new one plus dealer labor. Its bound to be expensive, but used parts aren't near the cost. (My brother's had good luck with this methord, going through 2 transmissions already on his '02 WRX)

[kapolani]

I've modded every car that I've owned. Most recently my 98 M3. I plan on modding my Cooper S. I'll probably stick with the basics - Intake, software, and exhaust.

I've taken my M3 in for warranty work before and only once had someone mention something. I was having a tranny problem so I took it in. They noticed my short shift kit and told me that it could be the problem. I laughed and said how can shortening a lever cause an internal problem to the tranny. He didn't mention anything after that.

If you have a decent rapport with your service manager they tend to "look" the other way when modding your vehicle. Your warranty can't be denied unless they can "prove" the part in question caused the malfunction.

[ARitz]

Although I don't know how they enforce this, MINI's warranty says that participating in any competitive event voids the warranty also. Just throwing in this random bit of info...

[stryder]

Quote:

Originally posted by ARitz
Although I don't know how they enforce this, MINI's warranty says that participating in any competitive event voids the warranty also. Just throwing in this random bit of info...

I wonder if its possible to avoid that, pointing out my driving skills are lame compared to most competetive people, and therefore it was never a competition, I was just there for show