BMW has pulled the Harman/Kardon option from its entire lineup citing “chip shortage” issues, which is disappointing.
Doubly so since I finally placed a factory order and that was the only option I really wanted (along with colored seatbelts, which I was able to add). The vehicle hasn’t entered production yet, although it seems unlikely that BMW will add it back as an option beforehand.
The car I ordered only has four speakers on its base stereo so it may be slightly disappointing not having the Harman/Kardon especially since I found it to be an excellent system when I had it in the past and the added cost is minimal.
I guess my most likely option is to take the car without the Harman/Kardon, and deal with it. Thankfully I found the bass to be similar between the base system and the Harman/Kardon, although the mid-range and treble are probably night-and-day due to added mid-range speakers and tweeters.
To be fair it’s uncommon for a dealer to equip a car with the Harman/Kardon option unless it already comes standard on that model. Although pulling it due to the chip shortage isn’t ideal, and I wouldn’t have minded waiting a little longer for production to be able to get the car with premium audio.