[Greg]

My SA just called. The great news is that it appears my iX 50 is going into production soon! The interesting news is that BMW is still dealing with component supply chain issues and is making what, IMO, is the right decision.

BMW sent the following notice:

Please be advised due to limited availability for the Interior Camera option 4NR, the following iX xDrive 50 production numbers will have the ZMV Ultimate Package changed to XME Ultimate Package 2. Ultimate Package 2 will have all the content of the original package minus the Interior Camera option 4NR. This change effects all orders including P1, so please make your customers aware of the change. The package ZMV is no longer available for order as a result. Please add ZME where applicable. Regards, Production Ordering Department.

Of all the features in the iX this was the one I was the least interested in so this doesn't bother me at all. No idea how long the Interior Camera will not be available, but I'm glad BMW is pushing forward with production instead of holding up for what is admittedly a marginal feature. (At least to me.)

 

[NomoTesla]

At what point will people say enough is enough? BMW keeps raising prices and removing features. Why Tesla doesn't have these issues? They did in the past, perhaps a year ago, but no longer.

The right thing to do—which BMW is not doing—is to give every owner a due bill for the items that were deleted, to be installed later when they are in stock. That's how Tesla normally deals with component shortages. This way you always get the stuff eventually.

Not with BMW. It's gone, deal with it. What a great luxury brand experience!

 

[machop]

At what point will people say enough is enough? BMW keeps raising prices and removing features. Why Tesla doesn't have these issues? They did in the past, perhaps a year ago, but no longer.

The right thing to do—which BMW is not doing—is to give every owner a due bill for the items that were deleted, to be installed later when they are in stock. That's how Tesla normally deals with component shortages. This way you always get the stuff eventually.

Not with BMW. It's gone, deal with it. What a great luxury brand experience!

Agree.

Some people are saying there is no contract, blah blah, so it's ok BMW does not honor what was agreed on at time of deposit. I view this as a bad business decision, it's convenient for BMW to change/cancel things at will from their end. To me at minimum they should try to make an effort to fulfill original order. From what I have seen, they dont give a %$#@.

 

[Carnook]

At what point will people say enough is enough? BMW keeps raising prices and removing features. Why Tesla doesn't have these issues? They did in the past, perhaps a year ago, but no longer.

The right thing to do—which BMW is not doing—is to give every owner a due bill for the items that were deleted, to be installed later when they are in stock. That's how Tesla normally deals with component shortages. This way you always get the stuff eventually.

Not with BMW. It's gone, deal with it. What a great luxury brand experience!

FYI, you’re not totally correct about Tesla. They also continue to raise prices and remove features/included items. Just recently they stopped including the charging cable (EVSE) from all vehicles and they stopped including key fobs with the Model S and X. Both are now extra items that must be purchased at retail price.

 

[Paladin1]

BMW's main focus right now (and for at least a couple of years) appears to be to produce cars. That's always been a focus, but not the main focus. If they can remove a feature and produce two cars, or three or four, instead of producing one with that feature or features included, that's what they do. Because people still buy them. The recent partial tally of features once available but removed, some never to return, some temporary, 'lest we forget so far not inclusive across the model line, and sometimes on, sometimes off, in no particular order, is 1) electronic opening of the lower tailgate for split-tailgate models, 2) hands-free tailgate opening, 3) B&W audio, 4) HK audio, 5) passenger massage/lumbar support, 6) Adaptive Drive Mode, 7) soft-close doors, 8) air suspension, 9) Night Vision Assist, 10) heated/cooled cupholders, 11) Luggage Compartment Package, 12) acoustic glass, 13) fog lights, 14) trunk release for back seats, 15) iDrive Controller touch feature, 16) IAS, 17) wireless charger, 18) touchscreen feature on the main panel, 19) Automatic Start/Stop button, 20) this overhead camera. A partial list.

 

[nash1991]

At what point will people say enough is enough? BMW keeps raising prices and removing features. Why Tesla doesn't have these issues? They did in the past, perhaps a year ago, but no longer.

The right thing to do—which BMW is not doing—is to give every owner a due bill for the items that were deleted, to be installed later when they are in stock. That's how Tesla normally deals with component shortages. This way you always get the stuff eventually.

Not with BMW. It's gone, deal with it. What a great luxury brand experience!

FYI, Tesla increased the price of the Model X by almost $30k over the last year while taking away components like Radar and charging cable 🤷🏻

 

[TAB]

The removal of this remote security camera should be a big deal. Look up the rivian truck at Walmart if you don't think this feature matters.

Watch Walmart Employee “Maneuver” Shopping Carts Into Rivian R1T

The owner of the damaged Rivian R1T says he will use the footage to have the retail giant pay for the repairs.

insideevs.com

 

[machop]

FYI, Tesla increased the price of the Model X by almost $30k over the last year while taking away components like Radar and charging cable 🤷🏻

they announce change for FUTURE orders. For customer who already placed order, price is same, including that mobile connector.

 

[NomoTesla]

FYI, you’re not totally correct about Tesla. They also continue to raise prices and remove features/included items. Just recently they stopped including the charging cable (EVSE) from all vehicles and they stopped including key fobs with the Model S and X. Both are now extra items that must be purchased at retail price.

The Tesla items you mentioned are de-bundled but still available as separate purchases. Are you able to separately purchase the removed hands-free tailgate, interior camera, and lumbar in the iX? Unless you can still buy those after delivery, like a Tesa mobile adapter and key fob, the comparison you are attempting to make is not valid.

The last time Tesla removed a built-in hardware feature that could not be added later was the passenger lumbar that was cut in May 2021. Since then, Telsa has not removed any functionality from the vehicles. Why is BMW in such a hole when it comes to supply chain compared to Tesla, which has a fraction of the money and resources as BMW?

Something doesn't appear to be going well at BMW and they are making customers pay for it. The iX is my first experience buying a BMW and it seems worse than Tesla's. At least Tesla honors your price and configuration the instant you submit your order and deposit.

FYI, Tesla increased the price of the Model X by almost $30k over the last year while taking away components like Radar and charging cable 🤷🏻

Again, the charging cable can still be purchased. It hasn't been taken away, it has simply been de-bundled. You see the difference, right? You can still buy the mobile charger separately for $200. You cannot do that with any of the features BMW has removed from the iX. You are comparing totally different issues.

As far as Tesla's radar is concerned, they removed the hardware but not the functionality. Autopilot and related features all work the same because Tesla moved the radar functionality into its Vision-based system. No compromises to the owner experience. Which BMW hardware feature removal has resulted in zero loss of promised iX functionality? It would seem that every feature BMW is removing is actually removing functionality. Not so with Tesla.

My simple point is that I expect more when buying with BMW. I expect better communication and I also expect to receive the car I ordered and not a bunch of excuses and disappointments. BMW is hurting its brand promise to no end.

 

[nash1991]

The Tesla items you mentioned are de-bundled but still available as separate purchases. Are you able to separately purchase the removed hands-free tailgate, interior camera, and lumbar in the iX? Unless you can still buy those after delivery, like a Tesa mobile adapter and key fob, the comparison you are attempting to make is not valid.

The last time Tesla removed a built-in hardware feature that could not be added later was the passenger lumbar that was cut in May 2021. Since then, Telsa has not removed any functionality from the vehicles. Why is BMW in such a hole when it comes to supply chain compared to Tesla, which has a fraction of the money and resources as BMW?

Something doesn't appear to be going well at BMW and they are making customers pay for it. The iX is my first experience buying a BMW and it seems worse than Tesla's. At least Tesla honors your price and configuration the instant you submit your order and deposit.


Again, the charging cable can still be purchased. It hasn't been taken away, it has simply been de-bundled. You see the difference, right? You can still buy the mobile charger separately for $200. You cannot do that with any of the features BMW has removed from the iX. You are comparing totally different issues.

As far as Tesla's radar is concerned, they removed the hardware but not the functionality. Autopilot and related features all work the same because Tesla moved the radar functionality into its Vision-based system. No compromises to the owner experience. Which BMW hardware feature removal has resulted in zero loss of promised iX functionality? It would seem that every feature BMW is removing is actually removing functionality. Not so with Tesla.

My simple point is that I expect more when buying with BMW. I expect better communication and I also expect to receive the car I ordered and not a bunch of excuses and disappointments. BMW is hurting its brand promise to no end.

I get your point but the radar removal did in fact increase phantom braking significantly in cars that did not have it. The NHTSA has started an investigation into the issues as well. I experienced enough phantom braking on busy 70mph highways myself on my 2020 Model X WITH a radar that I stopped using autopilot completely because it was dangerous. Can’t imagine how bad it is without the radar. Tesla quality is a joke compared to the iX I drove for costing upwards of $100k. My Model X had luxury car pricing but felt worse than a Honda in driving comfort and now the prices have been raised by $30k so it’s even worse!

 

[Paladin1]

To chime in with an additional point, going to my earlier comment, BMW didn't necessarily remove a particular piece of hardware or functionality from all its models - they just removed it from the model you want or had ordered, so they could put it in another one and sell that car. I'm not particularly on board with their business model, but it is what it is.

 

[Stas]

BMW's main focus right now (and for at least a couple of years) appears to be to produce cars. That's always been a focus, but not the main focus. If they can remove a feature and produce two cars, or three or four, instead of producing one with that feature or features included, that's what they do. Because people still buy them. The recent partial tally of features once available but removed, some never to return, some temporary, 'lest we forget so far not inclusive across the model line, and sometimes on, sometimes off, in no particular order, is 1) electronic opening of the lower tailgate for split-tailgate models, 2) hands-free tailgate opening, 3) B&W audio, 4) HK audio, 5) passenger massage/lumbar support, 6) Adaptive Drive Mode, 7) soft-close doors, 8) air suspension, 9) Night Vision Assist, 10) heated/cooled cupholders, 11) Luggage Compartment Package, 12) acoustic glass, 13) fog lights, 14) trunk release for back seats, 15) iDrive Controller touch feature, 16) IAS, 17) wireless charger, 18) touchscreen feature on the main panel, 19) Automatic Start/Stop button, 20) this overhead camera. A partial list.

Please tell me, are these the functions that BMW removed from this car or from any at all?
Because I have some of this list.
And I see on the bmw website now that the function 2) hands-free tailgate opening - is excluded. Just what you wrote about. But it was probably at the beginning, because I tried and opened the trunk with my foot. Or is it supposed to work in some other way?

 

[Paladin1]

Please tell me, are these the functions that BMW removed from this car or from any at all?
Because I have some of this list.
And I see on the bmw website now that the function 2) hands-free tailgate opening - is excluded. Just what you wrote about. But it was probably at the beginning, because I tried and opened the trunk with my foot. Or is it supposed to work in some other way?

From a variety of their past and current models - most notably the X5/6 and 3/4 Series, but some others, including the iX. AFAIK, the current deletes on the iX are the hands-free tailgate (except early production, like undoubtedly yours), the passenger lumbar support, the B&W (from the iX 50/40 currently), and now (stated temporarily) the interior camera (I assume from all iX models). BMW has also historically kept options in some countries but not others. The point being that they frequently delete options, here and there, now and then, across different models, have done so and continue to do so, possibly because of supply-chain shortages but more likely to 1) save money, and 2) produce more cars. An example being passenger lumbar support (which actually is a common deletion across models) - if they can put massage/lumbar support in the driver's seat (which they continue to offer as an option), they can put it in the passenger seat. They choose not to do so because they can sell two cars (with only driver's seat support) instead of one car (with both driver's seat and passenger seat including the massage/lumbar function). My two 2020 X5s are among the last X5s to retain the feature for both front seats (in the X5). You can still get it in the X7 (as you can the B&W system), just no longer in the X5. BMW's calculus for removing things remains a mystery to me, but almost certainly because they can sell cars without them. Other manufacturers have a different model - Audi for example includes the massage function in both front seats if you option it, as does I suspect MB. And the same I guess with other common "luxury" features. BMW will put them back if they find cars aren't selling without them - I believe the current inclusion of the HK system in their 45e is a good example - once removed, now reinstated. Such is life. Doing a complete build for every car (except for items completely unavailable) would certainly slow the production cycle, which now has customers raging against the light. That might make it worse - or possibly better, if customers knew they would get exactly what they ordered and were willing to wait (but twice as long). If we don't like the removals - enough - we can move to another brand, or wait patiently for their return, knowing they might never.