[5pacey]

Specifically, my car is scheduled for production week 43. Ordered 9/14. Have the 2 tone Blue/Ivory leather. BMW "genius"'es told me I can change anything all the way until the car starts production or even some when it is in production.

Just tried to change the color (Carbon Black to Sapphire Black), and the dealer says they can't do it because the car has one of the "Individual" options - specifically the 2 tone leather - and this makes it so BMW puts an earlier than normal block on changes.. allegedly that block started on 9/16, so literally 2 days after I placed the order. Which sounds a little draconian.

Other than BMW being apparently misinformed about their own product & process, this was never communicated, which is "tad" infuriating. Now wife is pissed (she was the one who mainly wanted the change) ... and by extension I am not having all that much fun either (though I don't hate Carbon Black .... just don't tell her that.

[5pacey]

A bit of an update. Called BMW genius'es again, spoke w/a rep who swears he never heard about such a thing and said for me to either talk to GM @ the dealer, or for them to initiate what they call "dealer callback", which is one of their "case managers" calling the dealerhship and discussing the case and what to do about it. They are then suppose to call me back within 3 days to tell me what is happening.

Me talking to the GM, after both the sales guy and sales mgr, both of whom are very professional, sound legit and don't see what reason they'd have to lie to me about it, sounds pointless to me. I'll wait for the "case manager" to call back but Its not looking great at the moment.

Any thoughts/ideas what else to do? Other than the obivous - re-order, which I don't really want to try and do.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by 5pacey

Just tried to change the color (Carbon Black to Sapphire Black), and the dealer says they can't do it because the car has one of the "Individual" options

Any thoughts/ideas what else to do? Other than the obivous - re-order, which I don't really want to try and do.

Your dealer is right - when they put "individual" in the "Special Request" section of the allocation, there are options you can't change. I did this live, with my dealer trying to make various changes on the system.

Some things he could change like the interior trim & wheels, other things he couldn't change, specifically the exterior color.

Relative to making changes in general, typically you can do it while the car is ordered, but waiting for its production week (i.e., status 111 / 112) but once the vehicle starts production (status 150) no changes are allowed.

this is an old list, but probably still generally accurate:

37 Order is at BMW NA
87 Production Week Assigned
97 Order sent to AG
100 Order deleted by AG
101 Error in data transmitted
102 Special Order (no Prod Week)
105 Order out of Prod. Period
111 Order Accepted at AG
112 Order scheduled for Production
150 Production Started
151 Body Shop Started
152 Paint Shop Started
153 Assembly Started
155 Production Completed
160 Released to Distribution
168 AG Stock
170 Waiting Workshop
172 Planned for Workshop
174 Workshop Entry
176 Workshop Complete
180 Waiting for Export Dispatch
181 Waiting for Domestic Dispatch
182 AG Load No. — Released to Carrier
190 Dispatched ex(port?) BMW AG
191 Returned to BMW AG
193 Arrived at Port of Exit (where my car was stalled)
194 Selected for Shipment
195 Shipped from Port of Exit
196 Shipment Arrival

[5pacey]

Mine is status 112. And the sales guy used it to say that once it's in status 112 you can't make changes. That said, he must have not known about it either, because when I asked him to make the change he just went "sure no problem"... Only later called me and said it's not doable. Then I called geniuses, who said to talk to the sales mgr and if he won't do it to call them back and they'll try to push it from their end. I did, he said the same thing but elaborated somewhat.

I then called the geniuses back who said they never heard of it and they'll set up the "dealer callback" thing to try and push it through. But to be honest the sm sounded more lucid than the geniuses. We'll see I guess but I am not smelling victory here.

[calbears]

Originally Posted by 5pacey

Mine is status 112. And the sales guy used it to say that once it's in status 112 you can't make changes. That said, he must have not known about it either, because when I asked him to make the change he just went "sure no problem"... Only later called me and said it's not doable. Then I called geniuses, who said to talk to the sales mgr and if he won't do it to call them back and they'll try to push it from their end. I did, he said the same thing but elaborated somewhat.

I then called the geniuses back who said they never heard of it and they'll set up the "dealer callback" thing to try and push it through. But to be honest the sm sounded more lucid than the geniuses. We'll see I guess but I am not smelling victory here.

It is true that adding certain "individual" options will lock the car from being modified after a certain date. That date appears once that order is submitted on the final page. Once the vehicle passes that date, it is completely locked, no changes after that date passes.

The individual option could be interior trim or something like an "individual interior" like on the M3/M4 with ivory white interior.

[omasou]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

Your dealer is right - when they put "individual" in the "Special Request" section of the allocation, there are options you can't change. I did this live, with my dealer trying to make various changes on the system.

Some things he could change like the interior trim & wheels, other things he couldn't change, specifically the exterior color.

Relative to making changes in general, typically you can do it while the car is ordered, but waiting for its production week (i.e., status 111 / 112) but once the vehicle starts production (status 150) no changes are allowed.

this is an old list, but probably still generally accurate:

37 Order is at BMW NA
87 Production Week Assigned
97 Order sent to AG
100 Order deleted by AG
101 Error in data transmitted
102 Special Order (no Prod Week)
105 Order out of Prod. Period
111 Order Accepted at AG
112 Order scheduled for Production
150 Production Started
151 Body Shop Started
152 Paint Shop Started
153 Assembly Started
155 Production Completed
160 Released to Distribution
168 AG Stock
170 Waiting Workshop
172 Planned for Workshop
174 Workshop Entry
176 Workshop Complete
180 Waiting for Export Dispatch
181 Waiting for Domestic Dispatch
182 AG Load No. — Released to Carrier
190 Dispatched ex(port?) BMW AG
191 Returned to BMW AG
193 Arrived at Port of Exit (where my car was stalled)
194 Selected for Shipment
195 Shipped from Port of Exit
196 Shipment Arrival

Nice that's a much more complete list than what I had. Thanks!

I believe the first one should be 47 not 37; 047 order bank request entered

When a car is sold, e.g. you place an order and to help nudge BMW to accept an order and provide an allocation, the dealer enters the Priority: 1 Customer Sold

Some other status that I have after 196 but w/o numbers are...

??? VPC prep complete / carrier released (truck not assigned)
??? Dealer arrival / dealer prep complete
??? Delivery

Something things that I have noticed...

1. Once the car enters production, for us it typically jumps from 150 straight to 160/168 b/c it takes less than a day to build.

2. Delivery is much quicker for Spartanburg vehicle b/c we're not waiting on ships and VPC.

[taek]

Identical situation as mine. I ordered an X5 with the ivory/blue merino.

Well before production started I was contemplating a paint color change and called a genius who said I could still change it. However my SA said that was incorrect, my exterior paint color was locked.

I didn't think the ivory/blue was a "real" Individual option since it was on the pricing guide.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by taek

Identical situation as mine. I ordered an X5 with the ivory/blue merino.

Well before production started I was contemplating a paint color change and called a genius who said I could still change it. However my SA said that was incorrect, my exterior paint color was locked.

I didn't think the ivory/blue was a "real" Individual option since it was on the pricing guide.

There's kinda 3 levels of Individual:

* BMWNA pre-selected Individual options for standard ordering including a few interior colors & trims, as well as a few exterior colors. I call this "Individual Lite" and this is the stuff that appears on the order sheets like Birch trim or Ametrin

* BMWNA approved Individual options for special ordering; i.e., the $5,000 paint colors for the X5. These aren't all of the colors pre-researched, nor are these the paint-to-sample; simply **some** of the pre-researched exterior colors Spartanburg has been configured to accept.

-- Unavailable for Spartanburg vehicles, i.e., X-series ----

* BMW AG Individual Manufaktur. This is anything-goes: Paint-to-sample, salmonskin trim, your initials embroidered into seatbacks, leather interior striped to the colors of your favorite sports team, whatever. As noted, this is only available for German-built vehicles, and not even all of those.

Individual Manufaktur = "real" Individual


All of that said, as others have mentioned (and I've heard from various dealers) once you do "Special Request: Individual" they make special orders and production line space which they can't/won't undo so some changes aren't allowed.

[5pacey]

Ok... Well... So I'll see what happens when BMW calls the dealer to "discuss" this but I suspect the dealer is right... The problem is this should have been communicated, and it wasn't. So i don't blame the dealer necessarily... especially if the "geniuses" continue to profess that they never heard about this.

So... the question is what are the options.

1. I just roll over and go with it.

2. If the geniuses don't produce a result I want - the color change - which I suspect will be the result, I could just say, ok... then I don't want the car, I want a new order. The dealer will clearly not like this and resist. They have 2k deposit from me so I can't just walk away, and obviously I don't know what allocations they have left at this point, and at the very least it would push the build out by another month, roughly.

Another question here is is the dealer willing to just cash in the 2k and tell me to f.off.. or they are more likely to bite the bullet, order me a new car, and just put the Carbon Black one on the lot?

[calbears]

Originally Posted by 5pacey

Ok... Well... So I'll see what happens when BMW calls the dealer to "discuss" this but I suspect the dealer is right... The problem is this should have been communicated, and it wasn't. So i don't blame the dealer necessarily... especially if the "geniuses" continue to profess that they never heard about this.

So... the question is what are the options.

1. I just roll over and go with it.

2. If the geniuses don't produce a result I want - the color change - which I suspect will be the result, I could just say, ok... then I don't want the car, I want a new order. The dealer will clearly not like this and resist. They have 2k deposit from me so I can't just walk away, and obviously I don't know what allocations they have left at this point, and at the very least it would push the build out by another month, roughly.

Another question here is is the dealer willing to just cash in the 2k and tell me to f.off.. or they are more likely to bite the bullet, order me a new car, and just put the Carbon Black one on the lot?

You won't get the result you'd like with the existing order. Either accept it, get a new order (shouldn't be an issue for the dealer)--but you may have to wait longer, or back out. The deposit should be refundable.

[omasou]

The options are probably endless. They could try and trade the build w/another dealer or do anything you listed.

All of my cars since 1986 have been Alpine White. Funny thing is, I actually came very close this time to choosing black, Carbon Black.

New allocation are released tomorrow 10/7.

[omasou]

Originally Posted by taek

Identical situation as mine. I ordered an X5 with the ivory/blue merino.

Well before production started I was contemplating a paint color change and called a genius who said I could still change it. However my SA said that was incorrect, my exterior paint color was locked.

I didn't think the ivory/blue was a "real" Individual option since it was on the pricing guide.

From the X6 Order Guide. It's "individual"...

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by calbears

You won't get the result you'd like with the existing order. Either accept it, get a new order (shouldn't be an issue for the dealer)--but you may have to wait longer, or back out. The deposit should be refundable.

Totally agree with calbears ...

That said, accepting the existing order isn't "rolling over" in my opinion - you need to remember that:

(1.) Dealers aren't BMW, they're independent businesses and they're at the mercy of BMWNA's ordering intricacies, BMW AG's policies, and the supply chain challenges in general.

(2.) BMWNA, aka, "the geniuses" are the importer/distributor and they're at the mercy of the manufacturer, i.e., Spartanburg, i.e., BMW Manufacturing, and BMW AG, and the supply chain.

(3.) Caveat Emptor
Being fully informed is YOUR responsibility and it's why forums like this exist ... while it's nice if a seller gives you perfect information, never assume they are or will.


Not to be harsh, but if this is anyone's fault, it's yours, not the dealer. It's how business works - you gotta take responsibility for your negotiated deal. Granted you don't always know what you don't know, still, this isn't really the dealer's fault so you're not rolling over. Ideally the dealer will give you a small $ off, proactively offer to reorder, or other remedy ... but that would be out of politeness (and good business).

Best thing to do is to accept accountability, realize you could've been better informed (asking here FIRST), and take any downsides as a price paid for lessons learned.

This kind of stuff happens to all of us.

[5pacey]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

Totally agree with calbears ...

That said, accepting the existing order isn't "rolling over" in my opinion - you need to remember that:

(1.) Dealers aren't BMW, they're independent businesses and they're at the mercy of BMWNA's ordering intricacies, BMW AG's policies, and the supply chain challenges in general.

(2.) BMWNA, aka, "the geniuses" are the importer/distributor and they're at the mercy of the manufacturer, i.e., Spartanburg, i.e., BMW Manufacturing, and BMW AG, and the supply chain.

(3.) Caveat Emptor
Being fully informed is YOUR responsibility and it's why forums like this exist ... while it's nice if a seller gives you perfect information, never assume they are or will.


Not to be harsh, but if this is anyone's fault, it's yours, not the dealer. It's how business works - you gotta take responsibility for your negotiated deal. Granted you don't always know what you don't know, still, this isn't really the dealer's fault so you're not rolling over. Ideally the dealer will give you a small $ off, proactively offer to reorder, or other remedy ... but that would be out of politeness (and good business).

Best thing to do is to accept accountability, realize you could've been better informed (asking here FIRST), and take any downsides as a price paid for lessons learned.

This kind of stuff happens to all of us.

So, I completely agree w/points 1 & 2, which is why I said I don't necessarily blame the dealer. They don't get anything out of misleading me on this. I placed the order for xyz, and they don't really care if its xyc.

Point 3... well, less agreement here. While it is to my benefit, clearly, to be fully informed when I conduct business w/a company and buy a product from them, it is NOT my "responsibility". In fact, the dealer are the representatives of the manufacturer, and suppose to be "experts" on the product (which they are not, but thats ok, I know enough), AND the purchasing process, which is what they do for a living. If anyone should be informed about things like this its the people who sell those cars and deal with BMW NA 6 days a week 10 hrs a day. Not random guy, me, who buys a 1 car from them once every 6-7 years.

I completely disagree with the following point that this is my fault. I do not have the "responsibility" to even be aware of this forum, let alone ask specific questions here and assume I get correct and credible answers. Anything learned here I appreciate very much, but its basically luck and gravy. Membership in this forum is not recommended or mentioned by BMW NA, AG or the dealer, let alone required to purchase a new car.

In fact, the dealer, and BMW NA - the "geniuses", both (mis)informed me by saying that I can make changes all the way until the production day. They were actually themselves happy in their aparently incorrect assumption until I asked for this specific change. The blame/fault or whatever you want to call it is clearly on BMW NA and/or whoever knows this at the dealership (which apparently was not the sales rep). BMW NA should be pushing/ensuring/training the dealers to inform their prospective clients precisely about gotchas like this so clients aren't frustrated / feel cheated and/at times probably walking from deals because of cases like this, extreme edge they may be. And the dealer management, should be ensuring that their sales people who are responsible for conducting the transactions, or at least being the front men/women, know this stuff.

I feel exactly 0 responsibility in the current predicament. If I were informed that the cut-off day is 9/16, 2 days after the order was placed, instead of 30 plus days later, then you'd be right if I still insisted on changing things. This is however not the case at all. BMW NA insists even at this point that I still should be able to change the color.

Anyway... While I appreciate your opinion, I am not really looking to figure out where the blame/fault here is because thats pretty clear to me. And I am definitely not looking to take responsibility and pay $80k & "live with" a corporate screwup. I am looking to figure out what the options are and what is realistically doable. Don't really have a beef w/the dealer either, I think they've been pretty straight w/me on this, even if clearly confused/not sufficiently well informed at the sales rep level at least. The sales mgr seemed to have known this, but I have no way to tell if he knew this all along, and info just didn't make it to the sales rep level, or he just found it out now like everybody else and is just playing it as if he "knew" (which again, not sure is a good thing ).

[omasou]

I just re-read your original post. If your production week is 43 then your car should be built Oct 18th or that week. You should be close to 150 and VIN assigned. Once the VIN is assingn there are no more changes.

BTW, not telling you to suck it up. Instead trying to provide you with more information about the build process for your discussion. Good luck.

[charlie fairmont]

Having attempted to do an individual paint scheme only to have it later get denied, I'm familiar with dealers not being fully versed in how individual options work and sympathize with you and your wife.

Before changing anything, have you seen the two colors in question, in person? They're quite different. The carbon black is basically dark, sparkly blue in sunlight and the black sapphire is, well, black, but also sparkly. I don't know which you prefer but my only point is to make sure you see them in person before switching. Computer screens don't do either of them any justice.

If you do want to change, it should be completely doable to simply put a second order in exactly the way you want. The original order will come in, you'll tell the dealer you're passing on it and, if the market in you area is anything like mine, the car will sell within 48 hours and the dealer should then refund your deposit. Yes, you'll tie up the additional 2k for a month or two and yes you'll have to reset the waiting game while the "correct" one is built. But you'll end up with what you (and perhaps most importantly) your wife want.

We were similarly run around, first with the paint snafu and then, with a car that was damaged while being off-loaded at the dealership. The damaged car was repaired but we declined (it was a good repair but still obviously repaired) and had them order a second, identically spec'd car. The second wait was not fun and my wife was majorly deflated but eventually, that second month and a half wait passed and now she has exactly what she wanted (don't bring up that unavailable individual paint scheme snafu) and is completely infatuated with "Big Mike" as she calls him, lol.

[5pacey]

Originally Posted by charlie fairmont

Having attempted to do an individual paint scheme only to have it later get denied, I'm familiar with dealers not being fully versed in how individual options work and sympathize with you and your wife.

Before changing anything, have you seen the two colors in question, in person? They're quite different. The carbon black is basically dark, sparkly blue in sunlight and the black sapphire is, well, black, but also sparkly. I don't know which you prefer but my only point is to make sure you see them in person before switching. Computer screens don't do either of them any justice.

If you do want to change, it should be completely doable to simply put a second order in exactly the way you want. The original order will come in, you'll tell the dealer you're passing on it and, if the market in you area is anything like mine, the car will sell within 48 hours and the dealer should then refund your deposit. Yes, you'll tie up the additional 2k for a month or two and yes you'll have to reset the waiting game while the "correct" one is built. But you'll end up with what you (and perhaps most importantly) your wife want.

We were similarly run around, first with the paint snafu and then, with a car that was damaged while being off-loaded at the dealership. The damaged car was repaired but we declined (it was a good repair but still obviously repaired) and had them order a second, identically spec'd car. The second wait was not fun and my wife was majorly deflated but eventually, that second month and a half wait passed and now she has exactly what she wanted (don't bring up that unavailable individual paint scheme snafu) and is completely infatuated with "Big Mike" as she calls him, lol.

My sympathy extended ...

W/respect to the colors... I am not 100% sure I won't like carbon black. I suspect I might love it actually. In fact this is why I originally orderded it that way - I remember seeing it few years back when buying my current F15, and remember how much I loved it. But wife, who's car it was going to be, wanted black no hint of blue... so we went w/whatever the black metallic was called at the time.

This time I was extatic ordering CB and it also jives w/blue/ivory merino leather etc etc... but a week later I saw what I though was CB with the black grille... though not sure 100% it was CB, but it was a very dark blue, and did not like the blue w/black trim and grille... just didn't do it for me. I also then saw, a different G05, very dark blue elsewhere, and it had a definitive purplish shade... it was couple years old, so not sure if it was CB either... both of those sightings disturbed me and I decided to revisit. This started a rollercoaster of color indecision for about a week w/the wife and daughter claiming their favorites etc... neither of them like the dark blue concept. dauther wanted Mineral White, wife wanted Sapphire Black. I preferred Saphire Black to MW, and for its neutrality and perfect fit with blacked out trim, red calipers etc etc. This will be wife's primary car... I plan on getting a Tesla or if BMW stops playing russian rulette w/design of their new cars and produces reasonably looking EVs, maybe a iBMW is in my future... but this is probably not something they will be able to deliver next year.

[omasou]

I would describe Carbon Black as black w/flops of blue but not Dark, Dark Blue.

[charlie fairmont]

Originally Posted by omasou

I would describe Carbon Black as black w/flops of blue but not Dark, Dark Blue.

This is a perfect example of why it's important to see these in person. We all see or consider things differently. This is an (admittedly horrible) picture of carbon black in the sun. To me, this is blue. The car we traded was black sapphire which also had a hint of blue in its sparkles, but by hint I mean maybe 1% of the blue in carbon black.

Good luck OP. With the dealership lots so barren, it could be difficult to lay eyes on a complete car in both colors. That said, our dealership (and hopefully the one near you) has a little sample wall full of paint with panels you can take outside into the sun.

[FastMarkA]

I had a CB w/ the Ivory/Blue on order and experienced the same (wanted to add an option, but could not, due to Individual).

If there were no Individual option, I could have made a change.

It's a thing.

Interestingly enough, all of the Merino leather options on BMW's builder have the Availability Advisory and it refers to them as being "Individual."

My current car is just regular black Merino, and there's a little sewn on tab that says "BMW Individual," so it might not be just the Ivory/Blue, but all Merino that turns an order into an Individual one, and thus the early lock down.

When you build a car and look at the Vehicle Inquiry sheet, in the top left column there is an "Ind. Block Date" field...the date that shows up there is when changes can no longer be made.

That said, in the OP's case, Carbon Black is the right choice here.

[john1200c]

I had black merino and was able to make changes up until it went to 150 status IIRC.

[omasou]

Originally Posted by charlie fairmont

This is a perfect example of why it's important to see these in person. We all see or consider things differently. This is an (admittedly horrible) picture of carbon black in the sun. To me, this is blue. The car we traded was black sapphire which also had a hint of blue in its sparkles, but by hint I mean maybe 1% of the blue in carbon black.

Good luck OP. With the dealership lots so barren, it could be difficult to lay eyes on a complete car in both colors. That said, our dealership (and hopefully the one near you) has a little sample wall full of paint with panels you can take outside into the sun.

That's more blue than I thought but explains why I see it on the flop.