[DesertSmokeBBQ]

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So, I just walked past a woman parking her F30. It looked like it was Modern Line but as I haven't seen many, I wasn't sure so I asked. Her response, "I have no idea, it's a BMW."

Here's the thing, over the past year, I've talked to about a dozen people with about a 60/40 female to male ratio and with the exception of a couple M-Sports, none of the owners seemed to know or care what line their cars were. This leads me to believe BMW's strategy to differentiate the lines has failed....

Thoughts?

[Jamesons Viggen]

Originally Posted by DesertSmokeBBQ

So, I just walked past a woman parking her F30. It looked like it was Modern Line but as I haven't seen many, I wasn't sure so I asked. Her response, "I have no idea, it's a BMW."

Here's the thing, over the past year, I've talked to about a dozen people with about a 60/40 female to male ratio and with the exception of a couple M-Sports, none of the owners seemed to know or care what line their cars were. This leads me to believe BMW's strategy to differentiate the lines has failed....

Thoughts?

I would not say it has failed, if the people shelled out the extra money for the lines-whether they know the line or not-it worked. More money for BMW.

[pazzo]

I'd say 80% of people just go to the lot and see what's available. Only the enthusiasts are paying attention to the lines and order the features they want.

IMO, this might explain why we have issue with some of the options available for each line.

Yes BMW is trying to draw a distinction, but that may be pure marketing, ease of configuration during the plant build etc.

[ArchJR]

Maybe she just didn't want to talk about cars.

[Dog Face Pony Soldier]

I think the idea is that the lines are better for production and inventory management.

[Bill-SD]

Originally Posted by pazzo

I'd say 80% of people just go to the lot and see what's available. Only the enthusiasts are paying attention to the lines and order the features they want.

IMO, this might explain why we have issue with some of the options available for each line.

Yes BMW is trying to draw a distinction, but that may be pure marketing, ease of configuration during the plant build etc.

I don't really agree. Some folks may not know the package names, but most people know know what features and options they want. But for sure the lines are to help sell more options, and to simplify production.

[DesertSmokeBBQ]

Originally Posted by Carlos_Danger

Well not at all, it isn't BMWs fault,
it maybe a shocker to you but the majority of buyers doesn't give a f about lines,
they just want a Bimmer they go to the dealer and pick the prettiest/best deal they can get, the guys doing ED and ordering cars with special options are around 10%

It's a shocker to me that anyone spending north of $40k doesn't bother to know EXACY what they're buying. Just my personal opinion of course...

[Kabrich]

Originally Posted by DesertSmokeBBQ

It's a shocker to me that anyone spending north of $40k doesn't bother to know EXACY what they're buying. Just my personal opinion of course...

The 80%-90% know "EXACY" what they're buying....a BMW 3 Series, which is the only car to be on the Top 10 car list every year for the past 20+ years. Everything else is just an option that was on the car which was on the lot and many have no idea about every option on their car.

99.x% of BMW owners will never visit this forum. They do not have the same level of "obsession" with their cars that forum members do. They do not critically look at their car and debate whether the kidney grills should be chrome or black, whether to add on a PPK, or whether to debadge or not.

So no, I am not surprised at all.

[OC40]

3 Series are a dime a dozen in SoCal. I bet 99.9% have no clue what they purchased. My neighbor has a '12 Sport line and did not clue about about his car or my '13 MSport. The only thing he knows about the two cars is that they are both 335s.

[F32]

Originally Posted by DesertSmokeBBQ

So, I just walked past a woman parking her F30. It looked like it was Modern Line but as I haven't seen many, I wasn't sure so I asked. Her response, "I have no idea, it's a BMW."

Here's the thing, over the past year, I've talked to about a dozen people with about a 60/40 female to male ratio and with the exception of a couple M-Sports, none of the owners seemed to know or care what line their cars were. This leads me to believe BMW's strategy to differentiate the lines has failed....

Thoughts?

No. It's a BMW 3-Series. What makes you think it has an enthusiast base as a majority? It's not a GTR. It's not a Z06. It's not an Elise. It's a high-volume car that to nearly all (not an exaggeration), it's purely a nicer appliance than an Accord or Camry.

For an enthusiast to think that all others actually care about their cars is laughable.

[328AL]

Originally Posted by DesertSmokeBBQ

So, I just walked past a woman parking her F30. It looked like it was Modern Line but as I haven't seen many, I wasn't sure so I asked. Her response, "I have no idea, it's a BMW."

Here's the thing, over the past year, I've talked to about a dozen people with about a 60/40 female to male ratio and with the exception of a couple M-Sports, none of the owners seemed to know or care what line their cars were. This leads me to believe BMW's strategy to differentiate the lines has failed....

Thoughts?

I tend to agree, that, at least partly, the strategy failed. Where is the modern line? It's a Sports Luxury sedan/coupe, etc. People who want luxury more likely ended up with the Luxury Line, just because of looks and options. People looking for more of a sport feel most likely to choose Sport Line or M-Sport. Sport seats are not even available on the Luxury Line, although you can get M-Sport brakes, go figure?

I think BMW became more package oriented as opposed to "a la carte", and lines helped the company make that transition.

[F32]

Originally Posted by Carlos_Danger

...the guys doing ED and ordering cars with special options are around 10%

10%? Really? BMW sold over 24,000 cars last month. Do you really think 2,400 were either ED or factory ordered? No.

I's say it's closer to 1-2%. Shit...I'd say the ED/order rate of this entire forum is right around 50%, and this is taking from a sample of purely enthusiasts.

[AppStoreMoney]

Originally Posted by DesertSmokeBBQ

It's a shocker to me that anyone spending north of $40k doesn't bother to know EXACY what they're buying. Just my personal opinion of course...

I agree with the people that said only the enthusiasts are paying attention to the lines and order the features they want. Most people just need a car and $40k isn't even too expensive anymore. A Ford Focus ST can cost you $30k these days. Clearly, she knew she was driving a BMW because that part was important for her, and that's where the extra $10k went compared to the Ford.

I spent a LOT more money on my house than my BMW, and I couldn't tell you half the options. I bet my wife can tell you all about the granite counter tops and what kind of wood is used for the wood floor. I don't care. I needed a house, and the details were not important to me, even though it's a big expense.

[DesertSmokeBBQ]

Originally Posted by AppStoreMoney

I agree with the people that said only the enthusiasts are paying attention to the lines and order the features they want. Most people just need a car and $40k isn't even too expensive anymore. A Ford Focus ST can cost you $30k these days. Clearly, she knew she was driving a BMW because that part was important for her, and that's where the extra $10k went compared to the Ford.

I spent a LOT more money on my house than my BMW, and I couldn't tell you half the options. I bet my wife can tell you all about the granite counter tops and what kind of wood is used for the wood floor. I don't care. I needed a house, and the details were not important to me, even though it's a big expense.

I agree more about the house. While I do "care" about the details as far as finishes/location etc, in the end, wherever my wife is going to be happy is all that matters in the end.

The car on the other hand is something I'm keenly interested and while I don't necessarily expect everyone to know everything about what they drive, I would think "the basics" would be important.

To clarify my original post, what I meant by saying BMW's strategy had failed is this: BMW introduced "Lines," while the internal purpose can only be to simplify ordering and therefore production, the stated goal is to excite consumers by giving them "option packages" if you would, that most closely associate with what they want from an automobile. If consumers have no idea what "Line" they've purchased then that strategy has clearly failed and never needed to be more than internal.