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      10-10-2007, 09:03 AM   #1
ChrisW
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Avoid long waiting lists!

Some advice for those of you about to order a new M3. The right salesman can make a big difference to how quickly you take delivery.

I was lucky to have the right salesman and managed to avoid what should have been a longer wait.

I paid my deposit 18 months ago and was 6th on the list at my dealer. BUT, I am now driving the 2nd customer car to arrive in our area. Customer car 3 is scheduled for late November delivery and I guess that car 6 will be 2008.

The good news of early delivery was accompanied a paranoid feeling – was I the only mug not to drop out following early lukewarm reviews or maybe everyone waiting for DSG? I was told not - I know the dealer wouldn’t want to admit a big fall out from the order book but I did believe that this was not the case.

The explanation is that my salesman got his customer orders on the system quicker that his colleagues. The dealer registers initial orders/deposits with BMW but none relate to any particular customer until specs, price and order codes etc are released. This is the first time dealers can put orders an the ‘system’. My salesman, who lives and breathes his job, simply jumped quicker than others. Some of you on this forum may have a better idea of whether this is the way it works.

Not sure how you can guarantee your salesman is the right one (it was luck for me) but if there is not much enthusiasm and calls are not returned, perhaps look elsewhere.

Doesn't seem fair on those who put deposits down before me but you don’t worry about that when you are revving your newly run-in M3 to 8300 RPM
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      10-10-2007, 09:20 AM   #2
mkoesel
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisW View Post
Doesn't seem fair on those who put deposits down before me...
I was just wondering that, as I read your post.

I doubt this kind of trick will work in the US. Reason is, if this happened in the US, someone will probably try and sue.

That said, I honestly have no idea how the waitlist works in the US (or anywhere else for that matter). I think its up to each dealership to decide how to handle it. Personally, I will wait 'til the waitlist is gone before I purchase.
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      10-10-2007, 11:44 AM   #3
nyc135
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisW View Post
Some advice for those of you about to order a new M3. The right salesman can make a big difference to how quickly you take delivery.

I was lucky to have the right salesman and managed to avoid what should have been a longer wait.

I paid my deposit 18 months ago and was 6th on the list at my dealer. BUT, I am now driving the 2nd customer car to arrive in our area. Customer car 3 is scheduled for late November delivery and I guess that car 6 will be 2008.

The good news of early delivery was accompanied a paranoid feeling – was I the only mug not to drop out following early lukewarm reviews or maybe everyone waiting for DSG? I was told not - I know the dealer wouldn’t want to admit a big fall out from the order book but I did believe that this was not the case.

The explanation is that my salesman got his customer orders on the system quicker that his colleagues. The dealer registers initial orders/deposits with BMW but none relate to any particular customer until specs, price and order codes etc are released. This is the first time dealers can put orders an the ‘system’. My salesman, who lives and breathes his job, simply jumped quicker than others. Some of you on this forum may have a better idea of whether this is the way it works.

Not sure how you can guarantee your salesman is the right one (it was luck for me) but if there is not much enthusiasm and calls are not returned, perhaps look elsewhere.

Doesn't seem fair on those who put deposits down before me but you don’t worry about that when you are revving your newly run-in M3 to 8300 RPM
Great that you are driving one. I can't find a single review by someone who has driven one. What are you impressions??? thanks in advance
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      10-10-2007, 11:52 AM   #4
nyc135
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Skip that question ...thanks!
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      10-27-2007, 11:01 PM   #5
Seth_Horwitz
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mkoesel View Post
I doubt this kind of trick will work in the US. Reason is, if this happened in the US, someone will probably try and sue.
Unless you've contracted on a specific VIN, the dealer can allocate the cars any way they see fit. A lawsuit would get tossed in about three minutes as getting on the wait list really isn't a specific contract, and you'd have issues illustrating damages. (The fact that you can back out of the wait list is further proof that there is no contract there.) An honorable dealer will stick with their promises, but I worked in the industry when I was a high school kid washing Ferraris at a dealer for $5/hour, and I can tell you that I'm still looking for a dealer that puts his word before some extra $$$. It's sad, but true. The car dealer is a unique occupation as bad word of mouth will rarely affect their bottom line if the Make is popular, and no one really buys enough cars (excluding commercial buyers of fleet vehicles) for the dealer to value that relationship more than a few extra dollars. The specific dollar amount that breaks the camel's back will vary, but my point is that those on a wait
list aren't legally guaranteed anything. (Except that they have provided an interest free loan to the dealer between initial payment and delivery or refund.)
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      10-28-2007, 10:05 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Seth_Horwitz View Post
...but my point is that those on a waitlist aren't legally guaranteed anything. (Except that they have provided an interest free loan to the dealer between initial payment and delivery or refund.)
True, my reply was mostly tongue-in-cheek.

Either way, I do doubt that folks will be able to jump in the game now and get their cars significantly ahead of folks already on the waitlist. Plus, it's not clear to me whether the OP was talking about folks within his dealership, or folks from dealerships all over his country.
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      10-28-2007, 11:09 AM   #7
Seth_Horwitz
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mkoesel View Post
Either way, I do doubt that folks will be able to jump in the game now and get their cars significantly ahead of folks already on the waitlist.
I'd say that's pretty accurate, moreso for BMWs. If I remember correctly, a pretty big dealer on the East Coast was threatened with losing their BMW franchise for selling the new E46 M3s for well above M.S.R.P. Some manufacturers don't care (I'm thinking of the Dodge Vipers in the '90s that were selling for $100K off of the lot) but BMW seems pretty intent to not have individual dealers 1) hurt the brand's reputation and 2) keep the "extra" profits that BMW AG can't get their hands on.

I know a guy, who's an auto wholesaler, that was paying a Mercedes Benz sales manager $10,000 in cash under the table to jump to the front of the list for an SL55 when it first came out, which when sold, even with a "used" title, would go for $25,000 over M.S.R.P. I guess the point is that everyone has their price, but you have to decide whether it's worth it to you. I doubt there's a single dealer in the U.S. who won't give you his very first M3 if you start a scholarship fund for his kid, but I don't think many people want to pay that kind of money to jump to the head of the line. That's Capitalism at its best, or worst depending on you political slant.
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      11-27-2007, 09:51 PM   #8
Jim4M3
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I put down my deposit for my M3 in early Oct ...I have a #2 fix on where I am 'in the line' at my dealer, with recent understanding from my CA that once the allocation and pricing come in, putting together my M3 order is "standard operating procedure" Pretty straight forward explanation... No line jumping scenario, and most important, a 'production build window date' is also assigned to my number. After my order goes onto the system, online tracking is available to me.

I trust my dealer going into this deal, but concerned from your 'post' I need to track my "position" better to assure my order gets into the system at earliest opportunity. My understanding with the allocation assigned to me is that I will have a "111" allocation "position" allowing up to 2 weeks to build my car with the dealer CA. After 2 weeks, that code goes to "097" allocation "position" which means I may lose the position but not the car. The build date is fixed on paper with the allocation numbers...real world dates may be another story.

Looking for M3 allocation update from my CA this week. Appreciate your comments.

Thank you
Glad to be aboard!

Last edited by Jim4M3; 11-28-2007 at 06:11 PM.. Reason: More clarification
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