OEM parts

[Redman]

When I order a BMW OEM part from local dealer, and if they dont have it in stock, where does it come from?

Some central parts warehouse that serves the entire continent? One of two or three or four regional warehouse?

 

How about if I order from some online parts supplier?

 

What I am pondering is if I ordered from some distant online parts supply, maybe might have to wait for part to get shipped across the country twice.

 

Order from local BMW dealer (30 miles away), they say "usally ships in 2 to 5 days" (but doesn't specify if that means shipp from thier location) And charges more for shipping that does the distant on-line place.

All and all, I intend to support the local dealer.

 

Anyone know where the BMW parts warehouse(s) are....?

[Marty Hill]

When they say...ships in 3-5 days the are saying that's when it ships to them.

You might ask them just to double check since most of us don't work at a dealership.

[Indy Dave]

I don't. But . . . My dealer gets BMW parts delivered twice a week. Monday order for Thursday and Thursday order for Monday I believe.

[Bernie]

My dealer gets shipments from BMW everyday. I also think there are more then one warehouse.

I ordered a set of 4 stick coils and the dealer received them in 3 separate shipments a day or two apart. So either they ship from different places or they have a very poor order processing/shipping system? Or maybe both.

The parts guy just shrugs his shoulders and says, that is BMW.

Regardless of how many miles the parts travel by freight company, the warranty doesn't start till you get the part from the dealer.

Edited March 16, 2017 by Bernie

[Charles Elms]

I had a tranny seal go in Baton Rouge. The dealer said if they could diagnose the problem (they did) and get the parts ordered by 2 pm, the parts would be there the next morning. Parts arrived on time and bike fixed and I was on the road late that afternoon. Must have a very good warehouse system there.

[Lone_RT_rider]

Must have a very good warehouse system there.

 

Here's a little known fact. BMW will ship your part next day air for a 10% up charge. Now on a final drive that might be cost prohibitive, but for a 10 dollar part, it's worth the extra dollar for me.

 

YMMV.

 

Shawn

[Antimatter]

Pretty much all dealers order parts from a central supplier. I don't know about OEM parts, but things like tires tend to come from Parts Unlimited. The thing to understand about dealers (and some online stores) is that they will make an order to the central supplier when they (the dealer) will get the best deal on shipping. During the summer months when there are lots of sales and maintenance going on, a dealer will have enough parts to make an order every few days. If you live where there is winter (like I do), be aware that the dealer might not generate enough sales to reach a large enough quantity of parts to make an order more than once every couple of weeks (or longer). That's when using a large, national dealer or central seller can save you some time.

[marcopolo]

Ten years ago, I was told that there were two BMW warehouses in the U.S. for motorcycle parts, one in California, and the other in New Jersey. I was told this by the service manager at a BMW dealer in Salt Lake City, as I was waiting for a new final drive to be shipped overnight to the dealer (it came from the California warehouse).

 

That said, I found a BMW press release from 2015, announcing the opening, in Redlands, California, of another regional parts warehouse. Here's an excerpt:

 

"The new Redlands facility, which is now fully staffed and fully operational, is one of the six BMW Group Regional Distribution Centers in the U.S. The BMW Group RDCs handle more than 80,000 unique part numbers across two million square feet of storage and distribution space. Altogether, more than 400 associates in these six facilities are solely dedicated to processing dealer orders daily for the US market."

 

I'm assuming that motorcycle parts come from this same distribution network, but perhaps they're not stocked at all six warehouses.

Edited March 16, 2017 by marcopolo

[Tri750]

My info is 3 years old.

2 parts warehouses 1 in Stockton Ca, 1 in New Jersey.

These are for BMW parts only. (Car or bike)

Dealers do 2 stock orders a week with normal delivery time 3 business days.

Free shipping to the dealer.

 

But, if one of your stock order days is Friday, you see it Tue usually, except for Monday holidays.

 

They arrive normally UPS so depending on your route, AM or PM, then the order has to be received in the system, work order parts go here, special orders go here, stock orders have to be put away, etc. so sometimes this adds a day to big dealerships. Small ones, you can get your phone call, email, same day.

 

The overnight orders are not as simple as that.

BMW (and some other brands) does have the VOR (Vehicle Off Road) where you can order parts overnight for a very reasonable 10% . There is a cut off time of 2-3pm depending on location.

 

During the year, BMW tracks the dollar figure of what you spend on parts ordered on stock order and VOR.

At each quarter the dealers get a percentage of the stock orders allowed to them to send back obsolete merchandise. (It's a dollar figure, not a check)

The more VOR you use, the less obsolete stuff you get to send back .

So you have to use the VOR wisely. Some dealership owners would rather a customer wait then to not mess with the parts return amount. Some give the parts manager the freedom to decide.

It's a hard thing to balance out.

Basically BMW and others want you to have a much BMW stuff on hand ordered by stock order that you can handle to prevent VOR's.

Then you have this labor intensive rotating door sending stuff back .

 

Regarding tires, widgets, and other non-BMW items, each dealer is free to choose who he gets them from. Parts Unlimited, Tucker Rocky, Western Power Sports, Helmet House, etc,etc,etc.

The minumin order amounts are low. 50-100 so "getting the minimum" is also code for "lots of small orders are a pain" We used to get Tucker orders almost daily. To compete with the Internet and Cycle Gear, small dealers need to get the stuff as quick as they can, and we did.

In Calif, we are fortunate that many of the vendors are in Cali so shipping is fast.

Tucker Rocky has a warehouse 30miles away so if you have a customer on a trip show up at 5pm needing some tire you don't stock, you jump in your truck and go get it.

 

If I'm not mistaken the Redlands facility replaced the Ontario, Ca. warehouse that was exclusively car parts and housed the training center.

 

I order BMW parts for my online store weekly so I still hear "it's in Stockton" never once heard Redlands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 16, 2017 by Tri750

[RTinNC]

When I order a BMW OEM part from local dealer, and if they dont have it in stock, where does it come from?

Some central parts warehouse that serves the entire continent? One of two or three or four regional warehouse?

 

How about if I order from some online parts supplier?

 

What I am pondering is if I ordered from some distant online parts supply, maybe might have to wait for part to get shipped across the country twice.

 

Order from local BMW dealer (30 miles away), they say "usally ships in 2 to 5 days" (but doesn't specify if that means shipp from thier location) And charges more for shipping that does the distant on-line place.

All and all, I intend to support the local dealer.

 

Anyone know where the BMW parts warehouse(s) are....?

 

The one benefit of ordering from Local dealer is they DO NOT charge me shipping and usually discount about 10% (which about covers sales tax). But I always try and ordering local first especially for OEM stuff.

[Redman]

Ordered BMW OEM part on a Tuesday evening, on-line, from local dealer (30 miles away).

 

Next day, Wednesday, got email that says "typically ships in 2 - 5 days".

 

THE following week, on Wednesday, get another email that says "order has been received", and a few hours later another email says "has shipped".

 

Received the part (via USPO Priority) on Friday.

 

So, 10 days.

 

.

Edited March 26, 2017 by Redman

[Marty Hill]

Congrats, that's wonderful.