Am I the only one/the one and only? (delivery issues)

BMW i3 Forum

Help Support BMW i3 Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

izenp

Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2014
Messages
13
Location
Ouddorp ZH, NL
Pffffff…….....
Barely accepted three earlier delays, my i3 was finally planned to be delivered the 18th of july.
In the meantime I made arrangements for home charging and solar solutions. All set.

On a sunny saturday morning - about two weeks before d-day - my i3-agent sent me a friendly message: „I’m so sorry, but I have to tell you that your BMW is now expected to be delivered week 42”…….. What??? And I didn’t even go for the winter tires! ;)
Although another three (!) months delay. Due to the Suite (leather) interior, they say. But I can’t hardly believe it anymore. Standard interior will shorten delivery time with only 6 weeks, so….
Ordered mine december 14, 2013. Estimated delivery history until now: week 10-->13--->24-->29—>42—>???.

Now I totally have had it with BMW. My earlier foresight in a previous post Blijf Maar Wachten (Keep On Waiting) unfortunatly still stands.
Why is BMW messing around with production and delivery dates? Is it the more important US-market?

Please react: Am I the only one suffering so long?
I hope not… (especially interested in de Dutch/Benelux fellow victims).
 
izenp said:
Is it the more important US-market?
I don't think so, and no, you're not the only one. Deposit placed in August 2013, order firmed up at first dealer allocation on 5 Feb 2014, delivery shifted back 3 times, and I don't think I'll get it anytime before September. 7 months seems about average for folks ordering leather. Europe has a backlog of orders, so you unfortunately have to wait your turn. In the USA, few folks even know about the car, BMW is not doing much to market it, and the few folks who's "order" to delivery time is measured in weeks have not really ordered the car in the same manner as most of the rest of the world. The dealer actually ordered the car months previously, and holds a place in line. If the buyer places his "order" prior to the build date, he or she gets to customize it to their liking, making it appear to the buyer to be a very quick order-to-delivery timeframe.
 
ultraturtle said:
izenp said:
Is it the more important US-market?
I don't think so, and no, you're not the only one. Deposit placed in August 2013, order firmed up at first dealer allocation on 5 Feb 2014, delivery shifted back 3 times, and I don't think I'll get it anytime before September. 7 months seems about average for folks ordering leather. Europe has a backlog of orders, so you unfortunately have to wait your turn. In the USA, few folks even know about the car, BMW is not doing much to market it, and the few folks who's "order" to delivery time is measured in weeks have not really ordered the car in the same manner as most of the rest of the world. The dealer actually ordered the car months previously, and holds a place in line. If the buyer places his "order" prior to the build date, he or she gets to customize it to their liking, making it appear to the buyer to be a very quick order-to-delivery timeframe.

I read (and mentioned from my dealer) that they are having a hard time coming up to full-speed production on the carbon-fiber "life modules". I was going to order, but
he located the BEV will all the options (every option available) plus color down in Southern California (I'm up North), so I got that one.
 
According to a cursory search on Autotrader.com, as of the time of this post there are at least 283 i3s either ordered by dealers and unclaimed by buyers, or rotting away in showrooms in the USA. The vast majority are BEVs, as they are generally a hard sell due to our immensely geographically disperse population, general preference to live far away from where we work, lack of government support of charging infrastructure, and savvy purchasers that place a higher priority on driving electric miles than on owning an electric car:

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...&showcaseOwnerId=1032927&startYear=1981&Log=0
 
And then, you have some dealers around where I live that have sold their entire allotment, and have to resort to getting a vehicle from another one. These are the areas in the USA where your wait time to get one exactly like you want can approach that seen overseas.

Being designed as a city car, if your intended use exceeds the available range, it is obviously not a viable means of transport. With some of the huge distances between destinations, especially in the mountains or open areas of the middle of the USA, unless you literally lived in a or around one of the bigger cities, it probably isn't a good choice...that leaves a lot of dealers with the potential for vehicles they may have a hard time selling.

Until the battery tech can improve the energy density of them, BEVs will only have a niche market. And, where I live, that appears to be fairly hot market. I wouldn't expect it to be very big in somewhere like the middle of Iowa where grain and corn rule the landscape for miles on end.

For me, a BEV meets my typical day-to-day needs, and that's what I ended up with. I've only driven my ICE once since I got the i3, because the i3 was in at the dealer's to get the software update. I do not often need more range than the i3 has.
 
I bought my long-time dealer's demo model @ 5% off w/117 miles. It's a REx and has the DC Fast charge option-- a necessity in my mind for future resale viability. Other local dealer has electric only demo and will die with it unless he trades another dealer. Has three in port, but none with DC Fast Charge. Being in upstate NY USA we are on the fringe of NYC-Boston corridor and charge points, while numerous, aren't all convenient or friendly.

Good luck.
 
No, it is definitely not just you. I'm closing in on 8 months for mine. It was supposed to be delivered to the dealer yesterday, but the dealer notified me on Friday that it was being held up at the VPC for the software update. Hopefully, I'll finally take delivery in the next couple weeks...

I've encountered delays at literally every step of the process. If it wasn't for all the rave reviews about the car, I would have bailed by now.
 
Ordered 8/5/2014 (BE) and delivery is for week 44 (also Suite). Some time ago i asked about the problems with the leather and my agent said it is still for week 44. Last week just added a few options, the agent didn't mention any delays...
 
I should finally be taking delivery of my i3 this week or next :D! My first chat with the local BMW about the i3 was last August and I placed my order at the end of January/early February.
 
Wow. That is so frustrating! I almost placed my order with Crevier BMW in April 2014 but they told me that I would not get a car until the end of the year. I laughed and drove over to Irvine BMW who told me they could get me a car in 2-3 months. They did not fail. I placed my order mid April and I am driving my i3 weeks before expected. Maybe it depends on the dealer? I'm not sure if they are alotted so many orders?
 
In the USA, the dealership buys the vehicles from BMW, and most of them have been allotted a certain number of production slots per month. If the car(s) they are buying are not committed to a customer, they come into the dealership as they ordered them. If, before the car is to be produced, the dealership sells one of those it has on order, they can customize it to that customer's wishes, even up to a few days before production is scheduled to start. When a vehicle is essentially 'sold' to a customer, it also changes its priority, and may move it ahead of other orders that are for 'stock'.

The UK's dealers, as I understand it, do not buy or order their vehicles (at least the i3) the same way, which can lead to much longer wait times, since an order doesn't appear to go into the cycle until one is actually sold, verses having the dealer order some for 'stock' (I may be wrong, but this is my gut feel on this from what I've heard). If a US dealer has sold all of it's currently in the pipeline stock, and he cannot trade with another dealership, the lead time may be as long or longer (shipping time is greater) than in the UK. But, at least initially, that does not seem to be an issue in the states, yet. BMW has done almost no advertising for the i3 in the USA, and may only start to ramp that up as supply increases.
 
Thank you all for sharing your thougts and experiences.
One thing is clear to me now: US-dealerships differs a lot from the European-Benelux situation.
As I understand the Dutch market has no priority this year. Maybe due to tax and other stimulating facilities that have been reduced.
Thanks to my i3-agent :D next week they will provide me an i3 demo for testing my recently installed charging point.
So that will ease off my frustration for a (little) while.

Until now no Dutch respondents...... I'm definitely not the only one awaiting?
 
Wow, I must have ordered through the wrong dealer (Century West in North Hollywood)! Order date was January 25. It's now August 7 and my vehicle is not even in production yet!

Grrrrrr.

Is there something I can do? (It's just the generic early model with everything but the larger wheels.)

Franz
 
buddhaauthor said:
Wow, I must have ordered through the wrong dealer (Century West in North Hollywood)! Order date was January 25. It's now August 7 and my vehicle is not even in production yet!

Grrrrrr.

Is there something I can do? (It's just the generic early model with everything but the larger wheels.)

Franz

My advice is to drive down to Ontario, CA. They had 16 of them at my last count! Most were Mega or Giga, so I had to order one from the factory.
 
If your dealer had all of his allocations presold, and he put your order in as his next available one, that's the best he can do unless he can negotiate one from another dealer. I was lucky, my dealer was able to get one from another dealer, and I took delivery in less than a week. The next best thing was one he had had on order for awhile that could be customized to what I wanted that was supposed to go into production in a few weeks. But, a dealer can't just order one out of the blue and get one quickly...they're being sold as fast or faster than they are building them, so people have to wait their turn. To BMW, whether it is sold to the dealer or the dealer has sold it to a customer already doesn't necessarily move it in the priority list, but it might move it ahead of those in the production line for a dealer, but not allocated to a customer.
 
If you want am i3 now, I recommend finding a new dealer. Stevens Creek BMW in Northern California currently has 25 in stock (http://www.stevenscreekbmw.com/new-inventory/index.htm?make=BMW&model=i3&bodyStyle=Sedan). I walked in on Saturday (without an appointment) and left with the exact model I wanted and paid $2K under MSRP.

Note: If you decide to do it, it will be an interesting drive home.
 
Back
Top