[MFNATIK]

Just curious about your experience if you've done this before with BMW.

[AlterZgo]

What do you mean by a VIN swap? Isn't the VIN supposed to be permanently assigned to a car?

[MFNATIK]

Originally Posted by AlterZgo

What do you mean by a VIN swap? Isn't the VIN supposed to be permanently assigned to a car?

Thats correct, but sometimes you get a lemon and BMW will make it right by swapping out the car for a replacement. Essentially swapping out the old car and VIN for a new car, new VIN.

[Refined]

I don't get it? That's swapping whole cars... not VINs on the same car. Seems pretty straightforward. What are you asking exactly?

[MFNATIK]

Originally Posted by Refined

I don't get it? That's swapping whole cars... not VINs on the same car. Seems pretty straightforward. What are you asking exactly?

LOL, ok nvm. I kinda figured no one has had experience with this.

It is swapping the whole car. But on the financial paperwork they have to swap the VINs so you do not have to change your financials on your contract.

[MFNATIK]

And no one is saying swapping of the physical or assigned VIN numbers on the car. I am talking about contractually swapping VINs.

[M4Girl]

I'm in the initial stages of this with Audi. I'm curious to hear how BMW handles it.

[bb1857]

I did this about 10 years ago with BMW when i was able to swap my 545 for a 550 because the 545 was just a piece of shit. It was a pretty easy process but getting the approval took a bit and I was an F&I Mgr for a BMW dealer at the time. I am not sure if the process changed or not but all I had to do was find the car I wanted, send the info to BMW and they gave the approval. Once that was done I had to sign new paperwork for titling and registration, then they made the switch on the contract behind the scenes.

It is definitely handled a bit differently if it's a lease versus a finance contract. Which of those two are you?

[Bluewater328iT]

You can avoid this problem by making sure your insurance includes GAAP insurance. Then the penalty for paying off a loan or lease early due to an accident will be covered as part of the insurance.

[MFNATIK]

Originally Posted by bb1857

I did this about 10 years ago with BMW when i was able to swap my 545 for a 550 because the 545 was just a piece of shit. It was a pretty easy process but getting the approval took a bit and I was an F&I Mgr for a BMW dealer at the time. I am not sure if the process changed or not but all I had to do was find the car I wanted, send the info to BMW and they gave the approval. Once that was done I had to sign new paperwork for titling and registration, then they made the switch on the contract behind the scenes.

It is definitely handled a bit differently if it's a lease versus a finance contract. Which of those two are you?

Thanks for sharing. Do you recall how long it took to finalize the swapping of the cars once the new vehicle was at the dealership? Or maybe in your case, once found the vehicle on the lot that you wanted to swap it out for?

[bb1857]

Originally Posted by MFNATIK

Thanks for sharing. Do you recall how long it took to finalize the swapping of the cars once the new vehicle was at the dealership? Or maybe in your case, once found the vehicle on the lot that you wanted to swap it out for?

Not very long at all. I was in the car within a couple days of it arriving. Basically everything is approved prior to the dealer even getting the car if it's coming from another dealer versus a car on the lot.

You shouldn't have much of an issue because it actually counts as another sale for the dealer so they usually are pretty accommodating.

[bb1857]

Originally Posted by Bluewater328iT

You can avoid this problem by making sure your insurance includes GAAP insurance. Then the penalty for paying off a loan or lease early due to an accident will be covered as part of the insurance.

Not sure what this has to do with this topic but every BMW lease already has GAP insurance built in. It's part of the acquisition cost that you pay so the finance company is protected being that they are on the title.

[MFNATIK]

Originally Posted by bb1857

Not very long at all. I was in the car within a couple days of it arriving. Basically everything is approved prior to the dealer even getting the car if it's coming from another dealer versus a car on the lot.

You shouldn't have much of an issue because it actually counts as another sale for the dealer so they usually are pretty accommodating.

Thanks for confirming. My car has been at the dealership since 11/19 and we are still "waiting" on BMW to release my car. Its safe to say they dropped the ball at this point and I've been trying to be gracious about it but I'm fed up with waiting while it just sits in their showroom.

[nyalpine90]

Originally Posted by MFNATIK

Thanks for confirming. My car has been at the dealership since 11/19 and we are still "waiting" on BMW to release my car. Its safe to say they dropped the ball at this point and I've been trying to be gracious about it but I'm fed up with waiting while it just sits in their showroom.

when you create noise things get moved along quicker , as suppose to being civil.
I see it happen all of the time, at dealership or service center.

[bb1857]

Originally Posted by MFNATIK

Thanks for confirming. My car has been at the dealership since 11/19 and we are still "waiting" on BMW to release my car. Its safe to say they dropped the ball at this point and I've been trying to be gracious about it but I'm fed up with waiting while it just sits in their showroom.

Yeah, sadly I think you are going to have become the squeaky wheel. Best of luck and I hope it all works for you. If you have any other questions i am happy to assist if I can.

[MFNATIK]

Originally Posted by nyalpine90

when you create noise things get moved along quicker , as suppose to being civil.
I see it happen all of the time, at dealership or service center.

Originally Posted by bb1857

Yeah, sadly I think you are going to have become the squeaky wheel. Best of luck and I hope it all works for you. If you have any other questions i am happy to assist if I can.

Thanks for the support guys! I'm going to give it until Monday. Supposedly they overnighted the paperwork on Thursday. Paperwork that I had signed on Saturday . I appreciate the work my CA had already put in to get everything reordered but this last stretch I'm not sure what happened. He said this was the dealer's first time having done one of these swaps so they're learning as they go as well. I get it. But man, the car arrived on 11/19 and I've been super patient allowing them extra time with the holidays. I'll keep you guys posted!