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  BMW Forums » BMW discussion forums » BMW European Delivery
  Just-in-time ED - seeking advice

 Just-in-time ED - seeking advice



Hello everyone,

I have opted, on very short notice, to take delivery of a new 550i in Munich through the ED program on Jan 23.

Long story short - was in the process of ordering car through normal methods just before Christmas. Business trip to Germany/Switzerland materialized - quickly decided to do the ED thing for once ... have wanted to do it for years - why not? Confirmed just after Christmas that car could be delivered in Munich under such short notice. Finalized travel plans last week. Now scrambling to learn the pertinent best-practices around doing the ED thing.

Discovered this forum a few days ago, and have already learned much. But have remaining questions. Basic itinerary goes like this:

Jan 22 - arrive Munich
Jan 23 - pick up car - free day otherwise
Jan 24 - Drive to Basel, potentially stopping in Zurich - or maybe do the Dingolfing tour?
Jan 25 (afternoon) or Jan 26 (morning) - Drive to Frankfurt or Zurich for drop-off, depart for London in the afternoon.

Questions:
1) How best to communicate with the "right" people at BWM ED in regards to logistics? I've learned about a Herr Hoffmann - and have emailed him. Is this the best way to ask questions directly about the ED logistics?
2) How to arrange a tour of Dingolfing? Perhaps it's too late - is Herr Hoffmann the best route?
3) Am I nuts thinking I should be driving anywhere at all this time of year in Germany on the 5's Sport Package performance tires? Have seen the thread about winter tires vs summer tires. Have spent much time in Northern Italy and the Dolomiti in winter - so despite living in SoCal, I have had some (positive) experience driving in cold conditions in Europe ... but that thread has me nervous.
4) Are there reasons to drive back to Munich for drop-off at HARMS rather than use the drop-offs in Zurich or Frankfurt?
5) How long does the drop-off activity take? How much time do I need to allow for that, with the idea that I will travel directly from drop-off to airport for a 6:00PM flight out?
6) Again, would like to contact BMW ED to hear directly from them whether or not I will be "surprised" by something like advice that I should not drive at all in current conditions.
7) If it turns out to be a bad idea - is it possible to abandon the notion of ED, and have the car delivered under normal methods to my local dealer? I would expect, of course, to lose the purchase price reduction realized through ED ... but is it even possible?

Bottom line - newbie to this forum - doing ED for the first-time (6th BMW) - looking for "fast-track" best-practices advice from those of you who have learned this all by experience already.

Thanks in advance for any help - and thanks to those who've already provided me with some excellent information.
   Reply » Just-in-time ED - seeking advice

Your best bet is to send a private message to Beewang....he's the best connected guy here for ED since he's done so many.....he lives in Los Angeles by the way.

The weather is going to be a huge issue on the routes you're thinking about. Keep an open mind. Drop the car off in the location that best suits you.....it might take a few days extra to get redelivered if you drop it off in places other than Germany but it might not....best redelivery strategy can be very hit or miss.

Dingolfing tour is fantastic. You can do a search and get the links for the email addresses at the factory.

   Reply » Just-in-time ED - seeking advice

Whoa!

Sounds like you are good to go, relax and don't worry. Worst thing happens (weather wise) you pickup the car in Munich and drive to the drop off location 10 mins away. Then you can continue your trip just like originally planned before you saved a bundle doing the ED.

I'm not sure why you need to contact everybody.... and why your logistics are so much different than everyone else's. Typicaly we don't contact any of the 'right' people to do our EDs. We just sign up and do it.

My first Ed was arranged in 5 weeks so I was in a similar situation. No problems. Nobody can tell you if you should drive there in winter...I'm afraid you will have to make that decision yourself.



   Reply » Just-in-time ED - seeking advice

Quote:
Hello everyone,

I have opted, on very short notice, to take delivery of a new 550i in Munich through the ED program on Jan 23.

Long story short - was in the process of ordering car through normal methods just before Christmas. Business trip to Germany/Switzerland materialized - quickly decided to do the ED thing for once ... have wanted to do it for years - why not? Confirmed just after Christmas that car could be delivered in Munich under such short notice. Finalized travel plans last week. Now scrambling to learn the pertinent best-practices around doing the ED thing.

Discovered this forum a few days ago, and have already learned much. But have remaining questions. Basic itinerary goes like this:

Jan 22 - arrive Munich
Jan 23 - pick up car - free day otherwise
Jan 24 - Drive to Basel, potentially stopping in Zurich - or maybe do the Dingolfing tour?
Jan 25 (afternoon) or Jan 26 (morning) - Drive to Frankfurt or Zurich for drop-off, depart for London in the afternoon.

Questions:
1) How best to communicate with the "right" people at BWM ED in regards to logistics? I've learned about a Herr Hoffmann - and have emailed him. Is this the best way to ask questions directly about the ED logistics?
2) How to arrange a tour of Dingolfing? Perhaps it's too late - is Herr Hoffmann the best route?
3) Am I nuts thinking I should be driving anywhere at all this time of year in Germany on the 5's Sport Package performance tires? Have seen the thread about winter tires vs summer tires. Have spent much time in Northern Italy and the Dolomiti in winter - so despite living in SoCal, I have had some (positive) experience driving in cold conditions in Europe ... but that thread has me nervous.
4) Are there reasons to drive back to Munich for drop-off at HARMS rather than use the drop-offs in Zurich or Frankfurt?
5) How long does the drop-off activity take? How much time do I need to allow for that, with the idea that I will travel directly from drop-off to airport for a 6:00PM flight out?
6) Again, would like to contact BMW ED to hear directly from them whether or not I will be "surprised" by something like advice that I should not drive at all in current conditions.
7) If it turns out to be a bad idea - is it possible to abandon the notion of ED, and have the car delivered under normal methods to my local dealer? I would expect, of course, to lose the purchase price reduction realized through ED ... but is it even possible?

Bottom line - newbie to this forum - doing ED for the first-time (6th BMW) - looking for "fast-track" best-practices advice from those of you who have learned this all by experience already.

Thanks in advance for any help - and thanks to those who've already provided me with some excellent information.
Answe:

1) ??!! Like what??
2) Too late to arrange for that now.. you need to do this months ahead.
3) I think you will be fine, the problem of reading the msg forum is that everyone has his/her own tolorence and experince. WHat's easy for others may not be for you and vise versa.

4) Only if its convinient for you to fly out, personally I think its a pretty damn stupid idea to drive back to munich especially if you are not flying out of there.
5) depends on how many people ahead of you. As well as how you are. I am in and out within 5 mins, but some people would perfer talk to Mr/ Berhard to death and bid farewell to a piece of Geman metal (your car). Not me, I am on vacation and I have better things to do than hangout at an office that I don't get paid to work at.

6) You could contact them and what do you want them to say?? Don't come?? Its rainy/snowing?? DOn't be silly.
7) You can always pay more. But frankly your questions are much ado about nuthing.

cheers,

bee

   Reply » Just-in-time ED - seeking advice

I had a suspicion I might be worrying too much - but then I'm an engineer by training - I like to have a plan.

My takeaway of advice so far is:
1) Go with the flow - if the weather sucks, drive it to Munich drop-off and proceed about my business without the car.
2) Logistics to delivery / from drop-off are trivial, don't sweat the details.
3) Dingolfing is probably out of the question

Thanks for the quick feedback.

   Reply » Just-in-time ED - seeking advice

Quote:
3) Dingolfing is probably out of the question

Thanks for the quick feedback.
I wouldn't give up so easily. I would think that if they are offering a tour during the timeframes of your visit it's worth a couple of emails to the factory. Make sure you tell them you're picking up a new car in Munich. (brownie points??) Knowing what I know about that tour I would even consider showing up without a reservation (because the factory is THAT GOOD!!)...the worst case that could happen is you get some autobahn driving in because they don't let you in to the tour. I'd assume they might have no-shows.....especially in January....???

http://www.bmw-plant-dingolfing.com/


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