New Sea Ray/BMW Collaboration

If BMW gets involved in boats, they will be over engineered, drive fantastically, have enormous internal warranty costs that will sink Brunswick corporation, and after warranties expire will be insanely expensive for repairs and replacement parts. BOAT dollars will need to be redefined as "Bring over another ten thousand". (hey, but that's just my experience)
 
copb8tx said:
Overall it seems like a decent boat but I did a build at what I would consider must-have options and the price was upper $800K. Even if the street price makes it $700K-$750K that's a TON of money for a mostly day-cruiser. This price point puts them head to head with Formula's 38 SSC which I think is superior in looks and functionality and probably resale.

They keep going on about the hull line and the inserted Sea Ray logo embedded in it likes it's iconic like the twin kidney BMW grill. Come on. Is that really such a unique and distinctive feature of the boat??? Was that what immediately gave you the warm fuzzies when you saw it and felt 'gosh they finally built a Sea Ray I can relate to'. ......nope.

I'm also not to sure about their convertible rear floppy seat. When you lay back the backrest you get a very very short sunpad. I assume you have to go through some other gyrations to get it to be more useful.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to see one and it'll change my mind. I hope to be in the market for a boat similar to this in a few years and the more options to choose from the merrier.
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Jeez, that's really is expensive.

For comparison, I priced out a factory order for a Back Cove 37. Even with just about every factory option and a big allowance for lots of electronics the total was less than your estimated street price of the new 370 DA. I think it was between $705-715k. And that’s for a low-production 2 cabin Downeast style cruiser with a fair amount of wood joinery. Plus the design enables longer cruising in heavier weather due to it's closed bow.
 
Creekwood said:
If BMW gets involved in boats, they will be over engineered, drive fantastically, have enormous internal warranty costs that will sink Brunswick corporation, and after warranties expire will be insanely expensive for repairs and replacement parts. BOAT dollars will need to be redefined as "Bring over another ten thousand". (hey, but that's just my experience)
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So everyone knows this about BMW and still buys them.... wouldn’t you say their marketing is brilliant?
 
Blueone said:
So everyone knows this about BMW and still buys them.... wouldn’t you say their marketing is brilliant?
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Yup. It is, and they make fantastic driving vehicles. I have had two. I spent more time at the dealership and after a few years of owning them than with any other vehicles I owned. And I owned a Gran Cherokee for 5 years!. I had "test driven" every model on the BMW lot over a couple of years, as part of their loaner program.

I like driving cars that don't need to be at the dealership many times per year so no more Bimmers for me. Like I said, great to drive, but don't own one after the warranty expires.
 
Creekwood said:
..... BOAT dollars will need to be redefined as "Bring over another ten thousand". (hey, but that's just my experience)
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That was my wife's definition of BOAT when we had the 58DB.
 
I'm on my third straight BMW 5 series. The current one is the first one to be driven in excess of the warranty mileage during my ownership (65,000 miles and still 9 months to go before the lease is up). It's really the first time I've had to pay for service at BMW in 8 years of ownership. I just dropped $3500 for brakes and $5800 for tires and wheel straightening (BMW uses aluminum POS wheels that don't take potholes well). I can't imagine what excess mileage will ultimately be. In any event, this will be my last BMW, I'm going back to Mercedes Benz. As for Sea Ray; if they need help designing boats from a foreign car manufacturer they are in deeper trouble than we all thought.
 
b_arrington said:
Jeez, that's really is expensive.

For comparison, I priced out a factory order for a Back Cove 37. Even with just about every factory option and a big allowance for lots of electronics the total was less than your estimated street price of the new 370 DA. I think it was between $705-715k. And that’s for a low-production 2 cabin Downeast style cruiser with a fair amount of wood joinery. Plus the design enables longer cruising in heavier weather due to it's closed bow.
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Two of my friends have recently bought Sabre 48 SE & 45 SE s in the 700-800K range from Dimillos. The most recent 45 was a 2020 on a trade in, and the 48 was a 2016. Definitely a much better use of resources.

Didn't BMW have a flat boxer style sailboat engine in like the middle seventies? It was right about the time the 2002 was phased out and the 320i introduced.
 
Are the SR yachts completely gone? There used to be a link to the SR Yachts page, but now it's gone unless you search for it, where I found a page for the L550 and 590, and it says "Last Chance to Own a Legend."

So now the 370 DA is the flagship model?
 
Phil S said:
Are the SR yachts completely gone? There used to be a link to the SR Yachts page, but now it's gone unless you search for it, where I found a page for the L550 and 590, and it says "Last Chance to Own a Legend."

So now the 370 DA is the flagship model?
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Yes, the large yacht series was discontinued a couple years ago. From what I recall they finished a couple large boats that were fairly far along, but scrapped a couple hulls that were in the early production stage. I think (?) they may have not sold those a couple of those last boats so the page was still up for a while?

The new 370 DA is now the largest Sea Ray with overnight accommodations. The SLX 400 is bigger though. I hope Sea Ray is targeting the right customer base, but I'm disappointed they no longer make a real cruiser. I don't consider the current Sundancer line to accurately reflect the lineage of the brand.
 
I have a question about the seaworthiness of these large open bows. Do they have the same water handling ability that large center consoles have? Center Consoles go out in all kinds of conditions and pound their way through it. They do have large flared bows but still can take some big water into the boat and manage to get it overboard pretty quickly with large scuppers and such. Do this large dayboat open bows also have that kind of water handling ability? If they do then I'd be a little less concerned about them out in the open.

Ultimately I want to end up with a 33-37 foot boat with nominal overnighting capabilities that can cruise at 35-40mph but that I'd feel comfortable going from Marco Island to Key West on and not be in deep poop if the wind kicks up a bit unexpectedly. currently a 35' Formula SS or CBR fits that bill but am worried about the CBR.
 
I think these "collaborations" are pretty much all marketing efforts, an attempt by one or both companies to cross-leverage brand image to draw in image-conscious buyers.

I would be more interested in carmaker/boatmaker crossover that actually involved engineering from the car company going into the boat. Like maybe somehow the BMW boat uses an i3 battery pack and electric drive for low speed propulsion and/or house power. Not that I think that's maybe a great add in to this particular boat, but just an idea of something potentially interesting about the "collaboration".

It does make me wonder how many (if any) boat makers have been trying to get a meeting with Musk and Tesla to borrow from his parts bin. I can kind of see an all-electric (or hybrid) runabout with electric azimuth thrusters or maybe PowerWall being integrated as a house power option. As an inland lake day cruiser, it might not be totally awful.
 
carterchapman said:
Me to - heck - if it wasn't wood hulled with Detroit's, I love the looks of the Chris Craft Constellation 65! there were a lot of those on the dock where I grew up in Nashville in the 50's and 60's.
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Don't knock those old Detroits, 3000 hours and counting. :):)
 
copb8tx said:
I have a question about the seaworthiness of these large open bows. Do they have the same water handling ability that large center consoles have?
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There must be some kind of drain but there's no way to tell from the marketing images.

I've never understood the appeal of the bowrider -- other than extra seating and better weight distribution with some weight up front. The admiral and her friends (aka The Princesses) would not ride up there, but my kids and their friends might ... on occasion. I'd much rather have the space underneath.
 
mobocracy said:
I think these "collaborations" are pretty much all marketing efforts, an attempt by one or both companies to cross-leverage brand image to draw in image-conscious buyers.
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That would make a great thread.
 
Blueone said:
My wife has a Mercedes GLS I am well aware of trade before the warranty ends
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My wife has a Mercedes ML350 long out of warranty.
Most expensive vehicle to own and I have owned a BMW with 185K Km and a Audi with over 200K Km.
No comparison between them and the Mercedes.
Will never own another MB.
 
b_arrington said:
Good thing boats don't have blinkers. Wait, did anyone check to see it still has nav lights?
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Boat test did a featured video on the new 370 Da and in the test video I think is where you see the marker lights on the back of the swim platform and they are LED and they look expensive.
 
BEH said:
My wife has a Mercedes ML350 long out of warranty.
Most expensive vehicle to own and I have owned a BMW with 185K Km and a Audi with over 200K Km.
No comparison between them and the Mercedes.
Will never own another MB.
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I have a 2013 Lexus ES350 with 181,000 that has never had a repair...only oil, brakes and tires.... oh and spark plugs at 100,000. As PM.... the car owes me nothing. I can’t justify replacing it
 
Craig said:
Why do you need 3 outboards? Should offer twins as standard. I like the 320 ob better.
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In Boat Test's review capt Steve says you have to punch the triples to full throttle to get the boat up on plane in a timely manner. I mean it is a 20k lb boat.
 
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