[JackSpadesSI]

Can anyone here confirm that Week 27 production cars ordered with aluminum trim were delayed for ~1 month?

That’s the situation with my car (E90 335i w/ iDrive). I ordered back in June and got Week 27 production. However, it has been sitting in “your vehicle production is complete and is waiting to be released to the carrier” status forever.

After asking for updates from my CA multiple times he finally came back with the aluminum trim answer. It sounds plausible enough, but if that is really the case I wonder why no one else on this board is talking about that delay.

If there really is a production delay due to lack of inventory of aluminum trim then shame on BMW for not telling anyone that their cars will be a month (at least) late. Even though I find the wood trim ugly it would have been nice to get a call at least asking me if I’d like to select wood over aluminum to speed things up. I would have stayed with the aluminum, but at least I’d feel like I was a valued customer!

[Limmerfest]

i have not heard that at all. I agree with you, it seems like something that your CA "should" have been aware of.....that's some very disappointing news.

You're referring to the Aluminum Trim and not the Glacier Aluminum Trim right? So is your car still at the production factory?

[JackSpadesSI]

Yes, this is the aluminum trim. I believe the glacier aluminum trim is exclusive to the M-Sport Package, which I do not have.

Unfortunately, yes, my car is still at the production factory (which was news to me last Friday). My CA told me it is "expected" to be transported to the port this week. Of course, they also said that they "expected" me to pick up my car last Friday... so their guesses are worth nothing to me.

[Limmerfest]

man, I feel your pain.....that has got to be eating away at you! I just hope you get on a ship and receive your car.....soon all this waiting will be long forgotten!

[edb5020]

Originally Posted by JackSpadesSI

Can anyone here confirm that Week 27 production cars ordered with aluminum trim were delayed for ~1 month?

That’s the situation with my car (E90 335i w/ iDrive). I ordered back in June and got Week 27 production. However, it has been sitting in “your vehicle production is complete and is waiting to be released to the carrier” status forever.

After asking for updates from my CA multiple times he finally came back with the aluminum trim answer. It sounds plausible enough, but if that is really the case I wonder why no one else on this board is talking about that delay.

If there really is a production delay due to lack of inventory of aluminum trim then shame on BMW for not telling anyone that their cars will be a month (at least) late. Even though I find the wood trim ugly it would have been nice to get a call at least asking me if I’d like to select wood over aluminum to speed things up. I would have stayed with the aluminum, but at least I’d feel like I was a valued customer!

As you mentioned above, the vehicle has been completed....meaning that its built, done, and ready to ship -- the aluminum trim is already in there obviously if it has been built.

As far as you CA, that's total Bullshit and I would have told him to get f*cked.

Let me ask you this though, was your car ACTUALLY BUILT on week 27?? Because if it was, then there is no delay at all.

Also, not to rub it in, but for sheer analysis, my car I just ordered was scheduled for week 28 production. It then finished production on the 21st of July and then was loaded upon the Don Pasquale on July 28th. So since yours was before mine it should have well been shipped by now. Can you CA confirm through HIS system that it has not yet been shipped? Also, give me the lasy 7 of your VIN Number and I will track it through the Wallenius and Wilhelmsen website www.2wglobal.com to see if it is on any vessels.

[JackSpadesSI]

Originally Posted by edb5020

Let me ask you this though, was your car ACTUALLY BUILT on week 27?? Because if it was, then there is no delay at all.

I’m not sure I understand you. Week 27 of 2010 was 7/4 to 7/10. As evidence of that being the week in question, my 1-800 status on 7/7 was “your vehicle is in the paint shop with an estimated completion date of July 7, 2010” and then on 7/8 my status was “your vehicle production is complete and is waiting to be released to the carrier”.

That, then, remained my status until just this afternoon when it finally updated to “your vehicle was released to a carrier and is awaiting transportation to the port of exit”. The fact that my status did not change for so long represents a nearly one month delay. I’m not sure how you can claim that there has been no delay at all.

Originally Posted by edb5020

So since yours was before mine it should have well been shipped by now. Can you CA confirm through HIS system that it has not yet been shipped? Also, give me the lasy 7 of your VIN Number and I will track it through the Wallenius and Wilhelmsen website www.2wglobal.com to see if it is on any vessels.

I checked my the WW website with my VIN every day for two weeks before my CA finally got back to me with the supposed aluminum trim excuse. It was not aboard any ship. However, I thought you need the full VIN to check on WW’s website (although I do know that only the last seven characters are needed for the 1-800 BMW system).

Originally Posted by edb5020

As far as you CA, that's total Bullshit and I would have told him to get f*cked.

That’s the purpose of this thread: to find out if the aluminum trim excuse really is BS.

[edb5020]

Originally Posted by JackSpadesSI

I’m not sure I understand you. Week 27 of 2010 was 7/4 to 7/10. As evidence of that being the week in question, my 1-800 status on 7/7 was “your vehicle is in the paint shop with an estimated completion date of July 7, 2010” and then on 7/8 my status was “your vehicle production is complete and is waiting to be released to the carrier”.

What I meant was that if your car was built the week it was supposed to be - in your case the 27th week and it was finished on 7/7, then there was no delay in manufatcuring hence meaning the delay with the aluminum trim.

Originally Posted by JackSpadesSI

That, then, remained my status until just this afternoon when it finally updated to “your vehicle was released to a carrier and is awaiting transportation to the port of exit”. The fact that my status did not change for so long represents a nearly one month delay. I’m not sure how you can claim that there has been no delay at all.

I do understand though that there was a huge gap from when it was actually released to the carrier to be transported to the port....I would double check with your CA's system to make sure that is true.

Originally Posted by JackSpadesSI

I checked my the WW website with my VIN every day for two weeks before my CA finally got back to me with the supposed aluminum trim excuse. It was not aboard any ship. However, I thought you need the full VIN to check on WW’s website (although I do know that only the last seven characters are needed for the 1-800 BMW system).

That’s the purpose of this thread: to find out if the aluminum trim excuse really is BS.

You CAN just type the last 7 digits into the cargo field on their website, that works too.

[JackSpadesSI]

Originally Posted by edb5020

What I meant was that if your car was built the week it was supposed to be - in your case the 27th week and it was finished on 7/7, then there was no delay in manufatcuring hence meaning the delay with the aluminum trim.

Ok, I get your meaning now.

Originally Posted by edb5020

I do understand though that there was a huge gap from when it was actually released to the carrier to be transported to the port....I would double check with your CA's system to make sure that is true.

Well, the issue is that I think my CA is full of it. They’re the ones who told me that there was a delay caused by the aluminum trim. However, they’ve lied to me before and I suspect that this is the case again.

I’ve called BMW NA who claims that they have no information. Additionally, I can’t imagine that if this was a real delay that no one else on these boards would have mentioned it by now.

I’m looking for someone else, independent of my dealership, to verify that there was truly a delay caused by inventory of Aluminum Trim for a 2011 335i w/ iDrive (I include that because I’m not sure if iDrive models use different trim from non-iDrive models) during Week 27 production.

[BMW-NC]

The dealership / CA is always last to learn aybout delays in the factory. They play by their own rules, sometimes cars show up that where schedueled to be produced x weeks later or slots are beeing shuffled around.
Allthough I think the Trim excuse is a well, excuse. An excuse for a situation your CA has been put into. He does not build the car. He will not get apid until you have your car. So. Why would he delay it on purpose???

[JackSpadesSI]

Originally Posted by BMW-NC

Allthough I think the Trim excuse is a well, excuse. An excuse for a situation your CA has been put into. He does not build the car. He will not get apid until you have your car. So. Why would he delay it on purpose???

There is no financial benefit for the dealership to delay my car. But, I wanted to know if it is a sincere delay or an act of negligence. If it is a delay then the dealership is off the hook for the extended timeline. However, I’m not sure how the procurement process works at the dealership… maybe they have to notify BMW to ship a car after production is complete and they failed to make that notification for my car so it sat around for a month.

More likely than the case of negligence, though, is if there was some accident that occurred which required a rebuild of my car while still at the factory (or somewhere in Germany). That would explain the delay. Then, perhaps my dealership lied to me because they knew I wouldn’t want a rebuilt car so they invented the Aluminum Trim issue.

Because no one else is talking about an Aluminum Trim delay on these forums I felt it odd that it would only impact me so I’m questioning the truth behind it.

[edb5020]

Call the dealer today, demand to know when and where the car is. If you get no answer, get your deposit back and go to another dealer (or at least threaten them). Let me know

[JackSpadesSI]

Originally Posted by edb5020

Call the dealer today, demand to know when and where the car is. If you get no answer, get your deposit back and go to another dealer (or at least threaten them). Let me know

Well my 1-800 phone status is now “Your vehicle is at the port awaiting a shipping vessel. There is no shipping information available at this time.” So, I’m convinced that this status is accurate because from last week it has progressed like a car ought to once it is released to the carrier. Therefore, this is likely what my dealership would tell me – and I’m confident they’d be right.

My issue, however, is why there was a very long delay between when it completed production (7/7/10) and when it was finally released to the carrier (8/3/10). Some background on the timeline of the delay…

6/18/10 – I order my car and I’m told the expected delivery date is 7/30/10.

6/26/10 – I ask for an update and I’m told the delivery date would be “sooner” than previously expected. When I pushed for specifics he estimated a couple of days sooner.

7/14/10 – My car had missed two boats from Bremerhaven so I asked my dealership if there had been a delay. I was told that the expected delivery date was during the “week of 09 Aug 10”. I asked why the delay and was only told there had been “no unexpected delays”. I’m not sure how going from “sooner than 7/30/10” to “week of 09 Aug 10” equates to “no unexpected delays”!

7/30/10 – The original expected delivery date. I put my foot down two days prior and insisted on an actual reason for the delay. After two days where my dealership would not return my calls I’m told that it was due to the Aluminum Trim. That information came from the Sales Manager. His source was (reportedly) BMW NA.

It just seems a little suspicious to me that my car was finally released to the carrier a mere two business days after I did insist on specific information. It feels like when your landlord asks for the late rent so you tell him the check was already in the mail, and then you go hurry to put it in the mail that day.

So, again, I’m not as interested in where my car is today as much as why it sat around for 26 days with no progress. If a third part could independently verify that there was, in fact, a delay associated with Aluminum Trim then great! However, no one here can apparently do that AND when I called BMW NA they said they had no information on the issue. That gives me cause for suspicion!

[Andy M]

I think this might be what's going on...

When I ordered my 2009 335, it was part of the first batch of 335 LCI's ever made. So luckily they had all the parts already and there wasn't a shortage. However, it did have the “Your vehicle is at the port awaiting a shipping vessel. There is no shipping information available at this time.” message. They don't ship the car until the cargo ship has received ALL the vehicles for your destination.

Could mean that they weren't able to finish the build for the other cars because they ran out of the aluminum trim due to supplier issues.

[purpl3ish]

i know it sucks but hey if you're leasing the August rates are really great

[JackSpadesSI]

Originally Posted by Andy M

I think this might be what's going on...

When I ordered my 2009 335, it was part of the first batch of 335 LCI's ever made. So luckily they had all the parts already and there wasn't a shortage. However, it did have the “Your vehicle is at the port awaiting a shipping vessel. There is no shipping information available at this time.” message. They don't ship the car until the cargo ship has received ALL the vehicles for your destination.

Could mean that they weren't able to finish the build for the other cars because they ran out of the aluminum trim due to supplier issues.

No, this is not the case. See the dates above. My car only just went into “Your vehicle is at the port awaiting a shipping vessel. There is no shipping information available at this time.” status on Saturday (two days ago).

I do not believe there is a delay anymore. My issue is with the delay between 7/7/10 and 8/3/10.

[JackSpadesSI]

Originally Posted by ChOy BoY

i know it sucks but hey if you're leasing the August rates are really great

I'm financing. But yes, the August rates are fantastic.

If it was a matter of my car being a day or two late into August that would be fine. However, it can't see getting my car before September, which is not ok.

[x5m power]

This is why I take what they have on the lot,they usally find what I want,not worth the hassle.. Of waiting

[jimbowie]

Ordered a 335i xdrive June 12. Been stuck in the same status (production complete awaiting carrier distribution) since mid-July. The dealership kept telling me that it could be delayed for a number of reasons but never did give me a reason. Finally found someone there who was helpful, made some calls and told me that the vendor responsible for providing the aluminum trim is out of stock. Waiting for an ETA but I'm definitely going to expect some restitution. They're trying to deny responsibility for the vendor but BMW chose that vender-they are accountable regardless. I definitely feel your pain.

[JackSpadesSI]

Originally Posted by jimbowie

Ordered a 335i xdrive June 12. Been stuck in the same status (production complete awaiting carrier distribution) since mid-July. The dealership kept telling me that it could be delayed for a number of reasons but never did give me a reason. Finally found someone there who was helpful, made some calls and told me that the vendor responsible for providing the aluminum trim is out of stock. Waiting for an ETA but I'm definitely going to expect some restitution. They're trying to deny responsibility for the vendor but BMW chose that vender-they are accountable regardless. I definitely feel your pain.

Sounds like the same situation as mine, except I actually fared a little better: I ordered later on 6/18 and my car got on a boat on 8/14.

Who was your source of information for the aluminum trim delay? I'm VERY interested in how you found that out. BMW NA told me last week that there have been "no delays" in production this summer (yeah, right). My dealership's Sales Manager was the one who informed me about the aluminum trim delay.

[purpl3ish]

that's weird guys..i'm picking up my e92 with aluminum trim sometime this week; it's been at the prep center and i ordered it july 15

[jimbowie]

My source of information was a different salesperson than mine at the same dealership. Evidently she's been in the same business for years and has "contacts". The lack of aluminum was her story then. Just went back to the dealer (Virginia) on Monday. Again my salesperson was useless and another rep made a call and found out that the trim is in stock but the folks are on vacation! They'll start working on cars Sept. 1 and I'll get my car in 3 - 4 weeks. Sounds like a crock. Anyhow, I've got a patient buyer for my current car, luckily. I've escalated to the manager and told them I want a loaner car so I can give my buyer my car. He said he emailed and left a voicemail to "corporate" on Monday. Of course nobody's calling me back. Even if they called and said there's no progress, that would be better than no call at all. This isn't the way this dealership dealt with customer's back in 2002 when I purchased my current car. Believe me, everybody I know and everybody they know are aware of the bs I've been given and will not touch this dealership when they go looking for a BMW.

[E92Carrera]

Originally Posted by jimbowie

My source of information was a different salesperson than mine at the same dealership. Evidently she's been in the same business for years and has "contacts". The lack of aluminum was her story then. Just went back to the dealer (Virginia) on Monday. Again my salesperson was useless and another rep made a call and found out that the trim is in stock but the folks are on vacation! They'll start working on cars Sept. 1 and I'll get my car in 3 - 4 weeks. Sounds like a crock. Anyhow, I've got a patient buyer for my current car, luckily. I've escalated to the manager and told them I want a loaner car so I can give my buyer my car. He said he emailed and left a voicemail to "corporate" on Monday. Of course nobody's calling me back. Even if they called and said there's no progress, that would be better than no call at all. This isn't the way this dealership dealt with customer's back in 2002 when I purchased my current car. Believe me, everybody I know and everybody they know are aware of the bs I've been given and will not touch this dealership when they go looking for a BMW.

It really isn't a crock. The BMW factory is shutdown during august for vacation. Now if it is totally shutdown I don't know. But from what I have heard, if you need your car in august for ED Delivery for example, they will build in July before the shutdown. My car isn't scheduled to start until the 1st week of september after the plant shutdown.