[johnfkitchen]

My car finally arrived at the dealer today, having been at the NY/NJ VPC since July 1st. They have been replacing the windshield most of that time.

It looks just great ... EXCEPT ...

Wrong trim.

The original order we signed was for Poplar.

Somewhere along the way, the trim choice was dropped and the default if you don't ask for anything is "Walnut".

If your order says "wood trim", it's probably Walnut.

Fortunately, the dealer has an inventory car with Poplar and they are busily swapping the trims over for delivery to me tomorrow. I just hope they don't break anything!

[David328M-Sport]

Was the walnut trim too dark for you?
I hope all goes well for you. Isn't it the PITS when silly things like that happen.

I'm glad I had the opportunity to check out my car almsot 2 weeks ago and checked that all looked good and the car had all of the extras I asked for. It did. Hopefully it will run perfectly too.

Tomorrow for me!!!!

Hope you don't have to wait terribly long for your car.

[silverado]

I sincerely hope that you do get it tomorrow!!

[dkulp]

Funny you should mention this. I ordered last week and just got my production number today. I had to stop by the dealer this afternoon to sign some Euro Delivery forms so I checked the printout carefully and didn't see any mention of the Alum Trim. They checked the computers and no mention of it either. They're now modifying the order and reprinting all the forms and such.

DEFINITELY check the order extremely carefully for ALL options.

Enjoy!
Dan

[johnfkitchen]

Hi David and Silverado

Thanks for the kind thoughts. The US brochure shows the beige/poplar/iDrive/Sports/Premium/Cold Weather combination exactly as we like it.

Each to his/her own, but my wife and I really like the poplar because it reveals the grain in the wood more than the dark walnut, and, in our opinion, looks just great with beige. The walnut that I saw today looks comparatively "dead" against the rest of the color scheme.

They expect to have the conversion done by mid-day tomorrow (Friday) and we plan to pick up the car at 4:30PM

Talk about brinkmanship! We leave on two weeks driving vacation ("holiday" to you, David), through Maine and Quebec Province on Saturday morning first thing! Eleven weeks to the day from the day of order, and two months later than the original delivery date! This holiday was planned well before we even thought of ordering the 330.

The only thing that can go wrong now, is if FedEx loses the Certificate of Origin - then we won't be able to register the car and put license plates on it.

[BMW786]

I read in another thread someone ordered Aluminum trim and got Wood instead. To compensate, the dealer gave him a $100 gift certificate!! They should have installed an alarm on his car or something! Little details like that are important...They had the exact car I wanted two months ago but I didn't order it because it didn't have the trim I wanted. Now I just hope they get it right otherwise I could have bought the car two months ago!

[Wildcat Jon]

I ordered poplar as well with my black interior (specs below). I really like it. I have a copy of the order sheet where it says code 4AC for Poplar. This matches the order guide. I got an email today, and then talked to my CA, and my car arrived this morning! I'm picking it up at 4:00 Friday afternoon!! To top it off, I had my financing lined up through my own bank and they beat the rate using a national bank by .75%! The weather will be beautiful this weekend in Cincy, so I'm juiced to have the car for the weekend! Had to be on the Ingolstadt arriving last Sunday, but 3 1/2 days from port to processing to the dealer? Wow!

I'll report on whether poplar or not. Did you get a copy of your actual order sheet with the codes and invoice and msrp pricing on each option? That is how I know that my car was ordered correctly (I hope)!

[johnfkitchen]

Originally Posted by Wildcat Jon

<snip>Did you get a copy of your actual order sheet with the codes and invoice and msrp pricing on each option? That is how I know that my car was ordered correctly (I hope)!

No. That was my mistake, I guess. I have a copy of the handwritten order, but that was modified by my phone order adding Active Steering. I saw the modified handwritten order today, and guess what. No trim specified. I can't believe that any company would process orders today on paper for a complex and expensive product like this. That's what computers are for, to police stupid ordering mistakes. Any well-designed computer system would insist on a conscious choice of trim, and not let it be decided by "the system" based on it being omitted.

BTW the codes are 4AB= Walnut, 4AC=Poplar and 4AD=Aluminum. If you choose nothing, it gives you 4AB. Stupid.

[Frank_NJ]

I would be curious to know what 4AA is!

[johnfkitchen]

Originally Posted by Frank_NJ

I would be curious to know what 4AA is!

Very small cup holders, but with two spares.

[mapezzul]

I am HOPING that my order went through properly and I will recieve the POPLAR trim, I requested 4AC on my original form for ED and made a big stink about getting it. I just recieved my papers to sign etc., and all it says is WOOD TRIM. After calling BMW after this they could not tell me what trim was on my car???? So I am waiting for my CA to get back to me and make sure it was built right. I really do not like (personal taste) the darker walnut, so hopefully I am not going to get that!

[johnfkitchen]

mapezzul, this is NOT looking good. That is EXACTLY what happened to me. They can fix it, but you'll need to ride them on this.

[silverado]

JFK,

Do not dare go on your trip on Saturday without letting us know how this shakes out!! We are so invested in your ordeal and want to see it to its hopefully happy conclusion!

[johnfkitchen]

Originally Posted by silverado

JFK,

Do not dare go on your trip on Saturday without letting us know how this shakes out!! We are so invested in your ordeal and want to see it to its hopefully happy conclusion!

Thanks! I will.

Now for more real-time updates....

I'm meeting with my client advisor today at 4:30PM (4 hours and 7 minutes from now, but who's counting) to take delivery. The wood trim exchange was not yet completed a little while back, and I'm holding my breath to see if it got damaged in the exchange. They were clearly nervous about taking this job on board.

But the Certificate of Origin arrived on time and I'm guessing it had the correct VIN , so I'll be street legal

[skimo]

Originally Posted by BMW786

I read in another thread someone ordered Aluminum trim and got Wood instead. To compensate, the dealer gave him a $100 gift certificate!! They should have installed an alarm on his car or something! Little details like that are important...They had the exact car I wanted two months ago but I didn't order it because it didn't have the trim I wanted. Now I just hope they get it right otherwise I could have bought the car two months ago!

Yup...that was me. But they did buy a whole new trim for me (after they messed up the original trim during an exchange) and installed it, the $100 certificate was just for the "extra day wait" which I beleive is fair.... Especially that I think this whole misshap cost them about $600 (for the new Alu trim I guess).

I dont understand why they do such mistakes? Its not like they sell 50 cars a day !

Goodluck with your car !
SKimo

[johnfkitchen]

All's well that ends well! It's perfect. The Poplar trim went in with no damage. The car is a dream to drive. The Active Steering is just amazing. Thanks for your interest in the ordeal, fellow E90-lovers!

Now I'm off to pack the bags, load up the boot/trunk, lie awake all night dreaming of driving and hit the road in the morning!

What a toy!

PS Photos in a couple of weeks after the travels

[Jason]

Congrats John!! Finally!

[mapezzul]

Congrats on the car... best of luck! Glad to hear the trim issuee was fixed for you.... hope I do not have to go through the same thing

[silverado]

Congratulations!!! Finally!!

[Wildcat Jon]

Congrats John. See my other thread ("oh my"). . . . picked mine up today with poplar/black leather.

[BMW786]

Originally Posted by skimo

Yup...that was me. But they did buy a whole new trim for me (after they messed up the original trim during an exchange) and installed it, the $100 certificate was just for the "extra day wait" which I beleive is fair.... Especially that I think this whole misshap cost them about $600 (for the new Alu trim I guess).

I dont understand why they do such mistakes? Its not like they sell 50 cars a day !

Goodluck with your car !
SKimo

Oh ok...if they gave you a new trim then that's cool. I thought they were just like "Here's a 100 gift certificate!" and that's it. I would probably freak if that happened to me but it seems that they made up for their error. I think because the trim is a no-cost option they don't pay extra attention to it then if it was a paid-for option.

[Hunter399]

I ordered Poplar and recieved Walnut