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11-21-2018, 09:46 PM | #1 |
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"Made in Germany"
Here's something I've pondered for years. The VIN stickers in the door jamb of the Z4/Z4M usually say "MADE IN USA", like this (this was from my original Z4MC): But - some of them say "MADE IN GERMANY", including my "new" '08 that I just acquired ... What's up with that? We KNOW that ALL E85/E86 production was in Spartanburg, there's no doubt about it - there were no Z4's assembled in Germany, period. But I wonder why these stickers go both ways for some reason? Things that make you go "hmmmm".
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11-22-2018, 10:14 AM | #3 |
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Perhaps, but would seem kinda silly to print the country of origin of the STICKER on it when the whole purpose of the thing is to identify the car.
Speaking of identifying the car, State Farm only identifies it as a "Z4". On the title, the State of Arizona identifies it properly as an "M", without any Z4 reference. Probably saving me some insurance $$.
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11-22-2018, 11:16 AM | #4 | |
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Your VIN stickers are really interesting....anyone else out there with "MADE IN GERMANY"?? My 2007 model's build date was 17 Nov 2006 and the VIN sticker says "MADE IN USA"
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11-22-2018, 12:46 PM | #5 | ||
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11-22-2018, 01:00 PM | #6 |
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The VIN itself indicates the country of origin.
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11-22-2018, 02:00 PM | #7 |
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Both of KevinC's VIN's show country and region/maker as "5U"....and my 2007 Z4MR shows "5U".
Kevin has a made in USA and a made in Germany but both have the same country and region/maker info....any thoughts??
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11-22-2018, 03:05 PM | #8 |
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maybe its where the label was made
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11-22-2018, 04:07 PM | #9 |
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From what I learned through work, the first 3 digits of the VIN indicate where the car was assembled, but the "Made in..." line is based on content rules. For 2008 BMW may have sourced more parts from Germany and thus could not be sold as "Made in USA".
I do know the entire engine/drivetrain was produced in Germany and mated with the chassis in S. Carolina.
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11-23-2018, 10:47 AM | #10 | |
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11-24-2018, 10:18 AM | #11 | |
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I think in the case with the Spartanburg built Z4 probably had 65% German part content based on the AALA label for other BMWs currently built in the plant (X3, X5, X6) and most all of that percentage counted for in the cost of the engine and transmission. But that's different than the FTC's definitions for labeling a car as "Made in the USA", which considers part cost content along with where the car final assembly occurs (as content of the overall production costs for producing the car). It might be as simple as by October of 2007, the cost ratio of the part cost content of the Z4 (65% German) surpassed the cost content for the Sparanburg assembly line production cost and drove the change in the label (just a guess on my part). Kudos to KevinC for bringing this issue to light. I find it quite interesting and contemplating. I've really never paid that much attention to the manufacturer's label on my Z4 3.0si Coupe, built 11/2007, so I don't know what it says. I'm going to check later today. Interestingly, I have two cars built in Spartanburg, built over a decade apart from each other, so I'm going to see what each label says. The neat fact between my two cars, the Z4 and Z3 roadster, is the last three digits of the VIN are exactly the same.
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11-24-2018, 10:36 AM | #12 | |
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Thank you -
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11-24-2018, 04:30 PM | #13 |
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So this was interesting. I checked both the '97 Z3 and '08 Z4 manufacturer stickers...
Neither one had any country of manufacture stamped on them. So the country of manufacture now is even more intriguing as it seems only the "M" Z-cars have such designation.
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A manual transmission can be set to "comfort", "sport", and "track" modes simply by the technique and speed at which you shift it; it doesn't need "modes", modes are for manumatics that try to behave like a real 3-pedal manual transmission. If you can money-shift it, it's a manual transmission. "Yeah, but NO ONE puts an automatic trans shift knob on a manual transmission."
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11-27-2018, 12:13 PM | #14 |
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The 'Made in' is a joke. The Made in USA label applies also to those manufactured in Canada - I used to give a friend with a Camaro made in Ontario a hard time and told him my BMW was more American than his GM product. The 2018 'made in America' list had 4 out of the top 10 US content cars as Honda and Acura.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...ars/724724002/ These are among the top 10 cars manufactured in Canada: Dodge Grand Caravan Chevrolet Equinox Ford Edge Chrysler Pacifica Dodge Charger |
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11-27-2018, 05:19 PM | #15 |
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Assembly != content. An engine, transmission, electronics and drivetrain from Germany, shipped to the US and plunked into a body and interior sourced here, is not exactly "made in USA". It's about the percentage of content actually produced in the US vs. elsewhere.
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