SOS Question

[hammo]

Hi Chaps , If your warranty has expired and you use the SOS for rescue does anyone know the cost (if there is one ) or what the situation is ?

[MikeS]

Hi Chaps , If your warranty has expired and you use the SOS for rescue does anyone know the cost (if there is one ) or what the situation is ?

Do you mean the SOS button?

[Casbar]

If its the same as a car, in no worky once your warranty and subscription has expired. If you buy BMW rescue it will still work. But to be sure, phone BMW rescue and ask, interesting question. My button didn't work the other day, managed to drop my bike, nothing happened. So at the weekend, pressed the button to test it, it eventually connected and rang, but nobody answered and it reset itself. Pretty useless Luckily I had Illium engine bars fitted, not a mark on the bike from the drop, just a scraped engine bar, which has now been touched up and looks like new. So they did their job really well. Didn't have the rear bars or panniers on.

[hammo]

Sorry i did mean the SOS button on the bike .

[hammo]

Well its a poor deal if you use your SOS call button and no one answers , did you follow it up ?

[Casbar]

Well its a poor deal if you use your SOS call button and no one answers , did you follow it up ?

Bike is in for service in a couple of weeks was going to speak to the dealer then. I had an issue with the SOS button erroring out last year, took BMW 6 weeks to fix. So wasn't sure if it was actually working. The first time I pressed the button, the SOS lit up white and did nothing, then after a few minutes it turned green and rang and then after another 2 mins just reset itself. So I'm not even sure its working correctly. Did try and ring the dealer service department to ask how its supposed to behave, but they wouldn't answer the phone either

[Casbar]

So the gig with the SOS Button service is: The SOS team will respond to an emergency, ie accident or if you come across and accident or need help by pressing the button or the function going off automatically. The Rescue part is separate to the the SOS bit (calling emergency services etc) This is free for lifetime. If you break down or need recovery, then the SOS team would pass you over to the BMW Rescue team (Allienz), so the same people you phone when you phone BMW Rescue. If you do not have BMW Rescue, you would need to sort out your own recovery etc.


Not withstanding all this, mine should have worked and should have been answered when I did my test, they advised to try another test in a different location (they said it doesn't work as well on a motorcycle as it does in the cars). But they will look at it when the bike is in for service if another test fails. As for it not working when I dropped my bike, if it was a gently lay down, then it probably wouldn't have set it off

[Doctor T]

My wife's Mini(BMW) has the same SOS button fitted in the roof console. Asked the same question as her car's warranty ends in July. This is the information i was told. The SOS button will still work and will call BMW rescue but any recovery or call out cost must be paid to the service agent at the time of arrival. So what they are saying is yes they will get you a rescue/repair service agent but the customer must/has to pay on point of contact with the attending agent( could be an independent agent).

[Casbar]

But the point is, it is two different teams, so the SOS team will pass you to the Rescue people which is Allienz. My dealer didn't know they would call out someone else or send you the bill as he thought they only dealt with their own service. This is the same team you would phone if you needed recovery.

[Doctor T]

The SOS team will only contact a dedicated BMW desk at Allianz whilst the vehicle is in warranty but when the warranty is over the SOS team may be disconnected from the button on your bike or they will put you though to the main Allianz desk for their normal breakdown department.
This department only uses independent recovery agents. You will need to pay the agent, not Allianz once the breakdown is assessed. Allianz has only got a service contract with you whilst your vehicle is under warranty. After this time they do not have to offer you any service. The same for the BMW SOS team.
The only obligation they have is if you push the SOS button(If it is still connected) or the bike has sent a message stating you've had an off. In these cases, they will call the emergency services giving your location.

In other words, if you dont continue to pay for the BMW recovery/rescue the SOS is a waste of time.

[Casbar]

The SOS team will only contact a dedicated BMW desk at Allianz whilst the vehicle is in warranty but when the warranty is over the SOS team may be disconnected from the button on your bike or they will put you though to the main Allianz desk for their normal breakdown department.
This department only uses independent recovery agents. You will need to pay the agent, not Allianz once the breakdown is assessed. Allianz has only got a service contract with you whilst your vehicle is under warranty. After this time they do not have to offer you any service. The same for the BMW SOS team.
The only obligation they have is if you push the SOS button(If it is still connected) or the bike has sent a message stating you've had an off. In these cases, they will call the emergency services giving your location.

In other words, if you dont continue to pay for the BMW recovery/rescue the SOS is a waste of time.

No you are wrong. Currently BMW (well Motored) give you SOS service for lifetime of the bike, there is no disconnection. So if you fall off, need help for emergency services they will answer or react. If you are in warranty or have the extended warranty with BMW rescue they will then pass you onto the desk and arrange the recovery for you. If you are not with BMW rescue, then I don't know if they will arrange recovery for you anyway and charge you or contact your agent, but you seemed to suggest they would! So the SOS function is not a waste of time, if you need help you will get it. The SOS is not primarily for normal breakdowns, that is why you have a phone number for breakdown or recovery. Every time I have used the service for our fleet bikes, we rang BMW Rescue, didn't use the SOS button.

[Doctor T]

"If you are not with BMW rescue, then I don't know if they will arrange recovery for you anyway and charge you or contact your agent, but you seemed to suggest they would!"

This is what i said. Once out of warranty they will pass you to the normal rescue desk. That's if the SOS button still functions. I checked this out again today and called the BMW warranties department. The above is the same information i got. I asked if it was the same for the bikes, checking with a colleague, she said it was exactly the same. She then went into a sales pitch to quote me an extended warranty for the Mini. On the car, the SOS button is connected to a GPS tracker not sure if the bikes have this too but i along with BMW can see online tracking 24/7. After the warranty ends, this sevice ends too.

[Casbar]

"If you are not with BMW rescue, then I don't know if they will arrange recovery for you anyway and charge you or contact your agent, but you seemed to suggest they would!"

This is what i said. Once out of warranty they will pass you to the normal rescue desk. That's if the SOS button still functions. I checked this out again today and called the BMW warranties department. The above is the same information i got. I asked if it was the same for the bikes, checking with a colleague, she said it was exactly the same. She then went into a sales pitch to quote me an extended warranty for the Mini. On the car, the SOS button is connected to a GPS tracker not sure if the bikes have this too but i along with BMW can see online tracking 24/7. After the warranty ends, this sevice ends too.

Look, I'm sorry, but you are wrong. The car service is different to the bike service. I have just spoken again to my dealer and to the BMW Rescue team. BMW Motorrad (yes motorcycles) currently (with no changes on the horizon) are giving the SOS service on the (bikes) free support for life. There is no subscription service for this service on bikes. You pay for the SOS button as an extra (sometimes bundled) and that one off payment is for the service for life!!! The SOS service is an emergency response service, nothing to do with BMW rescue or any other breakdown service. No you can if you have a BMW warranty, manufactures or insured, use the button if you wish to ask for breakdown service, they (the SOS) operator will patch you through to the breakdown desk. I have no idea if they will pass you over for a paid service or not (I'm sure in a previous thread, that was your suggestion, I have never suggested that, because I don't know! The SOS button and service is separate to any tracker (my bike doesn't have the BMW tracker fitted) it works via a telemetrics box which has a SIM card  so uses the mobile phone service, hence why if out of coverage you get a no service warning. Just so we are clear - the SOS is an emergency response service, so if you crash, or if you come across an accident, you can (a) push the button to be connected to get help, (b) if lying in a ditch the service will connect automatically and they will try and speak to you, through the button and if no response, dispatch the emergency services. This is free for life on bikes (I don't know about cars). If you have this service as you seem to know all about it, why not actually phone them or speak to your Motorrad dealer.