Merv the Derv

M630 why have you got to wait for BMWNA to tell you when to have a new car?

PuRePLaYaZ

rodybmw, thanks for the great info. i will try that later on tonite.

m630

...well here in the US, we cant just go out and buy the BMW that we want at any cost, like most of the world can...here in the US, we cant get nice Sport E60s or Individual cars, we just get limited options available for some strange reason...i've never heard of a company that didnt want to sell options directly to customers, but that is exactly what BMW NA does, they set the market, determine which options we are "allowed" to BUY, and no matter how much you are willing to pay over here, you cant get many packages or options directly from the factory...we have to go all over the place and order parts to retrofit once we buy the 'base' E60 and then pay the dealer or whoever to install, quite frustrating if you know what i mean...but what can you do, they make the decisions, we're just the customers...
anyway, unless some miracle happens in the next couple of months, i'll be going with the E63, i want an E60 M-sport, but i just think its too much retrofitting to get an E60 in the US to be similiar to what you call a Sport model on your side of the pond...

subterFUSE

Daytime running lights are ghey.

kmslo530i

"not that there's anything wrong with that...."

rodybmw

...well here in the US, we cant just go out and buy the BMW that we want at any cost, like most of the world can...here in the US, we cant get nice Sport E60s or Individual cars, we just get limited options available for some strange reason...i've never heard of a company that didnt want to sell options directly to customers, but that is exactly what BMW NA does, they set the market, determine which options we are "allowed" to BUY, and no matter how much you are willing to pay over here, you cant get many packages or options directly from the factory...we have to go all over the place and order parts to retrofit once we buy the 'base' E60 and then pay the dealer or whoever to install, quite frustrating if you know what i mean...but what can you do, they make the decisions, we're just the customers...
anyway, unless some miracle happens in the next couple of months, i'll be going with the E63, i want an E60 M-sport, but i just think its too much retrofitting to get an E60 in the US to be similiar to what you call a Sport model on your side of the pond...
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I appologize for taking the thread off topic and I also appologize for the long post but you just refreshed my frustrating memories of dealing with BMW NA.

I've been fighting BMW NA for more than 10 years now to allow me to order some things not available on standard US models, but only once have they thrown me a bone, so to speak. Here's my experience with BMW NA (again sorry for the lenght of this post, but here it goes):

- In 1994 I was in the market for an M3 and wanted to do a Euro Delivery. I wanted a special paint, the power version of the M seats, and some other items. I initially requested an AUDI Pearl White paint. I submitted my order with the AUDI paint code and they turned it down saying that other manufacturer's paints are not up to "BMW Standards". So then I resubmitted using a BMW motorcycle Pearl White code.......they turned around and said that they will not use motorcycle paints (even though they regularly use many of the same BMW paints on both cars and motorcycles). BMW NA also said that the M seats were not available in a power adjustable version and that I should get the luxury package seats (which were basically non-M seats from regular E36's). I told them that the M-seats certainly WERE available in a power adjustable version and gave them the option code for the Power M seats that the rest of the world uses. They came back with the exact same answer as before . If they just said the seats ARE available but we are not going to allow you to order it I would not have minded so much, but the idiots at BMW NA who dealt with these things either DID NOT EVEN KNOW that those seats were available elsewhere or just lied through their teeth. They just said "BMW does not make power M seats". Finally after 5 months of going back and forth with them I decided that I would forget about all the special items that I wanted and just choose a "standard BMW paint" that was not available in the US to make the car more unique. Finally they told me that I could order that color for an additional $1300. I told my salesman to go ahead and order it, but before he could turn around and resubmit the order he got a call from someone he knew from BMW AG in Germany. He was a liason between BMW AG and BMW NA and he had called to tell my salesman that BMW NA is so incompetent at handling special orders that they (BMW AG) are cancelling all special orders for the time being. So I ended up getting a plain vanilla Alpine White M3.


A couple of years later I was ordering a 528i and submitted it with the NON-US upholstery code (in gray cloth), and to my GREAT surprise BMW NA accepted the order WITHOUT charging me any extra cost or processing fees.

A couple of years after that BMW NA was back to their old tricks and did not let me order my wife's X5 in a non-US X5 color, even thought that color was available on European X5's that were built on the same assembly lines as the US X5. I ended up getting the X5 in Titanium Silver and the next model year they added the color that I wanted to the standard US colors

Finally, this last time with my E60 I wanted to order it with the Truffle Brown interior (available on E60's worldwide, even in Canada), and Stratus Gray exterior paint. When my salesman contacted the Euro Delivery department they said NO WAY.

The frustrating thing for me was that BMW NA would allow special order paint occasionally, but every time that I was ready to buy a new car they were going through one of their phases of "no special orders allowed". Right now it is harder than ever (if not impossible) to do even something as simple as a special paint order, especially for Euro Delivery cars.

When I visited the Dingolfing plant, Alexander (PR Associate/Tour guide) said that there is no problem at their end and if BMW NA submits the order they will build it. Everything was so computerized and automated that they did not even have to separate different country models or anything. All E60's (Euro, UK, US, Japan, right hand drive, left hand drive, etc.) were back to back in the same assembly line. They had some electronic ID circuitry that were mounted on each car where the front roundels go which told the workers what to mount on each car as the car approached their station. Alexander even showed us a special E60 that they had on display with Pearl White paint. It had a purple pearl coat on a white base coat so it did not look good, but it did demonstrate their ability to do special colors. So they can do A LOT there at Dingolfing....the problem is getting BMW NA to allow it.

rodybmw

Well, now that I am finished venting in my post above ...........

Yeah there is some retrofitting to do, but it's not that bad. I posted a couple of weeks ago that there is at least one dealer that has been able to order the M-Aero Kit and get the VPC to paint and install it before delivering the car to the dealer. I don't know the cost, but that is almost as good as having the factory paint and install it. That will make the body look like the Euro Sport model and it should be easy enough to change the wheels to match the Euro Sport's look and sell your original wheels to someone. If you order the US Sports Package you will also get a sports suspension. So that takes care of most of the items on the list and will certainly give you the look of the Euro Sports version from the outside. If you also want to match the interior you can change the interior trim, add the M dead pedal, and the M door sills. They don't cost that much in the scope of things. I think the only thing that you can't change (with reasonable cost) is the upholstry.

My point is that the retrofit is not that bad to make you want to jump ship and go with the E63. Plus if you do get the retrofits your E60 will be rare, but the E63 will look just like any other E63 since there is not even an M-Kit available on it, not even in Europe.

One more thing to remember is that as much as we (including me) complain about BMW NA it is so much cheaper to get a BMW here than elsewhere. If you think about it.....we can buy a fully loaded E60 and spend A LOT of money on retrofits and it would still cost a lot less that a standard E60 elsewhere in the world.

PuRePLaYaZ

One more thing to remember is that as much as we (including me) complain about BMW NA it is so much cheaper to get a BMW here than elsewhere. If you think about it.....we can buy a fully loaded E60 and spend A LOT of money on retrofits and it would still cost a lot less that a standard E60 elsewhere in the world.
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totally 2nd that. i remembered i read somewhere else asia country is selling 545 for about $140,000~150,000usd. see how lucky we are to get 545 way cheaper

PuRePLaYaZ

btw, i did try that not insert the key and turn the light to position 1 and it works.

i will post some pics of my new baby soon to the board

m630

....i think its good to vent, as I was as well ....i go back and forth between the E60/E63, nearly daily it seems, ...as soon as I believe im set with the E63, i'll see a beautiful E60 drive past me and i get all confused again...it may come to a coin toss for all i know, but when the 06 specs are released, then i'll have to make the call,... im just tryin to hold out a bit more as im hoping the new 4.0 will make to either or both of these cars, id rather that engine if possible, but with BMW NA, even if they are released outside the US, who knows if/when they'll offer it here, and im not waiting past sept-oct to place my order

...with the E60, im not just interested in the M-body kit and thats part of the problem, first problem is the color i want, which i cant get which is annoying, and i would have to change the interior as well as Im not a fan of the current selections offered by BMW NA, and if you are gonna spend 70K, the interior better be just the way you want it too, and another set of rims for sure, and the headlamp assembly, and door sills, and on and on, and when you add it up, its alot of work to have to go through before i ever get in the car, though not impossible

...hopefully the members who are going to the BMW NA meeting tonight will bring us some good inside info that may change things, so we'll have to wait and see..