BMW is killing PDC deliveries!

[evanevery]

My i7 M70 is just off the US coast on the way to Brunswick for a PDC delivery. It will likely arrive in Brunswick tomorrow and I can then schedule my PDC delivery...

So, I get an email from the PDC which says:

"Starting January 1, 2024, hotel accommodations will no longer be included as part of the Performance Center Delivery Experience. This change will allow customers the ability to customize their visit and stay at alternate hotels, which may be closer to other attractions in the area".

Anyone who has done a PDC delivery knows this is (was) a great program. All you had to do is get to the Greenville-Spartanburg airport and BMW would take care of the rest. You got picked up at the airport in a nice new BMW car, taken to the Marriott where you got a couple of drink tickets and a special dinner from a BMW specific menu of options. Then breakfast the next morning with transport to the PDC for the delivery. It was really nice. You really felt that BMW valued you as a customer and was taking care of everything.

Now, you gotta get your own hotel, arrange your transfers from the airport and to the PDC the next morning. So now, instead of a very nice BMW curated stay, its more like "I gotta get to the PDC so I can pick up my car". Its a totally different vibe...

Although its very sad to feel that substantial reduction in value as a BMW customer, its even worse that they think we are so STUPID as to believe "This change will allow customers the ability to customize their visit and stay at alternate hotels". (You could ALWAYS stay at an alternate hotel if you wanted...)

So I'm guessing they are going to change their tag line from "The Ultimate Delivery Experience" to "A Delivery Experience"?

But it gets worse...

The new rules also prohibit PDC deliveries unless the vehicle is made at the Spartanburg plant (X3, X5, etc). From https://bmwperformancecenter.com/del...Rolls%2DRoyce.:

"To be eligible, customers must order vehicles from an authorized BMW Retail Center within the United States. Ineligible vehicles include CPO, BMWs sold off the dealer lot, BMWs not built in the Spartanburg plant, MINI and Rolls-Royce."

So, now they have not only eliminated the Euro Delivery program, but also the ability to deliver euro-produced cars at the PDC. They might as well turn out the lights at the PDC now and send everyone home. Maybe that is the end-game after all...

Over the years, I've done the following deliveries, and this all makes me very sad:

X6M: PDC Delivery
M6: PDC Delivery
M4: PDC Delivery
i8 Roadster: Euro Delivery
iX M60: PDC Delivery
i7 M70: PDC Delivery

...my brand loyalty and purchase of a long list of vehicles is a direct product of the folks that I've met at the PDC. BMW clearly does not appreciate how much the delivery program actually means to the brands bottom line.

I do "Angry" for free, but you gotta earn "Disappointment"...

[SW17LS]

At least they still do it! Mercedes dumped it entirely.

[evanevery]

Originally Posted by SW17LS

At least they still do it! Mercedes dumped it entirely.

Still do "what?". There ain't much left. Next time its just gonna be "Screw it - send my car to the dealer..."

...and I believe Porsche still does it. BMW used to provide cars to the Marriott for pick-ups at the airport. If Porsche were smart, they would drop off a few Cayennes, Macans, or Taycans just to pick up BMW delivery customers who chose to continue to stay at the Marriott...

[SW17LS]

Originally Posted by evanevery

Still do "what?". There ain't much left. Next time its just gonna be "Screw it - send my car to the dealer..."

...and I believe Porsche still does it. BMW used to provide cars to the Marriott for pick-ups at the airport. If Porsche were smart, they would drop off a few Cayennes, Macans, or Taycans just to pick up BMW delivery customers who chose to continue to stay at the Marriott...

At least you can go pick it up there in SC, MB won't let you do that anymore

EDIT- I see they won't let you take delivery of anything but SC built vehicles there now, thats way worse!

[AlteBMW]

Yes, disappointing to say the least, though I'd never done it. I've also only had a Spartanburg car once, my '19 X3; the '23 X3 we bought came from South Africa. I can see why they'd want to save some $$ on the hotels, etc., but the elimination of cars from the mothership in Germany is puzzling. Makes you wonder why they are continuing at all.

[evanevery]

Originally Posted by AlteBMW

Yes, disappointing to say the least, though I'd never done it. I've also only had a Spartanburg car once, my '19 X3; the '23 X3 we bought came from South Africa. I can see why they'd want to save some $$ on the hotels, etc., but the elimination of cars from the mothership in Germany is puzzling. Makes you wonder why they are continuing at all.

Yeah not so much the "BMW Performance Delivery Center" anymore. More like a "BMW Factory Outlet" for the plant across the street.

So, BMW is now only doing deliveries for vehicles they can literally drive across the street (instead of paying for transport to your dealership). I wonder what could be driving this decision... Hmmm...

[evanevery]

Originally Posted by AlteBMW

I can see why they'd want to save some $$ on the hotels, etc., but the elimination of cars from the mothership in Germany is puzzling. Makes you wonder why they are continuing at all.

Its really pretty transparent I think. Its cheaper to drive cars across the street than transport them to dealerships. Somebody at BMW probably got a nice bonus for all the money they predicted to save by essentially crippling the PDC Delivery Program.

Unfortunately, the bean counters working to save BMW a few bucks have no way of entering all the residual value this program offers into their calculators. There are a lot of friendships and brand loyalty fostered at the PDC. They can tell you exactly how many dollars it saves but have absolutely no way of quantifying how much a greater brand value they will be losing.

I have many threads woven through my social fabric from the relationships established from that very first PDC delivery: I met an instructor (now a close friend) on that first delivery who eventually also took me through a bunch of driving schools (beginner, advanced, foreign, and domestic). This got me to the BMW Nurburgring classes (8x). One of those visits to the Ring got me to the M Studio in Garching (Munich) where we built my M4 in the Individual Program. That got me to a very nice "VIP Ordering Specialist" as we worked to walk the order backwards through BMWNA and to a local dealer. That got me to a great sales advisor (now retired). I bought several cars from her. The same "VIP Ordering Specialist" that helped me with my M4 order just also helped me with my current i7 M70 order. ...and that's just one single thread that all started with my first PDC delivery!

Working with that same instructor, I also reserved a whole BMW Advanced Driving school for my company and flew everyone down to Road Atlanta for the event. (That's potential NEW customers, folks!) My company eventually went on to sponsor one of the race teams for a couple of the PDC instructors... Hundreds of thousands of dollars in BMW vehicles. Hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on domestic and international PDC events.

How does some BMW "Bean Counter" enter all THAT into their calculator when evaluating the value of a PDC delivery? Hey, you saved a couple of hundred dollars on that delivery! Good For You!

But "I got Mine", right? ...and I am thankful for that. I have all these great social and business relationships which would never exist except for the PDC program. I'm actively involved in racing and club (Autobahn) membership because of those relationships. I'm going to Sweden with BMW to slide M4's and M2's with studded tires around on tracks carved into a frozen lake in Feb (for the third time).

Here's hoping the new "BMW Factory Outlet" continues to provide similar value for the brand...

[AlteBMW]

Originally Posted by evanevery

Its really pretty transparent I think. Its cheaper to drive cars across the street than transport them to dealerships. Somebody at BMW probably got a nice bonus for all the money they predicted to save by essentially crippling the PDC Delivery Program.

Unfortunately, the bean counters working to save BMW a few bucks have no way of entering all the residual value this program offers into their calculators. There are a lot of friendships and brand loyalty fostered at the PDC. They can tell you exactly how many dollars it saves but have absolutely no way of quantifying how much a greater brand value they will be losing.

I have many threads woven through my social fabric from the relationships established from that very first PDC delivery: I met an instructor (now a close friend) on that first delivery who eventually also took me through a bunch of driving schools (beginner, advanced, foreign, and domestic). This got me to the BMW Nurburgring classes (8x). One of those visits to the Ring got me to the M Studio in Garching (Munich) where we built my M4 in the Individual Program. That got me to a very nice "VIP Ordering Specialist" as we worked to walk the order backwards through BMWNA and to a local dealer. That got me to a great sales advisor (now retired). I bought several cars from her. The same "VIP Ordering Specialist" that helped me with my M4 order just also helped me with my current i7 M70 order. ...and that's just one single thread that all started with my first PDC delivery!

Working with that same instructor, I also reserved a whole BMW Advanced Driving school for my company and flew everyone down to Road Atlanta for the event. (That's potential NEW customers, folks!) My company eventually went on to sponsor one of the race teams for a couple of the PDC instructors... Hundreds of thousands of dollars in BMW vehicles. Hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on domestic and international PDC events.

How does some BMW "Bean Counter" enter all THAT into their calculator when evaluating the value of a PDC delivery? Hey, you saved a couple of hundred dollars on that delivery! Good For You!

But "I got Mine", right? ...and I am thankful for that. I have all these great social and business relationships which would never exist except for the PDC program. I'm actively involved in racing and club (Autobahn) membership because of those relationships. I'm going to Sweden with BMW to slide M4's and M2's with studded tires around on tracks carved into a frozen lake in Feb (for the third time).

Here's hoping the new "BMW Factory Outlet" continues to provide similar value for the brand...

All excellent points and well put. They should go in a letter to BMW and I would also write a letter for Roundel. If they can sponsor a golf tournament to indirectly enhance their brand image, they can run a PDC program to directly enhance it.

[evanevery]

Originally Posted by AlteBMW

All excellent points and well put. They should go in a letter to BMW and I would also write a letter for Roundel. If they can sponsor a golf tournament to indirectly enhance their brand image, they can run a PDC program to directly enhance it.

Thank you. I agree.

I'm already corresponding with folks inside BMW NA. I'm shocked at how some folks, who should know about these changes, appear to be hearing this information for the very first time - even when they ask their co-workers. I was asked "where are you getting this information?" I replied with a link to the official PDC web page.

While I know reasonable folks in key positions at BMW, I don't know folks at the highest levels. My hopes are that getting the word to reasonable and conscientious people inside BMWNA will provide more functional leverage than "just another letter to the Prez that gets filed in the bin".

The only real leverage we have is as customers. Getting the word out in the community (here) is also of value if folks will ALSO step up with their own "WTF" letters (if that is what it takes). If you also feel disappointed, and that this is a huge mistake, let someone know at BMW!

I've made my own relationships from this program. BMW has become a significant component of my personal identity effectively because of this program...

Did you know BMW once used to give us M cars AT NO CHARGE so we could drive up from Munich to the Ring (for two days of BMW training) and back? All they asked was that we washed them and filled the tanks once we got back to Munich a few days later. 10 or so M cars - cooking up the A-Bahn on the way to the Ring! We were amazed! Wow! Talk about appreciating your customers! Most of the folks (customers) from those days (10 years ago?) are still the most solid core of my BMW enthusiast friends. (I'm looking forward to seeing some of them again in Sweden in Feb.) So, no one was too surprised when we got "regular" (non-M) BMW's that one year - or even when they stopped giving us cars altogether the next. "Too good to last" was the general impression and we filed it all under "the good ole days". "Thanks for the cars, no hard feelings"...

..but this is not that. This is something different. BMW is turning into just another car company. Today its the "BMW Factory Outlet". Tomorrow they might be buying car vending machines from Carvana...

[CaboM4]

Quite the disappointment to say the least!

[Fugly M3]

evanevery Nah, you do angry for free?! We’ll discuss more during our pilgrimage to Sweden, but this is a bit of old news. The PC and all the rest of it have gone to focus group/accounting department hell. I sold my M3CX last week. Looking at Alfas.

Cheers buddy!

[evanevery]

Originally Posted by Fugly M3

evanevery Nah, you do angry for free?! We’ll discuss more during our pilgrimage to Sweden, but this is a bit of old news. The PC and all the rest of it have gone to focus group/accounting department hell. I sold my M3CX last week. Looking at Alfas.

Cheers buddy!

Old news for some but it certainly blindsided me. twice... (hotel elimination AND program reduction)...

(My point was I'm NOT angry, just disappointed... ...Anger is easy to get - disappointment takes investment)

I'm sure there is some visibility I'm lacking, but it is pretty disappointing. Its a great program. It should be expanding and not contracting.

My i7 M70 delivery is set for Jan 8th. I'll be sliding my way back to WI on summer perf rubber in the dead of Winter. Wish me luck!

I'll see you in Sweden. You should be driving up from Stockholm with me! I got AWD, studded tires, and chains waiting on a XC90. I expect you've already seen all the Swedish scenery you need for a while though... ;-)

[Fugly M3]

Originally Posted by evanevery

Old news for some but it certainly blindsided me. twice... (hotel elimination AND program reduction)...

(My point was I'm NOT angry, just disappointed... ...Anger is easy to get - disappointment takes investment)

I'm sure there is some visibility I'm lacking, but it is pretty disappointing. Its a great program. It should be expanding and not contracting.

My i7 M70 delivery is set for Jan 8th. I'll be sliding my way back to WI on summer perf rubber in the dead of Winter. Wish me luck!

I'll see you in Sweden. You should be driving up from Stockholm with me! I got AWD, studded tires, and chains waiting on a XC90. I expect you've already seen all the Swedish scenery you need for a while though... ;-)

If only Volvo made better cars I’d order one for their ED and we’d be doing the drive in my new car! That drive back has me thinking of Planes, Trains and Automobiles…good luck with it!

[evanevery]

Originally Posted by Fugly M3

If only Volvo made better cars I’d order one for their ED and we’d be doing the drive in my new car! That drive back has me thinking of Planes, Trains and Automobiles…good luck with it!

Yeah, you got the very last BMW Euro Delivery spot for Americans. I wonder how close I am to the very last delivery spot for Euro-Manufactured cars at the PDC...

[Fugly M3]

Originally Posted by evanevery

Yeah, you got the very last BMW Euro Delivery spot for Americans. I wonder how close I am to the very last delivery spot for Euro-Manufactured cars at the PDC...

I did, but I wasn't allowed to go get the car because of Covid. So, I just had the appointment. I'm guessing you're probably fairly close to the end. My guess would be the only scenario that might be later would be a G80/2 with buckets that was delayed months and months but with PCD request being honored sometime in early-mid spring.

[snareman]

I just put in an order for an X5 with plans for PCD and just learned this. They are continually degrading all of their customer offerings. No more ED and now with PCD you don't even get the free hotel and dinner. And now only X vehicles for PCD. So many brand loyalty experiences they are getting rid of that certainly helped to keep me coming back to BMW. Thankfully the cars are mostly still great. I guess I'll be amongst a bunch of X vehicles there this time. I'm glad I got my M8 delivery in while it still existed. I guess I don't mind not doing a 6th factory tour.