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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > BMW E90/E92/E93 3-series General Forums > General E90 Sedan / E91 Wagon / E92 Coupe / E93 Cabrio > South African cars?



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      12-09-2012, 12:27 PM   #1
Biddlesworth
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South African cars?

Is there anything to know about the SA cars? I have seen in several places where it's always disclosed that it is SA. Is there reason for this?

edit: Yeah, sorry if I wasn't clear but I was referring to the place of manufacture. I just purchased a SA built car and I think it spent some of it's life in Europe.. It came loaded with Euro maps and whomever owned it before didn't clear their contacts out of NAV. Def not American.

Which brings me another question, if it's an SA built car, is it a Euro-spec car? Is there a difference on BMWs?
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      12-09-2012, 12:39 PM   #2
Manxman1950
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Perhaps because they are right hand drive.
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      12-09-2012, 01:03 PM   #3
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I think he means where the car was built. My car was built in SA and is not RHD. The destination of the car determines LHD/RHD, not where it is built. Not sure about your question though OP.
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      12-09-2012, 01:16 PM   #4
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As long as its not built in US, China, or Russia, you should be good
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      12-12-2012, 12:54 AM   #5
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For the US, the 3 series is made in several plants in Germany or the South African plant. In SA, they primarily manufacture the globally distributed N51 SULEV vehicles, which are the mass market cars for general dealer allocation. As such, the majority of the base model cars with the "value package" came from SA when I was looking to get my 2011.

Almost all custom 3's come off the Munich line while almost all others come from plants located in more industrialized cities. The Chinese plant is strictly for that market and does not come here or go to Europe. I insisted on a Germany car myself and waited for an available port swap.

Many of the initial build quality issues have been traced to the SA cars, once they get a few thousand miles and a couple work orders behind them, they make for good cars to drive down BMW's CAFE ratings.
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      12-12-2012, 03:52 AM   #6
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Funny how South Africans are renowned for stealing and hi jacking cars lol ... and it turns out they make them, rob the factory instead!
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      12-12-2012, 08:48 AM   #7
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My last E46 was a SA and it never had any issues.
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      12-12-2012, 09:36 AM   #8
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We've had two E46's and one E90 built at the Rosslyn plant .... all good.

Still driving the original purchase 2002 330i now 120,000 miles!
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      12-12-2012, 06:53 PM   #9
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I was told by several people who work for BMW that the S.A. cars actually have a better reliability history than the ones made in Germany.

It'd be interesting to see an actual comparison if I could get my hands on one.
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      12-12-2012, 10:22 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Karbon View Post
I was told by several people who work for BMW that the S.A. cars actually have a better reliability history than the ones made in Germany.

It'd be interesting to see an actual comparison if I could get my hands on one.
well that's what I have. I'll let you know!
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      12-13-2012, 02:47 AM   #11
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Initial build quality is a different metric than reliability of a series. My German build had 1 malfunction in a tail lite and has been solid since. Mechanically, all engines and many components are made in Germany and shipped to SA for assembly, just like the the X series plant here in the US.

The ibq rating was put out by JD Power a couple years ago and looked at delivery center and dealer repairs prior to sale. Which is tricky because they do not have tell you about them ever as they are still in manufacturer stock. I knew a guy who bought a VW that was a total lemon, he found out that the car was nearly totaled prior to dealership delivery and repaired at the factory.
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