BMW 7 series 'Individual' in Egypt – Not individual at all

In a final attempt to amortize the fiasco project of assembling the current BMW 7 series (E65 / E 66) in Egypt, and to boost its limping sales before being replaced by its successor in the last quarter of 2008, Bavarian Auto Group started a very 'remarkable' and expensive marketing campaign to introduce the 'new' so-called BMW 7-series Individual to the Egyptian market.

The cards were very well played, and the cunning plan started with not inviting the specialized and professional multilingual automotive media representatives, who might have discovered the fallacy during the press conference and launch event at the Sofitel Gezira Hotel and embarrassed the BMW Egypt / Bavarian Auto Group management in front of the attending media representative and BMW AG delegation members.

Unfortunately a lot of the Egyptian media printed the pre-paid press releases and advertorials about the BMW 750 Li Individual without verifying the information provided by BMW Egypt / Bavarian Auto Group. That’s why we decided to enlighten and inform our readers and our media colleagues about the 'real' individual story, which we describe in the next few lines.

To begin with, it should be stated that the exclusive and surely impressive BMW individual program was introduced a long time ago by the BMW AG headquarters in Munich, addressing the exclusive and distinguished taste and needs of BMW owners, who want to design their own car and who find themselves limited by the standard color and interior trim selection offered by the Bavarian car maker. Those distinguished clients wanted to feel being 'individual' among the other BMW owners.

In addition to this, it should be mentioned that the original and genuine BMW Individual program in Germany is not only limited to the 7 series, but it also covers almost –with one or more exceptions-every single model sold in the current BMW portfolio, including the BMW 5 series and 6 series.

The previous lines clearly point out, that the intention and goal of the BMW Individual line is to combine both the visualized creative idea and taste of the client and to realize it in form of a unique BMW vehicle, designed and personalized from a vast assortment of colors and interior trims offered by BMW, which shall at the reflect the unique and 'individual' taste and personality of the owner.

So, what did the managers and marketing experts at the Bavarian Auto Group & BMW Egypt do to achieve that goal?

Well, they selected 3 external paint finishes out of 9 possible ones ( Diopside Black metallic, Ruby Black metallic and Moonstone metallic) and combined them with only 2 upholstery colors (leather merino black and leather merino platinum) out of possible 12 different upholstery colors.
Furthermore, they even (deliberately or not?) forgot to mention the possibility of adding a third important variable of the BMW individual program, namely the 12 possible different interior trims, which definitely will add to the elite character of the produced car!

But that was not the end of the 'Bavarian soap opera' which was staged at the Sofitel Gezira Hotel.

The gentlemen and car experts at the Bavarian Auto Group management gave each of these 3 claimed special models a very specific name (Diopside Black edition, Ruby Black edition and Moonstone edition) as a camouflage to convince the target group and potential customers that these are exclusive and individualized models. The recipe was relatively easy: take the color, remove the word metallic and insert the word edition and, la voila: A new Individual model line was created in no time.

What is more astonishing than the fact that Bavarian Auto Group / BMW Egypt tries to 'convince' the Egyptian customers or at least explain the 'individual' philosophy in an Egyptian way, is the fact that BMW AG seems not to be really aware of what is going on in Cairo right now. Especially when taking into consideration that the image and impression of the 'Egyptian Individual Line' could make potential customers run away to other real and authentic individual lines, such as the AMG line (Mercedes), the S-Line (Audi) or even the R-Line (Volkswagen)

And now comes the big surprise: These Made-In-Egypt BMW 7 series models are not 'Individual BMWs' at all, at least not in the sense of the BMW Individual lines we know from Munich! These cars are at the very best BMW 7-series special edition models, if at all.

Why?

Well, about a year after the introduction of the face lifted BMW 7-Series (E66) back in 2005, the German automaker from Munich announced four special edition models with exclusive paint, upholstery, and wheel combinations in order to maintain the attractivity level of the 7 series. And they did not call them under any circumstances individual models!

The official BMW Egypt press release and advertorials published in several Egyptian widespread daily papers like Al-Ahram and Al-Akhbar carried another few unpleasant surprises for the clueless and unsuspecting readers and potential customers. Some of the claimed 'individual' features aren’t that individual at all.

The BMW night vision, Park-Distance-Control, Soft-Close-Automatic for doors, DVD changer (up to six DVD's),CD-changer above the glove compartment for six CD's including MP3 function and the mobile phone preparation with Bluetooth interface can be ordered in Germany as a typical optional equipment for any standard BMW 7 series and are not related with the exclusive Individual line at all. And they can even be ordered independently without being combined with expensive paint finishes or special upholstery colors.

So, what do we understand from all that? Well, this means that there is a very huge difference between the standard equipment, optional equipment and the BMW Individual line, which apparently seems not to be that clear to the decision-makers and marketing-managers at the Bavarian Auto Group / BMW Egypt.

Last but not least, there was actually another thing that made me skeptic about the so-called 'Individual BMW 7 series' presented by the Bavarian Auto Group. They only concentrated on the external paint finishes and upholstery colors and even forget to offer crucial items, which are usually found among other important options on the wish-list of any business-men seeking to own a personalized and tailored BMW 7 series, S-Class, VW-Phaeton or Audi A8. Some of those options are:

- The BMW Individual center console with table and multifunctional communication unit
- The BMW Individual multifunctional center console with two tables
- The BMW Individual multifunctional center console with table and storage compartment
- BMW Individual Rear Seat Infotainment Online
- Front-row seats in the rear: the BMW Individual Rear Seat Infotainment system

… just to name a few.

In order to point out for the reader and the potential client the huge difference between the BMW 7 series offered in Egypt and the so-called Individual edition and its counterparts offered elsewhere around the globe, kindly Click here (BMW.com) .

I hope that such unserious marketing-campaigns in Cairo will not jeopardize the image of the BMW cars assembled in Germany. But the risk is very high that this happens.

The main reason behind all this Bavarian soap opera is a very simple one. End of this year BMW AG will launch the new BMW 7 series (internal codename F01). Therefore we recommend not to buy the locally-assembled BMW 7 series now, just like we recommended not to buy the locally-assembled Brilliance models from the Bavarian Auto Group before.

Maybe the optional illumination reading lights present in the rear of the BMW “Individual” 7series offered by Bavarian Auto Group will help you to see things more clearly! And then you might fall in love with the 'original' BMW Individual Special Edition 7 Series inspired by Girard-Perregaux, just like we did. But then it will probably already be too late.

Our verdict:

Under no circumstances should you buy the current BMW 7 series now. Wait a few months and buy the new one (see the picture on the left). By the end of the year the Egyptian customs & taxes for engines larger than 1.6 will probably have been reduced, and you will be able to buy a BMW 7 series Made-in-Germany rather than the Made-in-Egypt one. The German BMW 7 series will be priced around 80.000 Euros (app. 640.000 LE Egyptian Pounds). Enjoy the ride.