Drowning in M3s
08-07-2002, 07:54 AM
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Drowning in M3s
Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed the large number of current production M3s now on the road?
I live in North Atlanta and I see at least one (usually two or three) M3s on my daily commute home.
In contrast, I have only seen two other CLK55s in the past two months combined!
Anyone know production numbers on the current generation M3?
I live in North Atlanta and I see at least one (usually two or three) M3s on my daily commute home.
In contrast, I have only seen two other CLK55s in the past two months combined!
Anyone know production numbers on the current generation M3?
08-29-2002, 12:37 PM
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97 SL500
That's not surprising...
MB sends about 900-1100 CLK55's a year to the US and it's been available since Sept. 2000. So there are probably only about 3000-4000 CLK55's in the US. The New M3 has been in the US since March 2000 (333 ugly blue demos) and the following month for customer ordered cars. BMW doesn't have a pre-set limit on M3 production and the limit seems to be engine production volume. I'm pretty sure by now there is probably more then 7500 M3's in the US and the number is growing as fast as BMW can get the cars to the dealers.
08-29-2002, 01:01 PM
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C32 AMG
BMW originally stated they would limit yearly production to around 3500, but that was just how many engines they could produce. They claimed they were doing it to keep the car more exclusive than the E36 M3 had become. A load of crock. BMW will build as many M3's as they can sell. Lincoln is right.
Conversely, there are about 4-5 C32's running around in my city. They are either silver or black. Doesn't bother me much, but the production numbers aren't much higher than the CLK55's. I guess it's just my area and it's love for the C32, lol. I could go up to Orange County and see less.
Conversely, there are about 4-5 C32's running around in my city. They are either silver or black. Doesn't bother me much, but the production numbers aren't much higher than the CLK55's. I guess it's just my area and it's love for the C32, lol. I could go up to Orange County and see less.
Last edited by JustinTRW; 08-29-2002 at 01:03 PM.
08-30-2002, 05:56 AM
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white and whiter
Originally posted by JustinTRW
BMW originally stated they would limit yearly production to around 3500, but that was just how many engines they could produce. They claimed they were doing it to keep the car more exclusive than the E36 M3 had become. A load of crock. BMW will build as many M3's as they can sell. Lincoln is right.
Conversely, there are about 4-5 C32's running around in my city. They are either silver or black. Doesn't bother me much, but the production numbers aren't much higher than the CLK55's. I guess it's just my area and it's love for the C32, lol. I could go up to Orange County and see less.
BMW originally stated they would limit yearly production to around 3500, but that was just how many engines they could produce. They claimed they were doing it to keep the car more exclusive than the E36 M3 had become. A load of crock. BMW will build as many M3's as they can sell. Lincoln is right.
Conversely, there are about 4-5 C32's running around in my city. They are either silver or black. Doesn't bother me much, but the production numbers aren't much higher than the CLK55's. I guess it's just my area and it's love for the C32, lol. I could go up to Orange County and see less.
anyway, it's just different market stratagies by two different company. seriously though, if AMG factory is as big as the M Gmbh factory, i think AMG would built as many as possible for them to sell.
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08-30-2002, 06:30 AM
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Originally posted by krm
As of July '02, there are approx. 8400 M3's on the road (coupe & convertibles). BMW sold ~500 M3 Coupes and ~390 Convt. in July alone.
As of July '02, there are approx. 8400 M3's on the road (coupe & convertibles). BMW sold ~500 M3 Coupes and ~390 Convt. in July alone.
Thanks for the info.....
09-05-2002, 02:35 PM
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Originally posted by JustinTRW
BMW originally stated they would limit yearly production to around 3500, but that was just how many engines they could produce. They claimed they were doing it to keep the car more exclusive than the E36 M3 had become. A load of crock. BMW will build as many M3's as they can sell. Lincoln is right.
BMW originally stated they would limit yearly production to around 3500, but that was just how many engines they could produce. They claimed they were doing it to keep the car more exclusive than the E36 M3 had become. A load of crock. BMW will build as many M3's as they can sell. Lincoln is right.
Sales figures for the US are readily available from BMW:
August sales: 426 coupes, 328 convertibles
2002 YTD sales: 3,756 coupes, 2,741 convertibles
2001 sales: 3,826 coupes, 1,991 convertibles
Total sales: 7,582 coupes, 4,732 convertibles
The M3 wasn't meant to be exclusive remains as such only by price. You can expect to see more E46 M3s than E36 M3s when production is complete sometime in 2005. In the past, the E36 M3 LTW only sold about 120 copies, which was very disappointing. It's very rare, but only because they were a poor seller, not because BMW had limited production.
09-05-2002, 03:31 PM
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C32 AMG
Marauder,
Admittedly, I almost got a M3 coupe. I was there in the early days when the school bus yellow M3 pics were first released on BMWUSA.com and they had the whole page with the Nuremburgring videos. This was about six months before the car's original launch date (remember it was delayed). I still had some time to secure the num. #1 spot at my dealer. The salesman told me to wait if I wasn't sure, as I'd still have a spot. Boy was he wrong. Around when the blue M3 demos starting coming, he had stopped taking orders. This by the way, was not the reason I have a C32 in the garage instead. Anyway, because the line to get one was so long, BMW had to explain why of course. They were only bringing ~ 3500 coupes to the U.S. per year. Many people on the E46 M3 roadfly board felt this number was concrete in the very early days. BMW many think it was for exclusivity, and my dealer told me this story as well.
Well, we know how it turned out. I think it would be wrong to hold numbers back anyway. The M3 is a driver's car and should be readily available to well...the driver. Not some schmoe who is willing to throw away $10-20k over the MSRP. Mini-rant right there. At the beginning of this year, M3's could be had at MSRP if you looked hard enough.
Admittedly, I almost got a M3 coupe. I was there in the early days when the school bus yellow M3 pics were first released on BMWUSA.com and they had the whole page with the Nuremburgring videos. This was about six months before the car's original launch date (remember it was delayed). I still had some time to secure the num. #1 spot at my dealer. The salesman told me to wait if I wasn't sure, as I'd still have a spot. Boy was he wrong. Around when the blue M3 demos starting coming, he had stopped taking orders. This by the way, was not the reason I have a C32 in the garage instead. Anyway, because the line to get one was so long, BMW had to explain why of course. They were only bringing ~ 3500 coupes to the U.S. per year. Many people on the E46 M3 roadfly board felt this number was concrete in the very early days. BMW many think it was for exclusivity, and my dealer told me this story as well.
Well, we know how it turned out. I think it would be wrong to hold numbers back anyway. The M3 is a driver's car and should be readily available to well...the driver. Not some schmoe who is willing to throw away $10-20k over the MSRP. Mini-rant right there. At the beginning of this year, M3's could be had at MSRP if you looked hard enough.
09-05-2002, 06:33 PM
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white and whiter
Originally posted by JustinTRW
Marauder,
Admittedly, I almost got a M3 coupe. I was there in the early days when the school bus yellow M3 pics were first released on BMWUSA.com and they had the whole page with the Nuremburgring videos. This was about six months before the car's original launch date (remember it was delayed). I still had some time to secure the num. #1 spot at my dealer. The salesman told me to wait if I wasn't sure, as I'd still have a spot. Boy was he wrong. Around when the blue M3 demos starting coming, he had stopped taking orders. This by the way, was not the reason I have a C32 in the garage instead. Anyway, because the line to get one was so long, BMW had to explain why of course. They were only bringing ~ 3500 coupes to the U.S. per year. Many people on the E46 M3 roadfly board felt this number was concrete in the very early days. BMW many think it was for exclusivity, and my dealer told me this story as well.
Well, we know how it turned out. I think it would be wrong to hold numbers back anyway. The M3 is a driver's car and should be readily available to well...the driver. Not some schmoe who is willing to throw away $10-20k over the MSRP. Mini-rant right there. At the beginning of this year, M3's could be had at MSRP if you looked hard enough.
Marauder,
Admittedly, I almost got a M3 coupe. I was there in the early days when the school bus yellow M3 pics were first released on BMWUSA.com and they had the whole page with the Nuremburgring videos. This was about six months before the car's original launch date (remember it was delayed). I still had some time to secure the num. #1 spot at my dealer. The salesman told me to wait if I wasn't sure, as I'd still have a spot. Boy was he wrong. Around when the blue M3 demos starting coming, he had stopped taking orders. This by the way, was not the reason I have a C32 in the garage instead. Anyway, because the line to get one was so long, BMW had to explain why of course. They were only bringing ~ 3500 coupes to the U.S. per year. Many people on the E46 M3 roadfly board felt this number was concrete in the very early days. BMW many think it was for exclusivity, and my dealer told me this story as well.
Well, we know how it turned out. I think it would be wrong to hold numbers back anyway. The M3 is a driver's car and should be readily available to well...the driver. Not some schmoe who is willing to throw away $10-20k over the MSRP. Mini-rant right there. At the beginning of this year, M3's could be had at MSRP if you looked hard enough.
The best BMW and Mercedes-Benz dealer I find are next to each other. They are Shelly BMW and House of Imports in Buena Park, CA. You can have the M3 at MSRP and the M5 below MSRP from Shelly.
09-05-2002, 07:29 PM
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That's the first that I've heard about BMW actually trying to say that it was supposed to be an exclusive car. Obviously, it's not. The pricing habits of many dealers has been a topic of debate for quite some time. Tom Salkowsky said that it's very difficult for BMW NA to control what dealers do with price markups on cars that they have. Some dealerships are very unscrupulous and still have markups even today. Others are honest and refuse to do "market adjustments" on their cars and will only sell at MSRP. Today, you should be able to find it for MSRP at a number of dealerships within your area.
I do have to say that I take things that I hear from the Roadfly M3 forum with a grain of salt. While it's a wealth of information, it's also a wealth of misinformation. Rumors spread very fast on there.
I do have to say that I take things that I hear from the Roadfly M3 forum with a grain of salt. While it's a wealth of information, it's also a wealth of misinformation. Rumors spread very fast on there.
09-05-2002, 09:21 PM
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Originally posted by JustinTRW
Well, I guess no harm done. You have the car you like as do I. BTW, I like the M coupe in dark green! Yikes, that was a sharp car when I drove it.
Well, I guess no harm done. You have the car you like as do I. BTW, I like the M coupe in dark green! Yikes, that was a sharp car when I drove it.
09-08-2002, 01:01 AM
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Originally posted by marauder
Oh yes, definitely. Everyone should have to have the car that they like without constantly shooting down everyone else's car just to make themselves feel better about their own!
Oh yes, definitely. Everyone should have to have the car that they like without constantly shooting down everyone else's car just to make themselves feel better about their own!
Just kidding, folks, Marauder truly is a great guy, even if he is a stalwart Bimmer fan. PS: Tell me when you're coming back in, I'll pick 'ya up from the airport.
