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      09-13-2012, 08:13 PM   #1
RPiM5
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Drives: Mexico Blue F10 M5(Mika)
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Sunny San Diego

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Gents,

I need a head count of the people who do not have the "Backrest Width" or otherwise known as the "Sidebolster" adjustments buttons on their new 2013 F10 M5's.

Today I have contacted BMW North America customer relations and got the ball rolling about this issue and brought it to their attention. The representative on the phone could not find the answer for me and said that they would provide the feedback to their supervisors or whomever.

I only told them that I am looking for a straight answer from BMW as to why this feature was not included in our 2013 M5's when it was included in the 2012 model year.

Additionally I have heard rumors that BMW plans on having the buttons in the 2014 model year and also something called the "Dynamic Sidebolster Adjustment" feature. But this is only speculation.

The manual that comes with my 2013 M5 clearly states that a "Backrest Width" adjustment button should be on our seats. The Quick Reference Guide that also comes with our manual show the buttons being there too. The BMWUSA website, says 18-Way adjustable seat. I have counted over again, that with the missing buttons, it should be 20 buttons. I miscounted the first few times. Yet, they include these buttons in the manuals, which would imply a 20 way seat. Doesn't make sense.

I told the representative that I would be calling BMW North America customer relations every day if I have to in order to get a straight answer from them. I asked that if I could be contacted by a marketing representative or even an engineer who knew the answer.

So far as I know, I believe that all of the 2013 Model Year M5's did not come with them, so I am looking for a little validation. If it is the case that only a few production numbers have the buttons missing, or even if it's the case that we are all missing the buttons, then we should at least be entitled to an answer from BMW for paying for something which should have been included with the car that we did not recieve.

So far the feedback that I have recieved from BMW is that the 18-Way seats are what's supposed to be on the car, yet I found out that at some point this year BMW changed it from 20-Way seats to 18-Way seats on the BMWUSA.com website without informing any dealer or customer as far as we know. Additionally, I have found out that no 5-Series with the exception of the 5-Series GT will get the 20-Way seats that include the "Backrest Width" adjustment buttons.

Honestly, I'm not looking for any type of compensation as I am very happy with the car, but I would at least like an explanation as to why we did not get these buttons. The point is that we were all expecting this to be on the car standard and now we are all surprised to discover that it is not there.

Thank you and please chime in so I may inform BMW about this.

Also please don't flame me. I'm not complaining in any way. I'm only trying to find the truth for something that is supposed to be in M5 and is not or at least something that BMW should have informed the customers and dealers about. Thanks!

UPDATE:

Thanks to our good friend Stealth.Pilot we now have proof that 20-Way seats were supposed to be on the 2013 Model Year M5 for North America, this includes Canada as well.

Attached is the detail order of the 2013 M5 and in it, 20-Way seats that include the "Backrest Width" adjustment buttons are supposed to be on the 2013 M5. The revision date is on the May 3rd 2012. Which is around the time that the first orders were going in for the 2013 M5 through U.S. dealers.

UPDATE:

On Oct 6th BMW released an official bulletin, which was my stated goal. It is included below:

Product Planning & Strategy Bulletin
MY2013 M5 Adjustable Side Bolsters.

October 4, 2012

Please note that the standard multi-function seats (4MA) on the MY2013 M5 are
18-way power adjustable and do not include electrically adjustable side bolsters. Although the previous generation M5 (E60) multi-function seats did come with this feature, it is not possible to integrate the adjustable side bolsters on the current generation M5 (F10) at this time due to crash test issues.

Please note that BMWUSA.com previously showed that the MY2013 M5 seats were 20-way power adjustable. This has been fixed and updated to show the correct description.

We apologize for any confusion caused by this error.


For now we can lay this issue to rest and will just have to wait and see if BMW will design future models of the F10 M5 for the American and Canadian markets with adjustable side bolsters.

Thank you.
Attached Images
File Type: pdf F10M_DOT_FINAL.pdf (1.67 MB, 713 views)

Last edited by RPiM5; 10-30-2012 at 01:30 PM..
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