[P1]

Being from Europe, if you want a new car, you basically have no other choice but to order it to your spec unless you buy the handful of cars on the showroom floor. And that means they have one 1-series, one 3-series, etc. It was only when I moved to the US that you could buy new cars from the dealership...

[bmw-again]

About to do second order on fifth bmw and will never go off lot again. Want bsm with coral track handling 440xi gc only one car in dealer inventory or on ships with track pkg. As far as negotiating end of yr 16's on lot compared to my order lot is cheaper.

[TurboM]

Originally Posted by te37

p.s. this needs a poll

Id say its closer to 95/5 if not higher. You'll find a larger percentage of the people on these forums custom order as most are "BMW enthusiasts" and therefore are much more likely to custom order but we certainly are not a good representative sample of the general population therefore a poll would be pointless. Most people walk onto a dealers lot looking to buy a car now, not 2-3 months from now.

I for one wanted to custom order my MY16 but it was so late in the year I couldnt find a dealer with an allocation but I found one within reasonable driving distance and picked it up right at invoice so I can't complain. Bargaining power is definitely stronger picking a car off a dealer lot vs. custom order. Dealers need to have a few cars on their lot or it will hurt their business, they just dont want them there long or they start losing money on it. Its kind of an investment for them.

[Y0tsuya]

I didn't know I could custom-order a car until 15 yrs ago when I tried to buy a stick-shift 330i. Drove that baby for 15yrs until last year I custom ordered my next one + ED. This year another custom order + ED. When I'm spending that much money why not get exactly what I want?

[nozydog]

Pricing up at the mo and pre reg and ex demo cars just don't save you enough IMO. The discounts currently on offer even before dealer discounts are huge so why settle for a car you haven't specced yourself? I've actually calculated that a custom order with discount can be cheaper than some of the pre registered cars my local dealers are trying to shift... they must be basing their pricing on the fact that some buyers just aren't willing to wait the 8-12 weeks for custom orders. Well for me the anticipation is always part of the fun!

[Three Pedal Steve]

Wanted manual trans. Dealers had none in inventory. Had to order it my way. Really glad I waited the extra five weeks.

There is also the European delivery plan for German made cars. It's a free trip to Europe!!!

[Maynard]

Custom order was fantastic, only downside was the wait, and I needed that to read through the manual. Worth it just to know that my car has never had a 'test drive' - the very definition of what NOT to do during break-in. My old engine guy used to call them 'dog miles' because they factor out at like 1:1000 when you get to the 100k point.

[roll_the_dice]

If buying new I always order...when buying used obviously have no choice. I still get the options and color I want used, but it may take 6 months or longer to find the exact car I want with the right price. I started looking for a used F30 back in January and finally found it in August, I scour the country from coast to coast.

[Troppo]

My X3 was built to spec. My M240i will be as well...

[Rhyzen]

Custom order is the only way for me. I know what I want and I'm willing to wait for it. Having a great time with my F30.

[syenisch]

Originally Posted by tranquility

Ya, I don't see the big deal either, thrashing my new car and getting it handled an extra time in transit. It's not as if it's a free trip either. Also, that 7pc off is flakey, just like those $1k off coupons, they don't accept that after you negotiate w/ them, it's just a useless unused discount unless someone's foolish enough to pay msrp. Oh well teto.

I believe ED MSRP/Invoice is ~7% less than US MSRP/Invoice so the bargaining "reference point" is lower.

[08njSTEP]

A note on ED. When your car comes off the boat into the US the techs at VPC go over it and repair any damage caused by you while driving through Germany. So you get another new car in appearance. Some might not like the idea of techs touching their car, but this isn't some hack dealership. The VPC is considered a BMW factory. So your car is factory fresh.

[PatrickM3]

Originally Posted by P1et

Being from Europe, if you want a new car, you basically have no other choice but to order it to your spec unless you buy the handful of cars on the showroom floor. And that means they have one 1-series, one 3-series, etc. It was only when I moved to the US that you could buy new cars from the dealership...

Agree on this one, however as said in another post, these cars are also custom built to the dealers spec.

[Gamb1t]

Custom ordered e46 330ci with manual and cloth seats (salesperson jaw dropped). None in Canada. Waited 6 weeks.
X1 Sportline Ultimate Pkg took a while to search off the lot. Last minute inter-province dealer exchange mitigated custom order.

Having driven certain parts of Europe, I have no desire for driving my brand new car in an unknown land and parking in unknown location. It's not all Stelvio Pass or Tuscan countrysides. There are mix of scary mad drivers and mopeds. So ED has 0 appeal. But I see the draw and that's cool. I just rather do it with someone else' car.

So how about bmws made in US? I don't see the draw to go down to SC at all. No offence SC-ers.

[08njSTEP]

Originally Posted by Gamb1t

Custom ordered e46 330ci with manual and cloth seats (salesperson jaw dropped). None in Canada. Waited 6 weeks.
X1 Sportline Ultimate Pkg took a while to search off the lot. Last minute inter-province dealer exchange mitigated custom order.

Having driven certain parts of Europe, I have no desire for driving my brand new car in an unknown land and parking in unknown location. It's not all Stelvio Pass or Tuscan countrysides. There are mix of scary mad drivers and mopeds. So ED has 0 appeal. But I see the draw and that's cool. I just rather do it with someone else' car.

So how about bmws made in US? I don't see the draw to go down to SC at all. No offence SC-ers.

The performance driving center is plenty of reason to go to SC. Incredible facility.

[KansasWaldo]

I just purchased my 2016 X1 new off the lot. The only reasons I didn't place an order were 2016 incentives and the fact that it had every option (including color) that I wanted.

My wife's 230i will be ordered with ED.

[DeeteeM]

Less than 5% custom order.
Porsche on the other hand is much higher. They encourage customers when new model allocations open up.

[OneLastBMW]

I am getting a 440i xDrive Convertible built for ED late February. In my case, the ED will be a cheap detour as part of a business trip to France and will be both a money savings and a bonus. If I had to pay for the entire trip out of my pocket just to do ED I probably would have passed but still would have had to order most likely. There just aren't that many xDrive Convertibles with Adaptive M Suspension sitting on dealer lots. I would have ended up with my second choice of colors at best and at least a couple options I didn't need.

I get a new F-150 every 5 or 6 years and my wife drives Lincoln or Cadillac usually. I've never had trouble finding what I wanted with those higher volume vehicles...and Ford doesn't offer Kansas City Delivery.

[rallybull]

Originally Posted by Poleposition

This!

With ED you do lose a couple of months of being able to use the car while the car is depreciating and you still making payments on those months.
ED may not be for everyone

[Ian1973]

If I'm buying new, I'm ordering what I want.

[rkinra]

Of the 5 BMWs I've bought, only the latest one was a custom order.

The one before was exactly what I wanted and the dealer traded for it to get it for me.

From now on, I plan on custom ordering. So, I can get exactly what I want and not either skipping options or taking things I don't want.