[aCP]

Originally Posted by Frosty

...my can of Red Bull I am drinking! Made in Austria~Frost

so? but the majority is what?

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by aCP

so? but the majority is what?

..agreed! i think the ingredients in the Red Bull most likely have Chinese origin

[BMW_Dre]

Originally Posted by ArabianSensation

like South African change someone dropped in an E90. lol

We like giving a little something extra in everything we do Too bad that change won't be worth much in $ terms.

[kinan_sleiman2006]

Long wheel baseses always to chaina

[noro]

Before you guys go any further let me state a simple fact. As things stand right now, China's capacity to produce high quality items is on par with Germany. The problem is that here in US most people get a larger boner from saving money than from let's say browsing the Hustler. To that effect the outsourced items have 1 criteria: make it as cheap as possible. China's dynamic production capabilities tailors to this request and what we get here is crap. So, with the right kind of money, China could build a better X5 than US ever would. It is sad that so much know-how in manufacturing left the shores of US and was given to China.

I mean for a country that produces about 80% royal junk in terms of automobiles we are in no position to judge China. If Chevy Cavalier came from China, we would deem it an unacceptable product for sale in US.

[Chill72]

Aren't chinese about the size of a little kid...WTF do they need a long wheel base car for

[ArabianSensation]

Originally Posted by aCP

well okay but tell me what sort of things in your house other than your bimmer are not made in China. dont be racist.

Hey, its a general perception that China has lower manufacturing standards than the US and Germany.... :\

Plus what's wrong with wanting to support jobs in my own country (BMW South Carolina plant) ??

If that was not the case I would be perfectly happy buying from China. How is that being racist.... you are funny

[ArabianSensation]

Originally Posted by noro

I mean for a country that produces about 80% royal junk in terms of automobiles we are in no position to judge China. If Chevy Cavalier came from China, we would deem it an unacceptable product for sale in US.

LOL that's actually pretty true.

Ford Pinto anyone?

[aCP]

Originally Posted by ArabianSensation

Hey, its a general perception that China has lower manufacturing standards than the US and Germany.... :\

Plus what's wrong with wanting to support jobs in my own country (BMW South Carolina plant) ??

If that was not the case I would be perfectly happy buying from China. How is that being racist.... you are funny

lower standard? where's the fact? link it please.

[Archibald Donnington]

They are always thinking of new and zaney things to do with their money. All of these manufacturers are on their knees begging for more of their seemingly endless cash flow.
As a salesman, I love NEW MONEY!ve
Noro, may I ask where, have you gotten your facts? I would say please base what you say on reality as opposed to to just here-say.
aaron

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by Alchem

A lot of ignorant posts in this thread.

Lets clarify a few things:

1. This is for the Chinese market ONLY just like the 5er Long Wheel Base.

2. BMW has been making cars in China and India for a long time for the local market in order to reduce import tax from 110% to 60% (in India).

China has a similar tax; they call it a luxury tax. Basically, any goods that aren't Chinese brand goods are deemed luxury goods. As a result, many things are as much as 35% more expensive than if we buy them here. Also, this is a large driver to why there are so many copies of international products.

Having lived and worked in mainland China, I have certainly used "bootleg" products made there and I haven't had any issues with them. My fake iPhone, for example, worked perfectly fine. (BTW, your real iPhone is made there, indeed in the city I worked in in China.) My fake iPod Nano still works fine.

I admit that my fake Tumi 32" suitcase had all its handles, wheels and pulling apparatus ripped off by the baggage handlers...but then that bag weighed around 250 pounds. The actual case that held the stuff I was sending back held up just fine; and as I had porters man-handling it (and my 7 other suitcases) through the airport and into the car, I didn't care too much. Moreover, considering that I paid just $40 for it; it performed at least as well as I expected it to.

In short, the Chinese make perfectly fine products. They are no different than stuff made anywhere. Some things are made to higher standards of quality and durability, and other things are made to lower standards. And the fact is that the cost of labor in China is still far lower than it is here or in Europe.

[noro]

Originally Posted by Archibald Donnington

They are always thinking of new and zaney things to do with their money. All of these manufacturers are on their knees begging for more of their seemingly endless cash flow.
As a salesman, I love NEW MONEY!ve
Noro, may I ask where, have you gotten your facts? I would say please base what you say on reality as opposed to to just here-say.
aaron

Which fact are you talking about? The 80% of US cars are junk? No facts, just my opinion.

Quality of China's products? Can't be too specific. The company I worked for got their hands on a "fake" version of their product made in China. After extensive testing the "fake" was better built than the real one. The product was for information security purposes and required sophisticated mechanical and electronic production capabilities to produce. This is one specific example that I have personally witnessed. Along with other similar cases that I heard of is how I came to my conclusions.

Unfortunately China is still suffering from the older reputation of building sub-par products along with some political, legal and social issues they have to deal with in-house.

When a US built product fails we say "ah, it's broken, need to get a new one" When a Chinese product fails we say "ah, of course, it's made in China, what do you expect?"

The geographical location of where things are built are less relevant than the philosophy of how the company operates. A knucklehead management can cause a company to produce crap in any country. Detroit auto group is a good example. The workers in Detroit are capable of far more than what we give them credit for, however they are run by a bunch of blind eyed management that has been doing the same thing the same way for half a century.

[Norsk]

If that picture on the beginning of the post is the next 3 series ... I'm switching to Merc and getting a C-Klass (with Sports Package)