tachyon

I see this as a very loud indictment by customers of BMWs push into high-tech gizmos- which I like, but obviously don't go over well with the unwashed masses who also buy BMWs.

The great news is that BMW still rates among the industry's best in quality of production, so even the new 3er launch did not tarnish this. (And the Dingolfing plant does great work).

But now, with an expanded set of questions asked, we see that BMW (and probably MB too) is getting criticized for it's quality of design. And I don't think these are questions about aesthetics - but about the ease of using stuff.

For example, in addition to asking "have you had any problems with the air conditioning?" (a production quality question) they probably also now ask "how would you rate the ability to control the A/C?" (a design quality question). Opps ... BMW just lost.

Anyway, I think it is great that information like this can come to the attention of BMW ... the more they hear stuff like this now, the better our next cars will be.

znod

Following up on what you said, here is a quote from a J. D. Power press release.

"This year's scores are not comparable to those of previous years because this year, for the first time, J.D. Power considered design flaws that bother consumers as well as actual defects. Had the ranking been based on defects alone, Lexus would have ranked first and Porsche second.

"In the eyes of consumers, design flaws can have as much of an impact on their perceptions of quality as can a defect," said Joe Ivers, executive director of quality and customer satisfaction research for J.D. Power and Associates. "Yet, many manufacturers have tended to address quality solely on the plant floor without considering design factors."

Vehicle brands can vary widely in the two quality measures.

"For example, BMW vehicles have among the fewest defects and malfunctions, along with Toyota," said Ivers. "But BMW approaches controls and displays in a way that creates some problems for customers, leading to more design-related problems overall than Toyota incurs."

BMW ranked well below average in the survey with 142 problems per 100 vehicles.

A BMW spokesman attributed the large number of design-related issues to the amount of advanced technology in the company's vehicles.

"We are known, and we are expected to be, a leader in cutting edge technology," said David Buchko, a BMW spokesman.

New owners may have trouble using some of the vehicles' technology simply because it is unfimiliar to them, he said.

Some have suggest that the new J.D. Power rating system creates an "innovation penalty" said J.D. Power's Ivers. But companies can integrate technology in a way that doesn't annoy customers, he said.

"You won't have failures related to a parking assist system if you don't have a parking assist system," he said. "Then Lexus comes out with one and customers don't have any propblem with it."

Maybe it's time for a BMW Technology for Dummies book.

znod

Here is an interesting read for anyone interested in auto quality, etc., surverys. BMW did pretty well (i.e., better than average--225 defects per 100 versus average of 237 per 100) in the 2005 J. D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study--which covers 3-years of auto ownership (2002-2004). BMW was 11th of the 14 manufacturers that were better than average. You can check the complete results out here.

AC_S5

So this ranking is based more on a design problem rather than an actual defects. I don't find the technology in my car so hard to learn, maybe this "for Dummies" trend is spreding and affecting the end users.

Maybe people should start driving KIAs if they don't want any problems

znod

No, its both problems and design. I agree that the design is not hard to learn. But, still I would mention the poor way some things are executed design-wise if I participated in the J. D. Power survey. And, I would jump all over BMW's/Seimen VDO's software challenged-ness. I have had one breakage problem and a defect from the factory. I could easily mention 4 or 5 or 10 problems, including design issues, with my car even though I love it to death.