Never got around to posting these pictures from my May '05 delivery but some may find them interesting since noone really ever posts pictures of the actual center – only the lounge, café or “garage/show room” where the car over view is done.

Due to the long wait for delivery (I could only drink so much coffee and eat so many free pastries in the upstairs cafe) I decided to venture around the property. Some might recall a door to the left of the café bar. It was open when we were there so I went out on to the metal fire escape and it offered a nice view of the property. We walked down the stairs, to the right, which is back out the driveway towards the street. Just about 100 yards away from the stairs, you find a roll-up door that appears to always be open. We walked in and found ourselves looking down basically 3 lanes, 2 lines on either side of the lanes, with cars in various stages of being prepped. There were quite a few people “working” but none seemed to care we were walking around.

A few things I learned from Bernard (what a pleasure to have him) were that the edifice housing the Delivery Center is relatively new compared to the rest of the building. As most will describe the DC, it’s basically a nice BMW service center waiting room (plus a very nice café) attached to a cement floored, corrugated metal garage that is kind of lifeless less the ‘70’s artwork but the original building (that I speak of) is really cool. It’s a turn of the century train barn where Munich’s mass transit cars would be pulled into for maintenance. The building is mostly intact but actually shorter than it was once but you can from the pictures, how it is ideal as a prep center. Notice how the lanes have tracks with metal chains running down the center. These pull the cars as they move from worker to worker, whom in the variously covered lab coats, do whatever it is they do. (the jobs did not look to hard but I’d take it) I also learned that the delivery center would be phased out late this year as the new BMW World comes on line. (and from the plans on the Internet, that place looks awesome…. I can’t wait for our next ED as that place looks like auto Disneyland!!)

Also surprising is the hard plastic, gas-station type bristled car wash located at the head of the center lane (my wife is peering into it). Yes, this is the ED delivery center but the real purpose of this entire property and facility is as the dealer prep center for the entire Munich district BMW dealership network – I mean there’s like hundreds of cars when you really look around plus motorcycles.

-later

Pictures:

1 – across the lane from the building that houses the Delivery Center and Munich dealership prep center. The DC would be more to the right, back along the building. The roll-up door I spoke of is just next to and in front of those 2 red cycles. Notice how the canopy humps way down, that’s where it becomes a ramp over the road you drive in off of. The ramp takes the cars over to more lots and ultimately to a train yard!!

2 – Left hand lane
3 - center lane (with view through columns to right hand lane)
4 - wife peering into car wash at head of center lane
5 – Superman aka Bernard conducting the royal handing of the keys