In many articles or forum’s threads that I read, I constantly keep seeing a word being thrown around quite often: FEP.
I admit, in the beginning, I had no clue what FEP stands for, so I had to ask the people involved with those acronyms (BMW folks). Without getting much into details, I was told that FEP refers to a car being in an final evaluation phase, but that’s not entirely and the most accurate definition.
So, I left it at that without asking further questions, but recently, I came across an interesting topic on Germancarzone.com, where EnI a member of this forum, with a lot of knowledge when it comes to BMW, has shared with the bimmer world, the meaning of FEP.
I hope he will not mind if I quote him on this, but his explanation is very detailed and clarifying.
FEP is a name for a group of very final development phases. It consists of:
- FEP stage 1 : FINAL ENGINEERING PILOT
(testing of fully developed & engineered car – with final major development / engineering solutions already done; when the imperfections are corrected the car is ready to enter phase 2)
- FEP stage 2 : FINAL EVALUATION PILOT
(testing a car before it enters pre-production; evaluating final engineering solutions; some minor modifications & fine-settings can be done & production process can still be modified a bit; when all corrected the car is ready to enter phase 3)
- FEP stage 3 : FINAL EVALUATION PRODUCTION
(testing of final pre-production vehicles; evaluating production process, build quality; correcting really minor production imperfections – strengthening quality control etc; when this phase is over the car is ready for regular production, and full production can finally start; eg. F01 is now in FEP 3 phase – only slightly taped & being readied for production starting in September).
Usually pre-FEP testings are more international, while FEP is more local (closer to production plant). Most Ring testing is done in pre-FEP phase as well.
FEP phases are known by less camoed prototypes. So most of cold / hot weather testing is done in pre-FEP phases, with all the plastic cladding on the car.
But lately it’s a bit confusing since BMW is dressing both FEP & pre-FEP cars in that psychedelic black-white tape.
So, how this translates to the BMW Z4 photos we have seen yesterday? The roadster has dropped the extra plastic parts that covered its body, and it seems like it has enter the Final Engineering Pilot stage.
I hope this article left you with some new information today and in the near future, I will focus on similar articles, where we can all learn something new.
[Source: Thank you EnI and Germancarzone ]
