[Danddd]

Just got my letter about extending the BMW Assist Safety Plan subscription.

I'd be interested in anyones take on the plan and if it is worth it at $199.00 a year.

[NaViT]

whats it do exactly?

[saalim]

not worth it. i never even used it in the 1st yr....and it was free.

[bpbenda]

Absolutely not. Never used it and too expensive. They should have auto-extended ours to the four years now offered on all sales.

[nmulax]

I'm not going to... but the biggest reason is because I'll be picking up a new car a few months after it expires. I wish you could get the Concierge Package without the BMW Assist Safety Plan though; I use that all the time.

[LEDZEP]

I extended both cars plans when they expired. The timing will be good on the new E90 because I'll get it about a month or more before mine expires again.

[JSpira]

Originally Posted by nmulax

I'm not going to... but the biggest reason is because I'll be picking up a new car a few months after it expires. I wish you could get the Concierge Package without the BMW Assist Safety Plan though; I use that all the time.

You can get a month to month extension for a small fee.

[JSpira]

Originally Posted by bpbenda

Absolutely not. Never used it and too expensive. They should have auto-extended ours to the four years now offered on all sales.

I guess you would have preferred being in a position to take advantage of the ACN feature then?

[carjon]

Originally Posted by LEDZEP

I extended both cars plans when they expired. The timing will be good on the new E90 because I'll get it about a month or more before mine expires again.

Why? I really mean do you use it and for what. Or is it a just in case issue. I don't see the point to it at all. If it were $5, I'd probably do it but still wonder why. I've never used it, my wife never used it in her BMW.

Also the letter said it would renew unless I told them no - that always bothers me (and my sales rep said that wouldn't happen).

[LEDZEP]

Originally Posted by carjon

Why? I really mean do you use it and for what. Or is it a just in case issue. I don't see the point to it at all. If it were $5, I'd probably do it but still wonder why. I've never used it, my wife never used it in her BMW.

Also the letter said it would renew unless I told them no - that always bothers me (and my sales rep said that wouldn't happen).

I haven't used my life insurance policy yet either, but I keep paying the premiums.

This has already been debated so I won't rehash, but it is simply a matter of preference. BMW Assist is more about the emergency notification and assistance than conviniences for me. Sure, it could and should be a little cheaper, but I like knowing that if my wife is in an accident or stranded on the road somewhere that Assist will send help and also notify me under certain circumstances - and I'm willing to pay for that.

[aspiring335]

I probably won't extend, but then again, as LedZep indicates above, just one use in an emergency would make it worthwhile.

[BKsBimmer]

I plan to renew. I view it as insurance. You can't measure it's worth by how much you use it. Frankly I hope I never have to use it, but if/when I need it I want it to be there. At $200 p/yr it averages out to about 55 cents a day. To me it's worth it.

[bpbenda]

Originally Posted by LEDZEP

I haven't used my life insurance policy yet either, but I keep paying the premiums.

While the concept may be the same here, the two are very different in reality. I pay less for life insurance than I would to renew the BMW Assist Safety Plan. And when I am paying for life insurance, I am insuring against the lifetime loss of my income. I do this because I don't want my family to have to sell the house and live below the standards that they have become comfortable with and accustomed to over time. With life insurance, I am paying less and getting way more. I don't think a cogent argument can be made to justify the cost v. benefit ratio of the BMW Assist Safety Plan. Now, if they bundled in the concierge service and offered unlock features similar to those with Northstar, it might be worth purchasing. But I think BMW is really ripping you off with the Safety Plan given what they charge. If they were to offer more in the package, they would get more renewals.

[JSpira]

Originally Posted by bpbenda

Now, if they bundled in the concierge service and offered unlock features similar to those with Northstar, it might be worth purchasing.

Northstar is a V-8 engine.

Unlock is included in newer models.

Onstar does not include concierge service either so BMW´s pricing is comparable.

[bpbenda]

Originally Posted by aspiring335

I probably won't extend, but then again, as LedZep indicates above, just one use in an emergency would make it worthwhile.

Given the cost, it might be worthwhile if you had at least one wreck every year. But if you own your car for 5 years and renew annually, the service is not worthwhile on a cost basis if you have just one wreck. If you renew four times beyond the initial free year, you have doled out about $800. Since the safety plan does not pay to repair your vehicle, there is no way you are going to spend anywhere close to $800 towing your car to a dealer, etc. The cost would be worthwhile if it was $200 for a lifetime service contract per vehicle or closer to $50 per year. But at $200 per year, unless you are wrecking all the time, it is too expensive. And if you are wrecking all the time, get a cheap POS instead.

[bpbenda]

Originally Posted by JSpira

Northstar is a V-8 engine.

Haha, you know what I was talking about. OnStar, yes. I am not comparing the BMW Safety Plan to OnStar. I was just saying that if the BMW Safety Plan offered more, like some of the services offered by OnStar, ... that's all I was saying, making no comparisons.

[BKsBimmer]

Originally Posted by bpbenda

Given the cost, it might be worthwhile if you had at least one wreck every year. But if you own your car for 5 years and renew annually, the service is not worthwhile on a cost basis if you have just one wreck. If you renew four times beyond the initial free year, you have doled out about $800. Since the safety plan does not pay to repair your vehicle, there is no way you are going to spend anywhere close to $800 towing your car to a dealer, etc. The cost would be worthwhile if it was $200 for a lifetime service contract per vehicle or closer to $50 per year. But at $200 per year, unless you are wrecking all the time, it is too expensive. And if you are wrecking all the time, get a cheap POS instead.

Again, think in terms of insurance. If you have just one wreck in 4 years where having BMW assist makes the difference between you getting the assistance you need to save your life or someone's life in your vehicle or you or them dying then $800 over 4 years is a small price to pay. Don't you think?

[Richwm]

Originally Posted by LEDZEP

I haven't used my life insurance policy yet either, but I keep paying the premiums.

This has already been debated so I won't rehash, but it is simply a matter of preference. BMW Assist is more about the emergency notification and assistance than conviniences for me. Sure, it could and should be a little cheaper, but I like knowing that if my wife is in an accident or stranded on the road somewhere that Assist will send help and also notify me under certain circumstances - and I'm willing to pay for that.

I agree, nice analogy.

[bpbenda]

Originally Posted by BKsBimmer

Again, think in terms of insurance. If you have just one wreck in 4 years where having BMW assist makes the difference between you getting the assistance you need to safe your life or someone's life in your vehicle or you or them dying then $800 over 4 years is a small price to pay. Don't you think?

There is also the chance that my city could be attacked by a nuclear missle, but I am not building a fallout shelter or a bunker in the back of my house. I am not doing this because the cost necessary to do such greatly outweighs the possibility that it will ever happen. What did people do before there was BMW Assist Safety Plan? Did everyone who was in a wreck die? No, the odds are so slim that you would ever need to use the service to save someone's life, that the cost is outrageous in comparison to the benefit. I am not saying anyone is crazy for renewing such, I just think it is way overpriced for what you actually receive. In most wrecks, people are not dying or badly injured. In many they are, but in nearly all of those circumstances, there is someone there with a phone who can just as easily call 911.

[Russellnyc]

I don't know, depends on whose life I'm saving, and their debt to equity ratio.



I have it free for 4 years, but if I didn't, I would buy it. I also paid extra for the convenience plan, so what do I know. I tend to pay for things that make me feel good, and in NYC $200 a year equates to 2 dinners out with my wife.

[bpbenda]

Originally Posted by bpbenda

There is also the chance that my city could be attacked by a nuclear missle, but I am not building a fallout shelter or a bunker in the back of my house. I am not doing this because the cost necessary to do such greatly outweighs the possibility that it will ever happen. What did people do before there was BMW Assist Safety Plan? Did everyone who was in a wreck die? No, the odds are so slim that you would ever need to use the service to save someone's life, that the cost is outrageous in comparison to the benefit. I am not saying anyone is crazy for renewing such, I just think it is way overpriced for what you actually receive. In most wrecks, people are not dying or badly injured. In many they are, but in nearly all of those circumstances, there is someone there with a phone who can just as easily call 911.

And while the odds of needing your life insurance are also just as slim, if you ever do need it, your beneficiaries are getting back way more than you ever paid in premium. I just cannot imagine that in most wreck scenarios, people are getting back more than what they paid for the service. And I am basing this assumption on the idea that people who have this service are renewing it on an annual basis and are not wrecking all the time. Wreck at least once a year and it makes sense in the grand scheme of things. I just think this is more a luxury service than anything. How many times do you hear about situations where someone was in a wreck and they died because nobody was around and they were unconscious and therefore nobody knew about the wreck so they bled out? I am sure it has happened before, but come on.

As John Stossel would say, "Give me a break!"

[Neurorad]

BMW Assist fairly useless to me. I never travel in my car out of town. I'm rarely on deserted roads. Like I need to schedule a car appt from my car? My wife doesn't drive my car. I have a cell phone.

If I get into a bad accident, it will be in traffic on the way to or from work; someone else can call 911 if I'm unconscious; if I'm knocked out, at least, I won't care how long the ambulance takes to come pick me up. To be impatient, I have to be awake.