Can anyone confirm what my CA said about the diesels?
 

I ordered a 2010 X5 35d last Friday. My dealer had to "special order" as they had no allocation. Not too worried, as we wrote up a purchase agreement with the eco credit on it, and now that it has been extended, no worries. The car is in the system, but no production date or VIN.

My CA told me yesterday that, quote, "You probably won't be getting the car for quite a while because the factory only runs either gas engines or diesel engines at any one time, and then has to switch production to the other engine after a few months. Right now, they are producing gas engines." Furthermore, he said, "It'll probably be February by the time we get your car."

Now, unlike other threads I've read, I have no worries about the eco credit being good until February. Not with a signed purchase agreement including the credit. My dealer basically has a signed contract offering me the car I ordered at a given price.

My question is: anyone ever heard of the Spartanburg factory cranking out one engine type at a time? It sounds reasonable to me, but then again, what do I know about how BMW NA runs their factory?

Just curious. I hate to wait until February. :-(

wrong
 

He doesn't know what he's talking about. I don't know how quickly they switch back and forth, but keep in mind that a large percentage of the X5s exported from the US are diesel models. The factory certainly doesn't change back and forth every few months. Having said that, if you don't have a favorable production allocation you could certainly wait until February for delivery.

Your CA is full of crap !

When I toured the factory, all three engine types were being built at the same time.

Dealers often trade allocations with other dealers. While the Diesels seem to be under high demand due to the incentive, it may not be quite as high since the eco credit has been going on for months, and a lot of the people wanting diesel X5's have already made the purchase. Ask your dealer if he has considered getting an allocation from another dealer so you could get yours sooner.

The fact that you know he could trade for an allocation might encourage him to try it to keep you happy.

Something is fishy here. May be I am too cynical but it sounds like the dealer found a customer who is willing to pay more and wants to get you out of that car. If I were you, I'd stick with my price guarantee and wait for the car. If anything, these cars should be getting built faster. BMW has increased staffing and shift hours at the SC facility. My 2c. Check your vehicle status online or call BMW and ask them about the timing. They are very helpful.

he is talking nonsense - given that 90% of X5s in Europe are Diesel, that would mean that no X5s would be delivered in Europe for months at a time.

FYI, I car ordered my car 10/13 and it was in BMW's system with a production number by 10/17,

I still do not have a production date as of yesterday afternoon. :dunno:

If it is going to be February, I would wait for the 2011

There is a type of order that is 'beyond' dealer allocations. The CA that sold us our BTO 35d in Aug. says that they have been out of allocations for 35d for quite a while but they could still order a 35d using this 'other type of order'.* Sorry I can't remember the exact name he used. This sounds like what your CA is using. FWIW the US is split into sales regions. My CA says has consistently told me that dealers stick within their region when trading allocations. I've never asked whether this is a BMW NA requirement or just custom. But he says this produces availability anomalies for specific models in various parts of the US. For example, he says dealers in Central Texas sell a lot of X5s but almost no Tourings (station wagons). While dealers in the NE sell far more Tourings and far fewer X5s.

The story about the factory running one type of engine at a time is simply BS. The factory takes pride in being able to build any of their products (X5, X5M, X535d, X6 and X6M) in any order on the same assembly line. However (this is pure speculation) there MAY be a temporary shortage of 35d engines coming in from Europe due to the quick ramp up in demand for the X5 35d.

Funf Dreisig

*yes I know dealers can trade allocations but dealers become reluctant to trade allocations on a "hot" product that they can probably sell themselves.