[Space Cadet]

The date on mine went out to Week 18 but has now come forward again to week 10 - assuming that we don’t cancel and re-order as soon as the LCI opens up for customer orders (January ish?). The lead time seems to depend upon options. Dealer told me he has an official bulletin from BMW stating that from Production Week 42 there will be a ‘temporary’ removal of touchscreen and automatic reverse parking functions, with control of the other functions via the controller knob only. Applies to all 3 & 4 series and Z4 models equipped with System 7. A software update will remove the touchscreen functionality.

No indication of how long ‘temporary’ is however he’s not expecting it to re-appear and that the situation will get worse. BMW GB are keeping quiet about what ‘temporary’ means. I just don’t trust them with anything at present. The lack of transparency is doing BMW’s reputation no good at all, and yes I know it’s an industry wide issue, but it’s how they deal with it that is important to customers.

I4 lead times are well into 2022, possibly Q4, so that’s not an option. It isn’t the car I want anyway.

EDIT: i4 fitted with air suspension and my wife and son are both motion sickness sensitive. Air suspension triggers it so that option has gone. Will be a delayed LCI 3-er or another brand now.