Got some fresh intel from one of the BMW people in the parts department.

Here is how Niello Mini looks now from top down. By the end of the year the plan is to level the current Mini building, yes it was built less than 4 years ago. Mini will be moving in to the current BMW building and BMW will build new where Mini is now. The new building will cover the same amount of lot space as the current BMW dealer except it will be 4 stories and have underground parking. BMW rules say that Mini and BMW have to be housed in different buildings so Niello will have to do allot of fancy foot work to comply with the rules and keep selling both brands.

This is great news because when this is finished, Mini will have it's own parts department and service department. We won't have to walk across the parking lot to pay for service or parts anymore.'

 

I don't think so. My MINI dealer (Princeton,NJ) and the BMW dealer are in the same physical building, MINI on the left, BMW on the right.

 

Same here in Winston-Salem. FLOW is all under one roof.

 

Hey, I think I see my MINI in that picture!

 

East Bay MINI is under one roof as well. It just has separate showrooms. Parts and finance are the same for both brands.

 

Its the same here in Michigan...

YEA! Its nice to see that Mr. Niello is putting that markup money to good use

 

Hmm, I wonder why they would go through all the effort. Niello keeps saying they have to be ran out of different buildings. Might be part of their dealership agreement then. /shrug

thefuturequeenofnebraska

If I'm not mistaken I met you at the 7ENT open house last year. You moved out to Michigan?

 

Must be a thing for them, I've been to several dealers with new Mini facilities in the same structure as their BMW franchise inlcluding South Bay where we bought ours and Rasmussen in Portland.

Gee I hope Niello gets better service and attitude then we encountered there as well

 

I've always wondered why Motor City MINI was allowed to have both under one roof but it seems that many others are the same way. hmmmm

 

Its all under one roof at BMW of Cincinnati, in Ohio.

 

San Francisco BMW has its BMW car dealership, motorcycle dealership, and MINI dealership all under one roof as well.

 

Not exactly...BMW and MINI Corporate has different arrangements with all of their dealer principles across the US.

For instance, BMW of Concord and MINI of Concord have two separate buildings for Sales, but the Finance, Parts, and Service Departments, along with the Service waiting area, are within the BMW Sales/Service Building.

 

Is Niello part of Autonation? I think it might be an Autonation rule about 2 dealers under one roof. Just a thought.

 

It's about time they do something with the parking there... glad to see Niello is making the improvements...