Crown

RC:

Whoopsy:

So basically car prices in the US is just too low, they need to be raised at least 20% across the board just to bring US up to the standard of the rest of the world :)

I just say Americans are "spoiled" regarding car prices. They are "spoiled" regarding fuel and energy prices too. As a hint: fuel is almost three times more over here in Germany, energy...depending on amount and type of energy...up to 2-4 times more expensive.

I remember when a guy at a US fuel station came to me, I was driving a rented Hummer, and asked me if I could still afford buying fuel for this baby. When I told him about fuel prices in Germany (hint: by that time around 9 USD per gallon), he thought I was making fun of him, he couldn't believe it.

Viva Europa...everything for green...oops...blue skies.

Regarding Denmark: I know, it must be horrible.

 

 basically for the car price differences, either some are not paying enough or others are getting seriously screwed, and guess what is my opinion There is definitively something very wrong .... no matter how one presents it . The difference is way too big to be justified 

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 997.2 C2S, PDK, -20mm

As I lived in Canada, the price differences are especially noticeable. Almost anything is cheaper in the US, and together with the exchange rate on a dirt cheap US dollar, the difference is pretty big.

My theory is that the US market may be the biggest, but in real money terms the Americans just don't have much buying power.  Even if their prices are raise to the Canadian level, not even talking about European ones, the prices will need to raise 20-30%, that alone would destroy half of the sales. Combine that higher price with the slump the US economy currently in, just about every single manufacturer will be in trouble.

I suspect we, the rest of the world, are subsidizing US customers :)

Whoopsy:

I suspect we, the rest of the world, are subsidizing US customers :)

Well, this is actually a theory made quite a while ago and it may be accurate.

On the other hand, the US market is one of the biggest worldwide and I doubt that any major non-US manufacturer can afford not to be there.

What p.ss.s ME actually off is more the fact that US products are so expensive, compared to the US, in Europe. This doesn't make sense at all, it only proves that US manufacturers are jumping on the "Europeans have money" train, asking way too high prices for their products.

Example: Cadillac CTS-V. Aprox. 65000 USD in the US, almost 80000 EUR in Germany.

Add aprox. 8% local tax to the 65000 USD and you end up with 70000 USD.

70000 USD equal aprox. 49000 EUR.

Meaning: the CTS-V costs in Germany 31000 EUR or 44000 USD more. OUCH.

GM is actually pretty dumb by doing that. If the CTS-V would cost lets say under 50000 EUR in Europe, they would move much more cars.

Maybe just a stupid example but the price differences are huge right now.

Which brings me back to the old saying that the "real" value of the USD compared to the EUR is actually 1:1 but considering the current state of the US economy, I'm not so sure about it.

On the other hand, things in Europe don't look too bright either, look at Greece or Spain and I won't even start to mention Hungary and other former East block countries.

I still think that the US economy will recover faster than the European but time will tell.

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor 997 Turbo, BMW X5 M (03/2010), BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S JCW

 The USD is 20-30% undervalued at the present time due to big deficits and the reluctance of europeans not to lower rates further when the short term rates are zero in the US.

Some manufacturers have adjusted prices (luxury clothing for example) whereas car manufacturers haven't, partly due to big competition from cars made in the US (X5 are made in the US for example).

Also US has a very efficient/high volume retail system, allowing lower sales costs.

Last, talking about financial crisis, today in Miami I saw $5k+ flying off the shelves. Unreal.

"The USD is 20-30% undervalued at the present time"

Well, most european financial advisors actually think that the USD is valued too high right now and that the exchange rate vs. the EUR should rather be in the 1,60-1,80 range. 

I still hope that the USD will rise vs. the EUR for various reasons I can't disclose.

One thing is for sure: China and Russia also want/need a much stronger USD vs. the EUR, so maybe this is a good thing. On the other hand, both also claimed that there is the need of a new "world currency" to replace the USD.

Time will tell...

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor 997 Turbo, BMW X5 M (03/2010), BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S JCW

 Nothing will change in 10 years

Dollar will play the number one role

US economy will recover faster than others

US is still number one economy

 FYI 10 year interest rates are now higher in the US than in europe... This hasn't happened for a while.

XM manuals are online on bmwusa if anyone is interested. it's also confirming RC's input concerning break-in.

although it does allow you to rev up to 5500 rpm without applying kickdown.

I just sent an email to my sales person, requesting a change of options. He is going to be back from vacation on January 7th, so I don't know yet if the changes are still possible without delaying the delivery time (which wouldn't be acceptable for me).

Here is the new option list:

-Saphirblack metallic

-BMW Individual extended leather Criollo Brown

-M Wheels Double Spoke 300 M (also known as "X6 M" wheels)

-Climate Comfort Windshield

-Rear View Camera with Topview

-Panorama Sunroof

-Sun Shades for rear side windows, manual

-Comfort Seats front, electr. adjustable

-Skibag

-Interior Carbon Leather "stripes" (sorry, don't know the right word for it)

-Deactivation Airbag co-passenger seat front

-TV Receiver (Digital/Analogue)

-DVD Rear Entertainment System (TV programs can be watched in the rear, even during driving)

-USB-Audio Interface

-BMW Individual High End Audio System (16 speakers, 825 Watts output, DIRAC)

-BMW Individual Sun Protection Glass (strongly tinted in the rear)

-Navigation System Professional with integrated Bluetooth Interface

This is how my X5 M will look alike (if the changes go through):
 

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor 997 Turbo, BMW X5 M (03/2010), BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S JCW

perfect.

on my 6M i have a 'leather line' in the dash in champagne matching the rest of the leather. it really uplifts the interior...

not an option on the 5M ?

RC:

-BMW Individual extended leather Criollo Brown

-M Wheels Double Spoke 300 M (also known as "X6 M" wheels)

Extended Criollo Brown leather is way to go.

ONUR

09 Audi TTS Ibis

07 997 Carrera S / 05 M3 Coupe / 03 M3 Coupe / 96 M3 Coupe EVO (ALL BUT HISTORY)

intouch1:

perfect.

on my 6M i have a 'leather line' in the dash in champagne matching the rest of the leather. it really uplifts the interior...

not an option on the 5M ?

artur777:

 Nothing will change in 10 years

Dollar will play the number one role

US economy will recover faster than others

US is still number one economy

I luckily put my bet on the Chinese economy instead of the Middle East. My financial advisor can't believe how much the stuff he actually recommended (hint: Dubai) dropped in value in a couple of days, more than 50% MINUS.

My China "stuff" (actually a mix of China, Hongkong, Singapur) rose by 36% since I bought it in march 2009. 

Sometimes you might want to trust your guts instead of a pro. 

I also had some older investment in the New Zealand Dollar which recently paid off.

Still...I think this isn't over yet, the financial crisis could take another punch at us, even a heavy one, so just make sure you're on the (relatively) safe side. Stocks are rising too high too fast again.

Btw: I can't believe how arrogant some financial institutions/investment companies are after they got serious help from the government. It is back to old business for many of them and it won't take long until they take another hit. Absolutely unbelievable, especially the comments some CEOs of companies made, which were at the brink of "extinction" without the financial aid from the government.  

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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor 997 Turbo, BMW X5 M (03/2010), BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S JCW

RC:

I just sent an email to my sales person, requesting a change of options. He is going to be back from vacation on January 7th, so I don't know yet if the changes are still possible without delaying the delivery time (which wouldn't be acceptable for me).

Here is the new option list:

-Saphirblack metallic

-BMW Individual extended leather Criollo Brown

-M Wheels Double Spoke 300 M (also known as "X6 M" wheels)

-Climate Comfort Windshield

-Rear View Camera with Topview

-Panorama Sunroof

-Sun Shades for rear side windows, manual

-Comfort Seats front, electr. adjustable

-Skibag

-Interior Carbon Leather "stripes" (sorry, don't know the right word for it)

-Deactivation Airbag co-passenger seat front

-TV Receiver (Digital/Analogue)

-DVD Rear Entertainment System (TV programs can be watched in the rear, even during driving)

-USB-Audio Interface

-BMW Individual High End Audio System (16 speakers, 825 Watts output, DIRAC)

-BMW Individual Sun Protection Glass (strongly tinted in the rear)

-Navigation System Professional with integrated Bluetooth Interface

This is how my X5 M will look alike (if the changes go through):

 

 

 

Really a good choice and suitable combination.
For sure I’ d have taken carbon leather trim too, as it looks very well and the feeling is good either.
Hope your dealer is able to change it without a huge delay in deliver

Thanks. If there is ANY possible delay in delivery, I will stick with the old options. I need the car before the Easter vacation, I don't want another lame Diesel X5 from my dealer as a substitute family car.

The changes are important but they're not vital.

On January 7th, I'm going to know more.

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor 997 Turbo, BMW X5 M (03/2010), BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S JCW

Nice spec. Why did you not get the automatic closing mechanism for the rear door?

TEE:

Nice spec. Why did you not get the automatic closing mechanism for the rear door?

I had a certain amount of money I wanted to spend, so I've chosen the most important options. Comfort entry and the automatic closing thingie for the rear door would have been nice too but I had put a limit somewhere. My wife doesn't care, so no problem here. 

More important was the rear entertainment system for the kids. 

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor 997 Turbo, BMW X5 M (03/2010), BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S JCW

Fair points. Hope you get the spec updated in time.

Best,

TEE

The changes went through, my car still has status 111 and changes were possible without delaying delivery.

Finally got my production week today: week 6, 2010. Meaning: my car will be produced in the week from February 8-12. It takes another 3-4 weeks for the car to arrive at my dealer.

So hopefully, my X5 M will be here at my german dealer earliest March 1st and latest March 12th. I actually hoped for an earlier delivery but my dealer doesn't have an earlier production slot. 

There is however something odd and my dealer is going to verify it with M GmbH on Monday: my X5 M has a week 6 production slot but the delivery is estimated for week 17 (!).

Dealer doesn't have a clue what is wrong, maybe it has to do with the rear view camera, there seems to be a delay because of parts availability as far as I heard from other sources. It kind of sucks if true because the rear view camera incl. top view was actually one of the MUST have options on such a big car but if it delays delivery, maybe it can be retrofitted later on. Just a speculation though, my dealer is going to check with M GmbH on Monday to see what is going on.

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor 997 Turbo, BMW X5 M (03/2010), BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S JCW

To be honest I don't know when I would actually use the top down view.  Maybe it's the case of not having experienced it yet so I don't know the benefit of it.  It's like the comfort access/keyless go that we have on our car.  Before I bought my C63 I asked myself why would anyone want a feature like this, but now I would not buy a new car without speccing that feature!

Keyless go, my wife's FAVORITE feature on ANY CAR. She no longer have to fish out the remote from her gigantic handbag.......................

Yes, keyless go (comfort entry) is a nice feature but it costs almost 1000 EUR and I had different priorities like that damn DVD rear entertainment system for the kids incl. the TV reception (which is kind of cool because the kids can watch actual TV programs in the rear, unless of course Daddy has to drive very fast ...reception brakes down at speeds over 170 kph). These two options alone are almost 3000 EUR.

Maybe I'm lucky with the M Driver's Package, apparently it was free of cost til now (special offer from M GmbH), this saves me 2400 EUR. Exactly the amount of money the dealer asks for the official M winter wheel set. I will know more on Monday.

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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor 997 Turbo, BMW X5 M (03/2010), BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S JCW

RC:

[...] DVD rear entertainment system for the kids incl. the TV reception (which is kind of cool because the kids can watch actual TV programs in the rear, unless of course Daddy has to drive very fast ...reception brakes down at speeds over 170 kph).

There you go, so the kids will only watch TV at home... or in a traffic jam.

Each and every year, we spend around two hours in a traffic jam around Stuttgart area on our way to Europapark. The entertainment system will be just perfect. For whose who haven't kids: without distraction, the kids start whining, asking for food, for drinks, for games, for... Our DVD system in the Cayenne broke down on our way to Sardinia, a driving distance of aprox. 650 km from our town to the ferry harbor and around additional 300 km on Sardinia island to our destination. It was hell on earth, my wife almost threw the kids out of the car, it was very stressful. The way back home was the same "terror". Never again.

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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor 997 Turbo, BMW X5 M (03/2010), BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S JCW

I fully understand you, I just implied that you won´t stay far below 170 kph if traffic permits. If only for DVDs, that rear entertainment system certainly is of use.

Still, one wonders how our parents could handle us back then, without the help of this.

Ferdie:

Still, one wonders how our parents could handle us back then, without the help of this.

Well, I know how MY parents handled it: I was sitting next to my father in the front seat because I got sick each time I was driving in the rear seat.  My mother wasn't too happy about it but the rear seat was better for sleeping. In the 70s/80s, almost nobody had seatbelts, so people were resting on the rear bench, lying down.

I enjoyed driving in the front seat a lot, my father was always driving pretty fast, especially when we were outside Germany. By that time, especially in Eastern Europe but even in Italy, you could "escape" a serious speeding fee by paying some sort of a bribe. Nowadays things have changed, at least in Italy. Eastern Europe is still a different story but they went from a bottle of Coca Cola or a package of cigarettes to serious money.

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor 997 Turbo, BMW X5 M (03/2010), BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S JCW

I was going to get the rear DVD system, but the single centre mounted system didn't impress me.  I hear there is another twin screen (one behind each front seat) option from the assesories list?  Anyone knows anything about it?  If not I won't bother and just get the iSlate for my son or a portable DVD player...

WAY:

I was going to get the rear DVD system, but the single centre mounted system didn't impress me.  I hear there is another twin screen (one behind each front seat) option from the assesories list?  Anyone knows anything about it?  If not I won't bother and just get the iSlate for my son or a portable DVD player...

The single centre mounted system isn't bad at all, I was surprised how good the display quality is, even from a different viewing angle. The main advantage is however that the kids can actually view TV programs in the rear. We have a pretty good public non-encrypted digital TV system in Germany with some nice stuff for kids (mostly US cartoons and teeny shows, my girl wouldn't want to miss Hannah Montana and the Wizards of Weaverly Place ). Usually the kids watch DVDs though, the ads even during kids program are very annoying.

Yes, there is a retrofit DVD system (actually there are two, one is mounted directly under the roof but it isn't compatible with the panoramic roof I ordered) but it actually costs more for two kids than the single centre mounted unit.

iSlate ? Well...my kids love using the iPod touch when we fly, so assuming that the "iSlate" will have a larger display, this could work too.

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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor 997 Turbo, BMW X5 M (03/2010), BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S JCW

 iPhone is perfect for the magic moments we need our daughter to watch a movie.

We make a point of NOT having DVD in all of our cars. Worked so far.