Why Are These Cars In Such Short Supply?

jbenington86 · 10-17-2014, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NY10

I'm proud to be driving a car that not everyone else has. I've seen 1 other M235i parked in a parking lot a few weeks ago, EB and gorgeous but other than that nothing. I see tons of Audis and BMWs where I live and none of them are 2 series in my town I will be the only one and I like that. As far as ordering I went in in August 16 ordered it was told October car arrived at dealer the other day and tomorrow I pick it up. Long wait but totally worth it for me

Totally agree with loving the fact of driving an car that is rarely seen. Makes most people wonder what it is

.....I am jealous of you though because I ordered my car on Aug 7th and mine is likely still on a boat somewhere....

Lucky13 · 10-17-2014, 10:04 AM

Part of the issue is capacity as previously mentioned. Other factors are profitability, BMW tries to keep margin high by limiting production vs a company like Cadillac that has over a 200 day supply of ATS on dealer lots. This kills margins and resale value. Part of it is again being a coupe and not wanting to cut sales of the 4 series which is much more profitable.

They have a lot of sales history with the 1 series so I'm sure they had a conservative growth plan for production year one. Remember its really only been on lots in the US for about 7 months and they need time to make major production changes if the factory is full. The X1 vs X3 is a different story, they make a lot less on the X1 vs X3 especially since it's made in Germany but it's needed to get new people in the brand while the 2 series being a coupe is never going to accomplish this in a major way. They could load the market with 2 series but why? The numbers are tiny compared with sedans or SUV's. If there was no 4 series lots would be full of 2 series.

brhon · 10-17-2014, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sportstick

How far "mid"? There are cars in inventory around Michigan.

I have found some in Toledo, Indy, Cleveland, and Metro Detroit. There are a handful around SE Michigan but not with the options/color I am looking for.

Alpine F31 · 10-17-2014, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lbahoshy

They build the 2 series in the same factory as the i3 and there is currently a huge demand for the i3 - more than anticipated - I read somewhere that BMW is ramping up the i3 production to try and meet demand. This has affected 2 series production.

In my part of town, I've noticed more i3's on the road than 2 series cars, especially M235i's of which I've only seen two in the wild and 5 overall.

Alpine F31 · 10-17-2014, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbenington86

Totally agree with loving the fact of driving an car that is rarely seen. Makes most people wonder what it is

.....I am jealous of you though because I ordered my car on Aug 7th and mine is likely still on a boat somewhere....

At least yours is on a boat. Mine is still in my imagination.

bimmerbuff · 10-17-2014, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lucky13

Part of the issue is capacity as previously mentioned. Other factors are profitability, BMW tries to keep margin high by limiting production vs a company like Cadillac that has over a 200 day supply of ATS on dealer lots. This kills margins and resale value. Part of it is again being a coupe and not wanting to cut sales of the 4 series which is much more profitable.

I read the Caddy ELR is even worse. They can't give them away.

The 2 Series is a lower volume car for sure - small coupes always are.

BlackonBlack74 · 10-17-2014, 12:00 PM

I was waiting to order the convertible in Dec or Jan... that being said, does anyone know the rule of thumb of waiting period to arrive? More than 5 months?

lbahoshy · 10-17-2014, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackonBlack74

I was waiting to order the convertible in Dec or Jan... that being said, does anyone know the rule of thumb of waiting period to arrive? More than 5 months?

Roughly 8 weeks or so after order is placed if there is an immediate allocation.

tccox · 10-17-2014, 01:23 PM

Hendricks two locations here in Charlotte have 0 228s and strangely enough 1 235 which has been sitting there for a couple of weeks now.

NY10 · 10-17-2014, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbenington86

Totally agree with loving the fact of driving an car that is rarely seen. Makes most people wonder what it is

.....I am jealous of you though because I ordered my car on Aug 7th and mine is likely still on a boat somewhere....

I love when people ask me what car I got and I tell them and they have NO clue. They expect me to say M3 or something so typical so I pull out my phone and show them and they just droll over it.

I can totally understand your your frustration. I was so jealous of the people talking about their cars and getting theirs before mine and I'm still kinda jealous because I have 18 more hours to go

doublevanosrc · 10-17-2014, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bimmerbuff

The 2 Series is a lower volume car for sure - small coupes always are.

This^^

Which is a good thing.

horsepower_and_hounds · 10-17-2014, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NY10

I'm proud to be driving a car that not everyone else has. I've seen 1 other M235i parked in a parking lot a few weeks ago, EB and gorgeous but other than that nothing. I see tons of Audis and BMWs where I live and none of them are 2 series in my town I will be the only one and I like that. As far as ordering I went in in August 16 ordered it was told October car arrived at dealer the other day and tomorrow I pick it up. Long wait but totally worth it for me

Long wait? It's worth it. Oh and long...I ordered April 20th and took delivery Aug 21st....you want to discuss long

SteveSFO · 10-17-2014, 06:34 PM

Unfortunately 2 door coupes don't do too well in the United States. All of us on this blog understand and appreciate BMW's and coupes. It's sort of nice to be driving something that there aren't a ton of on the road.

It was frustrating for me to finally find my 2 series. A couple of dealers in Northern CA had their next several months of 2 series already sold. The only ones around here are normally well optioned and anyone looking for a fairly basic one is sort of out of luck.

I ended up with one that had more option than originally wanted... but looking back, I'm glad I did get more options.

It's almost like Leica cameras.... high demand, low inventory.

CF22 · 10-17-2014, 07:27 PM

I love the scarcity of the 2 series, I too like having a car that blends in with the sea of bimmers out there yet nobody knows what it is. I had to wait a month for an allocation for an M235i with little to no negotiating room from anywhere around Miami, mine is still at Bremerhaven waiting to be loaded onto a ship.

The dealers I went to did have 2 or 3 228's but M235's are really difficult to come by. So far on the road I've only seen 2 M235's which might be the same one and a handful of 228's. I have better chances of seeing a new M4, M3, or Ferrari than I do a 2 series.

DanG · 10-17-2014, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveSFO

Unfortunately 2 door coupes don't do too well in the United States. All of us on this blog understand and appreciate BMW's and coupes. It's sort of nice to be driving something that there aren't a ton of on the road.

It was frustrating for me to finally find my 2 series. A couple of dealers in Northern CA had their next several months of 2 series already sold. The only ones around here are normally well optioned and anyone looking for a fairly basic one is sort of out of luck.

I ended up with one that had more option than originally wanted... but looking back, I'm glad I did get more options.

It's almost like Leica cameras.... high demand, low inventory.

I don't know. I have seen a bunch of 4 series and the dealers also seem to have plenty of stock. So BMW coupes are not rare.

NY10 · 10-17-2014, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanG

I don't know. I have seen a bunch of 4 series and the dealers also seem to have plenty of stock. So BMW coupes are not rare.

I wouldn't say 2 door coupes are rare but they are not as common as 4 door cars. A lot of people who drive BMW's are family cars or older people who don't want a fast sports car. I know where I live I do not see many 2 door coupes on the road and if I do it's a young person who is into fast cars and nice looking cars. Most families don't get 2 doors because it's not practical for them.

Husker · 10-17-2014, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sportstick

How far "mid"? There are cars in inventory around Michigan.

Nebraska.

Sportstick · 10-17-2014, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Husker

Nebraska.

Wow...corn country! I figured the "Midwest"'ended somewhere between Chicago and Minneapolis before the Plains !! Anyway, this would be a long way to come but I'm sure they would welcome your business!

Husker · 10-17-2014, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sportstick

Wow...corn country! I figured the "Midwest"'ended somewhere between Chicago and Minneapolis before the Plains !! Anyway, this would be a long way to come but I'm sure they would welcome your business!

Sportstick · 10-17-2014, 10:18 PM

Oh, well......anyway, have a good weekend! If you want some help with checking out a car in this part of the "eastern midwest", post a note!

hoppy6698 · 10-17-2014, 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbenington86

Totally agree with loving the fact of driving an car that is rarely seen. Makes most people wonder what it is

.....I am jealous of you though because I ordered my car on Aug 7th and mine is likely still on a boat somewhere....

Ditto! Sadly on both accounts - I love having a rare and relatively unknown vehicle, but mine is on a boat as well.

Side note - if you know the name of the vessel it is on (dealer can provide that), you can track it through vesselfinder.com

Its like watching paint dry, but I see it moving!

Husker · 10-18-2014, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sportstick

Oh, well......anyway, have a good weekend! If you want some help with checking out a car in this part of the "eastern midwest", post a note!

Nebraska-->"Middle Of Nowhere"-->

Would like to find an AW Loaded MT at a good price (For Me not Dealer)

10-17-2014, 10:04 AM	#24
Lucky13 Lucky13 211 Rep 1,762 Posts Drives: 2014 M235 manual, 2020 X3 30X Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Columbia, S.C. iTrader: (0)	Part of the issue is capacity as previously mentioned. Other factors are profitability, BMW tries to keep margin high by limiting production vs a company like Cadillac that has over a 200 day supply of ATS on dealer lots. This kills margins and resale value. Part of it is again being a coupe and not wanting to cut sales of the 4 series which is much more profitable. They have a lot of sales history with the 1 series so I'm sure they had a conservative growth plan for production year one. Remember its really only been on lots in the US for about 7 months and they need time to make major production changes if the factory is full. The X1 vs X3 is a different story, they make a lot less on the X1 vs X3 especially since it's made in Germany but it's needed to get new people in the brand while the 2 series being a coupe is never going to accomplish this in a major way. They could load the market with 2 series but why? The numbers are tiny compared with sedans or SUV's. If there was no 4 series lots would be full of 2 series. __________________ 1995 325i, 1996 328ci, 1997 528i, 1997 Z3 2.8, 2000 528i, 2001 X5 3.0, 2001 330i Convertible, 2002 M3 Convertible, 2003 M3 Coupe, 2004 M3 Coupe, 2004 Z4 3.0, 2004 X3 3.0, 2007 X3 3.0, 2007 335i Convertible, 2013 X1 28 sdrive, 2014 M235 manual, 2020 X3 30i Xdrive
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10-17-2014, 12:00 PM	#29
BlackonBlack74 Private 97 Rep 51 Posts Drives: 235i Convertible Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Canada iTrader: (0)	I was waiting to order the convertible in Dec or Jan... that being said, does anyone know the rule of thumb of waiting period to arrive? More than 5 months?
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10-17-2014, 01:23 PM	#31
tccox Captain 95 Rep 809 Posts Drives: 2014 228i Msport Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Charlotte, NC iTrader: (0) Garage List 2014 BMW 228I Msport [0.00]	Hendricks two locations here in Charlotte have 0 228s and strangely enough 1 235 which has been sitting there for a couple of weeks now. __________________ A peasant and proud of it Save The Manuals!!!
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10-17-2014, 06:34 PM	#35
SteveSFO Enlisted Member 15 Rep 35 Posts Drives: '18 M2 Long Beach Blue Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: San Francisco Bay Area iTrader: (0)	Unfortunately 2 door coupes don't do too well in the United States. All of us on this blog understand and appreciate BMW's and coupes. It's sort of nice to be driving something that there aren't a ton of on the road. It was frustrating for me to finally find my 2 series. A couple of dealers in Northern CA had their next several months of 2 series already sold. The only ones around here are normally well optioned and anyone looking for a fairly basic one is sort of out of luck. I ended up with one that had more option than originally wanted... but looking back, I'm glad I did get more options. It's almost like Leica cameras.... high demand, low inventory.
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10-17-2014, 07:27 PM	#36
CF22 Private 13 Rep 75 Posts Drives: 2015 M235i Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Miami, FL iTrader: (0)	I love the scarcity of the 2 series, I too like having a car that blends in with the sea of bimmers out there yet nobody knows what it is. I had to wait a month for an allocation for an M235i with little to no negotiating room from anywhere around Miami, mine is still at Bremerhaven waiting to be loaded onto a ship. The dealers I went to did have 2 or 3 228's but M235's are really difficult to come by. So far on the road I've only seen 2 M235's which might be the same one and a handful of 228's. I have better chances of seeing a new M4, M3, or Ferrari than I do a 2 series.
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10-17-2014, 10:18 PM	#42
Sportstick Major General 4653 Rep 6,028 Posts Drives: '15 228i and '24 X3 sDrive30i Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Southwest USA iTrader: (0)	Oh, well......anyway, have a good weekend! If you want some help with checking out a car in this part of the "eastern midwest", post a note! Attached Images
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