[FikseGTS]

I was reading through the European Delivery program on BMW's site... it states that they will discount the 545i by $3905 if you do European delivery....

what's the catch here? do you have to pay extra somewhere else besides vacationing costs?

Is this discount applied to whatever deal I've already worked out the dealer?

[MARCUS545]

FikseGTS, on Feb 25 2005, 08:00 PM, said:

I was reading through the European Delivery program on BMW's site...  it states that they will discount the 545i by $3905 if you do European delivery....

what's the catch here?  do you have to pay extra somewhere else besides vacationing costs?

Is this discount applied to whatever deal I've already worked out the dealer?

Check your private messages.

[branie555]

I did ED in January and did not incur any hidden charges, quite the opposite, BMW Financial paid my 2nd lease payment. I enjoyed the heck out of it. Great experience, I would do it again in a heartbeat. Need a guide?

[TitaniumGray5]

FikseGTS, on Feb 25 2005, 07:00 PM, said:

I was reading through the European Delivery program on BMW's site...  it states that they will discount the 545i by $3905 if you do European delivery....

what's the catch here?  do you have to pay extra somewhere else besides vacationing costs?

Is this discount applied to whatever deal I've already worked out the dealer?

No catch, just a great deal. By the way, the Euro MSRP is negotiable just like any car purchase. You do have to pay for the car or make your first payment 14 days before you go to Germany and it will take at least 6 weeks to get the car to the US after you drop it off...so you will be paying for the car for some period of time before you get it here in the US. However, BMW currently has a program where they make your 2nd lease payment for you, however, they end up raising the money factor by .0003 to pay for it, so although it seems like a freebie, its really not.

[uwsc11]

ED is a great program. The prices are about 7% lower than regular prices and you start negotiating from there. You have to pay for your stay over there, but you get 2 weeks insurance on the car. So you can drive it around most European countries and of course on the Autobahn in Germany.
Shipping is included. And at certain times you even get one or two free plane tickets. You should ask your dealer for any special on that or check out the BMW website.
The only "cost" you have is that you have to pay for the car 2 weeks before you go to Munich and it takes 6-8 weeks after you drop it off to get it back.

Try it. It is great!

[FikseGTS]

wow... this is very tempting as we get free airfare

so we fly over there, drive the car around for a few days have a nice vacation, drop it off, fly back, and save an additional $3900? I've already negotiated my deal with the dealer, if I say I want european delivery now, they'll have no problem dropping another $3900 off? I assume BMW is eating that discount and not the dealer?

[MARCUS545]

FikseGTS, on Feb 25 2005, 10:32 PM, said:

wow... this is very tempting as we get free airfare 

so we fly over there, drive the car around for a few days have a nice vacation, drop it off, fly back, and save an additional $3900?  I've already negotiated my deal with the dealer, if I say I want european delivery now, they'll have no problem dropping another $3900 off?  I assume BMW is eating that discount and not the dealer?

You can negotiate a better deal if you tell the dealer from day one that you want to do Euro Deliv.

[Carrera]

I had a great time during the ED of my 2005 530i. As far as I can tell the only "risk" is maintaining the understanding that the car is YOURS the moment you pick it up in Germany. The insurance, for touring and shipping, appears to be reliable but negotiations and resolution for damage appears to be the responsibility of the owner; that is...YOU. It took me 8 weeks to get my car from the time of drop off in Munich--West coast delivery. The whole experience was great for my wife and myself and I would do it again in a minute.

MARCUS545, on Feb 25 2005, 11:23 PM, said:

FikseGTS, on Feb 25 2005, 10:32 PM, said:

wow... this is very tempting as we get free airfare 

so we fly over there, drive the car around for a few days have a nice vacation, drop it off, fly back, and save an additional $3900?  I've already negotiated my deal with the dealer, if I say I want european delivery now, they'll have no problem dropping another $3900 off?  I assume BMW is eating that discount and not the dealer?

You can negotiate a better deal if you tell the dealer from day one that you want to do Euro Deliv.

[gdavis]

But the 'risk' is just like having any car. If you damage it, you have to deal with it. It's no big deal at all. And the included insurance covers it!

We have a bumper scrape when we drove our car in Paris, and it was fully covered for repair with no questions asked. Sometimes the car is fixed by BMW before it gets to your US dealer, in our case it went to the dealer and we took it to a body shop for repair.

But the coolest thing is to have your own car in Europe, drive it everywhere you want, then get it back home after a month or 2. It's like a trip souvenir, and you can remember driving that same car in all kinds of great places.

I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

[NC530i]

I had a tremendous experience with my 530i European Delivery last March. We drove from Munich, through the Swiss alps, Austria, Lichtenstein, back to Germany, and over to Paris for drop off at the airport. I got the car up to 135mph on the German autobaun. Total mileage was approx. 1000 miles when we were finished. The complete process and experience were tremendous - I'd do it again, no question.

[cocogigio]

We did ED last May. At that time BMW was providing one free airline ticket plus the price discount, insurance etc. The trip was fantastic. We drove from Munich to Salzburg, Prague, Vienna and finally back to Munich. It's a wonderful way to see Europe and really unique driving in your own car.

If you plan on buying the NAV system, here is a hint that worked great for us - NavTech has a policy that they will provide a refund on the Nav disc if they are returned within 30 days of purchase. We timed the purchase of the European disc so they arrived a few days before our trip and then upon return (two weeks later) sent the discs back to Navtech for a full refund less shipping cost. THe US Nav discs come with the car when it is redelivered in the US.

By the way, having NAV was wonderful in Europe. Especially when navigating the twists and turns in the the old parts of Prague and Vienna! Good luck with your trip if you decide to go.

[paulwbenn]

I bought a new 545i and did ED in January. Saved thousands and got a free (nearly) trip to Munich. You will find a huge amount of information on the ED forum at www.bimmerfest.com. Good luck

[Hormazd]

If you are leasing, the depreciation is still taken on US MSRP, even though you pay your ED price. This makes a huge difference in monthly payment.

My wife and I drove 2000 miles from Munich to Rome via Venice and Florence, then to Barcelona via Pisa, Nice/Monaco AIX and then back to Nice for drop off. We had a blast. Well worth it.

[gmmandrade]

A few things.

First, the reason it's cheaper is that the ED cars don't come out of BMWNA allocations, and in fact BMWNA doesn't get it's usual "share" of the profits, which are instead passed on to you. The ED MSRP "discount" is (supposedly) exactly equal to the $ BMW would pay to BMWNA for helping sell your car. Bottom line is that BMW AG get's the same $ for the car, they don't miss out on anything.

Second thing, and this is REALLY important, because the ED cars do not come out of dealer allocations (except M models and i think the 6-series for now), you can negotiate a lot bigger discount than just the ED MSRP. In theory, since it doesn't cost the dealer anything to sell you the car, in terms of giving up a valuable production slot, they should be willing to give you a big price break. $1-2k over ED invoice is not uncommon.

Now, you should tell your dealer up front that you intend on doing ED, since it changes the whole dynamics of negotiation, and also the timing of the purchase. It also impacts your financing options, especially if you want to lease. It's almost impossible to lease an ED car from someone other than BMWFS, because the car will not be titled and registered in the US when you close the financing (usually a month before delivery in Germany), and most leasing companies can't deal with that. Also, and this is REALLY important as well, many dealers have no experience with ED, and the process is not 100% idiot-proof, so I would recommend going with a salesperson or a dealership that handles lots of ED's. You don't want to show up in Germany to pick up your car, and find out the paperwork was messed up.....