Found my thread on dealing with the minor issues on my 1st run CZ cars:
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/54626.aspx
It doesn't answer your question directly about the 3rd run, but I presume BLI has dealt with all the low-hanging fruit here. Regardless, BLI stands behind these items with good customer service and support.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
The main quality issue I ran into was with gauge issues with the wheelsets on many cars. And those things will work a #@!^*& on your fingers trying to correct.
There was an issue with the dome seating being backwards, which BLI supplied the correct part to replace for free.
I had one truck where the prongs that act as a kingpin broke. Replaced under warranty.
It's a great set of cars, even with the issues I found in the 1st run. I'm sure the first two are corrected and the third was a one-off in my view. I would not hesitate to recommend the BLI Zephyr cars to anyone.
At long last BLI had released another set of these cars. I believe this is the third release.
Not long after the second set of CZ cars was released, I contacted BLI who told me that the new cars were far and above the quality of the first set.
Has ons one seen the third set yet? Are these, the third set, really better that the first series?