[LitLitBit]

Hi everyone!
I’ve been lurking and reading for a while but finally got around to creating an account. This forum is great with tons of knowledge and experience being shared. I’m looking forward to being a part of this community.

I just pulled the trigger on my first BMW an Alpina XB7. I built it online and went with the following specs.

Tanzanite Blue Metallic
23” Alpina wheels
Tartufo Merino leather
Fineline black wood trim
Sky lounge
Second row captains chairs
Shadow line exterior trim
Rear seat entertainment professional package
Bowers & Wilkins speakers

I’ve seen posts about the B&W speakers no longer available however I told my sales rep it was a deal breaker and he said no problem. They have them allocated for the Alpina for $3400 but you can no longer add it on the website.

This is my first high end auto. Any tips, ideas or advice of things I should or shouldn’t do would be appreciated. Really looking forward to my first BMW.

LitLitBit

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by LitLitBit

I’ve seen posts about the B&W speakers no longer available however I told my sales rep it was a deal breaker and he said no problem. They have them allocated for the Alpina for $3400 but you can no longer add it on the website.

(1.) Ensure you get a production number asap if you haven't - until you have that, there's no order.

(2.) Once you have that go onto mygarage.bmwusa.com, input the PN and check to see if the spec is correct including B&W. For good measure I'd also call 1.844.443.6487 (1.844.4genius), hit zeros until you get a rep, and ask them to review the spec & production week with you.

(3.) Start thinking about exterior (paint) & interior (leather) protection if you haven't. I like to do it myself and don't find a need for PPF and/or ceramic internal or external but it's purely an personal decision. The dealership will offer it to you when you complete the sale so you might as well be informed before going in blind ... personally if I was doing either PPF and/or interior/exterior ceramic I wouldn't have the dealership do it. (and it's easy to do yourself, more about that if you care)

(4.) Start thinking about dashcams if you haven't. Yes, the vehicle has drive recorder but for parking situations including road trips, airports, hotels, etc a good dashcam can save some insurance bills (and provide peace of mind)

(5.) Start thinking about speeding countermeasures if you haven't and that's a risk for you. Nothing's a bigger bummer than having clipped wings with a sweet ride!

[Auricom]

Depending winter weather conditions where you are in TN, you should consider a winter/snow tire wheel set to swap out.

Just FYI, the 23" are sexy but can be extremely fragile when hitting a pothole. Definite consider acquiring wheel. & tire warranty just in case.

https://g07.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1815469

[LitLitBit]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

(2.) Once you have that go onto mygarage.bmwusa.com, input the PN and check to see if the spec is correct including B&W. For good measure I'd also call 1.844.443.6487 (1.844.4genius), hit zeros until you get a rep, and ask them to review the spec & production week with you.

I should have that this week. Deposit was put down end of last week.

Originally Posted by GrussGott

(3.) Start thinking about exterior (paint) & interior (leather) protection if you haven't. I like to do it myself and don't find a need for PPF and/or ceramic internal or external but it's purely an personal decision. The dealership will offer it to you when you complete the sale so you might as well be informed before going in blind ... personally if I was doing either PPF and/or interior/exterior ceramic I wouldn't have the dealership do it. (and it's easy to do yourself, more about that if you care)

Hmm can you break down more of the benefits of ppf or ceramic vs what you mean by doing it yourself. When you say do it yourself what do you mean?

Originally Posted by GrussGott

(4.) Start thinking about dashcams if you haven't. Yes, the vehicle has drive recorder but for parking situations including road trips, airports, hotels, etc a good dashcam can save some insurance bills (and provide peace of mind)

Definitely will add a dash cam. Any particular brand you recommend?

Originally Posted by GrussGott

(5.) Start thinking about speeding countermeasures if you haven't and that's a risk for you. Nothing's a bigger bummer than having clipped wings with a sweet ride!

Not sure what you mean by speeding countermeasures.

[LitLitBit]

Originally Posted by Auricom

Depending winter weather conditions where you are in TN, you should consider a winter/snow tire wheel set to swap out.

Just FYI, the 23" are sexy but can be extremely fragile when hitting a pothole. Definite consider acquiring wheel. & tire warranty just in case.

https://g07.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1815469

Oh man this hurts bad to see. I hate that for you.
Snow and ice are a rare thing where I am. That being the case should I just have a 5th 23” wheel ready if and when something like that happens? Or do you still think having a smaller full set makes sense to switch to in the winter months? I just absolutely love the 23” Alpina wheels so I kind of bummed at the thought of not rolling with them on.

Do you happen to know the wheel warranty costs?

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by LitLitBit

I should have [the production number] this week. Deposit was put down end of last week.

Cool!

Nerd Note: Just realize, in general for most models, the dealer should have an allocation & production number for you on day 1 and the PN shouldn't (and doesn't) depend on your deposit ... i.e., a deposit is not a pre-req for a PN, nor is it any guarantee of a factory order, it's simply you giving an independent business (the dealership) some money on their assurance they may order something for you at some future point.

(As an example, right now there are no Porsche 911 allocations, but many dealers are accepting deposits even though they have no ability to actually order anything ... and not pro-actively disclosing that fact to their customers who don't already know about that)

That said, for an XB7, these details likely aren't as meaningful as the XB7 allocations are fewer ... but it could become important if your dealer doesn't deliver on the PN!

Originally Posted by LitLitBit

Hmm can you break down more of the benefits of ppf or ceramic vs what you mean by doing it yourself. When you say do it yourself what do you mean?

Oh boy. Very personal stuff, lots of passions. I'd break it down this way:

Objective: to have the fewest amount of paint chips & scratches over the ownership experience, as well as having a shiny look.

(1.) PPF
Pros: prevents most paint chips, less worry about light scratches when washing off road dirt, so easy to wash & keep clean by you or a detailer
Cons: quite expensive. Has to be removed & re-installed if damaged. can yellow and/or slightly dulls the look depending. Many options for install (e.g., custom vs pre-cut, brand, etc) w/ trade-offs, can be hard to find good installers.

(2.) Long-Term Ceramic
Pros: Provides a durable long-term coating (primarily for looks & maintenance ease) that repels dirt and prevents micro scratches while washing ("spider webs"), though not nearly as much as PPF; but without the film PPF has, the paint will glow it's best, so it's a trade off.
Cons:expensive. fairly permanent depending on product & installer. might be hard to find a good installer. a lot of marketing bs. look not much better (if at all) than normal private maintenance (i.e, a good detailer or you).

(3.) Washing it yourself
Pros: cheap - all tools & all product is usually cheaper than 1 or 2 details and even buying TOTL everything is cheaper than ceramic for similar or equal look. fun & therapeutic? You know exactly what's happening, and it gets done right.
Cons: not fun or therapeutic? You may not know what you're doing and/or provide consistent maintenance. (it's not hard, but it takes a little up front knowledge & stuff to buy, and you have to consistently do it)

Originally Posted by LitLitBit

Definitely will add a dash cam. Any particular brand you recommend?

Thinkware or Blackvue - personally I'd get the new BV 900x plus with the LTE add-on module, but that requires an antenna in the corner of your windshield ... on the other hand it gives you wifi via changeable sims and real-time access & uploads to the cloud. While the MyBMW app will give you a built 3d view, LTE on your dashcam gives you live view. BV does make a cam with built-in LTE, but it's larger and lower-res. Thinkware is great, but their tech is few years old now ... though I'd bet they'll have a new model out after the holidays.

Originally Posted by LitLitBit

Not sure what you mean by speeding countermeasures.

countermeasures = Electronic wizardry to avoid speeding tickets. So radar detectors & laser jammers. Personally, for road trips, I use an old V1 with an old android phone running JBV1 and also run Waze on iDrive. I find JBV1 to be the absolute best thing I've ever used and with it I don't have a need for a laser jammer since I take every crowd-sourced alert seriously and usually drive on main highways. One back roads or lesser traveled freeways (i.e., with low semi traffic), the CSAs become non-existent and then you're relying mostly on your radar detector / laser jammer. Normally an old V1 would be too "chatty" but JBV1 shuts all the noise down so you only get real alerts through, plus the CSAs including air alerts.

[ragu5]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

Objective: to have the fewest amount of paint chips & scratches over the ownership experience, as well as having a shiny look.

(1.) PPF
Pros: prevents most paint chips, less worry about light scratches when washing off road dirt, so easy to wash & keep clean by you or a detailer
Cons: quite expensive. Has to be removed & re-installed if damaged. can yellow and/or slightly dulls the look depending. Many options for install (e.g., custom vs pre-cut, brand, etc) w/ trade-offs, can be hard to find good installers.

(2.) Long-Term Ceramic
Pros: Provides a durable long-term coating (primarily for looks & maintenance ease) that repels dirt and prevents micro scratches while washing ("spider webs"), though not nearly as much as PPF; but without the film PPF has, the paint will glow it's best, so it's a trade off.
Cons:expensive. fairly permanent depending on product & installer. might be hard to find a good installer. a lot of marketing bs. look not much better (if at all) than normal private maintenance (i.e, a good detailer or you).

Thanks. It is my first BMW too. My X7 was delivered at the dealership today and we are picking up on Monday. I prefer PPF over Ceramic and shopping for detailers in our area. How much I can expect to pay for the PPF (just a ballpark figure)? Thanks!

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by ragu5

Thanks. It is my first BMW too. My X7 was delivered at the dealership today and we are picking up on Monday. I prefer PPF over Ceramic and shopping for detailers in our area. How much I can expect to pay for the PPF (just a ballpark figure)? Thanks!

Broadly, it depends on what install type you choose:

(a.) Pre-cut
Cheaper, usually the installers are less skilled, can have seams or edges that get dirty, easier to remove & replace when it gets dinged up.

(b.) Custom
Expensive, installers must be very skilled or risk cutting the paint, no visible seams or edges, usually involves removing things, minimally the badges, but sometimes more intensive removals of parts. Replacing if/when dinged up is obviously more expensive as well.

A pre-cut front bumper, hood, & mirrors will usually be ~$2,000 and a full custom install can be as much as $10,000. If you're doing PPF you might as well have them do ceramic over it IMO, won't be that much as they've already had to do all the paint correction anyway for the PPF (unless you have a bad installer!)


If you're primarily a suburbs / urban driver I'd probably just risk a re-spray if/when needed (or buy a new car ). I just looked into this and here's what my BMW certified body shop guy just quoted me:

A single panel usually $800.-$1200. A front bumper cover refinishing from rock strikes is around $1200.-$1500

And, again, that would be in the case that the damage is so light that regular or comprehensive insurance doesn't cover it, so think tiny little rock chips in front bumper.

So basically I'd have to have two of these before PPF made sense for me and in 10 years I've never had 1 so ... If you drive a lot of dirt/gravel roads and/or a lot of high speed runs behind sand trucks in the winter then PPF is good idea.

[PNWM3]

Originally Posted by LitLitBit

Oh man this hurts bad to see. I hate that for you.
Snow and ice are a rare thing where I am. That being the case should I just have a 5th 23” wheel ready if and when something like that happens? Or do you still think having a smaller full set makes sense to switch to in the winter months? I just absolutely love the 23” Alpina wheels so I kind of bummed at the thought of not rolling with them on.

Do you happen to know the wheel warranty costs?

I’ve never gotten the wheel/tire insurance before but with the XB7 I did and it was about $2k. Tires are about $850 before taxes and the rims are easily $1000. I got the 21” Alpinas for my winter setup and they were about $800 each. Congratulations on a great car. My favorite BMW so far after many including M4 GTS, M5, M6 and other M3s

[ragu5]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

Broadly, it depends on what install type you choose:

(a.) Pre-cut
Cheaper, usually the installers are less skilled, can have seams or edges that get dirty, easier to remove & replace when it gets dinged up.

(b.) Custom
Expensive, installers must be very skilled or risk cutting the paint, no visible seams or edges, usually involves removing things, minimally the badges, but sometimes more intensive removals of parts. Replacing if/when dinged up is obviously more expensive as well.

A pre-cut front bumper, hood, & mirrors will usually be ~$2,000 and a full custom install can be as much as $10,000. If you're doing PPF you might as well have them do ceramic over it IMO, won't be that much as they've already had to do all the paint correction anyway for the PPF (unless you have a bad installer!)


If you're primarily a suburbs / urban driver I'd probably just risk a re-spray if/when needed (or buy a new car ). I just looked into this and here's what my BMW certified body shop guy just quoted me:

A single panel usually $800.-$1200. A front bumper cover refinishing from rock strikes is around $1200.-$1500

And, again, that would be in the case that the damage is so light that regular or comprehensive insurance doesn't cover it, so think tiny little rock chips in front bumper.

So basically I'd have to have two of these before PPF made sense for me and in 10 years I've never had 1 so ... If you drive a lot of dirt/gravel roads and/or a lot of high speed runs behind sand trucks in the winter then PPF is good idea.

Thanks again. I don’t think i need a full ppf. I do quite a bit of hwy driving for daily work commute so I am thinking full-front ppf (bumper, fenders, mirrors, hood) and ceramic on top of it and for the remaining areas.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by ragu5

Thanks again. I don’t think i need a full ppf. I do quite a bit of hwy driving for daily work commute so I am thinking full-front ppf (bumper, fenders, mirrors, hood) and ceramic on top of it and for the remaining areas.

Yeah, that's probably a good way to go - one way to gauge it is to look at your existing cars which do that job today (i.e, "bit of hwy driving for daily work commute") - does the nose look like this:



If so you definitely need PPF - on the other hand if they look mostly new, then maybe you don't.

[ragu5]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

Yeah, that's probably a good way to go - one way to gauge it is to look at your existing cars which do that job today (i.e, "bit of hwy driving for daily work commute") - does the nose look like this:

If so you definitely need PPF - on the other hand if they look mostly new, then maybe you don't.

I def need that extra protection on the front side so going for a full front ppf (xpel) + Ceramic (gtechniq) and paint correction. Got a quote for $2750

Thanks for your inputs.

[ragu5]

Bdw, picked up our X7 today and it has the touchscreen and backup assistant.