I think I am going to bite the bullet on the new/LCI 335i coupe....

I'd like to do European delivery (nearly free trip!) and was wondering if any of you guys have had experience doing this in the past. I know that Bimmerpost and similar forums are great resources but I was interested to see if TWW had experience with local dealers and the ED process.

I've got plenty of time and would probably like to go towards the end of this year. Thinking ahead

That being said, if you just have experience visiting Bavaria and would like to suggest some cool places to visit/routes to drive I'd take that advice too

1/30/2010 8:54:44 PM

A friend of mine did it but he lives up in Reston, which is also where he purchased the car. He said it was a blast and ended up driving the car all the way to Spain and back before dropping it off at the port. His trip was no where close to 'near free' because he said he spent almost $5000 on gas alone

1/30/2010 9:04:40 PM

wow dude i've always dreamed of doing this one day, same car too.

jealous as a mofo

1/30/2010 9:26:29 PM

uncle (lives in NY) did it about 5 years ago for an E46, he seemed happy with the process

1/31/2010 10:10:37 AM

One of the guys I worked with did this and said the trip was basically free and then some. He did it from some place in Illinois.

1/31/2010 12:47:15 PM

Davos to Stelvia

1/31/2010 3:24:22 PM

tell me more about this european delivery deal.

1/31/2010 10:38:44 PM

if anyone wants to know about the BMW european delivery process go talk to the people at shade tree. there's evidence on their website that they've done it many many times.

2/1/2010 8:38:28 AM

make sure that after European delivery you have them ship the car to Greenville for your stateside delivery. they will have your car waiting for you in a room like a nursery and have a specialist that will spend as much time as you want showing you the features. then they give you an identical car to take to the performance driving center.

2/1/2010 10:41:05 AM

^

awesome! Did not know this

2/1/2010 11:54:53 AM

So why would people do this?

How are some people saying the trip was free?

BMWs cost a lot more in Europe, so you pay more for the car?

And then you pay for having it shipped to the US?

2/1/2010 12:10:38 PM

Quote :

"tell me more about this european delivery deal."

2/1/2010 12:12:41 PM

sounds like they can ship the car as used instead of new, avoiding the huge taxes associated with shipping a "new" car.

from 2006 but probably still somewhat valide: http://www.insideline.com/bmw/3-series/2006/buy-a-bmw-see-europe-for-free.html

2/1/2010 12:40:51 PM

You pay a much cheaper price on the car because BMW does not have to fund the dealer incentives and associated bullshit. The price difference on purchasing the car in the US vs. picking it up in Europe makes the trip "free."

i.e. you are paying 45k either way....ED just lets you got Europe on the same budget (roughly).

here is a whole wiki on the process:
http://www.bimmerfest.com/wiki/index.php?title=BMW_European_Delivery

2/1/2010 12:45:47 PM

from what i've read there is no reason not to take advantage of european delivery when buying a car with the option to do so.

2/1/2010 12:45:55 PM

According to a section in that wiki, dealers are paid extra monies on a customer satisfaction scale. Funny

2/1/2010 1:24:02 PM

Quote :

"According to a section in that wiki, dealers are paid extra monies on a customer satisfaction scale. Funny"

Monthly.

2/1/2010 3:45:54 PM

Quote :

"Immediately after you order your European Delivery BMW you will discover a tear in the local space-time continuum. Suddenly Germany will seem much closer and you will find yourself remembering your high school German, or making it up. At the same time your calendar will develop a very obvious fault: it will slow down to a crawl or sometimes even stop. "

Audi European Delivery is pretty baller too. Free airport pickup, night stay in a choice of local hotels, tour of the factory, delivery of car to drop-off point, etc.


[Edited on February 1, 2010 at 8:04 PM. Reason : .]

2/1/2010 7:50:38 PM

I'm still trying to figure out why you are talking about purchasing a new BMW, but still using "LCI" to describe it. Thats like saying you are going to buy a new new car.

2/6/2010 4:13:10 PM

?

i was saying new/LCI because LCI = lifecycle injection

i had a feeling some trolls would say it's technically not a "new" version of the 335i, just a facelifted version.

2/6/2010 6:31:50 PM

Man, if you're buying the car new, its new. Nobody in The Garage refers to new cars as LCI. If you say you're gonna buy a new 335i coupe we all know what it means

2/8/2010 1:00:07 PM

Only faggets use acronyms like that.

2/10/2010 6:17:11 AM

Only faggets use acronyms like that.

2/10/2010 8:06:13 AM

Ofualt

2/10/2010 3:55:00 PM

get a 335is if you are interested in performance mods, otherwise you will get a n55 engine which will allegedly be difficult to mod.

2/10/2010 6:06:06 PM