[tony20009]

Originally Posted by Mako

...BMW needs to give us more standard options ...Europe gets so many more options than we do. Audi again for instance lets you get Nappa leather in a standard A4 for only $600 pounds more than their basic leather (in England and other European countries) but in the US you have to get the S4 to get that leather. I would pay that in a heartbeat if it was available here. Same goes with BMW, why not offer their nicer leather in a 3 series, I bet a ton of people would pay $1,000 for it and you know their cost is not that much. Its not going to canabilize sales of anything either.

I suspect it has to do with the way cars arrive on dealers' lots here and with the way cars are bought here. So many folks lease rather than buy their cars. If you have a car that has a lot of "options" on it but those options have no real value in the wholesale market, it's not to the dealer's advantage to have them on the car. Leather for example, is leather, in the wholesale market, regardless of what color it or whether it's nappa or diamond coated, or split grain crap. It's still just leather.

Also, Americans mostly just want boring ass colors -- beige, black, grey -- on their interiors. American are too worried about what someone else might think. For example, look how few folks chose red as the seat color for their e92, yet it the only color unique to the e92 (within the 3 series). How many folks are getting the F30 sport line and choosing the red interior, even though it was never before offered for the 3er sedan?

Originally Posted by Mako

Makes me wonder if the reason they make individual orders so complicated and don't offer more luxury items that Europe gets is because in the US you can back out of the purchase at any time before you take delivery. They can require a $2,000 deposit but if the car comes in and you don't like that color you can just say no I don't want it, and they are required by law to give you your $2,000 back! even if its an individual order (unless they have a way around that law that I am unaware of).

That may be. Or it could be because Europeans appreciate being individual and not being just like everyone else. Typical American mother's comment: Stop that! You don't anybody else doing such and such.... Well, that's mostly because everyone else is too chicken shit to do it.

[tony20009]

BTW, I love the brown colors above, both the interior and exterior.

[jtuds]

Aren't the individual colours like 2 grand?

[advantage20]

Originally Posted by jtuds

Aren't the individual colours like 2 grand?

In France stock metallic paint is 900€ and Individual paint 2100€ (so an extra 1200€).

Originally Posted by advantage20

All cars shown with new Type 439 (19") wheels.

Actually the rims are Type 439 I ("I" standing for "Individual" obviously).

[Ascari]

Does anyone know if individual colours are possible with M-sport?

Tanzanite blue f31 m-sport with adaptive suspension and steering, black interior with piping please

[e92ben]

Seats look like my old b6 passats seats. Ehh. But i did do 200k on it w/o any major repair!! Like the blue tho..

[advantage20]

Originally Posted by Ascari

Does anyone know if individual colours are possible with M-sport?

Tanzanite blue f31 m-sport with adaptive suspension and steering, black interior with piping please

[JulieDriving]

Hey advantage20,

Thanks for the pics.

I dig them new Individual colors and interiors...

I particularly like the new blue color. Like you, I ordered Azurite for my car (to be produced end of this month), so I do quite like navy blue myself!

[Ascari]

Originally Posted by advantage20

Ah, it is in fact an m-sport. Missed that in the pics. Thanks for humoring me.

[advantage20]

Originally Posted by JulieDriving

Like you, I ordered Azurite for my car (to be produced end of this month), so I do quite like navy blue myself!

Yes I remember you were considering an Azurite Blue M3 a couple of years ago. Waiting for the pix

[rconti]

Oooh, I could do Cohiba brown interior.. very nice. BMW needs interior colors other than "Dark as hell black" and "1990s rental car beige".

Don't get me wrong, I dig black interiors, I just wish we had choices other than black that were not best described as "hideous".

Also, perhaps I'm missing the point of the individual program. I thought you could get ANYTHING you wanted?

[Jason]

Originally Posted by rconti

Oooh, I could do Cohiba brown interior.. very nice. BMW needs interior colors other than "Dark as hell black" and "1990s rental car beige".

Don't get me wrong, I dig black interiors, I just wish we had choices other than black that were not best described as "hideous".

Also, perhaps I'm missing the point of the individual program. I thought you could get ANYTHING you wanted?

The Individual colors offered as an official optional color from the factory (like these will be) are priced like a premium paint (think metallic colors).

If you want an Individual color that isn't officially offered as a paint option for the particular model, BMW will do it, but it's much more costly - generally around $5000 USD.

[crowed]

Is Merino leather that much better than Dakota? I know Nappa is supposed to be the "best", but I was wondering if Merino was worth waiting for (currently I am planning to wait anyway for the Nov production)

[advantage20]

Originally Posted by crowed

Is Merino leather that much better than Dakota? I know Nappa is supposed to be the "best", but I was wondering if Merino was worth waiting for (currently I am planning to wait anyway for the Nov production)

Apparently it is notably higher quality (soft feel + durability), and it is genuine leather everywhere (vs. leatherette on door panels + sides and back of seats with the regular Dakota)!

[okolisr]

Here are some photos of Tanzanite Blue on a newly delivered 6-Series Gran Coupe, from the 6Post forum, just to show the color better. Tanzanite Blue appears to be somewhere between Imperial Blue and Deep Sea Blue, and seems to change quite a bit with lighting conditions.

http://www.6post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=718264

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by ATX78703

i do think it's cool to finally have some upgraded leather options on the 3er. nappa / merino is so much better. i could care less about exterior color - that is a personal choice anyway. hard to say that one color is an upgrade over another color.

I think it's about time BMW simply upgraded the quality of the base leather...period.

The leather they now use makes me question why I get it compared to the leatherette.
I had leatherette in my E46 325i, and after 3 years the seats looked like new. The leather in my 135i is showing signs of wear in one particular area, but still, I've only had it for 3 years. Imagine 3 years from now, and that sport may actually be worn through.

I seriously considered NOT getting leather this time for that very reason.
But, I decided to go with black leather, hoping it will hide it's wear better.

I had a 1982 Audi 5000 Turbo, many years ago.
I bought it used after college in '88. It was a rich dark chocolate brown.
Even after 6 used years, that leather was still thick yet soft at the same time. It didn't look worn, but nicely "worn in". That's what leather seats should look like after a few years, "worn in" NOT worn, just like a quality leather jacket.
That is not the case with the current quality of the base leather BMW uses in the 1 and 3 series. I don't know what they use in the 5 or the Z. I do know they have higher quality leather in those models, just like the M's.

Any exterior color, or interior trim, that is standard in any BMW market, should be offered to any customer that customer orders, without having to pay extra. After all, if the color or interior trim is already available in other markets as a standard option, then it's obviously going on the same assembly line.

I can see charging a bit extra for customer exterior and interior trim or seats, but not that much.
If the costs were brought down, then more people would likely order, and the cost per unit drops, while giving customers a greater reason to want to customer order.

[JoeyO]

Where's Amazonite Silver?? I like that color.

[chrisny]

Those 439's make me really like the 403's, which I'm still less than in love with... Sorry, the 439's look cheap or gimmicky to me. Not a fan.

[KneeDragr]

Where is that flat silver/grey they made the M3 in last year?

Also, the seats look different, its not just the leather, they have changed them somehow.

Im digging the Tanzenite Blue, best one Ive seen on this car.

[Grumpy514]

Tanzanite blue M sport 335i for me. F30!!! I can't wait till I do my ED early next year for it!!

[JUSKIDN]

Have you seen that Jada Green for the M3? looks like the Synergy Green on the new Camaros. I really like it.