Individual Order Delay - Questions for the well-informed :-)

[JDubz]

Hopefully a dealer or someone else who's been through this whole process can answer a couple of questions for me. I just ordered a 2016 M3 with Tanz Blue and Gold Brown interior.

A week ago the order went into 112, but has now been pushed back to 111. And my order has moved from week 16 to 23 - a 7 week delay!!

BMW Genius has not been helpful so far - they only have told me to talk to my CA.

My questions are the following:
-Is there any way I can find out what is delaying my order and change the configuration to get it back to a closer week?
-If so, is my dealer correct that he can't change an order - even though it is in status 111 again?
-Based on your experience, is it likely the paint or the leather or the combo that's holding it up?
-Or is my order likely to move back up based on your experience and the delay likely to be less than 7 weeks.

Not trying to throw anyone under the bus now, but would like to get the car sooner rather than later.

[4UKCATS]

Originally Posted by JDubz

Hopefully a dealer or someone else who's been through this whole process can answer a couple of questions for me. I just ordered a 2016 M3 with Tanz Blue and Gold Brown interior.

A week ago the order went into 112, but has now been pushed back to 111. And my order has moved from week 16 to 23 - a 7 week delay!!

BMW Genius has not been helpful so far - they only have told me to talk to my CA.

My questions are the following:
-Is there any way I can find out what is delaying my order and change the configuration to get it back to a closer week?
-If so, is my dealer correct that he can't change an order - even though it is in status 111 again?
-Based on your experience, is it likely the paint or the leather or the combo that's holding it up?
-Or is my order likely to move back up based on your experience and the delay likely to be less than 7 weeks.

Not trying to throw anyone under the bus now, but would like to get the car sooner rather than later.

This is pretty typical. Look at my jubilee silver m4 thread.

[JDubz]

Originally Posted by 4UKCATS

This is pretty typical. Look at my jubilee silver m4 thread.

Beautiful color by the way.

Thanks - I was thinking that because Tanzanite and Golden Brown are "off the shelf" individual colors that the delay wouldn't be crazy like that.

Also seeing others in my cohort get into production with the Tanzanite. If it's a mater of changing the gold brown, I'd probably just do it.

Any others have experience here or any dealers that might be able to chime in on this?

[Siciliano611]

Glad I noticed this thread, I have a velvet blue ZCP M4 on order and it was supposed to be week 18 production and now BMW genius says its week 23 and thats estimated not a firm week for my prod #....

[BavarianFanatic]

Doing both paint and interior definitely slows it down, but the interior is the primary culprit. It's also typical that once the order is accepted you can't make changes. They are very strict about Individual orders.

As far as the date shift and step back from 112 to 111, that just means that the dealer had an allocation that was ready to go into production, but that won't work for Individual. They need time to produce the interior bits. The Tanzanite paint definitely adds time due to the fact that it's pulled from the main line, but that's not the cause for the delay at this point.

[JDubz]

Damn - that's exactly what I was thinking re: the interior. Regretting that at this point...

If I had known at the time, would have just gone with black like my wife suggested

[sandjam]

Originally Posted by JDubz

Damn - that's exactly what I was thinking re: the interior. Regretting that at this point...

If I had known at the time, would have just gone with black like my wife suggested

My individual paint pushed out my build date almost 5 weeks from the original allocation date. Interior would have pushed it out even more if I had done individual on that too. The wait is really hard. But once it gets here I'm sure I am going to be glad I waited.

Just be patient. Otherwise you'll stick your dealer with a car and maybe lose some deposit money? I was told by my dealer once they lock in an individual it cannot be changed.

[MRCUR]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Individual! Hopefully the schedule sticks at this point (it should), but it is getting awfully close to the MY changeover.

[JDubz]

Yeah - i have it escalated with genius to see if it's possible to change the order to push it up.

If I get pushed to a 17 I might go ballistic with the changes on the maint plan and potentially higher costs.

I recognize that it's not the CAs fault at this point - though he could have informed me of the risks a bit better. I thought a delay of 1-2 weeks might happen, but 7 is nuts.

[dmk08]

Originally Posted by JDubz

Damn - that's exactly what I was thinking re: the interior. Regretting that at this point...

If I had known at the time, would have just gone with black like my wife suggested

I went from 18 to 23 too. Full black with SO stitching. Wishing I woulda just done full SO right now. Oh well too late.

On the bright side I have a 2015 to hold me over

[BavarianFanatic]

Originally Posted by JDubz

Yeah - i have it escalated with genius to see if it's possible to change the order to push it up.

If I get pushed to a 17 I might go ballistic with the changes on the maint plan and potentially higher costs.

I recognize that it's not the CAs fault at this point - though he could have informed me of the risks a bit better. I thought a delay of 1-2 weeks might happen, but 7 is nuts.

It's unlikely to get changed I'm afraid. Individual composition is very much a manual process for them. In addition to pulling the bodies to a different line for paint, the individual interiors are lined up along the wall off to the side of the assembly line rather than on the primary conveyor line that delivers all of the normal interiors. Lots of extra handling, coordination, and personal attention. For what it's worth, mine is Individual paint and Individual full leather. I ordered in November and it was completed at the end of January. The build took a little over 2 weeks from beginning to end.

[JDubz]

Thanks for letting me know.

I guess I had I known that I either would have avoided individual altogether or just gone crazy and gotten a truly unique color rather than tanz

[dmk08]

Originally Posted by BavarianFanatic

It's unlikely to get changed I'm afraid. Individual composition is very much a manual process for them. In addition to pulling the bodies to a different line for paint, the individual interiors are lined up along the wall off to the side of the assembly line rather than on the primary conveyor line that delivers all of the normal interiors. Lots of extra handling, coordination, and personal attention. For what it's worth, mine is Individual paint and Individual full leather. I ordered in November and it was completed at the end of January. The build took a little over 2 weeks from beginning to end.

I was under the impression since the black leather with red stitching was "no lead time" it wouldnt have pushed my build far. 5 weeks is pretty far but im sure it will be worth the wait.

[JDubz]

Originally Posted by dmk08

I was under the impression since the black leather with red stitching was "no lead time" it wouldnt have pushed my build far. 5 weeks is pretty far but im sure it will be worth the wait.

You already have an M sir. I had to wash my 335 today to make myself feel better :-)

[MRCUR]

Originally Posted by JDubz

Yeah - i have it escalated with genius to see if it's possible to change the order to push it up.

If I get pushed to a 17 I might go ballistic with the changes on the maint plan and potentially higher costs.

I recognize that it's not the CAs fault at this point - though he could have informed me of the risks a bit better. I thought a delay of 1-2 weeks might happen, but 7 is nuts.

Many (if not most) CA's have little to no experience with the Individual process, so a lot of times they just don't know.

[BavarianFanatic]

Originally Posted by MRCUR

Many (if not most) CA's have little to no experience with the Individual process, so a lot of times they just don't know.

This is very true. It's simply not that common here in the US. Also not very well documented for them either. It's essentially a manual process for order entry and approval.

[JDubz]

But is there not a difference at all between the "true" individual options that folks like dmk08 have versus the ones available on the BMW website?

[OneRib]

Originally Posted by JDubz

But is there not a difference at all between the "true" individual options that folks like dmk08 have versus the ones available on the BMW website?

The difference is off the shelf individual options don't have to be pre-approved or go through any research process/cost. This saves lead time, but actual production still takes extra time and effort.

Individual is a painful process when ordering and waiting, but I've never read a post about the finished product being a disappointment.

[GOLFFRR]

individual works on their own schedule. there is no way to speed up any part of the process. I have had a bunch of indiv cars and we also sell a TON as everyone knows. There always seems to be added time and doesn't seem to be a std wait time with indiv it seems to vary build to build for various reasons.

best advice I can give is just sit tight and know that the wait will be worth it

also build weeks are just estimates and never are set in stone whether you go with indiv or std order. Never assume a build week is the exact week your car is being built.

[Vitacura]

Yep, when I placed the order I was week 14 or 15. Got TB approved and my car is now scheduled for week 23 and at status 111. Bummer, but what can we do.. Hurry up and wait I guess. As Golffrr said, it will be worth it in the end!

[Siciliano611]

Originally Posted by GOLFFRR

individual works on their own schedule. there is no way to speed up any part of the process. I have had a bunch of indiv cars and we also sell a TON as everyone knows. There always seems to be added time and doesn't seem to be a std wait time with indiv it seems to vary build to build for various reasons.

best advice I can give is just sit tight and know that the wait will be worth it

also build weeks are just estimates and never are set in stone whether you go with indiv or std order. Never assume a build week is the exact week your car is being built.

Hey GOLFFRR, Just curious...I have a velvet blue ZCP M4 that i Ordered about a month ago, it was originally slated for week 18 which I didn't expect anyways and now the genius line says week 23. I dont care about the delay that much but my only worry is, what is the chance that my order could get bumped to a MY2017 car? That is the ONE THING I do worry about as I don't want the even longer wait and reduced maintenance. Also, I heard that the first 3 months of a MY production BMW doesnt even build indiv cars.....

Thanks

[GOLFFRR]

Originally Posted by Siciliano611

Hey GOLFFRR, Just curious...I have a velvet blue ZCP M4 that i Ordered about a month ago, it was originally slated for week 18 which I didn't expect anyways and now the genius line says week 23. I dont care about the delay that much but my only worry is, what is the chance that my order could get bumped to a MY2017 car? That is the ONE THING I do worry about as I don't want the even longer wait and reduced maintenance. Also, I heard that the first 3 months of a MY production BMW doesnt even build indiv cars.....

Thanks

Your sales rep would have been notified if indiv decided to wait till July production and to create it as a 17 model. I would touch base with your sales rep and see what they have to say. If they are not sure or don't know ask them to contact indiv and get the answer for you, they should be able to either way get that info for you. I would assume if the allocation was for a 16 model which obv it is then it would be a 16 model. You still have a month or so of production till shut down during the cross over model years.