[nick776]

I ordered my X3 back in December (VRM, Mojave Leather). It arrived last week. The problem is, however, that the paint on the front right fenders appears to have been badly damaged from the blue plastic they put over it during production (if you've watched your production video, you will know what I'm talking about).

The paint is marred along both sides of the front fenders. In addition to that, there are "bubbles" in random places on the paint all over the car. My dealer says the only way to remove the defects is to wet-sand the car and possibly touch up the paint. Such is completely unacceptable for a "brand new" BMW.

If the "new plant's" quality control is no better than this, I suggest everyone carefully inspect their car prior to delivery. I rejected mine and have re-ordered.

[Marla17]

Oh no, that isn't good. How long for the new one to get in?

[mccun934]

thanks for the heads up, mine is showing up in a couple weeks and will keep a look out for this issue

[nick776]

The dealer is trying to see if they can expedite the new order. I don't know how long, yet.

[Nahoa]

Sorry to hear you had that problem with your car. A serious bummer. Slightly good news is that you're getting another one, not that the long wait for re-delivery doesn't suck. I hope they get you a reasonable date.

Separately, sounds like something just didn't go right with the paint on your car. Seems unlikely that the blue protectors were actually the cause of the damage. Seems like something else wasn't right first.

What a drag.

[nick776]

No, it's the blue plastic for certain. The damage points are "patterned." They directly correspond to each of the lines on the blue protector (almost looks like where the blue protector was attached using some sort of adhesive that reacted with the paint). That does not explain the "bubbles," though. Those are not the result of the blue plastic.

[Nahoa]

Sorry. What I meant was that considering the bubbles, it seems there was something already wrong with the paint that allowed the blue things to make the pattern and cause the damage; i.e. the blue things on their own wouldn't have done that.

BMW isn't going to apply blue things that cause damage generally. Their whole point is to prevent damage while folks work on the car and they must successfully accomplish that goal in general or they wouldn't put them there.

Think it was maybe the clear coat that was hosed up somehow? Didn't cure?

Anyway, very sorry something crappy happened to you car. I'd be crushed. I know it's just a car, but I love cars and I'd be seriously bummed to have one waved in front of me, find it damaged, and have to wait for another. I feel your pain.

[nick776]

Yep. This is my 9th BMW since 2005. Four of those nine have been "special orders" and I've never had anything like this happen before. The other five were gotten directly from port and, still, no problems whatsoever.

I agree, I think it may be a clear coat problem. If it happened to mine, though, there could be others which were impacted. Just watch out, that's all I'm saying.

My wife has an X5 which was also a "special order" from the same plant which builds the new X3s. It arrived in a flawless condition when we got it last Summer.

My whole point, simply, is that what I saw today is nowhere near indicative of the quality I demand from BMW. What arrived at my dealer should have NEVER left the factory. It's almost as if quality control was not working on the day mine was produced (or as if they just didn't care).

[Nahoa]

+1 on that -- it should have never gotten to you in that condition, that's not BMW; hope your dealer is doing something for you to compensate

[nick776]

I have not asked. What do you think they "would" do (not what they "should") do? It's not really the dealer's fault, though. It's entirely on the factory.

[Nahoa]

Well, the dealership offered the thing up to you, so it's not just the factory. The dealership is the front end of BMW -- they're all one. The dealership should be concerned that you'll consider them and BMW subpar, never buy again, and provide negative recommendations to those who ask. They should consider this very bad. They should do something to make you understand they don't accept this and address this very professionally, trying to make it as painless as possible for you. If they deny or pass blame to the factory they're messing up.

For me it would be mostly how they reacted that would matter to me -- honesty, respect, responsibility -- and not so much what they did. They should offer you something as an apology for exposing you to a quality control failure and inconveniencing you. For me, a couple accessories -- valve stem caps, cargo net, key chain, care products -- in conjunction with the right attitude would talk me out of the tree and secure my loyalty. To me it's all about the style of how they react to problems and what they do when they don't "have" to but should. I don't expect them to sell the farm over it, but to acknowledge the failure, not make excuses, and sweeten the crappy situation a bit.

[Nahoa]

Oh, would do. The accessories are within the realm of my experiences. Anything beyond that would be too much for the dealership (and/or salesperson) to absorb based on the factory failure.

[nick776]

Thanks for the advice.

[sfax]

Thanks for posting nick776. I will look out for this. I would not be impressed if it happened to mine and let's hope it's a one-off and you just got very unlucky.

Did your dealer point it out to you? I wouldn't use them again if they didn't because it sounds from your description that they would have noticed it easily.

[perto]

Wat color was it? sins you got the bubbles it must have bean something wrong with the paint before they put on the fender protectors. Thanks for posting I've gone a watch out when take delivery.

[nick776]

The color is vermillion red metallic. I pointed the defects out to my dealer and they, in turn, pointed out additional defects to me which I did not initially notice.

[TuffLittleUnit]

The art of superlative customer service:

Dealer: Here you go, Sir. Your new X3.

Nick: Cool. Hang on, look at this paint!

Dealer: Yeah ... and actually there's all this crap over here wrong as well but we just thought we'd wait to see if you noticed anything before driving off and it all being your problem.

[MA78]

Originally Posted by TuffLittleUnit

The art of suplerlative customer service:

Dealer: Here you go, Sir. Your new X3.

Nick: Cool. Hang on, look at this paint!

Dealer: Yeah ... and actually there's all this crap over here wrong as well but we just thought we'd wait to see if you noticed anything before driving off and it all being your problem.

You pretty much nailed it there. The dealership has a role to play in QC as well. They should have gone over the car with a keen eye before handing it off.

[sfax]

+1 They should have called you first and said we've got some bad news, not got you all excited to come in and pick it up without knowing there was a problem. They were definitely trying it on

[BIMMER UK 76]

You should have told them you had no other wheels to drive and you will take the car bubbles n all until they get there finger out and make you a new one

[LEDZEP]

Kudos to you for not accepting the vehicle and allowing them to "fix" it. Unless you spend tens of thousands, no paint job is as good as a proper factory paint job - and they would have been happy to and out the bubbles and hand it back to you.

Also agree with others that the dealership is the last QA before you take delivery. They prep the cars, and there is no way they didn't notice the defects and damages. You should have never seen it.

Here's how it should have gone:

[ring-ring]
[Customer] Hello... Oh, hi Mr. Dealer, is my X3 in? Goody, goody!!
[Dealer] "Yes sir, but I'm afraid there is a problem with the paint job on the vehicle. We don't understand how it arrived in that condition - such things are extremely rare but can happen."
[Customer] Oh no. What does this mean?
[Dealer] "Well sir, it it your decision, but we don't feel that you should be expected to accept this car in it's condition or settle for a post-manufacturing repair. We have taken the liberty of contacting BMW and expediting a duplicate order, which we can cancel or modify if you like."
[Customer] Thank you, that is good of you to take that action right away.
[Dealer] "Oh, think nothing of it, we can only apologize that it was not perfect for you. We will see to it that you receive some very nice accessories at no cost."

[Nahoa]

+1 on LedZep's comments