UK Dealers can't afford to keep any stock as they have to pay for them and in a lot of cases the dealer lot just is't big enough to hold any large numbers. One dealer I used to use had a deal with a local supermarket to use 30 spaces and it cost them $20,000 a year - and had to be cleared when the dealer was closed! There is also the issue of pre-registering where the car has plates, is taxed and the warranty clock is running but the car is unsold. In all the years I have been buying new cars, I have never bought one out of the showroom as they have never had the right spec. BMW GB options don't tend to be in packs. Some items are, but a lot aren't and so that means most cars are built to order.

Very few UK Motorists want a forecourt car unless it's a used car, or its a non-luxury brand so comes with very few options anyway. The UK 'norm' is a built to order. If you're buying a luxury brand then unless it's a fleet buyer/operator we expect it to be built to order to our own spec. That applies to BMW, Audi Group, Mercedes, Jaguar, Lexus etc etc.

I think I waited 10 months for the E53 in 2005 (would have been 14 months without a Dealer build slot and Diesels were also a special order vehicle then), 10 weeks for the 2011 E71 X6 (three of which was the boat bit) and 6 weeks for the (2005) E46. All of which were built to order.

Our Austrian build Mini Countryman 2.0SDX is taking three months and is only a few hundred miles away by land! That too is a built to order. Huge demand for that model is extending lead times. A new order now will be a 2012 delivery.

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Me:
Current: 2011 E71 40D Vermilion Red/Beige Nappa

Wifey:
Current: 2012 R80 Countryman SDX Green/Cream