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      11-05-2018, 07:05 PM   #3
warrenw
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South Korea
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Drives: 19 AW M2C, 21 M340i
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Seoul

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Delivery Day

Delivery Day

I knew I was in for a treat when I got in a near shouting match with my dealer over what constituted “pre-delivery inspection” and whether or not the VPC could omit certain tasks that they normally do. For example, I didn’t want holes drilled for a plate and I didn’t want them to wash the car. Apparently, the VPC has a “process” that “must be followed” and if there is any deviation apparently there’s a global meltdown and Santa kills 30 of his most trusted elves. This really goes along with the traditional old school Korean way of thinking, which drives me nuts.

My biggest complaint was that I didn’t want plate holes drilled because I wanted to use tape. Well according to Korean law that’s not allowed (actually, yeah plates have to be fixed and the rear plate has to be locked with a special mechanism so you can’t really take it off). So my next concern was that they drill for the Korean plate, which is a long plate, and when I go back to the US I have holes drilled where my CA plate won’t cover, I’m out money to fix it, blah blah blah. So I say I’ll take the “US style” Korean plate since I apparently don’t have a choice.

The next issue was that I didn’t want them to wash the car because I mean I’ve seen what they do, it’s an automatic car wash, and I have a guy (you know, everybody’s gotta have a guy. It’s the code of life. “A guy” to cut your hair, “A guy” to take care of that pesky neighbor of yours who plays his music waaay too loud, “A guy” to do your taxes, all that jazz.) who was going to do a paint correction anyway. Weeeellll apparently the salesman got irate and told me that I can’t change the process and I’d void my warranty and like he was visibly getting angry and it got worse when I told him I might refuse acceptance of the car…. So I let it slide, then once I got back to my office I emailed his boss and the guy in charge of his dealership chain. It didn’t change anything, but at least it helped me feel better because I know he got yelled at.

Which brings me to the meat of this story – delivery. I was promised delivery at noon, but that turned into 4pm because they couldn’t find a truck. So here’s another fun fact, rumor has it that since destination charges are included that whatever the dealer doesn’t spend on shipping they get to keep. As such, they lowball delivery drivers who are leaving the port to pick up their next load under the premise that “well you have to go that way anyway, so…. Take this car with you for next to no cost!” The fallout from that is sometimes it takes them 3 or 4 tries to get someone to bite. All that is unconfirmed but seeing what I’ve seen and knowing what I know, I’d be willing to bet money that’s how it works.

4PM rolls around, I was at the dealer early, and lo and behold… There she is!















Which brings me to my next point… Good God was the front plate bracket ugly. Not to mention, oversized for what the actual plate size is. And, I was amazed at how low it hung below the middle bumper piece. I’ll talk about that more later. But in the meantime, let’s see what the delivery mileage is.



5. Well I can be assured there were no joyrides, right?

I was also happy to see the interior was still protected.



First impressions? I don’t know if I had just been strung along for so long or what but I almost didn’t even believe that it was actually here, or that I could drive off with it no strings attached. I mean imagine that by this point you’ve made almost 3 payments on a car you’ve never driven, I think it’s a little bit fair to be skeptical.

Skepticism aside, the first 30 miles or so I was in awe with the sound (remember, coming from a silent Lexus), the crackles and pops, and the sheer amount of technology that was in the car. I still feel that I’ve barely scratched the surface of the technology in the car, and it’s mindboggling how far cars have advanced, especially in Germany, since my 1998 Volkswagen Jetta was produced. If you can’t tell already, it’s going to be awhile longer before I finally get over THAT nightmare.

I also noticed that the car felt… Skittish. I couldn’t quite place my finger until later that night I was messing with settings and perusing menus when I found out…



Well that explains it.

Back to the license plate, it absolutely wouldn’t work. I took everything off to see how many holes were drilled in the front, and it was 6 – 4 in line, 2 on the bottom. So I went to the DMV, got my plate switched to the Korean style, and installed the Korean style plate. There are two holes that show at the bottom, but you can’t see it unless you’re on the ground.



Still thinking about what to do, I don’t want to do too much bodywork, maybe when the m2 Competition is released in Korea I’ll just buy a new bumper which would be the Euro spec.
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