Murphy's law - what can go wrong, will go wrong.
I have an aftermarket warranty, they help. I don't think they too great though. You are forced to go to an RMI approved mac, which is fine, but they look at small things to ponder on then not pay. (From my experience)
Put it this way, don't hope for a warranty to pay for the entire repair. Be prepared to cough some out.
My case - Valve stem seals needs to be changed, warranty will pay only if the motor is stripped and can assess that nothing else is damaged (Rings, etc.) , where as you can remove valve stem without opening the head.
Do the valve stems by myself - R9000
RMI Mac - God knows, the moment your motor is stripped and your head is out, the costs go on from there. My warranty will cover or rather say that they will cover R12 000. Stripping a motor and repairing anything ain't gonna cost 12k, especially by a reputable RMI mac.
So in my case, yes I have warranty and yes they would cover, but you actual sit thinking it is cheaper to do it cash than using warranty that you paid for.
I paid for my warranty upfront cash, if I was paying monthly I would seriously consider cancelling or finding a proper aftermarket warranty, which I have not found yet.
It is nice to keep a car, past motorplan. The only problem is don't get annoyed or frustrated once something breaks, rather put cash aside and be prepared to pay if something goes wrong.
Then after repairing you going to want to sell cause you fed up? I won't lie 71 000kms is relatively low mileage, Diesel is reliable as most say, however it can be costly to maintain properly and if something breaks it is more costly than Petrol to fix.
I am not telling you sell the car, just a few points to really access before keeping the car. Sometimes it is just not worth it - Sometimes it is. Just don't regret whatever you do.
Keeping an E46 going down to E30 and older bmw models are fine to maintain yourself. I am not saying it is cheap, but it is less electronic, parts are cheaper and there is tons of DIY tricks. A lot of people will disagree with me but it is easy to say keep your car or sell, but when something breaks they are not the ones helping you pay.
Oh and just for the record, I am not saying Warranties will not pay, Period, Just try and find an RMI approved mac that claims with warranties and knows someone from the warranty company - That would make life easy. Also, make sure you read the hidden stuff in small writing.