JULY 23rd

Last month I wrote an article about my having made the decision to order a 2022 BMW X3 M.  Since that time, I’ve been scouring the Earth to find a dealer with an allocation for an X3M that could place an order for me.  Sound complicated?  It sort of is.  You see, you can’t just waltz into any dealership – particularly post COVID-19 – and order a BMW M car.  BMW controls supply and demand by providing dealerships limited allocations for M cars.  So the newer, hotter, and more in demand the BMW M car is, the harder it will be to order one.  Fortunately, I live fairly close to one of the larger BMW dealerships in the US which specializes in M cars – BMW Cincinnati North.  They’re a BMW M Certified Center which means they have more specialized training and support for M cars.  As you might imagine, they sell more M cars and get preferential treatment when it comes to allocation.  The “regular” BMW dealership closer to me in Dayton by comparison was not able to get an allocation for an X3M.  But BMW Cincinnati North really came through for me and I was the #23 2022 X3M ordered in the US.

WHAT DID I ORDER?

Essentially, I ordered exactly what I said I wanted to order in the article I wrote last month.  Note that as of this writing, the consumer facing part of the BMW website has not been updated with LCI 2022 BMW X3 M build and ordering information – otherwise I’d probably have more photos of computer generated renders of the car I ordered.  When I placed my order, it was through the dealer who did have live access to the be able to place the order in the systems to which only dealers have access. As of this writing, BMW has made it difficult to compare apples to apples with a 2021 build vs. a 2022 build.  But I think both came in right about $76,000.00 before discounts and incentives.  With the prevailing post COVID-19 environment, cars are scarce.  Few BMW dealers have allocations for the new LCI 2022 X3 Ms.  So I was in an unenviable bargaining position.  If more incentives pop up from BMW between now and the time I take delivery, I’ll get to take advantage of them.  But for now, I got a modest discount and a VERY modest loyalty incentive.  The discounts and incentives were of course better on the 2021 X3 M when I was getting quotes.  I’m paying about ~2000.00 more  for the 2022…but worth it.

Here’s what I ordered

2022 X3 M
-Marina Bay Blue
-Black Extended Merino Leather Interior
-Style 764 M 20″ double-spoke, bi-color orbit grey wheels

Executive Package

  • Front and Rear Heated Seats
  • Gesture Control
  • Head-up Display
  • Heated Steering Wheel
  • Panoramic moonroof
  • Parking Assistant Plus
  • Rear manual side window shades
  • Rear view camera

Added Options

  • Front ventilated seats
  • M Sport Seats
  • Remote Engine Start

Standard Features

  • Active Driving Assistant
  • Active Protection
  • Alarm System
  • Apple CarPlay Compatibility
  • CarPlay / Android Auto Compat.
  • Carbon Fiber trim
  • Comfort Access keyless entry
  • Connected Package Pro
  • Daytime driving lights
  • Deletion of BMW Digital Key
  • Enhanced B/T and Smartphone In
  • Frt Col Warn w/City Col Mitig
  • Lumbar support
  • Mobility Kit
  • Privacy glass
  • Rear seat back adjustment
  • SiriusXM Radio w/ 1 year sub.
  • Storage package
  • Tire pressure monitor
  • Universal garage-door opener
  • WiFi Hotspot with comp 3 M

My order was placed by North Cincinnati BMW on July 19th – here’s the confirmation I received:

THE BUILD NUMBER

When you custom order a BMW, your order isn’t “real” until it’s assigned a build/production number.  Once you get that, you can log into your account on the BMW USA website, plug in the build number, and your car will show up in your “My Garage.”  My dealer notified me today that my order was assigned a production/build number.

You can see it with my current 2013 BMW 335i M Sport which I also custom ordered.

Once you have it in the “My Garage” part of your online account, you can also start tracking it through the various stages of production:

Note that you can also call 1 (800) 831-1117, and say “vehicle production status.”  In some cases you’ll get different/more detailed information.

Once you get this point, you can breath easy.  The last month leading up to this point however has been nail bitingly nerve racking.  As I mentioned in my previous article, my desire is to do a Performance Center Delivery on my car.  My window to be able to do so however was narrow.  The lease on my current 2018 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk Elite was up in June, but I was able to extend it 90 days – or until the later part of September.  If the production and subsequent Performance Center Delivery happened sometime between September and October, I’d probably be OK.  I’m planning on selling my current BMW in the next few weeks.  So the worst case scenario for an October delivery would mean I’d need to rent a car for a few weeks – not the end of the world.  But if the process of finding a dealer with an allocation and getting an order in pushed the production date out until November, I’d risk driving back from South Carolina to Ohio and hit snow and ice…on the Summer performance tires these vehicles come equipped with.  But with the currently planned September delivery date, it’s perfect!

THE COVID EFFECT

There’s one slight hiccup with my order.  The 2022 BMW X3 M is supposed to come standard with a wireless charging pad in the center console area for a mobile phone, but mine likely will not.  Due to computer chip shortages caused by the Global COVID-19 Pandemic, this feature will likely be omitted from my build.  I say “likely” because I don’t have confirmation of this fact yet, but it’s a near certainty based on information found in the online community.  Kind of a bummer, but not a big deal – many people report that the wireless charging pad in newer BMWs gets hot and stops charging the phone.  There’s also speculation that the feature can be retrofit into the vehicle at some point down the road with supply comes back.

I’ll be updating this article in the weeks up to delivery, and of course I’ll do an article with photos and video covering the Performance Center Delivery.  Having turned the big five-oh in April of 2020 during the pandemic was an absolute bummer.  I’m really hoping this little present to myself and the experience that goes along with it makes up for it.

UPDATE : AUGUST 6th

It’s been exactly two weeks since I received my Production Number/Build Code from BMW.  Today was the first day that I noticed any change to my order status on the BMW web site.  It went from “Order Received” which you can see above to “Scheduled For Production” which you can see below:

No other information was available, so I first called the above listed 800 number to check the system there for a date – in this instance the dial in system had the exact same status as the website, and no other information.  Afterward I called my dealer who was able to check their internal systems and determine that I had moved into “112” status and the system showed my production in September.  112 status is significant because at this juncture you can longer make any changes or alterations to the configuration of your order.

As long as my car is an early to mid-Septermber production, I should be OK.  It should take approximately 2 weeks after production to be able to take delivery at the BMW Performance Center in SC.  So if I want to do a Performance Center Delivery, the production date ideally needs to be no later than about 9/15.  It’s my understanding that once you’re on the schedule, production takes about 6 weeks.  That would be put me almost exactly at 9/15.  If I have to take delivery in early October, it’s not the end of the world.  But September would work much better for me.  At this juncture it’s not clear to me when the production date will be firm enough to schedule the PCD, but I should get clarity on that point in the coming days.

UPDATE:  AUGUST 13TH

Today is an exciting update – my car has a VIN number.  Once the car moves into the BMW Production Code/Status of “150” it’s assigned a VIN number.  My car is scheduled for production during Week 35 of BMW production, which puts in being build the week of August 23rd.

Having spoken to both a BMW Genius and the BMW Performance Center, my Performance Center Delivery could be scheduled as early as the week of September 13th, and as late as October 8th, depending on space availability at the Performance Center.  I should know more in about a week.

 

UPDATE:  AUGUST 20TH

Today I again called the BMW Genius to check on my car.  The build date seems quite firm – August 26th.  The Genius I spoke to was pretty comfortable in saying that he thought the Performance Center would be able to schedule my delivery at this stage of production.  I then called the Performance Center and confirmed that based on my production status, they’d be emailing my Client Advisor (BMW speak for the guy that sold me the car at the dealership) my first available date option later that day.  I asked them to copy me on the email, which they did:

I immediately accepted the date.  It’s actually perfect.  I’m part of a team at work that’s developing a huge proposal at work for a military contract that’s due the 13th.  Our company President is coming into the office a couple of days later and I’ll need to take him to visit some clients.  I’ll be ready for a week-long vacation the following week.  The only slight complication is that my leased Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk has to be turned back in on September 22nd.  So my plan is to turn it in on Saturday the 18th (after such time I’ll be carless for the first time since turning 16 years of age), fly to Greenville, SC on Sunday the 19th, and take delivery of my 2022 BMW X3M on Monday, September 20th.  Next week I turn over my 335i M Sport to its new owner, so I’ll be BMWless for the first time in 15 years, which will be sad.

My buddy (also named John) will be going with me on my Performance Center Delivery.  He’s done a couple of them himself (most recently on his 2021 F82 BMW M4 in individual Enzian Blue).  I’ve also accompanied him in the past on a couple of European Deliveries  (back before they sadly cancelled the program).  Now that the date is set we’re already starting to talk about what we want to do during the trip.  Should be a good time.

UPDATE:  AUGUST 24th

Today was a bitter sweet day.  Today was the day I sold my 2013 BMW 335i M Sport.  It had just 62,000 miles on the odometer.  It’s been hands down the best car I’ve ever owned.  Here’s the last good photo I took of the car – it still looked fantastic:

While I was at the dealership I had the opportunity to see an M5 they had in stock that was in Marina Bay Blue (MBB).  This was my first opportunity to see MBB outside of photos online:

I think the color looks a bit darker in real life than in photos.  It’s clearly darker than my beloved Estoril Blue.  But I DEFINITELY like it better than the only other blue option BMW currently offers (outside of the $3000.00 up charge “individual color”).  Plus, Marina Bay Blue is exclusive to M cars – so you won’t see it often.

UPDATE:   AUGUST 25TH

The BMW site updated this morning and my car has now entered the assembly line!

At this point, things start moving forward rather quickly.  Later in the day, the status updated again:

 

By the end of the day, the status had again changed to to the following:

This would indicate the car has completed assembly.  It was a big day – I jumped about six “dots” on the “Start” >>>”Finish” line in a day.  Having again called a BMW Genius I was told the vehicle may stay in this status for several days until it completes quality assurance checks. and gets transported over to the Performance Delivery Center.

I thought I would show an image of what I’m seeing in my garage now because I don’t know how long I’ll continue to see it now that my 2013 BMW 335i has been sold:

I’m guessing that if a buyer of my old car adds it to their own “My Garage” after it’s purchased, it may well disappear from mine.  Which is kind of a shame because I’d love to be able to revisit the car here from time to time.  The new X3M certainly has a lot to live up to.  The image also does a good job of illustrating the difference between the Estoril Blue of my 2013 and the Marina Bay Blue of my new 2022 model – MBB is a bit darker, but still “pops” nicely.

UPDATE :  SEPTEMBER 3rd

The status of my build has been stuck on “awaiting carrier assignment” for several days, but I woke up this morning to a new status:

Given that I’m picking up my new car from the BMW Performance Center in South Carolina, it was a short trip from the factory to the Performance Center for my X3 M – the status was updated a short time later the same day:

Now it’s just a matter of waiting a bit over 2 weeks until I fly down to South Carolina and experience my Performance Center Delivery on September 20th.  That will be a special day.  My first BMW Performance Center Delivery, my first US built BMW, and my first M car.  Still, I must admit that today is bitter sweet.  For weeks my eyes would pop open in the morning and I’d reach over to my iPad with great anticipation and bring up the BMW My Garage to check on the progress of my build.  So it’s kind of sad that phase is over.  Fortunately, I’ve been quite busy at work so the last roughly three months since I placed my order have flown by.  But I’m sure this last couple of weeks until I fly to Greenville will draaaaag.

UPDATE:  SEPTEMBER 14

Well, the days have indeed been dragging since my last update.  It’s now only 6 days until my long-awaited prize is in my possession.  In the interim, I’ve been shoring up some details of the trip to South Carolina.  The Performance Center sent me a trip form which I had to fill out with details like when my flight was arriving, guest information, etc.  I asked them to call me to confirm receipt, which they did.  During the call I asked “hey, since my car is there, if anyone has time to snap a couple of photos of my car and send them to me, I’d really appreciate it.”  Much to my surprise, they obliged – here are the first photos of my actual 2022 X3 M:

Obviously it hasn’t been detailed yet for final delivery, but I still think it looks awesome!

My next article will detail my Performance Center delivery experience, followed by a review of the 2022 X3 M…both will include a videos as well.  I also plan on doing an article on the dealership experience in 2022 which will be…controversial.  So check back here in a few weeks for some great content!

About John B. Holbrook, II
John B. Holbrook, II is a freelance writer, photographer, and author of ThruMyLens.org, as well as LuxuryTyme.com and TheSeamasterReferencePage.com. *All text and images contained in this web site are the original work of the author, John B. Holbrook, II and are copyright protected. Use of any of the information or images without the permission of the author is prohibited.

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