If you're awaiting delivery of a new M car, you might be waiting a little longer. BMW has issued a delivery stop order for as many as 3,800 cars, including M2 coupes, M3 sedans, M4 coupes and convertibles, M5s, and M6 coupes and convertibles. Some 6 Series Gran Coupés and 5 Series sedans will also be held. The cars, according to German publication Auto Zeitung, were built between May 12 and July 4.
Apparently, BMW has run into a bad batch of differentials that are noisier than they should be, and rather than deliver the cars and fix the diffs later, the company will hold on to them until it can replace the questionable parts. Naturally, affected cars that have already been delivered to customers will be taken care of under warranty.
Almost 4,000 cars sounds like a lot, but the actual speed with which BMW fixes them depends on availability of replacement differentials, how fast they can get to the various assembly plants, vehicle delivery centers, and dealers, and the workloads at those facilities.
The situation may throw some curves into the travel plans of customers who have already made arrangements for European Delivery in Munich and Performance Center Delivery in South Carolina. These prospective owners should work through their dealers to confirm if their cars are on the stop/hold list and if so, what alternate arrangements are available.
Glitches such as these may constitute a major inconvenience for someone waiting to take delivery of their dream BMW and it is unfortunate. However, we would rather take delivery of a car free of known defects rather than have to haul it back to the dealer later on for repair. Let’s hope that the replacement diffs fix the problem so that new BMW owners can enjoy their cars—once they finally get them.—Scott Blazey
[Photo courtesy of BMW AG.]
