[flavius]

Has BMW ever considered building a piece of autobahn near the factory?

[turbolag]

Originally Posted by SCOTT26

Its 2007 again?

Irrelevant. BMW should be able to make a tunable engine that dint threat of fucking up...

[SCOTT26]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

Since we are kind of off-topic...

I've never understood why BMW does not offer "American (tourists)Delivery" for Germans and Europeans who want to tour Spartenburg and travel around the USA in their new X-series, and then ship it over to the Welt(or their home dealer) for re-delivery.

There has never been any interest or demand for such an experience.
They talked about once when the first X5 was coming on strong but it has never been anything demanded or requested by European customers.

[bimmerjph]

Originally Posted by flavius

Has BMW ever considered building a piece of autobahn near the factory?

I doubt SC would let that happen. There is a major speed trap about half way between Greenville and the plant that has to be way too profitable to give up.

I was at the plant this past week and literally every time I drove by there were at least three cars pulled over on I-85 heading towards the plant. Seriously, when I went to the plant there were three cars pulled over, and when I left there were three more cars pulled over. It was actually pretty funny how consistent it was.

[SCOTT26]

On the Media drives for the E85/E86 Z4 M Coupe/Roadster. Several members of the media were arrested for exploiting the car on this very road.

[rsimm750]

Can't believe no one got it yet. Clearly this is happening.
Also iPhone 6.

[darksilkx1]

Originally Posted by SCOTT26

On the Media drives for the E85/E86 Z4 M Coupe/Roadster. Several members of the media were arrested for exploiting the car on this very road.

Scott it has been my goal for a few years to find out who you are and how you know all this - see thread below. Well?

http://www.f30post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=722126

[bimmerjph]

Originally Posted by SCOTT26

On the Media drives for the E85/E86 Z4 M Coupe/Roadster. Several members of the media were arrested for exploiting the car on this very road.

ROFL. I don't doubt it. I bet the South Carolina State Troopers start salivating over press drives.

Honestly, I'm a bit surprised I didn't get pulled over. It seems like the type of trap that will pull people over for going less than five mph over.

[Mahzari]

My bet: 3-series will now be produced in USA

[Haywood]

You'll be able to custom order a M4 with a S65 engine. Ok. A guy can dream!

[NYCX3]

Originally Posted by sali

I want a German made car, not made in USA. If I want one made in USA, I will get Caddy.

I am right there with you! BMW is a goner in quality and respect for their customers.

[NYCX3]

Originally Posted by bmwx1803

a bmw is a bmw no matter where it is produced. the quality will always be there wither it is produced in germany or the usa.

lol, wishful thinking. Have you driven a german made BMW vs. American?

I have, and it's quite a contrast in road feel and vehicle quality, attention to detail, intuitively placed controls. US Made BMWs just feel dumbed down.

[NYCX3]

Originally Posted by TractionControlOff

Sure some data can be faked, but when the data is over decades, from multiple sources (including the car manufacturers themselves), and using thousands of examples, not just one -- the data is legit. Even as recent as 2012 Nissan studied quality at it's Smyrna, Tennessee plant vs. one of it's top plants in Japan. The quality superiority at the Smyrna plant was the tie-breaker which led to future Infiniti production in the US.

I'm not trying to say that American cars are more reliable than Japanese cars or any other cars. I'm simply stating what the Japanese have learned - as long as the design and systems are in place, US workers can actually assemble higher quality vehicles, not lower quality.

Your data is based over decades... decades ago the economy wasn't in the shitter, people were less dumbed down, less stressed, less poor. Now the American mind has been so exhausted and fatigued by all the nonsense going on, and this all reflects on the quality of work americans put out.

That being said, the problems of the American BMW plants cannot be seen by the decade old research, as BMW US manufacturing is rather recent occurrence. I have experienced a Signficant decline in quality of my BMW, not to mention the horrible customer service.

[NYCX3]

Originally Posted by bimmerjph

Sorry to burst your little bubble, but your older X3 wasn't made in Germany. It wasn't even made by BMW. It was made under contract by Magna Steyr in Graz, Austria. The location of the Steyr plant is closer to the former Soviet Bloc than it is to Germany. So yeah, please tell me how your "German made" X3 was so much better.

This doesn't change anything... The quality was Signficantly better:

1. Negative Camber was higher, resulting in a higher GForce numbers on skidpad on the 2006 X3.

2. Stabilizer bar was much better, greatly minimizing the body roll on turns. 2013 X3 just throws you around on the same turns.

3. Steering was Hydraulic, not electronic, which gave the car a much more planted feel on the road. The 2013 X3 also comes with runflats, which deaden the road feel, create more shock on bumps and and worsen handling.

4. Sounds system was better built, new premium sound speakers have burned out in my 2013 X3 within 6 months of use.

5. Controls were more intuitive... for example, the temp knob wasn't right near the volume knob, which I always get confused by.

6. Not a single problem for 3 years of my lease, and not a single oil change for 15,000 miles... not the case with new 2013 X3. Already had major break recall, service bulletin to replace front spring pads, paint job has defects under clearcoat... etc etc

Driving the newer US Made X3 just feels like driving a car designed by a dumb mind, it's just foolish how everything is layed out, designed, etc.

Should I go on?

[bimmerjph]

Originally Posted by NYCX3

This doesn't change anything... The quality was Signficantly better:

1. Negative Camber was higher, resulting in a higher GForce numbers on skidpad on the 2006 X3.

2. Stabilizer bar was much better, greatly minimizing the body roll on turns. 2013 X3 just throws you around on the same turns.

3. Steering was Hydraulic, not electronic, which gave the car a much more planted feel on the road. The 2013 X3 also comes with runflats, which deaden the road feel, create more shock on bumps and and worsen handling.

4. Sounds system was better built, new premium sound speakers have burned out in my 2013 X3 within 6 months of use.

5. Controls were more intuitive... for example, the temp knob wasn't right near the volume knob, which I always get confused by.

6. Not a single problem for 3 years of my lease, and not a single oil change for 15,000 miles... not the case with new 2013 X3. Already had major break recall, service bulletin to replace front spring pads, paint job has defects under clearcoat... etc etc

Driving the newer US Made X3 just feels like driving a car designed by a dumb mind, it's just foolish how everything is layed out, designed, etc.

Should I go on?

Complaints 1,2, and 3 are problems that are affecting all F-chassis BMW's. Nothing about it is inherent to Spartanburg production.

Complaint 4 could go either way, its Spartanburg's responsibility to make sure the parts they get from the supplier are up to spec. However, its the German's the responsibility to set the standard.

The Spartanburg plant has very little to do with the initial design of anything. Based on what I have been told by engineers at the plant, I am 99.99% sure that they would have little to no input on small things like control location.

The brake recall (I'm assuming it's the one about the brake booster) also included German produced models such as the X1, 3-Series, 5-Series, and Z4. So it is clear that it is a design issue rather than a production issue limited to plant Spartanburg.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by NYCX3

Your data is based over decades... decades ago the economy wasn't in the shitter, people were less dumbed down, less stressed, less poor. Now the American mind has been so exhausted and fatigued by all the nonsense going on, and this all reflects on the quality of work americans put out.

That being said, the problems of the American BMW plants cannot be seen by the decade old research, as BMW US manufacturing is rather recent occurrence. I have experienced a Signficant decline in quality of my BMW, not to mention the horrible customer service.

If I remember my BMW history correctly (I do, I just checked wiki) Spartanburg was opened in 1994 and first produced the E36 for 1994 - 1996 then started producing the Z3. So the plant has been in existence for 20 years, which is not so "recent". And BTW the economy of the 1970's was worse than Obama's economy of today. And a little known fact - the Hover Dam was built during the depression in the 1930's, a far worse economy than today. Yeah, but we Americans suck.

[mkoesel]

Originally Posted by NYCX3

lol, wishful thinking. Have you driven a german made BMW vs. American?

I have, and it's quite a contrast in road feel and vehicle quality, attention to detail, intuitively placed controls. US Made BMWs just feel dumbed down.

Intuitively placed controls? So they're moving them to different locations for US vehicles now, are they?

[CirrusSR22]

Do people really think the assembly line workers are designing things on the fly? Or that BMW calls up Spartanburg and says, "Hey, we need a new generation X3, can you come up with something for us?" These cars are designed down to the mm by BMW. They will be the same car whether made in Germany, USA, SA, China, etc.

If a bolt was loose or an interior panel wasn't snapped on properly - sure, blame it on the factory workers. But camber settings, sway bar design, HVAC layout, oil change interval ?!!

[Matski]

http://www.inautonews.com/bmw-to-bui...v#.UynSfvl_utY

Citing “consolidated circles”, the German daily reports BMW plans to raise output from 300,000 vehicles today to more than 400,000. The carmaker has already expanded its plant in Spartanburg several times.
On the same time, according to the same source – BMW will also decide wherever or not it will build the “long-discussed” X7 SUV. X7 is expected to compete with the upcoming Audi Q9 and Vw Cross Blue, which will be made and sold in the U.S. from 2016.

[Zed2004]

Originally Posted by Matski

http://www.inautonews.com/bmw-to-bui...v#.UynSfvl_utY" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://<a href="http://www.inautonew...ynSfvl_utY</a>

It looks like BMW is following Mercedes' lead in bringing their highest volume sedan production stateside. Someone has told me that it would be the 3 series.

[NYCX3]

Originally Posted by bimmerjph

Complaints 1,2, and 3 are problems that are affecting all F-chassis BMW's. Nothing about it is inherent to Spartanburg production.

Complaint 4 could go either way, its Spartanburg's responsibility to make sure the parts they get from the supplier are up to spec. However, its the German's the responsibility to set the standard.

The Spartanburg plant has very little to do with the initial design of anything. Based on what I have been told by engineers at the plant, I am 99.99% sure that they would have little to no input on small things like control location.

The brake recall (I'm assuming it's the one about the brake booster) also included German produced models such as the X1, 3-Series, 5-Series, and Z4. So it is clear that it is a design issue rather than a production issue limited to plant Spartanburg.

North America has it's own management team, which can make the decisions for US market parts, etc. Each market has different configs and specs of the BMW... They survey the public and based on that input, alter the car's design, performance, etc... Most consumer in mainstream public are NOT driving enthusiasts, and do not understand driving dynamics, so surely, they will not provide the type of feedback that would make BMW improve their Ultimate Driving Machines, but instead, they gear it toward, "the joy of driving"... Sure, what Joy is there if you have to change the flat... I got it!... Lets make the runflats standard,... and oh yea, people complain about the ride... soften that suspension and steering... oh yes, and the EPA wants fuel economy... good bye Hydrualic Steering pumps...etc etc.

The way I see it, when BMW German engineers were not asking questions, but doing what they do best... their cars were real driving machines... they started to ask the ignorant mainstream public, and got lost in a mess... now they making cars in China too. Of course, I hear the new CEO is a greedy one, so cost cutting and money money money is the main goal.

Anyway, it looks like it's time for a change.

[NYCX3]

Originally Posted by CirrusSR22

Do people really think the assembly line workers are designing things on the fly? Or that BMW calls up Spartanburg and says, "Hey, we need a new generation X3, can you come up with something for us?" These cars are designed down to the mm by BMW. They will be the same car whether made in Germany, USA, SA, China, etc.

If a bolt was loose or an interior panel wasn't snapped on properly - sure, blame it on the factory workers. But camber settings, sway bar design, HVAC layout, oil change interval ?!!

Not true... they are designed based on various studies and surveys of the different populations in specific markets... do you believe all the safety laws are the same in all countries? Of course not, BMW must adjust many things in their vehicles depending on the markets they are selling in.