[sor]

I'll post some more, it was a late evening picking this up, but I wanted to get a few shots of Cognac interior. I haven't seen many of them, nor the cove matte wood. I'll get some day time shots tomorrow, rather than the washed out fluorescent lights.

[JSY]

Dude... that steering wheel. It's already installed? Very cool pictures!

[sor]

Originally Posted by JSY

Dude... that steering wheel. It's already installed? Very cool pictures!

I will tell all in a new thread soon. One interesting wrinkle: triple stage airbag. The G30's airbag changed this year as well, which explains why the part number for just the airbag changed. Seems the G01 comes with the triple by default.

[ultamte]

Can't wait to hear/see! Will you be able to share total costs too?

We are thinking of placing our order but still hate the M sport steering wheel is not available. We worry it will become available early next year and that we should have waited to order (since our lease is not up until Feb - but our dealer really wants to get us into a new BMW now).

[arciga18]

Ready for that new thread about the wheel.

I love cognac . Wife wanted mocha. I caved.

[BMWDude2018]

Nice color combo and nice steering wheel! I might have to change my build to that - it's the aluminum rhomboid now.

I wish they had carbon fiber trim.

[sor]

In short, everything on the wheel works (heat, vibration, cruise etc), swap was really straight forward, took about 15 minutes (though I do need to code the airbag, my intention is to try to break it down into something easy anyone can do if they follow the steps... if possible).

It is not cheap, but at the very least maybe people can use that as leverage to try to get a discount. It probably depends on the dealer. Good used wheels run about $1000 and airbags about $900. It's harder to source all the right parts to do it all new, and would set you back probably $2600-2800, including airbag.

[sor]

Originally Posted by BMWDude2018

Nice color combo and nice steering wheel! I might have to change my build to that - it's the aluminum rhomboid now.

I wish they had carbon fiber trim.

Yeah, I do like the rhombicle (or whatever it's called), but I lean more toward the classic wood/leather colors even though it probably doesn't fit the sporty personality of the car as much.

[BMWDude2018]

Originally Posted by sor

Yeah, I do like the rhombicle (or whatever it's called), but I lean more toward the classic wood/leather colors even though it probably doesn't fit the sporty personality of the car as much.

Hey man - whatever floats your boat!

I'm coming out of a loaded X5 5.0 with a pretty dark interior over carbon black. It's depressing, but upscale... I'm looking forward to something fresh and bright. I'll miss some of the comfort amenities of the X5, but the X3 drives so good. It really reminds me of my old E46.

[cvee]

Originally Posted by sor

Yeah, I do like the rhombicle (or whatever it's called), but I lean more toward the classic wood/leather colors even though it probably doesn't fit the sporty personality of the car as much.

I ordered my car yesterday.
Love the cognac.
Mine will look like yours except I am going the silver rhombical instead of the wood trims.

I also can’t get Sensatec which looks great on your dash and upper doors.

[arciga18]

Also, I forgot to mention that I do enjoy how organized and big your garage looks. Good work

[Max Well]

Looks great, sor, and always enjoy the photographs! And a lot of work on the steering wheel issue, esp with the step-by-step details. Nice job!

[Slalom]

The wood trim looks nice. Are you happy with it? In the past I have had gloss finish on wood (E39 E53 E70) the matte look was only available on the 7 series.

[ZHPsedan]

Same interior color combo we have coming, only with Alpine White Exterior. The steering wheel looks fantastic.

Do you have a circumference on the standard sport wheel? Has to be almost an inch smaller.

[ando]

Cognac looks great

[sor]

Originally Posted by Slalom

The wood trim looks nice. Are you happy with it? In the past I have had gloss finish on wood (E39 E53 E70) the matte look was only available on the 7 series.

I do like it. It isn't as classic as gloss, but the matte finish seems to blend well with the leather and there's some character to it in the grain.

[sor]

Originally Posted by ZHPsedan

Same interior color combo we have coming, only with Alpine White Exterior. The steering wheel looks fantastic.

Do you have a circumference on the standard sport wheel? Has to be almost an inch smaller.

I wrapped a strip of paper around the top center of the wheel and marked where it overlapped. It's only about 11mm but it sure looks and feels quite different.

[Keweenawbee]

Originally Posted by sor

In short, everything on the wheel works (heat, vibration, cruise etc), swap was really straight forward, took about 15 minutes (though I do need to code the airbag, my intention is to try to break it down into something easy anyone can do if they follow the steps... if possible).

It is not cheap, but at the very least maybe people can use that as leverage to try to get a discount. It probably depends on the dealer. Good used wheels run about $1000 and airbags about $900. It's harder to source all the right parts to do it all new, and would set you back probably $2600-2800, including airbag.

For haggling purposes, what is the value difference between the two steering wheel versions? I just can't get over having that "Buick" steering wheel in my M-Sport X3 purchase. It really doesn't help to see all those Euro youtube videos showing the correct steering wheel.

[sor]

Originally Posted by Keweenawbee

For haggling purposes, what is the value difference between the two steering wheel versions? I just can't get over having that "Buick" steering wheel in my M-Sport X3 purchase. It really doesn't help to see all those Euro youtube videos showing the correct steering wheel.

I haven't really found pricing on the standard sport wheel. I suspect the actual OEM cost difference would not be much if you were to price them out. The airbag, buttons, etc are likely going to be the same, maybe the actual wheel is $100-$200 less.

For haggling purposes though, I'd make the argument that it should have an M Sport wheel and you're going to have to pay $2k to get one installed, rather than saying that you're getting a wheel part that is maybe $200 cheaper.

[bwcooper]

Originally Posted by sor

I haven't really found pricing on the standard sport wheel. I suspect the actual OEM cost difference would not be much if you were to price them out. The airbag, buttons, etc are likely going to be the same, maybe the actual wheel is $100-$200 less.

For haggling purposes though, I'd make the argument that it should have an M Sport wheel and you're going to have to pay $2k to get one installed, rather than saying that you're getting a wheel part that is maybe $200 cheaper.

I suppose a lot depends on whether BMW ever admits why we aren't getting the right wheel and when they knew it. (Sounds kind of like a Senate investigation!).

If they claim that it was never intended to be on the US cars, then they could claim the cheaper wheel is inherent in the US pricing. If it was a last minute deal, where either an unforeseen supply shortage or difficulty getting the multistage airbag design approved and they then switched design after pricing was announced, then folks might have a shot at negotiating them down.

After seeing the multitude of other BMW G01 marketing issues (lack of communication about impact of spare tire, vent seats, trailer hitch, wireless charging, etc.), I'm actually more inclined to think that this was just another Marketing screw up to include it in all the promotional stuff and they had already decided to put the lower cost wheel in NA cars when they set the pricing.

[sor]

Originally Posted by bwcooper

I suppose a lot depends on whether BMW ever admits why we aren't getting the right wheel and when they knew it. (Sounds kind of like a Senate investigation!).

If they claim that it was never intended to be on the US cars, then they could claim the cheaper wheel is inherent in the US pricing. If it was a last minute deal, where either an unforeseen supply shortage or difficulty getting the multistage airbag design approved and they then switched design after pricing was announced, then folks might have a shot at negotiating them down.

After seeing the multitude of other BMW G01 marketing issues (lack of communication about impact of spare tire, vent seats, trailer hitch, wireless charging, etc.), I'm actually more inclined to think that this was just another Marketing screw up to include it in all the promotional stuff and they had already decided to put the lower cost wheel in NA cars when they set the pricing.

I imagine it ultimately doesn't matter whether we were supposed to get the wheel or not, it depends on what the buyer's impression and hangup is. It may be you want to pay less because of a wheel you think you were supposed to get, or an exterior color that's missing from the lineup, or comparison to another car.

The dealer is either willing to make a deal and offer discounts or not, and whatever reasons the buyer has for naming his/her price or trying to negotiate down probably isn't going to change the what the dealer is willing to do to make a sale. They'll consider their allocations and what price they think they can get based on demand and take that into account, as well as you and what they're willing to do to keep you happy.

It does help though in negotiation to have a plausible reason why you think you deserve a lower price... a talking point, something for them to be able to latch onto and resolve to make the sale.

That's just my impression.

[bwcooper]

Originally Posted by sor

I imagine it ultimately doesn't matter whether we were supposed to get the wheel or not, it depends on what the buyer's impression and hangup is. It may be you want to pay less because of a wheel you think you were supposed to get, or an exterior color that's missing from the lineup, or comparison to another car.

The dealer is either willing to make a deal and offer discounts or not, and whatever reasons the buyer has for naming his/her price or trying to negotiate down probably isn't going to change the what the dealer is willing to do to make a sale. They'll consider their allocations and what price they think they can get based on demand and take that into account, as well as you and what they're willing to do to keep you happy.

It does help though in negotiation to have a plausible reason why you think you deserve a lower price... a talking point, something for them to be able to latch onto and resolve to make the sale.

That's just my impression.

That's absolutely true. The dealer probably doesn't really care what it is you don't like about the car if they can't resolve that particular issue. So my point is there is not much point in complaining about the wheel if they can't do anything about it (unless we could prove misleading advertising, but that's a whole other ballgame). Now if you complain about their poor warranty vs Jaguar, then they could maybe work with that. Or if you could convince THEM that they should do your switch out (perhaps at lower marginal cost than you had to spend)....