Just put my order in

[JonnyBi3]

There is demo car (not yet for test drives, unfortuantely) currently at the main Milton Keynes BMW dealer in the UK. Went to see it yesterday - looks great in the flesh, although the styling curve at the bottom of the window line is a bit odd. A bit taller than you think - almost 'cross over' in styling. Interesting to note it's a strict 4 seater (there are cupholders in the middle in the back, and no option for a middle seat belt), although space inside (front and back) is great. There's a small additional storage area in the nose, as well as the main boot at the back. Also, rear 'suicide doors' are peculiarly hard for rear seat passengers to open on their own. I was keen to check that there is absolutely no degradation of performance when running in ReX mode, and that you can run in ReX mode for as long as you like (in theory, as long as you keep filling up the small fuel tank) - they swear both are true. I put my deposit down some time ago (a couple of weeks after order books first opened), and apparently I have build slot number 14 for the UK. In the UK, if your car is built before Feb 2014, you get the Professional Sat Nav upgrade free (which is useful - it's about a £1,000 option that I probably would have ordered). Only other options on the ReX car I've gone for are Winter Pack (allows pre-heating of car and battery while still plugged in, which seems like a good idea to save energy when on the move), enhanced Bluetooth prep, and better alloy wheels. I was told that delivery date would be confirmed in Nov once production starts (although I read elsewhere on this forum that production actually started a few days ago). Apparently, UK dealers have been told not to commit to anything other than "First quarter, 2014" at the moment - although (unofficially) I was told that sometime in January is 'very likely'. Dealer said that test drives would be in Oct / Nov, potentially (although not confirmed) with 'VIP events' for people that already have their orders in. Interesting to know that you can cancel your order and get your deposit back, at any point up to the point where your car actually starts to be built (so in theory, could still cancel post test drive - although very much doubt I would).

Hope that helps others!

 

[Atommad]

How do you know you are number 14 in the UK?

 

[JonnyBi3]

Apparently (so the dealer says, anyway...), when you put your order in, you are allocated a "build slot" which are allocated in sequence from the first order in each country. I was told that I have built slot number 14.

 

[Atommad]

I haven't heard that before, sounds a little like an over enthusiastic salesman to me.

 

[JonnyBi3]

May be...!