How Are Cars Stored?

[Berliner BMW]

Just learned to my great disappointment that my car is already built and now I'll have to wait around 60 days, until JAN sometime, to take delivery at the PDC. Does anyone have any idea how BMW stores/cares for cars that are awaiting delivery? I have great angst that my car is sitting neglected in some back parking lot in Greenville, SC getting covered in bird droppings - please say it isn't so! It would be great to see some pictures of how BMW stores cars awaiting delivery. Would it be best just to take normal delivery at the dealership? Thanks.

[The BoatMan]

Your car will be used for the school road courses until your scheduled delivery date. The executives, aka as students, drive all the delivery cars. Then the center cleans them up before they are offically delivered to their rightful owners.

[PropellerHead]

Your car will be used for the school road courses until your scheduled delivery date. The executives, aka as students, drive all the delivery cars. Then the center cleans them up before they are offically delivered to their rightful owners.:rofl: There's an onsite prep center where the cars are kept until delivery.

[Me530]

:rofl: There's an onsite prep center where the cars are kept until delivery.

If they run out of room, Donnie uses it for the hot lap!! :thumbup:

[synergest1]

They attach a trailer hitch and use them to move the states giant trailer home population around as needed.

[DBville]

If they run out of room, Donnie uses it for the hot lap!! :thumbup:No, no, no.

That is how they dry the cars after washing them the day before delivery! :yikes:

[synergest1]

All kidding aside, I doubt the car is in S.C., it is most likely in NJ in BMWNA warehouse. Not sure what that place is like, but of it were me I'd take the car now and head to S.C. for a driving school.

[I-Won-Today]

You guys have been hanging around some of us here too long :rofl:

Berliner BMW - It really depends on which BMW you have ordered as to where it is currently. If it is something built in Germany, then it is more than likely at the port waiting on a boat to get to the US.

If it is a Z4 or X5, then the vehicle is still at the factory. When it is finished with production, they release it to distribution and will wait there until we tell them to bring it to us. Our goal is to get the vehicle to our facility around 8 days prior to delivery. This gives us enough time to get it scheduled to go into the shop and be PDI'd and then detailed.

Hope this helps!

[BMW Power]

I picked up my car today and it had a 1 mile on the odometer! This is the lowest I have ever seen an odometer and the car was spotless. The car was there for about two weeks,

[Berliner BMW]

Jonathan,
Thanks very much. I should have stated up front, the car is an X5 so from your description of the process, it sounds like our car will sit at the distribution center for about 60 days. Is that area covered or in a garage?

I am having difficulty getting a date scheduled for pickup and would like to know if BWM plans on adding staff to help reduce the wait time for PDC time slots? Is it possible to just take delivery at the factory without the additional driving events and schedule a date of our choosing that is sooner rather than later?

Thanks for your insights.

[mapezzul]

Jonathan,
Thanks very much. I should have stated up front, the car is an X5 so from your description of the process, it sounds like our car will sit at the distribution center for about 60 days. Is that area covered or in a garage?

I am having difficulty getting a date scheduled for pickup and would like to know if BWM plans on adding staff to help reduce the wait time for PDC time slots? Is it possible to just take delivery at the factory without the additional driving events and schedule a date of our choosing that is sooner rather than later?

Thanks for your insights.

Ever heard of holidays? BMW employees get time off this time of the year! Give them a break they work hard all year long and the PDC delivery is becoming more popular. It is not a lack of employees or staff, there is only so much track slots to go around.
Also you do not need to do the PDC delivery to visit the factory so why would you arrange all that and just want to see the factory tour since you do not take delivery at the factory per se. You will use a like car on the course and a hot lap in an //M this is all stated in the info for PDC delivery. The product specialists will do a more thorough job than just about any CA in the states. The car will be protected from the elements in one form or another, but what is the big deal? It is a car!!! If the car was made in Germany it gets shipped via train then on a boat across the ocean after it sat in a large lot at the factory. If you picked the car up at the dealer, it would sit outside as well; you go to movies, it is outside (you get the idea). It will be secure and delivered in pristine condition. Relax !:rofl: When you do ED the cars are not even protected in shipment and they make it back to the states just fine!

Best of luck !:thumbup:

[Andrew*Debbie]

I hope no one is expecting a factory tour. Tours are currently suspended while the factory tools up for X6 production. Website doesn't say when the tours resume.

BTW the website confirms next gen X3 will be built in South Carolina.

[mapezzul]

I hope no one is expecting a factory tour. Tours are currently suspended while the factory tools up for X6 production. Website doesn't say when the tours start back up.

BTW the website confirms next gen X3 will be built in South Carolina.

I forgot that and that is a good point, the OPs X5 more than likely needed to be produced prior to the changes in tooling as they build all models on the same line!

Best of luck!:thumbup:

[I-Won-Today]

Jonathan,
Thanks very much. I should have stated up front, the car is an X5 so from your description of the process, it sounds like our car will sit at the distribution center for about 60 days. Is that area covered or in a garage?

I am having difficulty getting a date scheduled for pickup and would like to know if BWM plans on adding staff to help reduce the wait time for PDC time slots? Is it possible to just take delivery at the factory without the additional driving events and schedule a date of our choosing that is sooner rather than later?

Thanks for your insights.


Most of the parking at distribution is not covered. There is one small section that is covered, but I believe they use that to stage vehicles awaiting a truck so that they can be inspected before they are loaded.

Unfortunately there are currently no plans to expand. We just don't have any extra space to deliver more vehicles and keep the premium BMW experience. The only way we could possibly add more deliveries is to group people with similar vehicles together and explain some of the features in a conference like setting. I personally think this would take away from the real purpose of our program, The Ultimate Delivery Experience.

[Me530]

I personally think this would take away from the real purpose of our program, The Ultimate Delivery Experience.

+1

[Berliner BMW]

Jonathan,

Thanks for clarifying BMW's intent with respect to the PDC program. As a corporation interested in customer feedback, I have a recommendation. BMW needs to introduce transparency into the scheduling process by posting a "read only" version of the delivery schedule either on BMW NA Owner's Circle or perhaps here, on Bimmerfest. This would allow those contemplating PDC delivery to get a sense for how long they will have to wait to schdedule delivery. Then, the customer and not the CA nor BMW, can make an informed decision to wait and take delivery at the PDC or arrange for dealership delivery. Currently we have no situational awareness on available delivery slots. Honestly, BMW is a technology leader in the world and most of us are spending $50K+ on a Bimmer, so its hard for me to accept the fact that BMW can't develop a more repsonsive, customer friendly scheduling process.

So, back to my question above, can we drive to the plant and just take delivery without all of the frills? We would enjoy the drive and spending some time walking through the Zentrum regardless. We just want to take delivery of the car!

Bottom line, when we ordered the car 1 NOV we had no idea that 15 days later we still would not have a delivery date and would be told maybe sometime in January.

Thanks for your desire to keep PDC a "premium experience" - BMW needs to remove the frustration caused by scheduling delivery (and to preclude a car sitting in the distribution lot for 2+ months).

[mapezzul]

What if a customer is looking to take delivery on a specific date?
The BMW Performance Center makes all efforts to accommodate customer delivery requests for a specific date. When submitting a Performance Center Delivery Reservation form, the customer***8217;s client advisor can indicate a desired timeframe.

How does the BMW Performance Center determine and schedule customer delivery dates?
Customer delivery dates are determined by the production week of the ordered vehicle and are scheduled on a first come first serve basis. If the timing of the ordered vehicle permits, the customer***8217;s client advisor may contact the BMW Performance Center to discuss specific vehicle production weeks that can meet a customer***8217;s requested timeframe. Please note there are some black-out dates throughout the year due to holidays, driving school programs and events that utilize the facility.

On which days is the BMW Performance Center Delivery program offered?
The BMW Performance Center Delivery program is available to customers Monday thru Friday. Please note there are some black-out dates throughout the year due to holidays, driving school programs and other events that utilize the facility. The BMW Performance Center may close on multiple dates to observe New Year***8217;s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents***8217; Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Sounds like your CA may have not been as up front with you....

[Berliner BMW]

Thanks, but again I see it much more simply. The process should take about 5 minutes on the phone or by email.

CA: "Hello, BMW PDC, I'd like to schedule X date for customer delivery."

PDC: "Ok, but that date is not available, how about Y or Z?"

CA: "Right, I'll let my customer know his options."

How hard can this be? I am buying a BMW and not a Buick!!!!

[mapezzul]

Thanks, but again I see it much more simply. The process should take about 5 minutes on the phone or by email.

CA: "Hello, BMW PDC, I'd like to schedule X date for customer delivery."

PDC: "Ok, but that date is not available, how about Y or Z?"

CA: "Right, I'll let my customer know his options."

How hard can this be? I am buying a BMW and not a Buick!!!!

That is precisely what I am saying.... the CA should have known. For my ED I knew 2 days later. Your CA should have known well in advance if they did what he/she was supposed to. That is my view on that. I am sure the PDC did not take that long to get back as it is first come first served. When I called them they gave me a list of dates available. Your CA could have done the same thing.

Best of luck!:thumbup:

[adrian's bmw]

That is precisely what I am saying.... the CA should have known. For my ED I knew 2 days later. Your CA should have known well in advance if they did what he/she was supposed to. That is my view on that. I am sure the PDC did not take that long to get back as it is first come first served. When I called them they gave me a list of dates available. Your CA could have done the same thing.

Best of luck!:thumbup:


ED is a different animal entirely, IMO.

In PCD, you don't make date requests and give them three choices like ED. They give you one date... that's it. If it doesn't work, you reply by email that you'd like such and such date. They hit you back and say, it's not available or it's available. It's been this way for years and it's worked. Then you reply with another date, and usually at that point, most clients just take the original date that's offered. There's scores of reservations being made. I truly admire the logistics coordinator there. She rocks. What's tough is that there's also others who wanna take PCD as well, so it's like bunch of people wanting to go to a concert with limited seating. If you can't get tickets, you have to wait for the next show. It's pretty straight forward actually. Is it a PITA sometimes?Occasionally, if you have a schedule or travel conflict, it can be. PCD can't control that. But they can do their best in trying to fulfill other available dates that might be suitable alternatives. You can't pin it on the CA though. The CA is basically the intermediary of communication. He makes the request, then we wait until they offer a date. I have to confess that 9 times out of 10, the original date offered is usually taken.

It's not hard at all to accomplish the process. The tricky part is getting a mutual agreement on dates. There's nothing to not be upfront about. It's about as upfront as it can get. They offer this date... if that doesn't work, well, there's others chomping at the bit to get that date and they're booking up, so how much more upfront does it need to be than that?

We're blessed that BMW offers such a program to take delivery of our new BMW's. I'm thankful for it, for the staff there, and what they have to offer. There's other brands that don't even offer something even remotely close other than ED.

[mapezzul]

ED is a different animal entirely, IMO.

In PCD, you don't make date requests and give them three choices like ED. They give you one date... that's it. If it doesn't work, you reply by email that you'd like such and such date. They hit you back and say, it's not available or it's available. It's been this way for years and it's worked. Then you reply with another date, and usually at that point, most clients just take the original date that's offered. There's scores of reservations being made. I truly admire the logistics coordinator there. She rocks. What's tough is that there's also others who wanna take PCD as well, so it's like bunch of people wanting to go to a concert with limited seating. If you can't get tickets, you have to wait for the next show. It's pretty straight forward actually. Is it a PITA sometimes?Occasionally, if you have a schedule or travel conflict, it can be. PCD can't control that. But they can do their best in trying to fulfill other available dates that might be suitable alternatives. You can't pin it on the CA though. The CA is basically the intermediary of communication. He makes the request, then we wait until they offer a date. I have to confess that 9 times out of 10, the original date offered is usually taken.

It's not hard at all to accomplish the process. The tricky part is getting a mutual agreement on dates. There's nothing to not be upfront about. It's about as upfront as it can get. They offer this date... if that doesn't work, well, there's others chomping at the bit to get that date and they're booking up, so how much more upfront does it need to be than that?

We're blessed that BMW offers such a program to take delivery of our new BMW's. I'm thankful for it, for the staff there, and what they have to offer. There's other brands that don't even offer something even remotely close other than ED.

I get what you are saying..... my point was that it is not like the CA did not know the dates available and the customer got shafted in a sense. When I called them they rolled off a list of dates; none were exactly what I wanted but I made it work. When I did my First ED none of the dates I wanted worked either but I knew that going in as my CA told me not to be surprised that the dates are full. The concert analogy is a good one. I just think that if people are told up front the dates are hard to come by and they may need to make some concessions it would be better than: What date do you want?

Best of luck and as always thanks for the insight!:thumbup:

[adrian's bmw]

I get what you are saying..... my point was that it is not like the CA did not know the dates available and the customer got shafted in a sense. When I called them they rolled off a list of dates; none were exactly what I wanted but I made it work. When I did my First ED none of the dates I wanted worked either but I knew that going in as my CA told me not to be surprised that the dates are full. The concert analogy is a good one. I just think that if people are told up front the dates are hard to come by and they may need to make some concessions it would be better than: What date do you want?

Best of luck and as always thanks for the insight!:thumbup:


The issue is that the CA doesn't get provided a list of dates in PCD. They now get an email and it says this date have been reserved. The CA doesn't get a list of dates for PCD....it's so popular now that it's become increasingly difficult to even make a revision since many other CA's are asking for reservations as well. So in Berliner's case, since there was a conflict in scheduling, since he was offered one date and that date didn't work, well, they were already full for December. In that sense, it's alot like ED during the Spring and Fall. It's just packed. It's not like you can tell the all those other customers, whoa!, my client was here first, outta my way, that date's mine. We're just at the mercy of scheduling and others making reservations as well.

[I-Won-Today]

Jonathan,

Thanks for clarifying BMW's intent with respect to the PDC program. As a corporation interested in customer feedback, I have a recommendation. BMW needs to introduce transparency into the scheduling process by posting a "read only" version of the delivery schedule either on BMW NA Owner's Circle or perhaps here, on Bimmerfest. This would allow those contemplating PDC delivery to get a sense for how long they will have to wait to schdedule delivery. Then, the customer and not the CA nor BMW, can make an informed decision to wait and take delivery at the PDC or arrange for dealership delivery. Currently we have no situational awareness on available delivery slots. Honestly, BMW is a technology leader in the world and most of us are spending $50K+ on a Bimmer, so its hard for me to accept the fact that BMW can't develop a more repsonsive, customer friendly scheduling process.

So, back to my question above, can we drive to the plant and just take delivery without all of the frills? We would enjoy the drive and spending some time walking through the Zentrum regardless. We just want to take delivery of the car!

Bottom line, when we ordered the car 1 NOV we had no idea that 15 days later we still would not have a delivery date and would be told maybe sometime in January.

Thanks for your desire to keep PDC a "premium experience" - BMW needs to remove the frustration caused by scheduling delivery (and to preclude a car sitting in the distribution lot for 2+ months).


I appologize that you are having a difficult time with the scheduling. As Adrian and mapezzul have pointed out, we are very transparent. If what you say is true and a reservation form was sent in on November 1, I don't see why you would not have received a delivery date from us by now. If you would like, send me a PM with the last 7 of your vin and name and I will see what I can find out.

The reason we do not have any only availablity calendar is because it changes to frequently. The last thng we want is for it to appear available online, but that day already be filled before we can get it updated. A dates availability can change 10 times a day.

You can however ask your CA to confirm a date for you, but place you on a stand bye list for an earlier date if someone cancels. Keep in mind that most of our cancellations happen within two weeks of a date so you may need to be flexible.

We schedule on a first come first serve bassis. When you client advisor submits a reservation form, it is processed in the order we receive it. We even switched to an electronic email system to keep better track of this. We ask that the CA send in a reservation for a vehicle prior to it starting production. If it arrives later than that, unfortuantely we will most likely be full.

Once we process the reservation, we send the CA an email with the first available delivery date. They are responsible for contacting you and determining if that day works. If not, we ask that they give us alternate dates for the 10 days following the delivery date that was offered.

Another thing that happens and most customers and CA's do not realize is that when we change the vehicle over to us, it goes into Priority 9 which will bump it up in production. This gives us some buffer room when scheduling. So in some cases, if your dealer does not send in a reservation form for delivery here, your vehicle may have not been built until the middle or last week of November. By that not beeing clearly pointed out, it appears that you are having to wait longer to take delivery of your vehicle here vs. taking delivery at the dealer. In your case, you would still have a wait. I can only assume that your vehicle was already being built when the reservation form was sent in.

As far as just taking delivery at the plant, there is no factory delivery. The Performance Center is located about a mile away and we have no direct ties to the factory. Unfortunately one of our limitations here is product specialists for delivering a vehicle to you. If you come here to just take delivery, you are still taking a slot from someone that can participate in the entire program. Currently with our staff, we can only deliver 6 vehicles a day.

As with European Delivery, BMW of North America wants you to have a direct relationship with your dealer. We cannot sell or service a vehicle for you. In actuality, the BMW Retail Center still owns the vehicle until you have signed and paid for it. We basically have to have their authorization before we are allowed to do anything with it. Hence the reason we have a Reservation, Cancellation, and Release Authorization Form that must be completed by your center.

Once again I appologize that you can't take delivery of your vehicle sooner at our facility. Hopefully this helps clarify the scheduling process as well. As I said earlier, please send me a PM with your info if you would like for me to take a look and see what is actually going on.

Thanks,

[Me530]

Currently with our staff, we can only deliver 6 vehicles a day.


If you need any more staff, where does the line start? :angel::D

[Andrew*Debbie]

If you need any more staff, where does the line start? :angel::D

They might just be able to squeeze in one more set of deliveries, but it would make for a very hectic time. Track time could be tight too. Having just been there I think they are limited by the number of delivery bays. We took delivery in the Lobby. They close the Lobby during deliveries. After pulling our X3 out the front door, they got ready to roll in another delivery car.

Shop space for Detail and techs (for PDI) may be a limiting factor too.


With more vehicle production in SC and the strong Euro, BMW should build a mini-Welt here in the States.

[jmonier]

All kidding aside, I doubt the car is in S.C., it is most likely in NJ in BMWNA warehouse. Not sure what that place is like, but of it were me I'd take the car now and head to S.C. for a driving school.

Just to clarify, the cars for PCD come into Charleston, SC and then go by rail to the delivery center in Spartanburg. When the Performance Center is ready for them they are trucked across the road to the Performance Center. (Of course, X5/Z4 start out at Spartanburg.)

[BMW Power]

Just to clarify, the cars for PCD come into Charleston, SC and then go by rail to the delivery center in Spartanburg. When the Performance Center is ready for them they are trucked across the road to the Performance Center. (Of course, X5/Z4 start out at Spartanburg.)

My car had 1 mile on the odometer, that is the lowest of any car I have ever bought.

[jmonier]

My car had 1 mile on the odometer, that is the lowest of any car I have ever bought.

It was the same for me. I was amazed (happily) that they even truck the cars across the road from the delivery center to the Performance Center. I contrast that with the Oxnard (CA) VDC where they put on over 2 mi just DRIVING the cars from the ship to the VDC.