Voiding Warranties?
 

Hows it goin, so I'm sure this has been discussed before but I did a quick search and didn't really find what I looking for so here it goes..

The people over at BMW when I had my car were pretty strict about modding the car. If you didnt use the BMW performance parts or an approved BMW part (Dinan) they wouldn't touch it.

Is it the same way with Mercedes? In other words can I go crazy with mods and then bring the car in for service whenever it needs it? orrr will mercedes turn me down because of the mods and leave it to me to service the car haah

again sorry, im sure its been brought up somewhere

thanks

Depends where you are.

MB Canada wont tolerate any mods nor will any dealers that Ive come in contact up here. In Canada, MB Canada approves any warranty claims before the work is done, they have final say.

Some USA Dealers are selling mods and saying they are approved for warranty. How that works with MB USA and who has last say about warranty work in the States, I'm not sure?

If mods were OK in the US, you would think all dealers and MB USA would say this.

That's a great question. Engine mods I can understand, but what about Suspension Mods such as coilovers?

Some dealerships are more flexible than others. It also depends on what you consider modification. Some dealerships are ok with simple bolt-ons but no ECU work. Very few are ok with ECU. Some dealerships will take a look at whats wrong with the car and if they determine its a modification they will let you know that this mod needs to be removed before they move forward with warranty work. Some dealerships will just void your warranty without second guessing.

Personally, If you plan to install mods get a good independent shop that remove mods before you go into the shop for warranty work. Or get to be good friends with the dealership service advisor.

There are plenty of service horror stories regarding mods. Someone in the E63 forum had their motor hydrolocked by the dealership and they blamed it on previously installed mods (they were able to see that he had long tube headers based on the unused manifolds.) 40k bill :(

Its the dealers call
We have what you call the Moss Magnusson Act which places the burden on the dealer to prove that your defect is directly attributed to the car. Pretty much all dealers will tell you to take a hike when you present this information. I had PIAA Fog Lights (Non-HID) and the dealer turned me down for a issue with the drivers side fog light not coming on. It was determined to be a fautly wire harness. But the dealer wont touch it.

So unless you have a lawyer on retainer to get the dealer to back off on their policies and procedures, dont mod your car whether you are north or south of 49th parallel.

In my experience, it has been COMPLETELY at the dealers discretion. Out of four dealerships that I have used, only one has made a fuss about my mods. I haven't had any major issues and no one has refused to work on my vehicle. The one fussy dealership just made note of it in my service record, so that if there was a major fault, they would stick me with the bill.

I have become very friendly with my current dealership. I just went up there a lot, showed my face, had them do the A and B service, flashed my own car back to stock, kept my car looking clean, and expressed my understanding of the vehicle I have and what it can/can't do. I think the biggest part has been showing my face/car at the dealership. Becoming familiar to them has been a bonus for me, even if it meant going out of my occasionally just to go up there and say hi.

Instead of a VIN, I became a person.