[wavyyyy]

Originally Posted by Higgs Boson

What, specifically, were the mods?

BM3 and springs. Both of which were pretty obvious. Powder coated black wheels too lol.

[turbojg]

In reading all of these posts I cannot help but wonder why anyone would put their own money into modifying something they do not own. If you were renting a house would you tear off a sunroom and build an open deck in its place because you like to sunbathe? Or knock down walls because you like open spaces. Would you even expect to get away with that?

If you owned a M car and decided to let your neighbor drive it (for a fee) for several months how would you like it if the person modified it to their liking and then gave it back to you that way?

If you think you can do whatever you want with someone else's property there is something wrong with you.

[Higgs Boson]

Originally Posted by wavyyyy

BM3 and springs. Both of which were pretty obvious. Powder coated black wheels too lol.

yeah those don't matter. they will simply update the software and sell it. those aren't the kinds of mods they are concerned about because they don't cost the dealership any money.

but yes, they walk around the car looking for cosmetic issues, many of which MB looks past because they don't want to nickel and dime you so you will like leasing cars. when the car goes in the shop for reconditioning the techs absolutely let the sales dept know about real issues the car might have (no cats, different turbos, etc) and then you may get a phone call.

[Adler11th]

There were cases where person would tune leased car, get a major failure and then BMW would refuse to fix it under warranty and made them buy out the broken car.

I also heard of another case where person bought cpo and was later denied warranty work because previous owner had tune and dealer that sold a car failed to track that. Dealership bought the car back, but I bet they now have a procedure in place to check for that.

Idk if extra 50-80hp or burble or two make that much of the difference to take on all the risks and limitations associated

Some people get lucky and return tuned cars without issues for them, passing it on to next owner that is looking for that clean post lease CPO m car and gets screwed. It doesn’t seat right with me, at all.

[Moedee]

ItsConnor
Have you done the midpipe, & you 100% had to cut/weld new midpipe correct?

noway you can avoid that & put a bolt on? & did you get a CEL?

i am thinking of doing the same mod.

[ItsConnor]

Originally Posted by Moedee

ItsConnor
Have you done the midpipe, & you 100% had to cut/weld new midpipe correct?

noway you can avoid that & put a bolt on? & did you get a CEL?

i am thinking of doing the same mod.

I haven’t yet still waiting for the order to ship. However I’ve done sm research Ik what I have to do now lol.

All midpipes will require cutting in the dimples near the rear muffler. Only way to avoid cutting is to replace the muffler in addition to the midpipe. This would be marketed as a catback or full exhaust system.

Once cut, you’ll use BMW OE clamps (should be provided) to attach the rear end, from end will attach to DP’s. You can then switch easily between stock or not using the clamps. No wielding required. If you have a US spec car the O2 sensors are only on the primary cats so the midpipe won’t throw any CEL’s as it doesn’t touch those. EUR spec is a whole different story so nothing above is relevant to EUR.

[Moedee]

I appreciate your response. Do you see an issue then rewelding back, since its a lease, & you spoke with people that said its totally fine...I have been hesitant to it, but it seems like everyone is/has done it. Nobody wants to void anything.

& glad to know the sensors are still at the cats, not midpipes.

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Some dealers are pretty tolerant of mods you can reverse.

Through a set of unforeseen circumstances my lease car was in the dealers lot waiting for a motor mount when my new car came into the PCD operation in Greer.

I had swapped out a rear vallance for a diffuser. Dealer let me personally swap the parts back in his lot. One of the techs gave me a cold drink on a hot summer day.

Diffuser went onto the new car when I got back from BMW PCD in SC.

Have never had a turn in or service/warranty issue with various JB4 tunes over 12 years

[ItsConnor]

Originally Posted by Moedee

I appreciate your response. Do you see an issue then rewelding back, since its a lease, & you spoke with people that said its totally fine...I have been hesitant to it, but it seems like everyone is/has done it. Nobody wants to void anything.

& glad to know the sensors are still at the cats, not midpipes.

I plan to buyout so it’s not relevant to me but IF I had to return to stock I’d just keep the clamps on. My clamps will be BMW OE spec and if you got an M Perf exhaust they would cut at the same spot and use the same clamps so they shouldn’t have any issue with that if the install was done properly.

Honestly every dealer in my area was different, 1 wouldn’t answer a single question or even confirm “So I should assume it will void all warranty right?” Citing legal reasons for not being able to answer? Another said it would only void if it was the cause of the claim, a 3rd said it’s almost definitely fine to do. Warranty wise^^^

Lease wise I was only worried about them using a clause in the lease to demand the car early (again since I’m buying out) but no one here or elsewhere seems to have experienced that especially with just a midpipe. I’d go into it expecting you’ll have to pay a wear and tear whatever at lease turn in but odds are you won’t if it’s returned to stock with the clamps. Just don’t be completely surprised if you somehow still had pay that fee essentially.

Also letting you know I didn’t ask any dealer directly if it was okay on a LEASE specifically. I leased from a dealer in another state and tbh the lease/purchase is BMW NA’s realm and on a dealership service level I doubt they even know. Would be bad business to be THE dealer that fcked over your lease as you’d never lease from them ever again in the future.

[eugenebmw]

Originally Posted by EV2DEMON

Spending money to modify a rented car. LOL.

And if they deny your warranty and you have to pay out from your pocket to fix the car down the road. It is going to be $$$$$

[eugenebmw]

Originally Posted by Berzerker

Then you got lucky. It's not fearmongering it's called "protecting from financial liability." BMW *directly* owns these cars the entire time while you're leasing it, you're not dealing with the dealer. If they care, they can absolutely hold you, completely, financially on the hook for getting the car back exactly in the state of equipment and capability in which they gave it to you, as well as bill you directly for the work it took to get that back to stock.

Telling people not to worry is irresponsible to the point where people can be on the hook for thousands of dollars they may not have had to pay if they just took the due diligence to follow the rules.

100% agree. If the OP will lease/buy another BMW from them, they will go easy on you. Otherwise prepare for them to do a full inspection on the car inside out and send you the bill in the mail.

[Tall Tom Cruise]

Originally Posted by wavyyyy

I’ve turned in tuned leases that were modded and all that. It doesn’t matter. They check for dents and they check for curb rash, they check if your tires have tread. They turn the car on. Believe what you want but it’s just fear mongering.

+1

I had a stage 2 2018 m4 comp. Tuned, DP, exhaust, coils, etc.

A few months prior to lease end, I turned it 100% back to stock, stock tune, etc. and had ZERO issue. 99% of the time they get the leased cars back and just sell them at auction.

Again, just providing a data point here...

[Berzerker]

Originally Posted by Tall Tom Cruise

+1

I had a stage 2 2018 m4 comp. Tuned, DP, exhaust, coils, etc.

A few months prior to lease end, I turned it 100% back to stock, stock tune, etc. and had ZERO issue. 99% of the time they get the leased cars back and just sell them at auction.

Again, just providing a data point here...

You turned yours in back to stock. We're all assuming the question is about just turning in a tuned car without doing that.

[Mike02z]

I may be wrong but I highly doubt the dealer is going to dump the DME data and send it to BMW to confirm the DME is stock. They certainly can but I just don’t see it happening.

One other item, returning to stock can be found by BMW. There is a checksum that will change when the DME is tuned and changed again when flashing back to stock. Piggyback, maybe,maybe not.

[ChrisM4]

Originally Posted by Mike02z

I may be wrong but I highly doubt the dealer is going to dump the DME data and send it to BMW to confirm the DME is stock. They certainly can but I just don’t see it happening.

One other item, returning to stock can be found by BMW. There is a checksum that will change when the DME is tuned and changed again when flashing back to stock. Piggyback, maybe,maybe not.

I heard they don’t need to do that now…they can check that right at the dealer via OB2 scanner and their in-dealer software. I was told they only send to HQ if there’s a failure and they need to send an engineer out to investigate. They can identify a previous piggy back/tune/DP install quickly via scan.

[g8]

Originally Posted by ChrisM4

I heard they don’t need to do that now…they can check that right at the dealer via OB2 scanner and their in-dealer software. I was told they only send to HQ if there’s a failure and they need to send an engineer out to investigate. They can identify a previous piggy back/tune/DP install quickly via scan.

You are 100% correct, they can check at the dealer.

[Game]

Having handled hundreds of lease returns at a BMW store, I know a bit about this topic. If the car comes in clearly modded, we ask the client to put the car back to stock. If not, we call for a third party inspection. BMW sends an inspector within a few days, who then relays the findings to BMW, which charges you however they see fit.

Certain mods like tints and OEM parts are fine.

ECU is not checked during final inspection.

[sdengineer]

Originally Posted by ItsConnor

Prefacing that I know any true mods on a lease can be risky, not recommended, void warranties, etc. Not starting this thread to debate that.
...

Definitely no need to start a debate on that because there is no debate. I see two reasons to not mod a leased car:
1) Its a violation of the agreement. Whether you can get away with the violation or not is not something anyone here can help you with. Only you have skin in this particular game.
2) More subjectively and opinion-oriented, I agree with some of the other responders, that it does not seem to make sense to try to improve a car that you don't own. I can appreciate that it may enhance your driving experience somewhat, but it would be like making improvements to a rented home. If you own the car you could perhaps at least sell it eventually with the mods and re-coup some of that investment.

[njavier03]

Originally Posted by sdengineer

Definitely no need to start a debate on that because there is no debate. I see two reasons to not mod a leased car:
1) Its a violation of the agreement. Whether you can get away with the violation or not is not something anyone here can help you with. Only you have skin in this particular game.
2) More subjectively and opinion-oriented, I agree with some of the other responders, that it does not seem to make sense to try to improve a car that you don't own. I can appreciate that it may enhance your driving experience somewhat, but it would be like making improvements to a rented home. If you own the car you could perhaps at least sell it eventually with the mods and re-coup some of that investment.

i think it would depend on the mods. if you're not tuning and just adding MP or aftermarket carbon bits and maybe springs/coilovers, you're not investing much. those parts can easily be removed and you'd get some return if you decided to revert to stock at lease end and turn in. exhaust, tune, turbos, etc is a different story.