View Single Post
      01-25-2013, 10:27 PM   #355
clarence
Lieutenant Colonel
53
Rep
1,544
Posts

Drives: F30 328i M-Sport
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Hong Kong

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by bradleyland View Post
That is an interesting note (bolded), but I think it supports my hypothesis better than yours. If the production runs are smaller, then the binning approach makes even less sense. I'm still not convinced that BMW is concerned with broad scale modding affecting their bottom line.

Also, think about the entire argument you're making about BMW trying to protect their bottom line against chip-tuned 320i cars competing with a standard 328i. A chip-tuned 180 HP N20 is capable of 230-ish WHP according to the dyno chart referenced here:

http://www.f30post.com/forums/showpo...2&postcount=14

So customers could still buy a 320i, then chip tune it to get factory 328i power. In this case, BMW has failed in the goal that you set for them.
It makes perfect sense. They only need a small number of engines to become U0 from a production run that has a low failure rate (tho there are probably more which passes the test but at the lower end of the variance). So the "demand & supply" in this case is in equilibrium.

The dyno chart u attached is for a low compression U0. If no binning has been done then by running at O0's level of boost (plus other parameters) it should give at least the full 245ps/350Nm, if not more (as dyno readings from a number of 28i in stock form proves time & again). Remember wht the BMW China tech staff said regarding swapping pistons & DME mapping on a high compression U0? From this dyno I wouldn't say BMW failed cos a.) this is from a low compression U0 & b.) it did not manage to produce at least the O0 baseline output. Most tuners quote around 220ps from piggy-backs w/o optimisation to individual cars, so 230ps is the most u can get just by using a piggy-back.

Don't forget that the difference in margin is big for most markets where the U0 is popular when compared to the O0 (e.g. the pre-tax price delta in Japan for a X1 20i is around USD10,000 when compared to the X1 2.8i, in China the delta is USD14,600), u can see the cost/benefit is skewed hugely towards using measures to preventing this opportunity cost, however small the number of ppl willing to do such tunes. The cheaper & the more convenient the tune is, the more the ppl are willing to buy them. Piggy-backs are inexpensive & installation is easy.

Quote:
Originally Posted by bradleyland View Post
Ok, so sometimes the 180 HP U0 engines are made from defects, but sometimes they're not. Doesn't this also degrade the strategy you've outlined?
How does it degrade? The number one goal is cost saving. Being able to sell otherwise "defective" engines already gives instant cost savings. As I said before, they already dyno every engine that leaves the line & they already have all the data for each engine. There's no additional cost to them to identify which are potential candidates to be a U0 & which ones must be a U0.


Quote:
Originally Posted by bradleyland View Post
Interesting, but there's still the matter of motivation. Simply protecting their bottom line still doesn't make sense for the reasons outlined above. What if, instead, they use the low-compression engine in foreign assembly plants expressly for the purposes of JIT. If all your engines were identical, you could just flash them with the appropriate software and send them down the line. I don't have an explanation for the lower than normal tuning results from the 20i, but maybe there is some other unknown factor?
AFAIK that's not sth currently done cos plants that does not build engines doesn't have engine testing facility apart from the dynos that are run at the end of final assembly QC. It would take too much time if they only found out sth is wrong when the car is fully assembled. Part of the principle of JIT is to identify problems at source so downtime is minimised if problems do occur.
JIT for BMW is to minimise production cost & maximise quality, it's not for satisfying customer orders so they can get their cars double quick. They try to dictate customer demand rather than the other way round (different to volume makers, they make u choose them rather than they choosing u). That's why there're all these dealer & importer allocations. As these allocations are fully committed by the respective importers/dealers, they have advanced info right at the beginning of the year regarding wht to make & when to make. The only variable is the colour combo & equipment spec. That's the reason why, for example, they have incentive programmes for various models during various times. That is to create demand for hitting allocation targets.
Appreciate 0