That's why you first talk about their discount and then talk about 4500.
You have to separte bad and good ones.

Add me to the list
 

I'm pretty steamed at BMW NA right now. I would love to order a 2010 X5 diesel but I'm basically getting the stiff arm at BMW of Austin. I had a time set to meet yesterday and finalize my order, yet I drove up there (20-25 mins) only to be told they had no allocations and couldn't trade for an allocation. The salesman didn't even have the courtesy to save me the drive and time away from work!

BMW NA seems incapable of clearly communicating the parameters of this Eco Credit. It's misleading to say it ends August 31 without also clarifying that it really ends when all the October production slots are gone. It really wouldn't hurt them to extend into November production a bit considering all the customers like myself they have disappointed or angered. I'm pretty soured on BMW despite having purchased four brand new BMWs in the last few years, including a 6 month old M3. I am now going to look at either the Audi Q7 TDI or possibly the Cadillac SRX.

For what it's worth, I called BMW NA Customer Service yesterday to no avail. The representatives don't know anything about the Eco Credit, nor do they care, and they have no inclination to even try to find out anything. Contacting BMW NA is/was basically a joke.

So, Audi, Cadillac, Lexus, hmmm.... I just know it won't be BMW after how I've been treated.

> I just know it won't be BMW after how I've been treated.

I was about to look seriously at Cadillac, as they have been getting some good reviews in the car mags the past couple of years. All the Audi people I have know have always complained about how bad the Audi electrics are, and how often their cars break down, so I've avoided Audi myself.

My understanding (and I could be completely wrong) is that BMW dealerships are divided into several 'sales regions'. Dealers usually trade 'build numbers', 'allocations' etc. within their own sales region. So my guess is that the remaining allocations (this close to the supposed end of the program) in each region is quite different. And that is why we are hearing about both great deals and no deals on an X5 35d.

FWIW If I were looking to order an X5 35d right now, I'd start calling around the country to find dealers with allocations. Then just take the PDC delivery and enjoy the drive home :)

Funf Dreisig

I would if I could
 

I suppose my basic attitude is that BMW is making me work too hard to spend $65,000 with them. I am working and don't have time to call dozens of dealers around the country, nor should I have to. The cost of the time off work, transportation, lodging, food, etc. for a drive from SC to Texas would eat up most/all of the savings on this Eco Credit and besides, I don't want to drive my new X5 across the country. It would be fun if I had an extra week of vacation, but I don't right now.

It's just too bad BMW didn't make much effort (barely any it appears) to manage expectations and clarify what's possible with the X5 35d. There are probably only a few hundred (at most) highly interested buyers who will lose out on this program, which is a small enough number that BMW could easily declare that any order placed by 8/31 will be honored. But it appears they have chosen not to make their customers happy.

Not to make an excuse for BMWNA but this is the first time they've probably ever had to deal with a nationwide credit on a lower volume "specialized" car (diesels). And the dealer swapping with the credit is probably a battle over who gets the credit. But I agree they have made a national advertising campaign on TV (the guy standing in front of the white X5 and 3 series diesel) and should have properly trained all points of contact with customers and consumers.

Perhaps true, but I think it has more to do with a bit of stupidity on their part.

When BMW NA was about to introduce the diesel, almost everyone, including the dealers, thought the price premium would likely be around $2,000, maybe even less. But then BMW NA somehow got a bit full of themselves, and figuring the diesel was the best thing since sliced bread, decided to price it at a $3,700 premium.

Guess what? Sales were very low in spite of it being an excellent product.

So, now they offer a special where the premium for this diesel product is less than zero, and surprise surprise, lot of people want the product and the response is probably several fold over what they expected.

Fact is, BMW NA mispriced the diesel and caused many people to shy away. But for some reason BMW NA seems to think BMW customers are not that price sensitive and, because of that, they simply do not do a good job of gauging customer reaction to promotions and often misprice things.

From what I can tell, BMW got more of a response to the $4,500 offer than they really wanted (knowing that a lot of the sales, such as mine, are "pull-forward" sales and not incremental sales). If they drop this promotion completely next week as planned, I suspect their diesel sales will go down to close to Zero for the next 2-3 months. In retrospect, they probably wish they had offered $2,500 rather than $4,500 and gotten a milder response.

Maybe they'll learn something from this episode.

I hope BMW learns from its mistakes, but I am worried that they may learn the wrong lessons and figure it will all blow over somehow and they'll save money by acting the way they are acting. Look, BMW made an offer to its customers (and dealers) with terms that were clear. Buy a diesel 335d or X5 3.5d and get $4,500 of MSRP so long as you order is placed by August 31, 2009. They did so because other manufacturers were seeing significant sales through the U.S. cash for clunkers program (as to which mosst BMWs, including the X5, could not qualifiy) and to build their green "Eco" image.

BMW should honor their offer irrespective of whether demand was much higher than anticipated, and ensure dealers and their customers that they will pay the Eco Credit as promised. Instead, BMW customer relations (and Financial Services NA) are claiming ignorance of their own offer, refusing to stand behind it, refusing to intervene with their dealers to ensure BMW honors all orders placed by August 31, 2009, treating long-time loyal customers like cr#p, and driving away (so to speak) potential new customers.

I have low expectations when it comes to car dealers, but the fault here appears to lie with BMW USA, who won't pass through what they promised.

:iagree: BMW NA has futtz up this Eco-credit program pretty badly with, at the very least, poor communications with dealers and potential buyers.

FWIW my prior comment was intended to possibly help people who had the time and inclination to 'work the system' and still get in on the eco-credit.

Funf Dreisig

Yes, and FWIW, Steve Phillipp at Motorwerks in Chicago was very willing to put togetehr a deal and honor the Eco Credit. I would have used him if my local dealer hadn't seen the light.