European Delivery Update

[cassidym]

Just took delivery of a 2005 545I in Munich and everything went very smoothly. I showed up at the Delivery Center about 9:30 on a Monday and had to wait about an hour. This because Mondays and Fridays tend to get the most traffic. Anyway, an hour wait was not unpleasant as BMW gives you a chit for free eats and drinks in their cafeteria plus there were plenty of Bimmer owners around to talk to.

After an hour, one of the delivery specialists came up and introduced himself and reviewed all the paperwork then walked me to the garage and my new car. At this point, he launched into a detailed description of all the features in the car. But, since I'm very familiar with the 545, I told him to skip that part. With that, he wished me a good drive and helped me get the car out of the delivery garage which has an oddly narrow door.

All-in-all, it was a pleasurable experience and the Delivery Center personnel were very professional. Although I speak reasonably good German, the entire staff were all fluent in English

I do recommend that, if your travel plans allow, arrange to pick up your car midweek and thus avoid the Monday-Friday crowd. I shipped my car from Harms in Munich which is about five miles from the Delivery Center but there are a dozen places in Europe you can choose. Since you save considerably on European Delivery (in my case about $5000) it is very much worth considering.

Attached is a picture of the ED building with my new Bimmer in front.[attachmentid=13723]

[ksz]

Congratulations!

If you saved $5000 compared to dealer prices in the US, how much additional fees did you pay for shipping? Is $5000 the net total savings?

[The Pentium Guy]

Congrats . Do they pay for your flight? I really hope so, although I heard they'd only pay for one person (there's a deal going on right now im Lufthansa where they'll pay for a second person for free - for a limited time only).

Did you get to drive around in the Autobahn? I bet you can't wait till the car gets delivered to your house.

Again, gratz.

-The Pentium Guy

[billB]

Super deal and Wishing you the best.
regards
billb

['89 635 csi]

Awesome! Congrats!

[cassidym]

Originally posted by '89 635 csi@Nov 9 2004, 07:04 PM
Awesome! Congrats!

[snapback]227688[/snapback]

When I negotiated the price of the car, the salesman quoted me the MSRP for US delivery. I quoted the invoice price back to him and said that I thought $2000 above invoice was a fair profit and he agreed. Then I asked about European delivery and he knocked another $5000 off and we shock hands.

There was no charge for shipping as that is included in the European Delivery price. Ditto customs and excise.

We flew over and back on Lufthansa using a BMW promotion that only cost us half fare. Round trip for both of us was $1035 total. Good deal. And we got to drink copious amounts of beer in Munich during Octoberfest.

[ksz]

Excellent...in fact, wow! I must consider this option for my future M5 upgrade! Half price tickets, shipping charges included, $5000 off, and all the Beer Gardens one would want to visit!

Several years ago I had the chance to drive on the Autobahn from Munich to Salzberg. Too bad I had a 4-cylinder Opel that could only muster 100 mph. The accelerator was pegged to the floor and its top speed was a mere 100 mph. This is quite a handicap on Autobahn where drivers will flash you in an instant to get you out of the passing lane. While there were many Porsche, Audi, Merc, and BMW drivers routinely pushing the limits of their fancy cars, it was the BMW drivers that were consistently the most annoying of all. So upon my return to the US I decided that one day I was going to be one of those a--holes in the BMW, and I cherish every moment of being that now!

[wile22]

do you have any recommendations on where to stay in Germany, Switzerland and Italy

[ldsbeaker]

If you have money, any city has nice hotels (2-5 star). I think I enjoyed Berlin the most, but I went ALL OVER Germany (and Europe for that matter). If you're single, living on a budget and don't mind sharing a room, stay at a hostel, your bank account will thank you.