BMW maintenance: cost, plans and service schedule

Are BMWs expensive to maintain?

BMWs tend to be some of the more expensive automobiles to maintain and repair. Not only are their parts expensive, but BMWs often have quirks that require you to visit a qualified BMW technician for repairs.

Whether you’re in need of maintenance work (tire rotations, engine oil and oil filter changes, replacement of worn out parts) or repairs of unexpected part failures, BMWs tend to have particularly high service and maintenance costs.

How BMW compares to other automakers

Adjusted for inflation, RepairPal estimates that the average BMW racks up $1,323 per year in maintenance and repair costs. That’s well above the $891 industry average and even higher than the $1,241 per year that Mercedes-Benz owners spend on upkeep. (However, it’s still a bit more affordable than Audi’s $1,349 per-year average.)

Compared to many other luxury models, BMW has a higher cost, but it’s not drastic. You should be prepared to spend a good penny more than standard consumer brands though.

It’s worth mentioning that the above figures aren’t entirely reflective of what you can expect to spend keeping a BMW running, though. Upkeep costs can vary significantly from model to model, so it’s worth looking up your model on a site like RepairPal to see a more specific estimate.

BMW maintenance and repair costs by model

We pulled annual maintenance and repair cost estimates for three popular BMWs to show how these costs can vary and included them in the table below.

These figures combine repair costs and maintenance costs, which makes things simple but not as helpful if you’re trying to actually set a budget. While maintenance costs and regularly scheduled expenses tend to be lower, repair costs are higher — and more sporadic expenses are harder to plan for. We’ll go into more detail on each so you have a better idea of what to expect.

BMW maintenance cost and schedule

Newer BMW models are equipped with a maintenance reminder system, so you don’t necessarily have to know your maintenance schedule if you own a newer vehicle. Your BMW’s display will show your progress toward the following maintenance tasks:

• Engine oil change (by date/miles)
• Front and rear brake pad replacement (by miles)
• Vehicle inspection (by date/miles)
• Brake fluid change (by date)
• 1,200-mile running service for M vehicles (by date/miles)

If you want to do your own maintenance, just be aware that the following service tasks may be combined with the “Engine Oil” notice:

• Engine air filter replacement
• Cabin microfilter replacement
• Spark plug replacement
• Final drive oil change (M vehicles)

If you prefer to keep track of your maintenance schedule the old-fashioned way, you can generally count on the timing of vehicle maintenance to be the same between makes and models. Just be aware that your vehicle’s needs may be slightly different depending on what and how you drive.

For BMWs, you can expect tire rotations and multipoint vehicle inspections (including fluids, brakes, cabin air filter and wiper blades) every 5,000 miles, engine oil and filter changes every 10,000 miles and new spark plugs, transmission fluid and engine air filters every 60,000 miles. You can find the routine maintenance schedule for your vehicle inside your owners manual.

Once you know what kind of maintenance your BMW needs and how often it needs it, you can budget for maintenance costs relatively easily. Just look up what your local mechanic or BMW dealership charges for maintenance services and map those costs out over your maintenance schedule for the foreseeable future.

If your BMW is under 3 years old, you may not need to budget for maintenance. All BMW vehicles made since 2017 come with BMW Ultimate Care, which covers maintenance performed by authorized BMW service centers for the first three years or 36,000 miles of the vehicle’s life, whichever comes first.

Example: 2019 BMW X5 maintenance costs

The exact cost of maintaining your BMW will depend on your vehicle and what prices are like in your area, but to give you an idea of what BMW maintenance costs might look like, we compiled the following estimates for a 2019 BMW X5 in Austin, Texas.

Schedule maintenance for severe driving conditions

BMW offers a severe service schedule (often included in your owners manual) for driving in conditions such as extreme temperatures or heavy traffic or for vehicles that tow or take frequent short trips.

This schedule can vary based on the model of the car and the conditions in your region. However, common recommendations include more frequent maintenance intervals for oil changes and inspections of various parts, such as filters or fluids. It's best to consult your owners manual or contact a BMW dealership for precise details tailored to your car.

BMW repair costs

Repair costs are harder to estimate than maintenance costs because you don’t know when, how or how often your BMW will break down. However, you can look at other BMW owners’ experiences to get a rough idea of what to expect.

RepairPal ranks BMW 30th out of 32 automotive brands in terms of reliability based on user data, and this data also shows that BMWs average 0.9 visits to a repair shop every year, which is more than twice as often as the industry average (0.4 visits per year). RepairPal also claims that the chance of your BMW’s problem being severe (i.e., significantly more expensive) is 15%, which is higher than the industry average of 12%.

Let’s take a look at a selection of BMW repair costs to give you an idea of what to expect.

» LEARN: What is a manufacturer’s warranty?

Example: 2019 BMW X5 repair costs

Here are a few of the most common issues for the BMW X5 and what they may cost you to fix, according to RepairPal. Just be aware that your BMW may not suffer from the same problems — and your mechanic may charge differently.

Other BMW repair costs

As part of a separate investigation into how much major automotive repairs cost for BMWs, we surveyed mechanics from around the country to get quotes for our sample vehicles — one of which was a BMW 740i. We’ve compiled the results for that BMW below.

The important takeaways here are that BMWs aren’t the most reliable vehicles, and when they do break down, they can cost a lot of money to fix. That means you should probably have several thousand dollars set aside if you want to be financially prepared for when your BMW needs repairs. However, there are other options.

How can an extended warranty or maintenance plan help?

New BMW vehicles come with a 4-year/50,000-mile warranty that can help you avoid repair bills, but if you plan to keep your BMW outside of the factory warranty period, you should have a plan for when your car eventually breaks down.

If you want to save money on maintenance and repair costs, consider a prepaid maintenance plan or extended warranty, both of which are available from BMW.

BMW’s prepaid maintenance plans can help you save up to 30% on scheduled maintenance for up to four years, and they can even help protect you against rising labor costs and inflation since your price is locked in when you buy the plan.

BMW’s extended warranties, called BMW Extended Service Contracts, can keep you from paying for covered repairs, but they’re relatively expensive, so you might be better off with an extended warranty from a third-party warranty company. As many customers will attest, extended car warranty companies might just save you a good amount.

“When I needed service for my transmission, I just brought my car into the dealership and let them know what extended warranty I had,” said Connie, a ConsumerAffairs reviewer from Louisiana. “They dealt with the people and got everything going. … It’s very important to have coverage. That saved me $6,000.”

When considering options, make sure you get multiple quotes and research the pros and cons of extended warranties so you can make an educated purchase.

» MORE: Car warranty vs. car insurance