[Corinne]

I visited my local BMW dealership in France on saturday to arrange a test drive of an M235i convertible. The dealer has branches in the 3 main towns in the area: Annecy, Annemasse and Chambery. Imagine my surprise when they told me I had to wait until september ! Not only did they not have an M235i available to test, but none was even available to look at ! Just a 220d coupe. I'm lucky in that someone else had already reserved a test drive several weeks ago so I'll be able to profit from that otherwise I'd probably have had to wait until next year. I also asked if there was a 225d available and they just shrugged their shoulders. Maybe this explains why I haven't seen a single 2 series on the roads in France ?

[moldcad]

This reminds me of the situation in Poland, only worse...

[DanG]

Seattle isn't much better.

[W///]

They're not easy to get a hold of, that's for sure. I had a chance to test drive 2 M235i's with 8AT, but only was able to test drive the 6MT last month.

[Cyberdemon]

Since it takes 2 months to get a car built, I guess the assumption is they don't have any unsold cars coming in anytime soon. It's not fair for you to test drive someone else's car that is already on order, so if the dealer does not have stock they'll have to take one out of allocation (I expect allocation on the 235i convertibles is very, very low) and order that car to be brought in.

It stinks, but with that said you could try to find a 235i coupe and any 2 series convertible and cobble together the thoughts of the car.

I test drove the only 235i vert that was available in my area and wound up buying it the day of. The next day as I was driving off a woman started shouting at me as I was pulling off the lot that I was driving "her car". Apparently she had made an appointment to come see it but not before I scooped it up and was hopping mad.

[WinterIsComing]

I never test drove the M235 vert before I ordered it. Test drove the 435 vert and an M235 coupe and went with my gut.... so glad I did!

[mike@x-ph.com]

2 months is a long time to wait for a test drive. I cant even wait 2 months for a car delivery.

[W///]

Originally Posted by Cyberdemon

Since it takes 2 months to get a car built, I guess the assumption is they don't have any unsold cars coming in anytime soon. It's not fair for you to test drive someone else's car that is already on order, so if the dealer does not have stock they'll have to take one out of allocation (I expect allocation on the 235i convertibles is very, very low) and order that car to be brought in.

It stinks, but with that said you could try to find a 235i coupe and any 2 series convertible and cobble together the thoughts of the car.

I test drove the only 235i vert that was available in my area and wound up buying it the day of. The next day as I was driving off a woman started shouting at me as I was pulling off the lot that I was driving "her car". Apparently she had made an appointment to come see it but not before I scooped it up and was hopping mad.

I would have just laughed at her

[scottyn]

Although the OP is in a particularly bad situation, that's just how it goes with these cars. I didn't get to test drive my chosen configuration either. I got to drive a 228i sport line and an m235i and had to guess what the 228i will be like with m-sport and THP. I have no doubts that I'll love it, though...

[Pinghacker]

I believe the 2er is being held back by its lack of availability and advertising. MB and Audi are doing very well with the CLA and A3. If more potential buyers (in the US at least) new of and could test drive the car, I am sure they would be flying through the showrooms.

The 2 door is really the only potential marketing hindrance but the rear seat is nearly as useful as the MB and Audi.

[uberspeed]

Availability in SoFla is nonexistent, early on I was fortunate with test drives and UDE but these days it's all dried up. Forget about getting your hands on some of the more enthusiast options such as THP to form an opinion.

[Corinne]

I would have thought that BMW would have a few different demo versions of the 2 being moved around France since it's not a very big country. I agree that it wouldn't be fair to drive someone's car that they'd ordered - I'd go bananas if someone did that to me. But, honestly, I get the impression that BMW are really screwing up their marketing of this machine. When I test drove a 330 many years ago (prior to ordering it) they had one that was being driven from dealer to dealer on a demo tour. However I was really disgusted to find the guy driving it was a heavy smoker and the interior stank of stale cigarettes. I almost cancelled but forced myself to endure both the god awful smell and the lazy slob who just sat back and relaxed with a bored expression on his face, offering no information at all about the car. Had I been a BMW boss that guy would have been fired on the spot.

[Kiwi]

It's not BMW it's your local dealer who have not ordered enough cars. I would never let a dealer let another driver drive my car at any time and our dealers wouldn't. Sounds like your dealer has idiots working there.

[ABPReader]

.

[Corinne]

Jet_00, I can do that as I'm in Geneva every day but I'm too honest to make them give me a test drive when I can't buy one from them..... (since I live in France). I shall just have to be patient. I am very disappointed though by the general ignorance of the salesmen in these dealerships over matters such as engines, M-Performance parts etc.

[zentanker]

Originally Posted by Cyberdemon

I test drove the only 235i vert that was available in my area and wound up buying it the day of. The next day as I was driving off a woman started shouting at me as I was pulling off the lot that I was driving "her car". Apparently she had made an appointment to come see it but not before I scooped it up and was hopping mad.

Did you laugh at her? I certainly would have

[Cyberdemon]

Originally Posted by zentanker

Did you laugh at her? I certainly would have

I was actually yelling at her to F off...she was stopped in the middle of the road honking at me while I was waiting ready to pull out of the driveway and I thought she just couldn't drive, so I kept waving her on and told her to f'ing go until she rolled down her window and started yelling "thats my car! why are you in my car!"

I put 2 and 2 together when I realized that the sales manager originally said "the 235 is sold" but then later on realized there was no deposit. Apparently whoever her CA was, they weren't in the day I showed up to claim the car and the woman hadn't had a chance to pay yet.

Woops.

[tccox]

Sort of strange how demand varies from location to location. My dealer here in Charlotte has three 235s, 2 new and one used, They've had at least one in stock for weeks now.

[SteveInfante]

I had been looking for a 2 series around the Carolinas for some time while skimming used adds for a used E92/90 M3 as well. Pretty much the same price range either way. None struck me as "the one". I found this one here and I'm happy.

[zentanker]

Originally Posted by Cyberdemon

I was actually yelling at her to F off...she was stopped in the middle of the road honking at me while I was waiting ready to pull out of the driveway and I thought she just couldn't drive, so I kept waving her on and told her to f'ing go until she rolled down her window and started yelling "thats my car! why are you in my car!"

I put 2 and 2 together when I realized that the sales manager originally said "the 235 is sold" but then later on realized there was no deposit. Apparently whoever her CA was, they weren't in the day I showed up to claim the car and the woman hadn't had a chance to pay yet.

Woops.

Welp, woops indeed! I suppose she maybe had some right to beef with the CA or dealership, but certainly not with you. Oh well.