Has anyone ever done it? Does anyone know anyone who has ever done it? Unfortunately, my wife has decided she no longer wants a beetle convertible and instead wants to trade in her Tahoe on a beemer. We went and test drove some this past weekend, and I have to admit....I was damn impressed. We went to the BMW dealership on I-45 in League City south of Houston, and the first thing we drove was a Z4. Although she's adamant that she wants a 3 series convertible, that Z4 was awesome. And I never gave them a second's glance before. Driving one changed that. The sales guy took me on the I-45 feeder road going south, and took one of those curving exits off of the feeder road that you're supposed to take a 30 mph. He took it at 80mph, and he hugged the inside lane. He's describing the special computer controlled independent ABS brake system when he slams on the brakes and yanks the wheel towards the outside lane. If we had been in my truck, we would have flipped long before he even got to the braking point, but assuming I went as fast as I could take that turn in my truck, we would definitely flipped on that "brake and yank the wheel" trick. The Z4 just calmly moved over into the next lane and stopped.....quickly. You could feel each wheel's brakes engage independently to safely stop the car. Apparently, the car has front, side, and KNEE airbags too. I actually felt pretty safe in that rocket. It was cool to drive a couple different cars at 100 mph also. Anyway, the only problem with the beemer of course is that they're so damn expensive. They have a great warranty, great service (at least during the warranty period), and incredible resale--which is a big deal to me right now after seeing how quickly her Tahoe has lost value), so I've been doing some research on how to get one for the best possible price. It seems that BMW has a "European Delivery" program where you can order the car, pick it up in Munich, drive around Europe for your vacation (they pay for the insurance), and then drop it off at one of 19 different "drop off points" around Europe. They'll then ship it to the U.S., and "dealer installed options" will be added, and then you can take final delivery. The cost savings can be on the order of about 7 to 10%--pretty much enough to pay for a good portion of your vacation trip, AND of course, you get a bad-A car to drive around while you're there--instead of paying for a rent car or public transportation. This is really good for me for two reasons: 1) we were already planning to go to Europe next year, and 2) this is a cool enough idea that it can actually get my wife to WAIT a while before we make the purchase. If it works great, it will be the vacation of a lifetime with the ultimate souvenir, but I’m worried that it could be a hassle. Does anyone know anything about this?
damn that sounds like fun. ive never heard of this before. im somewhat but not too seriously considering trading in my passat and getting a M5. if only the stock market would make a huge comeback. we can get the bmw's together and race around europe.
Pole - I've heard about people doing this as well. Unfortunately I don't have much info on their experiences for you. Where did you read the info about the European delivery? I'm also considering purchasing a BMW. Do you arrange it through the dealership?
I worked with a guy who got his 911 in Germany, drove it for a week, then had it shipped home. The package included a tour of the factory. He said he would do it again in a second. Lost touch with him about a year ago or I'd pass along any questions you may have. BMW's are great cars. I traded my 530ti (tourning wagon) on a 03 MINI Cooper S. While the car is technically a MINI the handleing is pure BMW. I had my car on the track at Texas World Speedway and it was hanging with all the porsches until the back straight where the twin turbos would hit 130 and I only had torque to get to 112 before dropping off the bank and breaking to make the next corner at 70mph. Had a guy in front of me in a Boxster S get frustrated he couldn't leave me and spun out and went into the grass. The BMWcca puts on auto cross events about once a month and if you come out you can see just how well the cars handle. Given my choice of BMW right now I'd take an 330ppi which is essentially a M/// with out the badge or if the finances were right an m5. Wouldn't trade my MINI for any of them though. LOVE that car.
You do arrange it with the dealer, and I've read that you can...to a degree...negotiate a somewhat better price. Same as with buying one off the lot. Of course, the margins are tighter. The info is on www.bmwusa.com It's a frames website, so I can't give you the actual link, but it's under "virtual center." And yah...you can do it for Mercedes and Porsche as well. I imagine they get a tax break from the City of Munich for doing this...after all, it pulls in tourist dollars.
So the savings is based upon cutting out the middleman, which in this case is the car dealership in the US ?
No....the car dealer still has to arrange it, but I imagine their profit is cut considerably on this deal. The dealers obviously don't promote this too much (I had never heard of it before), but it looks like they "have" to provide the service. On the other hand, they don't bear any expense in maintaining inventory, so that's a cost savings (for the dealer) in itself. My guess is that BMW stipulates that they must provide the service, but they also set "reasonable" price levels.....enough to encourage it, but not so much that it kills the dealer's normal business.
my cousin did this for his 325xi wagon.. no problems whatsoever.. however, i believe the savings are eaten up in shipping, though not terribly sure bout that.. as such, his take wasn't so much as the savings, but as a vacation and new car (2for1) deal.. i say go for it, and ENJOY!!
I did it with the benz a few years back. Really good experience. The salespeople will try to talk you out of it - tell you it takes a very long time, there's logistical issues, etc. But don't be swayed by them - these auto companies are very efficient in making everything go smoothly and you should have a good trip and receive your car fairly quickly back in the states.
...and if you were planning on travelling to Europe anyway...sounds like a no-brainer. Decent rental cars w/insurance are very expensive in Europe.
Sweet.........Keep us posted if you decide to go this route I would be curious to see how everything goes. Good Luck!!
That's a good reason right there....I definitely wanted a car while I was there. I enjoy some forms of public transportation, but I really like having the freedom of a car. Anyway, thanks for the responses. She may not be able to wait that long, and now she's talking about an X5 which is made in the states instead of Germany....so who knows what will happen. Car buying decisions for my wife and for myself are so completely divergent it's ridiculous.
