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      08-02-2010, 08:53 AM   #1
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How Rare is My Car?

I've searched around on a bunch of different forums and have not found the data I'm looking for, so I figured I'd toss the question out here...

Where can I find info on how many cars of a particular model were imported into the U.S., and/or sold by BMW each year? I have a manual transmission 2008 E91 wagon (non Xdrive, no iDrive). I'm under the impression that this particular configuration is rather rare, but I'd love to know specifically how rare (or, if it's not rare and I'm totally delusional, that's good to know too).

Just curious...does anyone know where to find the actual numbers?

Thanks!
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      08-02-2010, 09:00 AM   #2
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I heard (I believe on a BMW video about the assembly plant) that there are only a handful of cars produced each year with identical configurations. Taking into account paint color, enterior color and various options the potential number of configurations is quite large.
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      08-02-2010, 09:27 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eights-n-Aces View Post
I heard (I believe on a BMW video about the assembly plant) that there are only a handful of cars produced each year with identical configurations. Taking into account paint color, enterior color and various options the potential number of configurations is quite large.
Yeah, I know that once one takes into account the different paint colors and interior options (e.g., leather colors) the number of variations is huge; but I was actually just looking for info on basic models (e.g., 2008 MT E91). Somewhere I read that BMW was only anticipating importing a relatively small number of wagons (under 2000) and a very small percentage (in the low hundreds) of those would be MT models...but that was anticipated, not actual numbers. I was hoping that once a year was complete they'd publish the actual numbers somewhere.
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      08-02-2010, 09:33 AM   #4
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Op, i would also assume that your car is extremely rare. A manual trans., and a wagon body are 2 things right off the bat that would make your car not too common. but i think the real kicker is the fact that its an E91, w/o Xdrive. i had no idea that was even possible. any pics?
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      08-02-2010, 09:45 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeyBananaz18 View Post
Op, i would also assume that your car is extremely rare. A manual trans., and a wagon body are 2 things right off the bat that would make your car not too common. but i think the real kicker is the fact that its an E91, w/o Xdrive. i had no idea that was even possible. any pics?
Depends on your definition of rare.

As a general rule of thumb, only 5% of cars sold in the US are manuals (perhaps the number is slightly [7-10%] higher for cars like BMW and lower [1-2%] for cars like Chevy) and only 5% are wagons. So, your car is 5% of 5%.

I'm not sure what the AWD to RWD ratio is for BMW, but I suspect that the RWD far outsells the AWD - the wagon is available in both versions.
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      08-02-2010, 09:51 AM   #6
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Oh, it's possible

I've been meaning to take decent pics, but it's been a really busy month since I purchased the car. I'll do that soon.

What it is though is a Monaco Blue 328i with the Terra Dakota leather interior. Sport and Premium packages. I've not seen that combination before (but as was said, the interior/exterior combinations are many), and then there's the fact that I have the sport package on a non-awd wagon. Most every E91 wagon I've ever seen is Xdrive and auto.
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      08-02-2010, 09:55 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jsunma View Post
Oh, it's possible

I've been meaning to take decent pics, but it's been a really busy month since I purchased the car. I'll do that soon.

What it is though is a Monaco Blue 328i with the Terra Dakota leather interior. Sport and Premium packages. I've not seen that combination before (but as was said, the interior/exterior combinations are many), and then there's the fact that I have the sport package on a non-awd wagon. Most every E91 wagon I've ever seen is Xdrive and auto.

I figured it was a 328. i think the 335 wasn't available as a wagon until 2009. it sounds like you have a car that was made specifically for europe more that NA lol.
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      08-02-2010, 12:08 PM   #8
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yeah, I'd imagine that this configuration is a dime-a-dozen in Europe, just not over here in the land of the automatic transmission "crossover" vehicle.

fwiw, I put a call into BMW NA and was told that they don't publish this data, although it might be obtainable "in Germany". Hummmmmmm.
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      08-02-2010, 01:11 PM   #9
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Your most likely in the hundreds of cars similar to yours. You will find something like maybe 200 or there about. You own, don't even account for manual transmission one of the lowest production number cars in USA today. They imported tens time more Ferrari's than BMW did your model into the USA that year.
The final answer is very rare!
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      08-02-2010, 01:19 PM   #10
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      08-02-2010, 01:28 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeyBananaz18 View Post
I figured it was a 328. i think the 335 wasn't available as a wagon until 2009. it sounds like you have a car that was made specifically for europe more that NA lol.
I'm pretty sure there's no 335i wagon in the US.
Here in Europe the e91 335i has be around as long as the the other (e90/92) 335i.
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      08-02-2010, 02:04 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by remmib View Post
I'm pretty sure there's no 335i wagon in the US.
Here in Europe the e91 335i has be around as long as the the other (e90/92) 335i.
Correct - never was - never will be.
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      08-02-2010, 05:51 PM   #13
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IIRC, something like 1,000~1,500 E91s are imported into the US each year. If perhaps 30% are RWD and perhaps 5% are MT, that would mean about 15 to 20 per year in that configuration - or less than 100 for the '07~10 model years.

After looking for quite a while, I finally found a fully loaded CPO, RWD, MT non SP '07 wagon with about 32k on it and purchased it as a replacement for my aging '99 328i sedan.

I'm sure you are enjoying your E91 and shifting for yourself - just as I am!

Tom
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      08-02-2010, 06:19 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TrackRat View Post
I doubt the info. you desire is published. You may want to contact BMW NA.
It is. You just have to pay for it. On top of that you need to do a lot of research and data-mining and know what you're looking for.

BMW's online TIS database (it's like $300 for a week's access I think) has a VIN decoder that can tell you what color and options are equipped on each car. So if you have the money, time, and patience you can actually run the entire series of VINs for the production (if you know what the range of VINs are) and get each and every 328iT and its actual color and option package.

Someone did that for the MZ4s, wrote a script to enter every single VIN into the TIS DB and extracted a list of options for every MZ4 roadster and coupe ever built. Apparently I have 1 of 3 Interlagos Blue MZ4 Coupe with Dark Sepang interior AND manual seats ever made. 1 of 2 sold in North America.
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      08-02-2010, 06:27 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeyBananaz18 View Post
I figured it was a 328. i think the 335 wasn't available as a wagon until 2009. it sounds like you have a car that was made specifically for europe more that NA lol.
where?! where?!
that's rare in the U.S. pretty much non-existence like remmib said.
only Europe...

Now, i'm drool'n for one in the states.
they need to have the 5 series touring in the US...hopefully August.
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      08-02-2010, 06:33 PM   #16
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2008 E92 335i  [0.00]
not as rare as a 335i driven by Aurora Bearialis... only 1 in the world... 1 in the UNIVERSE!!!
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      08-02-2010, 07:06 PM   #17
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There is a manual transmission 2008 E91 wagon, non Xdrive, no iDrive in my driveway right now.

There is also a 1998 Volvo V70 T5 wagon with a manual transmission and velour seats in my driveway. I'm told the total number of 1998 V70 T5 manual wagons imported to the US was about 40. I've never seen/heard of another one with the cloth seats.

Some of us like to have a little fun when we drive to the grocery store or Home Depot.

Not many, apparently, but some.
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      08-02-2010, 08:50 PM   #18
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Originally Posted by Majikthese42 View Post
There is a manual transmission 2008 E91 wagon, non Xdrive, no iDrive in my driveway right now.
alrighty then, so that's 2.
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      08-03-2010, 01:36 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eights-n-Aces View Post
I heard (I believe on a BMW video about the assembly plant) that there are only a handful of cars produced each year with identical configurations. Taking into account paint color, enterior color and various options the potential number of configurations is quite large.
Very true...

As far as finding out the number of each model sold with a specific configuration it's pretty hard to get. Polk Automotive would have the sales data but it's not something you can just call them about.

So unless you have access to the sales data you are pretty much out of luck
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      08-03-2010, 08:22 AM   #20
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a few pics

just to prove that it really exists...

Mine was a lease return being sold by a non-BMW dealer, so it's not CPO. Nevertheless, it had only 21K and a clean carfax and a solid maintenance and service record from BMWNA (yeah I checked all of that out). I'll probably extend the warranty on it just because I don't plan on significantly modding it (just not my thing) and am somewhat familiar with the cost of BMW maintenance out of warranty (let's just say "2002 MINI S with 125,000 and $2500 clutch replacement"...nuf said). I got a great deal on it - although I had to travel down South to pick it up - mostly because the dealer hadn't been able to generate any interest in it. For whatever reason, the wagons just don't sell, and I guess that explains the low numbers imported.

Anyway, I love the car. It's plenty fast, sharp looking, and has some utility value so far as moving kids, dogs, bikes, and the occasional trip to Home Depot (as has been mentioned).
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      08-03-2010, 10:20 AM   #21
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I didn't know BMW make E91 without XDrive, must be pretty rare.

Looks good, I like the wagon
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      08-03-2010, 12:45 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeyBananaz18 View Post
Op,but i think the real kicker is the fact that its an E91, w/o Xdrive. i had no idea that was even possible. any pics?
Very possible. XDrive is an option.

Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankiE90 View Post
Now, i'm drool'n for one in the states.
they need to have the 5 series touring in the US...hopefully August.
They stopped bringing them in due to poor sales, and have no plans to import them again...so far. There was also rumor that the 3 series wagon would soon suffer the same fate due to lack of sales in the US. Americans just don't dig the wagons like they used to. Too many yuppies thinking tall vehicles that tip over easy and drink gas like a thirsty marathon runner are a better alternative.

Quote:
Originally Posted by patrickch View Post
I didn't know BMW make E91 without XDrive, must be pretty rare.
I didn't know they offered it as an option until I started pricing my E91. Color me surprised when I found out it was indeed an option. I would've thought it to be rarer to find XDrive on the small wagon, until I learned it was available.
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