So you have an X5 on order...

[FunfDreisig]

and your SA tells you it might take 6 weeks for it to be built and delivered. You say 'sure no problem' but what do you do in the mean time?

Week 1 -
You casually read the X5 sales brochure cover to cover -- a couple times -- thinking about the options/packages you did/didn't order. After all, BMW boasts that you can change your order up to 6 days before your X5 begins actual production, so you can still change your mind.

About the same time you begin causally monitoring the BMW NA web site to check the status of your X5 using the production number your SA provided -- and discover that the 'Track your BMW' info is seriously whacked Every time you check, it randomly lists: all the options you ordered, all but one option, or no options at all - DUH. How can you trust this source of info?

You ask your SA the real status of your X5 because you just might want to change an option/package. No worries So you add/deleta an option/pacakage. Cool! Now you just want them to build it. This afternoon would be OK

Week 2 -
What? They still haven't begun production? You put your SA and the BMW NA 800# on speed dial. You start checking the BMW NA site every day -- well maybe a couple of times a day, but who's counting?

Out of pure boredom you begin reading (or re-reading) the X5 Accessories catalog looking for stuff you might want but don't actually need.

Week 3 -
Patience be damned, you're ready to kill something. But wait, the BMW NA site says your X5 is "Scheduled for production" !!!!! Oh happy days. You call your SA who confirms the change in status and gives you that precious VIN number. You celebrate!

But in the excitement of the moment, your SA also makes a serious mistake -- and emails you a screen dump of the status of your X5 that shows the various detailed stages of build: 150 - Production started, 151 - Entry to body shop, 152 Entry to paint shop, 153 - Entry assembly, etc. You're hooked. You Google BMW Factory USA and turn up the site for www.bmwusfactory.com which lists lots of info about each of these stages complete with pictures.

But, the site also brags that it only takes 36 hours to build an X5. And your particular X5 "Started production" a week ago. What gives?

Funf Dresig

[Max Blast]

Paint's gotta dry, right?

[E53is]

yup.

[FunfDreisig]

Originally Posted by Max Blast

Paint's gotta dry, right?

Allowing the paint to fully harden may be the cause of the delay between the Paint Shop and Assembly. But there are other possible reasons any particular X5 may stay in the "stacker" for awhile after it has already been through the Body Shop (4 hours) and Paint Shop (13 hours). For example, all of the bits and pieces for that X5's specific options have to be ready to go before an X5 starts it's 19 hour run down the assembly line. Besides the only thing 'custom' about an X5's painted metal shell on the 'stacker' is its color.

"The body–formed, painted, and protected–waits in the stacker, arranged in order. Sequenced parts such as instrument panel, front end, and power train are at the ready in other areas of the plant. What follows is a careful and intricate performance involving the flow of parts and precisely-timed processes...."

BTW the websites pictures/description of the Paint Shop at the SC factory only cover the metal parts. Conspicuously absent are any pictures/description of painting the composite front fenders.

"Like the drive train, a BMW’s front end is intricate and its assembly is choreographed down to the last detail. By the time it arrives at the main assembly line, it is a single unit, consisting of fender, headlamps, bumper cover, front grill, and radiator supports. The individual pieces arrive from suppliers and are assembled mechanically before the doors are added. Associates mount the now unified front end assembly to the vehicle, ...."

Stay tuned for Week 4

Funf Dreisig

[motordavid]

Funny stuff, Funf Dreisig!

I think the "process" is part of the built-in system for NewCarFever!

Interesting about the inside info you got from the sales guy; not apples
to apples, but when our '02 Vette was ordered, the sales lady, (1st class
and she was selling more Vettes/year than anyone else in the US), would
email me the Production Status once per week: it was very detailed and
showed our car "in process" each step of the way, from order acceptance
to its rolling off the line. My point is she/General Motors didn't feel a
need to keep it a "secret".

Back on topic, the wait is fun, ...sort of!
GL,mD

[LeMansX5]

Six weeks? I talked to my dealer this week and he told me 3 weeks.

[FunfDreisig]

Originally Posted by LeMansX5

Six weeks? I talked to my dealer this week and he told me 3 weeks.

According to my SA it can happen in 3 weeks but its not likely. For example, the factory claims that it can build an X5 in only 36 hours. But that assumes that it goes straight through: Body Shop 4hrs, Paint Shop 13hrs and Assembly 19hrs without any hang time on the 'stacker'.

We ordered our X5 35d on 7/11
150 - Production started = 7/24 (VIN assigned)
151 - Entry body shop = 7/28
152 - Entry paint shop = 7/29
"in paint shop" 7/31 @ 8am (via 800# and confirmed by my SA)

So 3 weeks after the order, it was still in the 'paint shop' with an estimated completion of 8/4.

Frankly since it only takes 19 hours to 'assemble' an X5, I expect it to be pulled off the stacker and be actually assembled on 8/3 or 8/4. Then it has to go through QA, and get shipped by truck 1/2 way across the US. So I'm not expecting actual delivery until sometime between 8/10-15/09. Which puts the process at 4-5 weeks.

Funf Dreisig

[LeMansX5]

The website is the last place to check for updates. Even the 800# is not so accurate. I think dealer going in to system and checking is best you can get.

[vinuneuro]

got something cooking?

Originally Posted by LeMansX5

Six weeks? I talked to my dealer this week and he told me 3 weeks.

[FunfDreisig]

Originally Posted by LeMansX5

The website is the last place to check for updates. Even the 800# is not so accurate. I think dealer going in to system and checking is best you can get.

I agree. The dates I posted are from the screen dumps my SA emails me. That's how I know the numbers assigned to each part of the build process (e.g. 150, 151, etc.). BTW 165 is "Transit from USA to Bremerhaven"

Funf Dreisig