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Picking up the BMW in Munich

post #1 of 45
3/18/07 at 3:58pm
Thread Starter 
Pretty interesting account of one man's delivery. Seems that he had a great time.

Special Delivery
By Jay Shoemaker
March 18, 2007 1,264 Views
This wasn't the first time I'd opted for European delivery. In fact, after counting all the license plates I'd collected from these international adventures, I discovered I was on my eighth visit. Normally, when my wife learns I want to go to Stuttgart or Munich, she digs in her proverbial heels. So I had to package my automotive connection with a week in Paris. I made the arrangements to pick up a BMW 335 at the Munich factory. Here's how the deal went down...
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post #2 of 45
3/18/07 at 6:45pm
that'd be awesome. sounds like alot of fun. but i'd get antsy after getting home and having to wait 6 weeks for my car to arrive in my driveway.
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post #3 of 45
3/18/07 at 7:01pm
I actually did this for my past two cars ('99 323i and '04 530i) ... it's one of the best deals going. Not only do you get a nice price break on the car (5% - 7% discount) but you get to tour Europe. We did our last one in July. Started in Munchen and went down through Austria to Venice, over to Milan and then up to the lakes before departing out of Zurich. We timed it just right to hit the big summer sales in Milan ... made the wife a happy camper.
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post #4 of 45
3/19/07 at 12:09am
If you prefer not to actually go pick up the car yourself, we actually ship them via airliners as standard cargo.
Probably my most interesting experience with this was out at work on the ramp at Dulles Airport here in DC as normal, and a Lufthansa jet was being unloaded. Next thing I know there is a Maybach being slowly lowered onto the ramp. Impressive as hell

Here's a pic of some Indy cars being shipped via FedEx-
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0214255/M/

JB
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post #5 of 45
3/19/07 at 6:24pm
You can also import older cars. Bristols and Lancias are frequently imported into the U.S.
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post #6 of 45
3/19/07 at 6:29pm
Oh, and you also get to ignore the break in period and drive as fast as you dare on unrestricted segments of the Autobahn. As the MasterCard voice-over guy says, priceless....



Does anyone know what he means by ignoring the break in period. I dont see how being in germany on the autbobahn means you can ignore it. Are cars delivered in europe factory broken in??
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post #7 of 45
3/19/07 at 6:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ghulkhan View Post
Oh, and you also get to ignore the break in period and drive as fast as you dare on unrestricted segments of the Autobahn. As the MasterCard voice-over guy says, priceless....



Does anyone know what he means by ignoring the break in period. I dont see how being in germany on the autbobahn means you can ignore it. Are cars delivered in europe factory broken in??

No. what is he is saying is that since you are going to be tempted and will drive like a lunatic, thereby not following any of the break-in period rules, you can pretty much ignore the break-in period, since no one who picks up their car will follow it.

Jon.
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post #8 of 45
3/19/07 at 6:36pm
I know people who picked up their E36 and E46 M3s with ED, broke them in properly, and then went to a driving school at the Nurburgring. That's my plan for my next car.

--Andre
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post #9 of 45
3/19/07 at 6:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by imageWIS View Post
No. what is he is saying is that since you are going to be tempted and will drive like a lunatic, thereby not following any of the break-in period rules, you can pretty much ignore the break-in period, since no one who picks up their car will follow it.

Jon.

yea, I don tknow at 1200 miles I think id still follow it
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post #10 of 45
3/19/07 at 6:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andre Yew View Post
I know people who picked up their E36 and E46 M3s with ED, broke them in properly, and then went to a driving school at the Nurburgring. That's my plan for my next car.

--Andre

Yea, I know some people who did that and some who did the performance center delivery in North Carolina. Its not as intensive as the M school, but they give you a car just like yours and let you tear it up on the track. Its pretty sweet.
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post #11 of 45
3/19/07 at 9:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ghulkhan View Post
Yea, I know some people who did that and some who did the performance center delivery in North Carolina. Its not as intensive as the M school, but they give you a car just like yours and let you tear it up on the track. Its pretty sweet.
That place is pretty awesome! I spent hours there on their track with all the M cars a few years ago. The offroad course was fun too. If time allows, my next M3 will be a European delivery.
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post #12 of 45
3/19/07 at 9:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkNWorn View Post
That place is pretty awesome! I spent hours there on their track with all the M cars a few years ago. The offroad course was fun too.

If time allows, my next M3 will be a European delivery.


I have picked up two M3s from Munich and it was great, although I wish BMW North America would discount the "M" cars for Euro delivery. All of the other models get 2-3k off base price .
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post #13 of 45
3/21/07 at 11:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ghulkhan View Post
Oh, and you also get to ignore the break in period and drive as fast as you dare on unrestricted segments of the Autobahn. As the MasterCard voice-over guy says, priceless....



Does anyone know what he means by ignoring the break in period. I dont see how being in germany on the autbobahn means you can ignore it. Are cars delivered in europe factory broken in??

that doesn't make any sense to me. The engine computer limits rpm's on new bimmers. At least on m3's
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post #14 of 45
3/21/07 at 11:50am
as much as I love the M3, how sweet is this??? http://www.rsportscars.com/eng/cars/audi_s5.asp I think I'm in love...
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post #15 of 45
3/21/07 at 6:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by nvclothing View Post
as much as I love the M3, how sweet is this???

http://www.rsportscars.com/eng/cars/audi_s5.asp

I think I'm in love...

I have to see it in person, but it should drive better than current Audi's since the F/R weight distribution will be better, since a good deal (all?) of the engine is sitting behind the wheels. There are some things I don't like about the car (electronic parking break for one) but I think the pros outweigh the cons.

Jon.
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