US delays?

In California, the ,launch edition Rex is further delayed because the vehicle is not yet certified for sale in the state. We hope it is soon but it may be sometime yet. As neither the state nor BMW are communicating with the buyer, those of us who anxiously await our cars (my son and I each ordered an i3) are sitting in limbo stuck between two monoliths, feeling slightly screwed. The good news is that when the car arrives, we will have a first-rate vehicle. BMW may not be able to navigate the California regulatory process but it knows how to build great cars.

It does not seem like production numbers have anything to do with production date. My production number is 0607000 and it still shows the order as documented. I think April 18 is the day when car goes into production. I am not very optimistic. I placed an order back in Dec in Miami, FL.

My launch edition BEV order also hit production today, Production #0606824.

Looks like a big slug of US orders hit the line today....

Mine has not started production yet (#7202) but I saw this article this morning so maybe soon...

BMW Lifts i3 Electric Car Production 43% on Higher Demand

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-15/bmw-lifts-i3-electric-car-production-43-on-higher-demand.html

DHP said:

interesting, my i3 Rex is production #: 0608162 and the track my BMW doesn't show mine in production yet

Click to expand...

My production number is a bit lower, and the dealer informs me that even though it will be one of the first deliveries in Georgia, it will not go into production until May (pushed back from March). The trend I'm picking up (from this forum) is that Electronaut and most California deliveries will be on schedule, with most of the rest of the country delayed a couple of months (as a result of the carbon fiber issues, I assume). Okay with me if it gives our West Coast REx friends a fighting chance to get a Green Sticker.

I think Tom mentioned he would check on this issue during his next meeting with BMW.

ultraturtle said:

Okay with me if it gives our West Coast REx friends a fighting chance to get a Green Sticker.

Click to expand...

Won't make a difference. The stickers will run out in about 3 weeks.

And even if I had an REx today I couldn't apply for one because it isn't on the approved list yet, just the EV.

There is a bill pending to raise the limit from 40,000 stickers to 85,000. That doesn't change any of the above, though it might make it moot.

Is anyone familiar with the process US dealers use to change the build on one of their allocated i3s to meet a customers specs? My dealer said they were trying to modify a "105" status i3 to fit my build requirements and thereby expedite delivery.

Deposited 2 April
Ordered BeV
Laurel Grey
Tera
no parking or tech pkg
with heated seats, rapid charging, premium audio

ultraturtle said:

DHP said:

interesting, my i3 Rex is production #: 0608162 and the track my BMW doesn't show mine in production yet

Click to expand...

My production number is a bit lower, and the dealer informs me that even though it will be one of the first deliveries in Georgia, it will not go into production until May (pushed back from March). The trend I'm picking up (from this forum) is that Electronaut and most California deliveries will be on schedule, with most of the rest of the country delayed a couple of months (as a result of the carbon fiber issues, I assume). Okay with me if it gives our West Coast REx friends a fighting chance to get a Green Sticker.

I think Tom mentioned he would check on this issue during his next meeting with BMW.

Click to expand...

My dealer's telling me early May as well, pushed back from the end of March, so that's consistent with your hypothesis.

I'm dropping my order. My dealer (Weatherford in Berkeley, CA) wouldn't or couldn't modify it from the launch edition, and we're not that excited any more about paying MSRP for an overloaded car with uncertain delivery date and HOV sticker prospects.

We'll revisit the situation when they start arriving.

I pre-ordered one of the first Plug-in Priuses in 2012. Toyota and the dealers kept us informed and excited throughout the wait for production to start. This has been our first experience with BMW, and an opportunity for the company to engage us with their brand.

But they don't seem interested. Well, now me neither.

Was just at my dealer (Schomp) to check on build status, production # 6930.
Had been week 19, now shows week 23 (1st week of June).
Am signed up for the Event on 5/8, so I'll at least get to drive it again

Same here - was week 19, then 20, now it is 23. Someday they will have to build it, so it's all good

I just got a production number 0607238 from my CA. On April 1 I ordered a Laurel Grey Tera BEV, with no pkgs, but with Heated Seats, HK audio and fast charging. No production info is available on the BMW site. My CA is also trying to expedite since I am P1 status as opposed to dealer stock. Any guesses as to the week or month for production? I see BEV numbers close to mine mentioned above, so something tells me that production is not truly sequential based on production number. Maybe there are separate final assembly lines for each World or option pkg or for BEV and ReX? :? :?

Congratulations to Kelly B, who was the recipient of the first delivery in CO Thursday at the launch event. Someone else scored a spec car that night.

The GSM checked with BMW Dist to find out why my car (6930) had been delayed 9 weeks while others, with much-higher prod numbers, are being delivered. The answer arrived today: a shortage of the leather for the Tera interior. The two deliveries cited above had the Giga and Mega interiors.

I've been given the option of switching my order to an earlier car, i.e., non-Tera, and have declined. Having now seen all three interiors up close, I prefer the all-leather (though I did like the light-colored wheel of the Mega I drove Thursday ).