BMW wants to drastically reduce vehicle options

It’s a delicate dance between Tesla modularity and Porsche indulgence.

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8’s are nice, too…

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Agreed. It was not pleasant thinking through all the packages bmw had and I felt nickel and dimed. Meanwhile I knew exactly which package I wanted at Audi because it was so simple.

Surprised by some of the responses here… I enjoyed al a carte options on my cars. I could checkmark exactly what I wanted and leave off what I thought was extra as opposed to just being forced to get something because it was part of some pre-set package. Surprised people are wanting to go back to the packaged options. If I recall people used to complain about that too… manufacturers like to play games - they’ll package a bunch of useless options around the ONE useful option that you want, and force you to buy the entire package just to get that one option.

It’s like TV. I don’t want the Oxygen channel… I just want ESPN. But I’m forced to get both as part of the package.

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The most ridiculous was Apple CarPlay. First they use to charge a flat $300 for it, then they charged $80 a year, and then they finally said “no charge” but I’m sure the price was just baked into a MSRP increase.

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Don’t tell this guy about the rumored 9 series and X8.

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I didn’t know that you can sell your BMW lease only to BMW dealers. Is this really true or do they just have different buyout price for non-BMW dealers?

There are ways around this like selling to buyers who will accept lessor released titles. But for all intents and purposes, yes bmw is only allowing bmw dealers to buyout leases.

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Porsche is going to eat their lunch. BMW is already losing their allure as high end performance cars, and more people will flock to Stuttgart/Zuffenhausen.

Except:

  1. That works great for buying and people who wanted to get a lease MTO. That’s not the majority of people here (or at least wasn’t prior to the covid price increases).
  2. You generally don’t just pick options, you get multiple packages with overlapping options. Convenience package, M package, Exec package, etc. So what you said about manufacturers playing games is exactly what BMW does and it’s even more confusing than Audi IMO. And, yes, I drive a BMW.
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  1. Agreed - But with purchasing off the lot this discussion doesn’t really matter anyway. I was responding specifically in regard to choosing options (which is what you do when you purchase MTO). When you purchase off the lot you simply pick a car based on a general set of preferences you may have (or in many cases, just whatever’s available). I get the simplicity of tiers when picking a car off the lot, but in many cases they end up being ambiguous and diving into the details of what those tiers are takes you right back to the original issue - complexity. So you either take the time to dive into the differences between each tier of car, or you buy something assuming more expensive = better. I could be wrong but I have a feeling a lot of people fall into the latter.

  2. People were discussing Audi’s tiers of options as preferable to a la carte options. BMW offers some a la carte options in addition to packages (as you mentioned - convenience, exec, etc). My point was I enjoyed the ability to check off a la carte options (i.e. glass controls, remote start, air suspension, aluminum running boards, upgraded sound system, acoustic glass etc). This also allowed me to leave out specific individual options I felt I didn’t need (i.e. leather dashboard, alcantara headliner, etc). I ordered 2 MTO BMWs in the past 2 and a half years and thoroughly enjoyed the process of spec’ing them almost exactly as I wanted, and would have loved even more a la carte options (like what porsche offers).

My surprise was because many people have in the past complained about packages containing useless options that they don’t need, but here seem to be complaining about the complexity of having to choose individual options as opposed to just having everything packaged in tiers of packages (like Audi’s premium/premium plus/prestige). I guess each side will have people complaining.

Personally I didn’t find BMWs options confusing at all. Nor do I find Audis options confusing. BMWs online builder is pretty intuitive IMO. I understand BMW is also playing those games I mentioned, even more so now than before. I was simply expressing that I enjoyed having the ability to pick and choose.

If I was purchasing or doing MTO like you, I would LOVE to do a la carte. Pick the leather, the colors, yada yada.

Off the lot, it requires spending time thinking through what is in convenience vs m vs exec vs others and that’s not the most fun.

I think we’re saying the same thing. That same logic applies to tiered packages such as premium/premium plus/prestige. Simply saying those terms doesn’t mean much… you have to put in time and effort to discern the differences and what’s included in each.

IMO putting options within packages results in a few things:

  1. more ambiguity for the consumer - you either put in the effort to try and learn what prestige vs premium plus actually means, or you purchase using the assumption that prestige is better than premium plus because it’s more expensive (even if the added features may or may not be of use to you). I will caveat this with one thing - once you have learned those differences, then selecting between various different cars on the lot does become easier I will admit, as opposed to individual options lists.

  2. the obvious supply chain benefits for automakers

I understand WHY automakers would prefer to go this route - they’re able to charge higher pricing in the name of added features regardless of those features’ use to individuals, and it’s significantly more efficient for supply chain.

And the comes the 50th anniversary M celebrations, with a whole bunch of goodies - 50 iconic finishes in the paint dept!

Not really feeling that alternate roundel, though… guess it depends on the color/finish

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That 50th anniversary logo is amazing and I bet there will be a decent amount of people retrofitting one.

I think the logo is actually :fire:

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Fair enough, and to each their own. :slight_smile:

I just can’t see it working to my personal liking on a Dravit SUV like mine, though I do think it could be nice on a TB2/AW/JB job… now, the steering wheel logo on the other hand… :smiley:

Wonder how long it’ll take the AliExpress boys… (I can feel the glare from @HersheySweet already)

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Another “trick” would be to find a chain dealership that includes BMW, but not necessarily a BMW location. These dealerships with sister locations can run the deal through their BMW section, though the transaction can occur at a non-BMW location…if that makes sense?

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Actually, I want one for the next BMW I undoubtedly have my eye on. Unless that car happens to have the Kith logo on it, I will be retrofitting :stuck_out_tongue:

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Everyone is taking a lesson from Tesla :slight_smile:

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