Ashes Aftermath: Bimmers Shipped Without Gizmos

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

For two weeks in April, a volcano in Iceland not only brought air traffic in Europe to its knees, it also played havoc with the manufacturing of cars. Just in time manufacturing reared its ugly head. Electronic parts that usually get flown in piled up in Korea and China. Something as small as the component that controls the car’s power seats could hold up everything. Unless you know how to improvise …

For two weeks in April, the majority of latest BMW models destined for the U.S. consumers were built without that seat-regulating gizmo, and were put on the boat to America. That according to a note sent to dealers on May 25 that was obtained by Reuters.

BMW’s 2011 model year 1, 3, 7 series and Z4 and GT models rolled off the boat and are being held at BMW’s distribution centers in the U.S., where workers re-fit the part.

“The transition to the model year 2011 has been challenging from a distribution perspective,” BMW said in the notice. No kidding.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • 200k-min 200k-min on May 28, 2010

    the controls in that photo look chunky and ugly...like something I'd expect in a GM product. That's what passes for seat controls in a bimmer these days?!?

  • Panzerfaust Panzerfaust on May 28, 2010

    Or you could just leave the car the way it was delivered, and years later have one of the 'rare' Icelandic crisis cars and sell it for more than its worth to someone with more money than sense.

  • ChesterChi ChesterChi on May 28, 2010

    I don't understand -- there are no seat controls at all in these cars ? You can't even move the seat forwards and backwards ? I don't see how anyone would accept delivery of such a car.

  • Accs Accs on May 28, 2010

    I believe in pretty much every car there is some sort of manual seat movement. I also believe pic used to depict the controls used to operate a set of seats for a BMW.. are at least 10yrs old. Knowing them.. they'd change ya to color match the controls to the interior.. I never saw a point to buy power seats.. Im hoping to never buy heated / cooled seats...

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