BMW to push custom-order X3s with high-margin options

[LeMansX5]

BMW wants you to buy a car the European way: The German automaker, which wants to pass Lexus as the leading luxury brand in the U.S. by 2012, is trying to convince its U.S. customers that they should order their BMWs with exactly the stuff they want on it, not settling for whatever is on the lot.

For example with its new X3, on sale here early next year, BMW wants its U.S. dealers on board to help promote options on built-to-order models. Built-to-order vehicles, which can help manufacturers keep inventories lower and aren't discounted as much, are rare in the United States. For example, Lexus says 2 percent of its deliveries are pre-ordered, according to Automotive News. In Germany, every other BMW sold is customized.

It will be interesting to see if BMW is successful in its effort to get impulsive U.S. shoppers to order cars. Since the X3 will be built in Spartanburg, S.C., (moving from Austria), BMW says U.S. buyers will be able to pick up their cars in as few as two weeks after the order.

Read more: BMW to push build-to-order for X3

[Weasel]

Well, that has been the trend lately... just getting whatever is on the lot. I don't get it. A friend of mine wanted a new 2010 camaro and ended up with a red one with cloth seats and an automatic simply because that's what was available on the lot... rather than say he'd prefer a black one with leather and a stick and have to wait a bit.

When people only buy whats on the lot you get these boring cookie cutter cars, all with the same options and colors and such.

[NYCSterling]

dealers should offer a loaner car of some sort for the 2 week wait. Sometimes buyers need a car asap...

[motordavid]

Good idea, and catchy marketing...but, sort of flies in the face of recent experiences of some new E70 buyers here:
very pricey "packages", "can't get these wheels", etc.

NEway, it will be interesting to see the new X3, and the X1, when they get here.
Wish they had come sooner, but both were probably out of new car budgeto, anyway.
BR, mD

[Chris F.]

I still can't imagine people dropping $30k+ on a new car and being satisfied with whats on the lot. If there was even one option or color missing, I would not take the car. Maybe these people go through cars often and don't care, but every time I've ordered a new car I've gotten exactly what I've wanted. The same holds true for used cars too -- you at least try to find what you are looking for. With the Internet it's become a lot easier.

People are strange. I guess a lot of them don't understand the value of money.

[Weasel]

The problem is modern society is taking the passion out of driving for too many people... Most the "buy off the lot" people simply want transportation. And to quote my brothers fiance when we were showing her an E60 M5 that was traded in and we were going over in the shop "it'd just a car". So when he bought her a '93 mercury grand marquis and she didn't like it we said "it's just a car!"

[GoVols!]

Here is my take on this. The problem with "off the lot" vehicles is that most of them are all neutral colors(Black, white, silver, ext)(Black/tan int) and either completely loaded up or stripped down. Very little in between. Also, who wants to buy a "new" $60,000 vehicle that has been sitting outside in the weather for several months and that has been test abused by who knows who?

Also, putting a single popular option in an overpriced package with a bunch of junk you don't really need turns people off.(Think lumbar support mixed with a garage door opener and dimming mirrors for $1800 or "if you want this package, you have to buy this package" BS). My personal favorite is the tech package with the mandatory ~$1,500 nav system that doesn't work as well as a $200 Garmin and which obviously can't be moved from vehicle to vehicle or taken on vacations where it might actually be useful. I think that if BMW got rid of the packages and let people order exactly what they want, they could make some better headway in this goal, at least for the X models. Most Americans are too NOW oriented to wait a couple months for a Germany assembled special order, though I intend to get EU delivery and plan a vacation around it when I replace the wife's Pontiac with the new (2nd production year) 3er in a couple years.

[DWill]

You can buy BMW's off the lot????
Who knew…

I don't think I've ever bought a BMW that I didn't order.

I agree on the "packages" though. It would be great I'd they went away.

[bmwman3241]

We (my family) have bought all our cars off the lot and never ordered any. In the US, this includes many Acura's, BMW's, a couple Range Rovers and GMC's, a Lexus, as well as some others. We have bought many cars by just waking up in the morning and deciding to get a new car, driving by a dealer to see what they have, and even while having service done on one of our other cars.

The only one which was difficult was my 07 Denali. We couldn't find one which was fully loaded in the color we wanted, but waited until we found it. It was still the first one in the west coast.

My X5 in Dubai was purchased over the phone, and I only went to the dealer to sign the papers. I had not even physically seen the car..

[StumpyPete]

I think you could still have some packages, but a bit more aligned with the Euro packages. In Europe there are only two packages - Dynamic and Media. Dynamic is sports suspension (not adaptive) and wheel package, sports seats and a few other bits and bobs. Media is essentially Nav and Telematics. We still get some things that we wouldn't necessarily order, but not many (e.g. anthracite headlining in the Dynamic package, or CD changer in Media package).

The Euro packages are primarily designed to help the downstream resale value of the car and therefore help dealers shift the car when it has been traded in 3 years later. The packages are lighter generally. But then we are allowed to choose the individual options much more (although there are a lot of dependencies). Ordering heated seats for example doesn't need a full cold weather package.