[midwest 340xi 6sp]

Originally Posted by Corinne

I find it pretty damned pathetic that such a large and profitable company as BMW can't invest a little money in extending its paint shop facilities in Leipzig. I mean, how much can it cost to add two paint booths - one for yellow and one for orange ? It would be peanuts.....

This.....

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by hyperzulu

Yeah but the moment you add the ability for Individual, this car is no longer a budget rocket, allocations shrink because they have to account for cars being pulled off the line and those few allocations that remain end up going to the guys who can afford, or already have, an Individual M5 and don't mine dropping another $70k for a unique M2, on top of the $5-10k they give dealerships to ensure they get an allocation. It would be great if those guys were so disgusted, they went and bought another Porsche instead.

They don't have to go Fuck Off and go buy a Porsche when they can Fuck Off and get an M3/M4 instead..

[W///]

Originally Posted by Corinne

I find it pretty damned pathetic that such a large and profitable company as BMW can't invest a little money in extending its paint shop facilities in Leipzig. I mean, how much can it cost to add two paint booths - one for yellow and one for orange ? It would be peanuts.....

Not sure if you are being serious or not....

Also FYI, the paint shops are usually the biggest bottleneck in a car factory. Adding Individual would not only hike the price of what is supposed to be a budget M, but also slow down production. Thanks but no thanks

[Corinne]

I was being serious actually ! Can an extra paint booth cost that much ? And how about transporting on a lorry to another factory those cars which require different colours ? BMW should be aware that there is serious customer disillusion with the narrow choices available and that's not good for business.

[the_phew]

I did an internship at a GM plant years ago. Paint was responsible for the vast majority of quality issues and production slowdowns (although we made the worst vehicle in the U.S. in terms of defects/100-the Astro van-so there was plenty of blame to go around).

I worked in the body shop (where the welding is done), and production managers there were always complaining about the "effing huffers upstairs" wrecking their shot at production bonuses.

[OG///M]

Originally Posted by Corinne

I was being serious actually ! Can an extra paint booth cost that much ? And how about transporting on a lorry to another factory those cars which require different colours ? BMW should be aware that there is serious customer disillusion with the narrow choices available and that's not good for business.

No offense, but if you understand or seen how the whole paint shop works, operates and the cost behind any modification, you won't be asking these questions.

Hint: It's much much more costly than you think.

And I'm not defending BMW here. I also prefer more color choices.

[W///]

Originally Posted by Corinne

I was being serious actually ! Can an extra paint booth cost that much ? And how about transporting on a lorry to another factory those cars which require different colours ? BMW should be aware that there is serious customer disillusion with the narrow choices available and that's not good for business.

I really don't think you have any idea how ridiculously expensive your 2 ideas would be.

These cars are painted by robots. Just imagine how much those KUKA machines cost per unit.

Either way, I'm telling you right now your solutions would be insanely expensive.

[k2pilot]

Originally Posted by W///

I really don't think you have any idea how ridiculously expensive your 2 ideas would be.

These cars are painted by robots. Just imagine how much those KUKA machines cost per unit.

Either way, I'm telling you right now your solutions would be insanely expensive.

Hah, I actually have a few kukas. Three giant thousand pound units and a nice small speedy 5 axis, perfect for water jet cutting. Granted I got them at the solyndra liquidation auction.

I imagine the kukas would run about $500k each. Whole separate paint line would probably be only in the $4-10M range (I'm being pessimistic with that number too).

[SCOTT26]

Leipzig Werk is a main volume plant for the 1er,2er Coupe,Cabrio,Active Tourer,Gran Tourer,X1 and of course home to the BMW i3 and i8. Production is scheduled and measured to the absolute constraint.
There is no way to disrupt production so vehicles can be individually painted.
Additional vehicles from BMW and BMWi will also be produced in Leipzig in the not so distant future therefore there will be no disruption to production flow.

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by SCOTT26

Leipzig Werk is a main volume plant for the 1er,2er Coupe,Cabrio,Active Tourer,Gran Tourer,X1 and of course home to the BMW i3 and i8. Production is scheduled and measured to the absolute constraint.
There is no way to disrupt production so vehicles can be individually painted.
Additional vehicles from BMW and BMWi will also be produced in Leipzig in the not so distant future therefore there will be no disruption to production flow.

Busy production schedule and the M2 is kinda squeezed in.

Even if BMW would like to manufacture a lot of M2 vehicles at the Leipzig plant, it won't be materially possible.

Hence the "no limited production, but made available in small quantities". It will require patience for late(r) adopters.

[the_phew]

Originally Posted by SCOTT26

Leipzig Werk is a main volume plant for the 1er,2er Coupe,Cabrio,Active Tourer,Gran Tourer,X1 and of course home to the BMW i3 and i8. Production is scheduled and measured to the absolute constraint.
There is no way to disrupt production so vehicles can be individually painted.
Additional vehicles from BMW and BMWi will also be produced in Leipzig in the not so distant future therefore there will be no disruption to production flow.

Scott, does the M2 have a dedicated production line in Leipzig, or is it the same line as all other 2-series? i.e. can the queue look like 220i, 228i, 220i, M235i, 220i, M2, 228i....etc?

[bim2er]

Originally Posted by the_phew

Scott, does the M2 have a dedicated production line in Leipzig, or is it the same line as all other 2-series? i.e. can the queue look like 220i, 228i, 220i, M235i, 220i, M2, 228i....etc?

http://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1185914

What do you see in this line? Production lines are not limited to one series at a a time.

[PackPride85]

That one line handles all the cars. Its amazing to watch if you've never seen it before.

[the_phew]

Originally Posted by bim2er

http://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1185914

What do you see in this line? Production lines are not limited to one series at a a time.

That looks to be final inspection. In the plant I worked at decades ago, all the assembly lines for different models converged before final inspection, but I don't know how things are done at that plant, hence my question.

[W///]

Originally Posted by the_phew

That looks to be final inspection. In the plant I worked at decades ago, all the assembly lines for different models converged before final inspection, but I don't know how things are done at that plant, hence my question.

Still should only be 1 paint shop. I'm not as familiar with Leipzig, but even if there were multiple assrmbly lines, they should be coming out of 1 paint shop.

[SW19]

Originally Posted by the_phew

That looks to be final inspection. In the plant I worked at decades ago, all the assembly lines for different models converged before final inspection, but I don't know how things are done at that plant, hence my question.

I can only go by what I saw when I toured the Regensburg plant in 2005.At that time the E46 M3 was made at the plant and it was just mixed together with all the other various models that were made at the plant,on the same production line.It wasn't just in the final inspection area.I would assume that it is the same at all BMW plants.

[Bemo]

Originally Posted by SCOTT26

Leipzig Werk is a main volume plant for the 1er,2er Coupe,Cabrio,Active Tourer,Gran Tourer,X1 and of course home to the BMW i3 and i8. Production is scheduled and measured to the absolute constraint.
There is no way to disrupt production so vehicles can be individually painted.
Additional vehicles from BMW and BMWi will also be produced in Leipzig in the not so distant future therefore there will be no disruption to production flow.

So we should start buying fewer BMWs as to free up capacity in Leipzig and allow you to make production line modifications, including offering more exterior colors!

I hope you would realize how expensive THAT would be!

[W///]

Originally Posted by Nantucket

I can only go by what I saw when I toured the Regensburg plant in 2005.At that time the E46 M3 was made at the plant and it was just mixed together with all the other various models that were made at the plant,on the same production line.It wasn't just in the final inspection area.I would assume that it is the same at all BMW plants.

Not the one in South Carolina. There are 2 separate halls for the X3/4 and X5/6. But they all come from the same paint shop though.

Regardless, the lesson of the day is that Individual is not an easy thing to pull off

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by Artemis

Busy production schedule and the M2 is kinda squeezed in.

Even if BMW would like to manufacture a lot of M2 vehicles at the Leipzig plant, it won't be materially possible.

Hence the "no limited production, but made available in small quantities". It will require patience for late(r) adopters.

The M2 will be squeezed in like and produced in short batches just like the 1m.

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by PackPride85

That one line handles all the cars. Its amazing to watch if you've never seen it before.

Correct

[oldmanstyle]

Originally Posted by Bemo

So we should start buying fewer BMWs as to free up capacity in Leipzig and allow you to make production line modifications, including offering more exterior colors!

I also wish they could offer more on the paint colors. It makes sense that individual is not feasible, but why not an additional 2-3 colors as part of the options? I think it made sense to limit the colors on the 1M since it was a limited production car, but BMW is planning to make a lot of M2's, so why not expand the choices a bit more? Black, grey, white, and LBB is a weak selection for such an eye-catching car. It's just my opinion but LBB is too soft, and is a particularly wasted color slot since there are so many shades of blue that give the car a sportier visual appeal.

[deemo319]

Originally Posted by k2pilot

Hey All,


Just got my deposit down for a #1 MSRP slot here in the bay area, so I'm feeling pretty excited and committed at this point.

What I'm wondering is if there's any news or understanding of the bmw individual program? I see they haven't ever done anything for the 2 series, but was curious if they'd maybe make an exception for the M2... I love blue cars, it's all I've ever had (3 blue bimmer's and 2 blue audi's!), but LBB rubs me the wrong way with its green tinge. And that all black interior? A little boring. Le Mans blue on Terra Dakota would be sublime, and as a first new car purchase, I think it's definitely worth while to go the extra mile for just the right thing (european delivery included). Is hoping for this a total pipe-dream?

K2pilot, you mean something along the lines of this?

FYI, I have serious dibs on Purple Silk Metallic!!!!!!!