[Wild Blue]

I met my product delivery specialist, Seth, who BMW David had told me ahead of time would be my guy. I started introducing myself to Seth and telling him my back story, including this write-up thread and drive to Alaska. He quickly said “Oh yes, I know exactly who you are. I watch the forums. You’re Wild Blue”. That made me laugh and really took me aback. Have no doubt, Bimmerpost members, BMW staff of all kinds read these forums, and take note of our discussions, suggestions, and complaints.

Seth said he liked to keep an eye out on the forums for people coming to the PCD, that may have certain questions, or needs. Apparently he keyed in on me, and he wasn’t the only one. This guy was AWESOME. Every BMW delivery should aspire to be like this. Seth had the car fully ready. Cuddle pillows in place, every option already configured that didn’t require my input.

The coup-de-grace was when we talked about the interior lighting accent. He said “I initially set it up with blue for you, since your user name is Wild Blue.” I laughed. Mic drop on awesome delivery coolness.

We had 2 hours, and still ran out of time, going over functions, options, and activating the services that required me to be there. Seth put on the rear license plate (BMW David had sent down temp tags directly, before I even got there). I asked Seth not to put on the front plate bracket, but he said they never do anyway, unless specifically requested.

We could have used at least another 30 minutes to dive into details, as I was soaking up every bit of info, even having researched the vehicle for years. Seth was beyond knowledgeable, answering virtually every one of my questions, no matter how in-the-weeds-forum-nerd detailed. The only thing we weren’t able to set up was Apple Watch functionality, which was giving server errors at the time.

One interesting bit, I noted my car had 11 miles on it. Seth told me any new delivery with double-digit miles, means the car had been randomly selected for additional quality inspections. Had nothing to do with anything wrong with it, just a random selection. Ok by me—to me that means my car had additional eyes on it, additional assurance of quality production.











The car itself? Awesome. Just awesome. Having researched every option and build to the nth degree, I couldn’t have been happier with the way it turned out. The color combinations, trim, features… everything. Only wish it had the items BMW dropped for 2021, namely Night Vision, Ambient Air, and Full Black Merino Leather vs. Extended. But I’m absolutely happy with it. Every time I saw it during the delivery and throughout the day, my immediate thought was “damn… that’s one sexy looking beast.” Beautiful in Mineral White, and evident why BMW chose the color for their own X7 press pics from the start.

Even in pictures, none of those big ugly 2nd row seat leather wrinkles that were initially present in X5 production, that some silly members insisted HAD to be intentionally inserted for comfort, because, well… no way BMW would ever make a mistake, and… well, “science”. I guess my seats just aren’t designed to be comfortable. (they absolutely are)

Also note that as the M50i, the Auto Stop/Start button is not deleted, and Eco Pro is still there.

Seth even went a little late, and then had me pull my new X7 out of the delivery bay and park in front of the PCD so he could prepare for the next delivery.








Oh, and FWIW, BMW also gives you a little gift present during delivery.





BMW provided a nice little buffet lunch, where Seth sat with me more, answering further questions.

After lunch, our group halves switched, with the other group doing the off-road course and deliveries, and we were off to the Zentrum museum and factory. We each drove over our shiny new BMW’s in a caravan, a 4 minute drive down the street from the Performance Center, where we were actually told to park lined up on the sidewalk, right in front of the Zentrum.

No phones/cameras were allowed in this portion, so I don’t have anything to show you. But it was really interesting. BMW has production down to a science, although we obviously are currently seeing limitations with their Just-In-Time supply and logistics, where options have been removed for various MY2021 models, and supply for certain features is running low, seriously impacting production.

Fascinating to see the inner details of production firsthand, accompanied by lots of tour guide information. Due to COVID, we saw maybe half of the full available museum and factory tour, and were shown a video of things that happen in the other half we weren’t able to do.

That point ended the PCD experience, just before 3:00 PM, and we all were cut free to do whatever we liked. First step was to hit the Zentrum gift shop, which was small and packed full of mostly the usual BMW dealership schwag. A few sales. Then a nice picture in front of the Zentrum on the way out.





As a BMWCCA member, I was curious and stopped in at the BMWCCA headquarters next door, on my way back to the Performance Center. (you all are BMWCCA members, right? Best deal going. Small membership fee, and you get a big rebate check when you buy a new Bimmer. $1,000 for me with an X7). Not run by BMW corporate, the hq had a nice little museum of classic BMW cars and history, and its own little gift shop. It was a nice 20 minute stop, and real Bimmer gearheads could spend a couple hours there. I was just surprised that even BMWCCA members had to pay admission. Oh well.

Another stop back to the Performance Center to hit their gift shop, which had some different items from the Zentrum, and I was done at BMW for the day. I was off to get this new Bimmer protected!








Since this is a special car to me, I’m doing it right. From the Performance Center, I drove 12 miles straight to Extreme Colors Auto Spa in Greenville. Extreme Colors does the paint protection for the Performance Center cars, and are a well known reputable shop, so I was in good hands.

I had arranged with Extreme for body protection straight from the factory, while fresh. We went with a full front-end PPF wrap, plus rocker panels and rear bumper. In addition to this big road trip, rock chip and gravel protection is money in Alaska. Then we’re putting ceramic coating over the full vehicle, wheels and calipers, tinting the front windows to match the factory rear tint, and putting an IR rejection coating on all windows. Ceramic coating the interior as well. Then doing a few mods I’ll show on pickup. More details on the scheduled Extreme Colors work in this post HERE.

Extreme was fantastic, working far ahead with me to schedule all services. They wanted upwards of a week to do the work incorporating product curing times. So with a Wednesday PCD and drop-off, we used the weekend for some of the curing, and a Tuesday pickup. The fellas gave me a nice facility tour, and I handed over the keys.

It broke my heart to give up my new baby after only a few hours with her, but I’m willing to do it right, to have a better and longer lasting car down the road.








That night, on recommendations, I went into Greenville to Henry’s Smokehouse for dinner. No brisket on the menu, so went with a combo plate of ribs and pulled pork, with sides of slaw and mac n cheese. Not bad, but also not the great BBQ that others had reviewed. But still, no better way to wrap up a full day of new cars and fun driving, than a BBQ dinner. Best part was the banana pudding dessert. Fun time sitting outside on park tables on a nice, mild evening eating BBQ

Much more to come over the next several weeks, starting tomorrow!