tachyon

My 550 had a 3 week layover at the South Carolina VPC. We thought it was for the M Kit, but the car arrived without it. :thumbsdown: My dealer found out that the delay was for an update of some kind; he's working to find out what the update was.

Also, this is the first I have heard of getting a credit for the original bumpers.

The whole process to add the M Kit here in the USA is hosed.

I hope you all have better luck than I did.

EBMCS03

Its hard to believe BMW will give you credit for the bumper as tis already been ON the car and they will not waste the time and money to try to squeeze it back onto the assembly line back in Germany...

I believe the price of the M-Kit is given as a exchange for you old parts. Just like how they do the John Cooper Works kit on the MINIs. you have to give up your old parts.

katheikia

Yea but if you order an aero kit for your 04 model, it still costs the same, and you keep the old bumpers.

EBMCS03

Yea but if you order an aero kit for your 04 model, it still costs the same, and you keep the old bumpers.
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Yes, thats why theres the option of Dealer install vs VDC install. I think most dealers you can probably keep your parts... VDC probably not and you wont get credit back either.

ILC32

A three week delay?? I don't want to scare you, but I would definitely want to know the details if I were you. The VPC is used not only for preparation (installation of accessories, etc.) but also for REPAIR of cars damaged in transit. My understanding is that BMW even has a policy concerning how damaged a car can be in order to be repaired and still delivered to the customer as new. I think (but do NOT know for sure) that the policy is that a car will be repaired and delivered as new if the cost to repair is less than or equal to 30% of the price of the car.

I am very concerned that my wife's car has been at the VPC so long (it is now day 13 at the VPC) because of repairs, and not the M Aero kit. I would not accept delivery of any car I knew had been extensively damaged and repaired at the VPC. I sent an e-mail to BMWNA through the Owners' Circle website about this (including a specific inquiry as to whether the car has been damaged), but BMW's response merely referred me to the dealer as the only source of info about the car now that it is at the VPC. BMWNA's refusal to give status info at this stage is a big part of the reason for my concerns and a real source of frustration for me. The dealer has made calls on my behalf, but I would feel much better if I could contact someone at BMWNA directly to get answers.

Last week, my dealer was told that the car would be released for transport from the VPC tomorrow, 10/25. We will see. . .

ILC32

UPDATE: Today my salesman informed me that the car had been released to the carrier yesterday, 10/24. My salesman thinks that will probably mean the car will actually be loaded on a truck today and will arrive in the Chicago area on Friday. The car was at the VPC 14 days in total for installation of the Aero Package. According to my salesman, BMWNA has not given any indication the car was damaged in transit.

EBMCS03

14 days seems ok. considering what they have to go through. it takes about a week for a regular car to go through the VDC. and then painting and installing the Kit takes quite a bit of time if they're busy.

rodybmw

When we visited the Oxnard, CA VDC two Saturdays ago there were many, many M-Kits there in various stages of preparation. Actually, too many if you ask me ......those of us that installed the M-Kit before the VDC started doing it enjoyed the exclusivity and uniqueness of our cars.....but they won't be that unique anymore. Even though I live in the Los Angeles area where I see at least 15-20 E60's during my every day commute, I have only seen three M-Kits on the street so far (other than mine)......and two of those were fellow E60.net'ters.

Back to the VDC........there were at least 5 or 6 finished cars with the M-Kit installed and probably about 10-15 kits on racks either ready to be painted, being painted, or already painted and waiting to be installed. See Pictures below:

The paint shop foreman told me that they pre-paint the M-Kits in anticipation of the cars arriving on the boat and the kits are ready by the time the boat arrives and the car gets to the VDC. So there is no waiting for the parts or even waiting for the parts to be painted. The only thing that has to be done is the installation. However, I think they only have a couple of people doing the installations and there is probably more demand for the kit than they have people allocated to it. BMW quotes 4.5 hours for the installation so they probably only get 2 or three done per day/per installation team.

I also asked him about my specific color (Titanium Gray II) and told him how the body shops had trouble matching the paint exactly when they painted my M-Kit no matter what brand paint they used, including Glasurit (which the VDC uses as well). He told me that they also have the same problem with Titanium Gray II and because of this they have stopped pre-painting M-Kits in Titanium Gray II. Instead they wait for the car to get in first and then they try to color match it with that specific car. I saw a TG II E60 on display with the M-Kit on and they had done a superb job in color matching.

So there are two points that I am trying to make here:

1. The M-Kits are pre-painted to the color of the car before the car arrives so that the car does not get delayed waiting for the kit to be painted. Since they know exactly which cars are coming in they know what color they need and how many ahead of time. This is done for all colors except for Titanium Gray II, which needs to be painted and color matched after the car gets in (at least at the Oxnard VDC which serves the entire Western region of the country.....I don't know about the other VDC's).

2. The wait is more likely to be longer on Titanium Gray II cars since the car has to arrive before they paint and color match the M-Kit. So even though people would probably be waiting slightly longer for Titanium Gray cars I definately recommend having the VDC do it (since it is such a hard color to match). As I said, there was one Titanium Gray II E60 there with the M-Kit and they had done a supperb job of matching the color.

Here are some pictures from the Oxnard VDC M-Kits....I did not take pictures of the finished cars with M-Kits, but there were plenty of those as well:

<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Primed M-Kits on racks waiting to be painted</span>


<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>M-Kits Being painted in the spray booth</span>




<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Painted and waiting for the cars to be installed on</span>

ILC32

Thanks RodyBMW very much for the report of your trip to the VPC and the pictures! They are fascinating! Do you have other pcitures you share from the VPC?

katheikia

How did you get to visit the VDC. Do you think they would allow me to visit also. That would be great, I could get pis of my car before and after M-kit install !!!