Quote:
Originally Posted by paul386
The seats are likely a 3rd party product shipped to BMW...
Have you ever been involved in a manufacturing environment? Quality control is meticulously monitored with statistical analysis... This isn't some amateur job here.... Quality in Spartenburg is going to be BMW quality. The whole "German Built" "German Made" thing is baseless advertising / cult like dogma.
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The seats are absolutely made by a subcontractor, and delivered JIT for each build.
There is a saying "You can't inspect quality in." and that holds true for any manufactured product, or even a service product.
That said, there are elements that are not or cannot be inspected efficiently in the factory, and they must rely on field data. Initial reports, complaints, repairs from dealerships are important here. Especially in the first model year of a new product.
All that said - I feel there IS a difference in the location, because of the culture of the work force. American factory workers have lost the sense of personal pride that other cultures still hold. This is obviously true for every worker in either case, but the majority. I think some companies are doing a good job of turning that culture around, but it is still there.
My X3 is not built as well as my previous 3's were. They are still light years better than the competition, but there is a subtle difference.