# My car was built with the wrong options! Need advice!



## mikeriley (Mar 20, 2008)

Just found out my car for ED next week was built with an extra option I did not want. It is coming with the rear seat entertainment system. The dealer is not going to charge me for it but that is not the point, I really do not want that in my car. I will never have kids in the back and do not like the way it looks. What are peoples experiences with this? Do they build a new car or am I sol? I understand some will say take it its free but if you don't like it you don't like it free or not.


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## Dwight_Schrute (Feb 20, 2009)

If the Purchase Order you signed did not specify that option and your car came with it, then BMW is on the hook. I would suggest looking at the PO and then calling your CA.


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## the J-Man (Jul 31, 2009)

I'm not sure what your options are, but there are worse things that could have happened. Why don't you like the looks of it? It's a $2800 option for free, and will increase resale value. I think the screens look pretty cool, maybe they will grow on you? :dunno: 

I wonder how those screens are attached to the seats and if they can be removed? Even if they could be, there's got to be a hole in the back of the seat for the wires.


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## chrischeung (Sep 1, 2002)

I would request BMW make it right for you. But be prepared to not get your car next week. Perhaps a loaner?


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## mason (Jun 8, 2006)

chrischeung said:


> I would request BMW make it right for you. But be prepared to not get your car next week. Perhaps a loaner?


+1.........Or you can consider a free upgrade.


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## JSpira (Oct 21, 2002)

mikeriley said:


> Just found out my car for ED next week was built with an extra option I did not want. It is coming with the rear seat entertainment system. The dealer is not going to charge me for it but that is not the point, I really do not want that in my car. I will never have kids in the back and do not like the way it looks. What are peoples experiences with this? Do they build a new car or am I sol? I understand some will say take it its free but if you don't like it you don't like it free or not.


It's not a question of SOL, it's a question of whether you will drive your own car or a loaner when you go to Munich. I would wager the dealer will get stuck with your car and have to order you another. You may get to drive the car that was already built and then the dealer will sell that one when it comes.

Or you might decide you like the option and keep it.


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## chrischeung (Sep 1, 2002)

mason said:


> +1.........Or you can consider a free upgrade.


Personally, I would. But the OP doesn't like the upgrade. My wife is like that as well. She is a frequent car renter, so always gets upgrades - to SUVs. She always returns to the counter and requests not to be upgraded, to the general laughter of other customers.


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## mikeriley (Mar 20, 2008)

Great advice everyone thanks. I will contact the dealer to find out what happend and then the ED offices. Keep you posted.


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## MB330 (Oct 18, 2005)

How do you find out about ?
If you check BMW web site - I will not trust this info. My car was show up as 325 with out Navi.

Have a fun on your ED! :thumbup:


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## mikeriley (Mar 20, 2008)

the dealer called and told me. I don't know what happened to the residuals MF for May but he said "they worked it out" to be the same payment.


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## Billd104 (Aug 30, 2006)

the J-Man said:


> I'm not sure what your options are, but there are worse things that could have happened. Why don't you like the looks of it? It's a $2800 option for free, and will increase resale value. I think the screens look pretty cool, maybe they will grow on you? :dunno:
> 
> I wonder how those screens are attached to the seats and if they can be removed? Even if they could be, there's got to be a hole in the back of the seat for the wires.


Just my 2¢ worth here but I would tend to agree with J-man. The resale value of the rear seat entertainment system would be enough for me to keep it for free. If you really don't want it and this is a lease anyway then drive it for your ED and pick up the correct one from either your dealer or do a PDC re-delivery.


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## the J-Man (Jul 31, 2009)

mikeriley said:


> the dealer called and told me. I don't know what happened to the residuals MF for May but he said "they worked it out" to be the same payment.


 They worked what out to be the same payment? They shouldn't be working anything out, they should be removing that option from the cost of your vehicle.

Rates and residuals improved across the board in May, so your payment should be lower. What is the exact model you are buying?

I hope they aren't planning on charging you for the entertainment system and disguising that charge via the improved May leasing terms so that your payment doesn't change, even though it should probably be dropping.


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## mason (Jun 8, 2006)

chrischeung said:


> Personally, I would. But the OP doesn't like the upgrade. My wife is like that as well. She is a frequent car renter, so always gets upgrades - to SUVs. She always returns to the counter and requests not to be upgraded, to the general laughter of other customers.


I don't know her situation but it happens all the time to my wife during business trip. This is something to do with the business travel policy. She says it makes her reimbursement more difficult because paperwork reads that she is renting at a car class higher than the company travel policy stipulate even the price is not. So she rather not to upgrade.


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## chrischeung (Sep 1, 2002)

Tell her to reserve a compact or intermediate, then upgrade will be to a full size. Or print our the confirmation document that will show original booking class and cost.


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## mikeriley (Mar 20, 2008)

you are right on. I found out that the residual for the GT went up, he said that it had not changed for May. I got the paper work in the mail today and the payment is based on the new higher residual, BUT they added profit to the deal because the higher residual offset the increased option more than the option increased the payment. Can you believe it?! So thats how "things stayed the same"!


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## the J-Man (Jul 31, 2009)

mikeriley said:


> you are right on. I found out that the residual for the GT went up, he said that it had not changed for May. I got the paper work in the mail today and the payment is based on the new higher residual, BUT they added profit to the deal because the higher residual offset the increased option more than the option increased the payment. Can you believe it?! So thats how "things stayed the same"!


 Wow, that's pretty shady - I hope you put an end to that?


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## mikeriley (Mar 20, 2008)

Ok your right, very shady. What do I do? Do I call ED offices and complain? the dealer i have dealt with is very elementary in there knowlegd. I am shocked that the dealer would let me know that the numbers have not changed for the month and then lie about the options cost not affecting the price. the dealer is making more money off of his mistake! Lets not focus on the fact I have an option I don't wont, because now its obvious I'm paying for it by raising the buy price to compencate for the increased residual.


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## TGray5 (Jan 22, 2002)

mikeriley said:


> Ok your right, very shady. What do I do? Do I call ED offices and complain? the dealer i have dealt with is very elementary in there knowlegd. I am shocked that the dealer would let me know that the numbers have not changed for the month and then lie about the options cost not affecting the price. the dealer is making more money off of his mistake! Lets not focus on the fact I have an option I don't wont, because now its obvious I'm paying for it by raising the buy price to compencate for the increased residual.


 You are shocked...really? c'mon its a car dealer ;-) Tell them they eat the full cost of the option due to their mistake and you get the May lease rates or NO deal.


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## Kurt_OH (May 3, 2008)

TGray5 said:


> You are shocked...really? c'mon its a car dealer ;-) Tell them they eat the full cost of the option due to their mistake and you get the May lease rates or NO deal.


First of all, that sucks. ED is so much fun; to have it get screwed up before you even get there is a real bummer. My condolences.

Having said that, I have no experience with this type of error. I suspect that in order to go have fun, enjoy my ED and get my new car (the back seat of which I'd rarely if ever be in), I'd just take it.

BUT, it would be a compromise and I can completely see why you'd not want that. The 5GT is kind of the 5Li - very big, comfy, luxury back seats - the entertainment system gives it a different look/feel for sure; changes the ambiance.

Of course, there IS the interesting anomaly that the car you'd, would NOT match the lease residual standards - are residuals negotiable? In other words, if your 5GT with the options you WANTED would have a $40k residual, but with the unwanted gizmo would be $41k, then if residuals are fixed by BMWCCA based upon the car/options, then how could they "make it OK" for you? The Dealer COULD just take $2800 off the starting price, but then you actually PROFIT by $1k in residual, while the dealer gets crushed to likely no profit or a loss. My sense of it is that the dealer would be best served to do exactly that. It'll help him preserve his relationship with you, and give you SOMETHING for his screw up, IF you decide to take it.

You've got a week to make peace with it and go have fun. Whatever your decision is, get it handled and behind you before you go so that you don't ruminate over it the whole time you're over there.

Once you've taken delivery in Munich, my guess is, you're screwed and THAT car is yours. I'd be surprised if the dealer would agree to modify your car to remove that feature once it's back here. That's a LOT of effort/expense, especially if he's already eaten $2800, which it sounds like he's trying to slight of hand avoid anyway, which would kind of anger me. You have two reasons to not like/trust this dealer now: 1. careless ordering and 2. tried to steal your higher residual windfall as his own profit while describing it as "worked it out FOR YOU"!

I believe I'd probably cancel the deal, do my trip and rent a car if I was planning to travel with it, then come back and order one ELSEWHERE. I'd also complain to BMWUSA. It's POSSIBLE that exactly what you want could be available next week anyway.


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## JSpira (Oct 21, 2002)

mikeriley said:


> Ok your right, very shady. What do I do? Do I call ED offices and complain? the dealer i have dealt with is very elementary in there knowlegd. I am shocked that the dealer would let me know that the numbers have not changed for the month and then lie about the options cost not affecting the price. the dealer is making more money off of his mistake! Lets not focus on the fact I have an option I don't wont, because now its obvious I'm paying for it by raising the buy price to compencate for the increased residual.


This is between you and your BMW Center and, if you call BMW to complain, they will pretty much tell you that.

You need to escalate this within the BMW Center - quickly.


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## IrvRobinson (May 10, 2006)

There isn't much you can do now , if you're willing to take the res, have the dealer lower the payment by 30-40 per month before you sign .You could not take it at all and start over with an experienced dealer who would have sent/given you a copy of your build ( also anytime a change is made , get a new copy ). Anyone can make a mistake ,but if a copy of the build is generated for review, it can certainally minimize/eliminate these errors.If the order gets cancelled,it's going to the ordering dealer at dealer invoice, not euro invoice. I would probably live with it but only if the cost is not charged to me !


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## Zeke77 (Jul 2, 2006)

To the OP....I have not read all of the posts, but I had approximately the same issue and here is what happened:

One week before delivery, I noticed that the options ordered by my dealer did not match the order docs I had received from BMW. Neither set of docs matched the original order paperwork I signed with my dealer. In my case, there was a mistake on both the part of the dealer and BMW (I'm told that is extremely rare.) My CA and I both called BMW North AMerica, and after a few mildly stressful conversations, BMW allowed me to take delivery of the "wrong" car in Munich, drive it for over 1k miles around Europe, and then turn it back in no questions asked. In the interim, they built the car I had actually ordered. BTW, I was also on a lease, and my dealer ate one payment and BMW ate one payment since it took approx. 3 months to get my car even though the lease clock had started.

Sorry to hear of your troubles...I was extremely disappointed at first, but I ended up having a great ED experience anyway. It is a bit of letdown to not "take home" the same car you drove in Europe, but it can still be a good deal if you can get BMW to do the same for you as they did for me.


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## Vanos4:12PM (Apr 20, 2007)

I understand you are not getting the exact vehicle you spec'd out but try to look at the bright side, at least they did not leave out an option that you did want. I don't understand why having the rear Ent. is all that bad...........as long as the dealer does not charge you for it as you stated in your orginal post. Really, it could be much worse if they had left out a very important option such as heated seats or a moonroof that is virtually impossible to add after. I do understand you are upset it was not built to your exact spec's but in the grand scheme of things, is it really worth it to try to reorder one/cancel, etc but you got an awesome rear ent. system for free?


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## the J-Man (Jul 31, 2009)

Zeke77 said:


> To the OP....I have not read all of the posts, but I had approximately the same issue and here is what happened:
> 
> One week before delivery, I noticed that the options ordered by my dealer did not match the order docs I had received from BMW. Neither set of docs matched the original order paperwork I signed with my dealer. In my case, there was a mistake on both the part of the dealer and BMW (I'm told that is extremely rare.) My CA and I both called BMW North AMerica, and after a few mildly stressful conversations, BMW allowed me to take delivery of the "wrong" car in Munich, drive it for over 1k miles around Europe, and then turn it back in no questions asked. In the interim, they built the car I had actually ordered. BTW, I was also on a lease, and my dealer ate one payment and BMW ate one payment since it took approx. 3 months to get my car even though the lease clock had started.
> 
> Sorry to hear of your troubles...I was extremely disappointed at first, but I ended up having a great ED experience anyway. It is a bit of letdown to not "take home" the same car you drove in Europe, but it can still be a good deal if you can get BMW to do the same for you as they did for me.


How did you notice 1 week before delivery that the wrong options were ordered? What were you looking at that you caught the error?


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## mikeriley (Mar 20, 2008)

He called me to tell me. The option is not "free" though. The residual went up which covered the cost of the option. My payment should have gone down with the increased residual, not stayed the same. who has experience with alternative transportation when this happens?


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## mason (Jun 8, 2006)

Not only residual gone up, May MF is lower than April's.


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## mikeriley (Mar 20, 2008)

Even furthers my point, the dealer has been a scam. I don't want this to sour my ED experience, even though I am not taking delivery of my car I'm still headed over there. I can't believe that the ED department does not have a car available as a replacement to drive, very disappointing. I have told everyone at work and my friends about this trip and now who knows what i'll be driving over there.


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## JSpira (Oct 21, 2002)

mikeriley said:


> I can't believe that the ED department does not have a car available as a replacement to drive, very disappointing. .


I'm confused. Did you cancel the car - or did the dealer order the correct car for direct shipment at e.d. pricing? Who said there is no replacement car?


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