Ok, so I didn't make the 12-hour deadline but I've just now gotten internet access for my laptop so I'll try to make up for it with added details and pics.

Statistics to date:

Location: Marriott Flora, Rome; car in garage since last evening.
Days in Europe: 2.5
Days driven: Less than 1.5
Miles on Car: 600+
Top speed to date: 105MPH
Max RPM's: 4750
Impressions of car: (Words cannot describe... )

Left Seattle Sunday morning for Chicago where I switched to British Airways for the flight to London and then transferred to the final leg of the journey arriving in Munich at 12:15PM. Rolf met us at the airport in his mini cooper - very tight fit! But it was fun and he actually got it up to 180KPH with two passengers and a full load of luggage. He said we made the trip 15 minutes quicker than normal but I think that was primarily due to no traffic.

Arrived at the delivery center, checked in, and went up stairs to enjoy our free lunch (and treat Rolf to some coffee and cake). I wanted to get some wheel locks for the car and Rolf volunteered to drive me to the nearby BMW subsidiary to purchase them and the vest. He was very helpful pointing me in the right direction and translating as necessary to keep things moving. They had some great cars there to look at, including an M5, but I was anxious to get back to the DC to pickup my own car. I absolutely recommend Rolf for anyone doing ED, he is more than willing to help out however he can (answering questions, playing tour guide, etc.)

They were ready when we returned to the DC and had been waiting for us. We sat down to sign all of the paperwork, which took all of 5 minutes. I was pretty surprised at this in light of other people's experiences that I've read and figured I wasn't getting one of the standard persons. It was a young woman, likely the same others have encountered recently, and she said she was just helping out. Knowing I was heading to Rome and that finding self-parking might be tough, I questioned her on the specifics around handling of keys in light of insurance. She didn't know but spoke with others and they spoke with the insurance company - according to them you absolutely can valet park the car or leave the key with a person in charge of a parking facility. What you cannot do (and it says this clearly on the paperwork) is leave the key in the car when you have it parked yourself. When it's with someone else, insurance (whether theirs or BMW's) does cover the car. Take it for what it's worth, I'm no fan of leaving your key with someone else. Disclaimer: This is what they told me, you may or may not get a different story.

From there, she also did the walkthrough of the car. It was very rushed and she clearly was interested in getting things wrapped up. Not the best experience but I needed to head out anyway so I asked the questions I needed answers to, and was on my way. We did pair my phone on the spot and program the destination of my hotel that night in Trento Italy. And with that, I pulled the car out of the garage (very tight as others have noted but I thought quite doable), avoided damaging the rims, packed the bags, and hit the road south.

More to come....