BMW BLUE'S: Atlantic vs. Atlantis

[MX793]

I just saw the pics of the seats... Oh man those are bad. The exterior color is pretty boring too. He spent 4 years to come up with that?!

I like the mistaken color better

I'm not sure why they have a picture of the 2-tone seats in the article when he said he decided not to order 2-tone because they wouldn't send him a leather sample.  The seats ordered were black with blue deviated stitching, according to the article and the thread linked in the article.

[Soup DeVille]

I just saw the pics of the seats... Oh man those are bad. The exterior color is pretty boring too. He spent 4 years to come up with that?!

I like the mistaken color better

I've been told that while you can custom order a Rolls Royce in pretty much any colour you like, the company has the final say on whehther or not ehy'll actually make some conbinations.

[SVT666]

Swap interiors.  No. Big. Deal.  Only a complete idiot would think replacing seats and door panels would result in rattles...especially if it's being done in the BMW assembly plant.

[Cookie Monster]

I just saw the pics of the seats... Oh man those are bad. The exterior color is pretty boring too. He spent 4 years to come up with that?!

I like the mistaken color better

The mistaken color is so boring!

Also he didn't get that interior. I agree it looks horrible but he didn't go with it because BMW wouldn't send him the leather samples.

[hotrodalex]

I just saw the pics of the seats... Oh man those are bad. The exterior color is pretty boring too. He spent 4 years to come up with that?!

I like the mistaken color better

Yeah, he just seems like a douchebag to me.

Swap the interior if you're that obsessed with the color combo. I would probably just take the mistaken paint color and ask for a sizable discount.

[veeman]

bmw messed up, he's being a bit of a prick about it.  Many people with that kind of money know that being a prick at selected times will get you things that otherwise you wouldnt get.  Successful business types usually dont give a shit what others think of them outside of friends and family.

[Soup DeVille]

bmw messed up, he's being a bit of a prick about it.  Many people with that kind of money know that being a prick at selected times will get you things that otherwise you wouldnt get.  Successful business types usually dont give a shit what others think of them outside of friends and family.

That's a bit of an unfair stereotype, but he did pay the money, and he should get what he paid for, or be compensated in other ways.

[GoCougs]

bmw messed up, he's being a bit of a prick about it.  Many people with that kind of money know that being a prick at selected times will get you things that otherwise you wouldnt get.  Successful business types usually dont give a shit what others think of them outside of friends and family.

I smell the stink of family money entitlement actually.

[CALL_911]

I smell the stink of family money entitlement actually.

Who gives a fuck? He paid $80k and didn't get what he paid for. End of story.

[Soup DeVille]

Who gives a fuck? He paid $80k and didn't get what he paid for. End of story.

Just that Veeman's "succesful business type" analogy might not apply.

Ehh, Cougs might be right: he might not: but you are; he had a deal, he paid good money; he needs to get what he paid for.

[Lebowski]

bmw messed up, he's being a bit of a prick about it.  Many people with that kind of money know that being a prick at selected times will get you things that otherwise you wouldnt get.  Successful business types usually dont give a shit what others think of them outside of friends and family.

Successful business types also know to choose your battles in life and generally have something more important to worry about that the color of their stitching.

It just isn't worth the time/effort to drag this out beyond what's already been offered. Compromise on the color (and maybe get a discount in that case) or take your money elsewhere.

[Lebowski]

he had a deal, he paid good money; he needs to get what he paid for.

That's what you guys keep saying but that's not really how it works ... Worst case, if none of the alternatives offered are acceptable to him a refund is a reasonable solution. BMW is not obligated to produce the car, and they've offered other alternatives that he's turned down.

[TurboDan]

That's what you guys keep saying but that's not really how it works ... Worst case, if none of the alternatives offered are acceptable to him a refund is a perfectly acceptable solution. BMW is not obligated to produce the car, and they've offered other alternatives that he's turned down.

At the very least, I would demand a full, unlimited, lifetime warranty on any interior rattles, and for BMW to pay for my hotel/airfare that was spent on the Individual program.

FWIW, though, I realistically would've probably just tried to haggle a better deal on a custom F30 M3.

[Rupert]

I would be fucking livid. We don't know the guy's financial situation, either. He may have worked hard, sacrificed and saved for years to buy this car, only to have some idiot get the most outwardly visible aspect of it – the color – wrong. He's absolutely justified in wanting BMW to make it right. A lot of people are defending them but there is NO way they couldn't put a rush on something. I'll bet if the M3 was for the CEO's nephew and they messed it up, they could fit one into their production schedule.

He was absolutely right to post about it publicly as well. I hope somehow it's figured out. It's bad enough when someone messes up your sandwich at a deli, it's intolerable and totally unacceptable when someone does it with a product that costs $80,000.

Don't know his financial situation? No one scrimps and saves and works hard for years to be able to spend 50% more on a car like this. Puh-lease-- dude's rich as fuck.

[Rupert]

I mean, I'd be pissed if this happened on a $25k car I'd ordered, or someone screwed up a $4k paint job, or the put my $8 sammich on the wrong bread, but just move the custom interior bits over to another car and take a discount.

[GoCougs]

Who gives a fuck? He paid $80k and didn't get what he paid for. End of story.

Just that Veeman's "succesful business type" analogy might not apply.

Ehh, Cougs might be right: he might not: but you are; he had a deal, he paid good money; he needs to get what he paid for.

He doesn't "need" to do anything other than to buck up - BMW is NOT retooling/restarting an entire assembly line to make a discontinued product.

[GoCougs]

Something just doesn't jive with the story really. Who entered the order? The dealer? This guy? BMW corporate? I'm going to go with that this guy ordered the wrong color and is now throwing a tantrum to cover up looking like a colossal fool.

[Lebowski]

Don't know his financial situation? No one scrimps and saves and works hard for years to be able to spend 50% more on a car like this. Puh-lease-- dude's rich as fuck.

Given the vast majority of cars like this are financed or leased, the typical buyer is neither a scrimper-saver nor are they "rich as fuck". He could be an exception but I don't see any reason to assume so (and really, it doesn't matter).  My guess is if he was rich as fuck it wouldn't have taken 4 years to get the order placed.

[Lebowski]

Something just doesn't jive with the story really. Who entered the order? The dealer? This guy? BMW corporate? I'm going to go with that this guy ordered the wrong color and is now throwing a tantrum to cover up looking like a colossal fool.

The 4 year order process doesn't make any sense, custom colors or not.

The other thing is IME options and color schemes usually have numeric or alpha numeric codes, so I don't see how/why Atlantic vs Atlantis would be an issue unless someone didn't catch it when the order was first placed.

[Rupert]

Given the vast majority of cars like this are financed or leased, the typical buyer is neither a scrimper-saver nor are they "rich as fuck". He could be an exception but I don't see any reason to assume so (and really, it doesn't matter).  My guess is if he was rich as fuck it wouldn't have taken 4 years to get the order placed.

Typical buyers also don't collect Audis of specific colors while they're "deciding" on their BMW's interior color.

[Atomic]

They offered to move his unique interior into a car that's the color he ordered. He refused because "it didn't come from the normal assembly line". Fuck him, what else are they supposed to do?

Excellent point. In fact, the already exceptional BMW quality probably would have jumped up even higher with "all eyes" on this car and the company wanting to "right a wrong" ~ no better quality assurance. Yes, as others have said -- I would be pissed as hell, BUT...

Refitting the interior is essentially a hand built job. BMW's jester and an extended "bumper-to-bumper" warranty (likely free for the asking and costing BMW little) would be satisfactory. 

[GoCougs]

The 4 year order process doesn't make any sense, custom colors or not.

The other thing is IME options and color schemes usually have numeric or alpha numeric codes, so I don't see how/why Atlantic vs Atlantis would be an issue unless someone didn't catch it when the order was first placed.

Yeah, something doesn't seem right with the story - waiting 4 years to get some ugly as stitching? Plus, NO manufacturing process; esp. something so sophisticated as the automobile industry; would use a color name to enter, process and complete an order. From the get-go it's gonna be some alpha numeric code, and as the manufacturing process is carried out, it's gonna bar coding or some other even more fool-proof system. Who ever entered the order did it wrong, and it wasn't the BMW factory. I'm guessing it was this guy, or if not that it was the dealer.

[Atomic]

Not sure if he was in a financial bind as he was prepared to spend $35k on a custom interior, and only didn't do that because BMW wouldn't send him a leather sample.

This gentleman sounds like an outstanding candidate for one of the Bespoke programs offered by Bentley, Rolls-Royce, others... I alluded to it somewhere recently as the guy a couple of buddies had in South Florida. Needless to say, we are talking about vehicles often costing $350,000 and up. I am actually amazed BMW takes on such challenges as this individual's -- it must be highly profitable. When do correctly, the results must be amazing.

[Lebowski]

Typical buyers also don't collect Audis of specific colors while they're "deciding" on their BMW's interior color.

Meh, it's not so unusual for buyers in this class to own multiple cars over a period of 4 years, particularly those who lease or finance.

[Atomic]

Yeah, something doesn't seem right with the story - waiting 4 years to get some ugly as stitching? Plus, NO manufacturing process; esp. something so sophisticated as the automobile industry; would use a color name to enter, process and complete an order. From the get-go it's gonna be some alpha numeric code, and as the manufacturing process is carried out, it's gonna bar coding or some other even more fool-proof system. Who ever entered the order did it wrong, and it wasn't the BMW factory. I'm guessing it was this guy, or if not that it was the dealer.

I am thinking it must have taken him four years (or more) to come up with the finances... 

[GoCougs]

Meh, it's not so unusual for buyers in this class to own multiple cars over a period of 4 years, particularly those who lease or finance.

I'd say it's common if not SOP (and why depreciation is so terrible for the class - the supply of off-lease cars is immense).

[GoCougs]

I am thinking it must have taken him four years (or more) to come up with the finances... 

Per the info in the original link he has an explanation (IMO it doesn't add up, which is one of the reasons why I think there is a lot more to the story). Also, most all these cars are financed/leased, so there's relatively little money to come up with.

"As to why it took 4 years: Individual color paint has to be approved before the order is placed. Individual interiors can also take an extended period of time to sort out. At the start of this process, I was interested in an E90 in Audi's Nogaro Blue. I have 2 Audi's in that color now, one painted via Audi's Exclusive program. The original dealer I started with (who shall remain nameless) caused me to miss the order deadline for the E90. I was waiting for approval on Nogaro Blue, but made it clear that I did not want to miss the order deadline for an Individual E90. One day I call the salesman and he informs me that he forgot to tell me, but that not only was Nogaro Blue denied, but that the order window has closed for Individual paint on an E90. Call me crazy, but I didn't want a stock color E90 and so I went and bought an A4 Avant in Nogaro blue for daily driving duties. As I was contemplating an E92, I stumbled across Steve Thomas BMW and contacted them about an E92 with some Individual options. There was no pressure, but we got the ball rolling on what was initially to be an M3 in Nogaro Blue, with matching blue alcantara, and blue stitching on the seats. Of the exterior color list I had requested, Nogaro blue was surprisingly APPROVED, in addition to several other colors (including Atlantis with the correct paint code). The blue alcantara interior was not approved, but they were willing to do blue leather in any way I wanted. For a VERY VERY LARGE sum of money. I decided that I wanted the two-tone blue/black leather interior, but that I had to get a leather sample before I could approve the option. It turns out BMW DE was waiting for us to order the car that way (with the $$$$$ interior), before they would provide a leather sample. And not the other way around. To be frank, I'm not paying for an option that is 50% of the base price of the car without seeing a leather sample. So I bailed on the custom color leather and decided to stick with deviated stitching. That was also frustrating because they could not provide a sample of the thread being used and I had concerns about it matching the exterior and custom color leather.

Since beginning the order process, I went from one to two nogaro blue cars and the prospect of owning 3 was starting to sound less exciting, especially since the matching interior leather was not going to happen. So of the final 3 colors I had approval to order (Nogaro, Mora, and Atlantis), I settled on Atlantis. We got the order placed and voila: 4-years passed.

[MrH]

Agree with Lebowski and Cougs on this.

A few things to note:

- Yeah, they don't pass the color name scribbled on a post-it note down the line.  I worked in the BMW Leipzig plant, which mostly makes 1-series and X1's, but while I was there they were making some 3 series too.  M3 comes out of Munich currently I think.  In the Leipzig plant, orders come in based on a code number.  Everything has part numbers, and a build sheet is just a string of part numbers for each option.  There are steps along the entire process, usually by barcode.  Basically, as it moves down the assembly line, the computers at each station recognize was specific order the vehicle is.  The line operator has to scan in the barcodes of the parts going in.  If it's incorrect, the installation process can not proceed until they get it right.  We do the same for interior components in our plants.  Because of the type of mistake, the blame solely rests on him for misspeaking while ordering the car, or the guy who put the order in for picking the wrong color.  The plant builds the orders that come in, and they don't get those things wrong.  The paint booth with the car coming down the line can't paint it the wrong color.

- Nothing about the story lines up.  It took him 4 years to decide on a color, and he didn't follow up enough to make sure his order went through?  The dealership screwed up and didn't get it in in time?

- I wouldn't be surprised if BMW did what he's demanding that it would cost $10+ million in cost.

- I get the feeling of buyer's remorse, and this is his way of sticking it to BMW while trying to save face.

[Soup DeVille]

That's what you guys keep saying but that's not really how it works ... Worst case, if none of the alternatives offered are acceptable to him a refund is a reasonable solution. BMW is not obligated to produce the car, and they've offered other alternatives that he's turned down.

Read my previouis post, where I added "or come up with another way to compensate him"

[Soup DeVille]

The 4 year order process doesn't make any sense, custom colors or not.

The other thing is IME options and color schemes usually have numeric or alpha numeric codes, so I don't see how/why Atlantic vs Atlantis would be an issue unless someone didn't catch it when the order was first placed.

Yes, someobdy probably mis-transcribed the code when reading off of his order sheet, well before any car was actually being built- probably at the dealer.