No Euro Delivery?

[Capial]

I placed an order on a M3 last week and have been looking into Euro delivery. I got a message from my dealer today stating the M3’s are excluded from the program. I understand there is no difference in price. What's going on? I'll be calling him tomorrow to get things cleared up. I am wondering if my sales person really understands the process. Anybody ever experienced this here?

Thanks,

[e36M3r]

Unless something has changed VERY recently your salesman is wrong. Euro delivery is still possible with an M3, I did my second in March. It's true the M3 is 'not on the program' but that only means there is no special ED list price for the car, as there are with almost all (lesser :D BMW's) :rofl: Also, the car comes out of dealer allocation whereas for a car on the program, it's like an extra sale the dealer can make, so it's slightly less incentive for the dealer... though it should hardly matter.

If you're an ED purist, you can still do ED with an M3. You get the insurance, roadside assistance and all other ED benefits except the lower price.

[RChoudry]

Yes, I picked mine up last March with e36m3er in Munich.

There's just no discount, but the trip is incredible.

[exotics4fun]

Many dealers resist doing it because ED cars don't pay holdback to the dealership. Since an M3 comes from allocation and holdback amounts to quite a bit on a 50k+ car they don't like the idea. I finally found a dealership willing to talk about it after contacting at least 6 AND I used to work at a BMW store, I still am having a very tough time making this happen. Don't be afraid to call out of state, it's what I had to do.

[Capial]

thanks for the comments. good information I was not awere of
My understanding was that BMW did not do Holdbacks. My problem i have taken a lot of time and placed a deposit and got an alocation. I don't want to start the whole thing again.

E36:
It makes a lot o since what you just wrote. Maybe my sales person knows more than I think and is really trying to steer me away from Euro delivery since they gave me a good discount of the car. :dunno:

[exotics4fun]

BMW pays dealers a very handsome holdback, it's one of the largest in the business. It has all kinds of conditionalities attached to it though, so don't bother bringing it up in negotiations. Dealers don't assume they'll actually see that check each month so they won't deal in their holdback money.

[e36M3r]

That shouldn't make a difference. It's NBD to them to sell it via Euro Delivery, not much work at all... just a few papers, etc sent to BMWNA. My dealer gave me almost 3K off in February when I ordered my car... so I doubt it's the discount. They probably think it's a hassle.


E36:
It makes a lot o since what you just wrote. Maybe my sales person knows more than I think and is really trying to steer me away from Euro delivery since they gave me a good discount of the car. :dunno:

[Army Chief]

e36M3r is exactly right. You can specify European Delivery, but you won't get the associated price break.

As with most situations involving BMWUSA, the program itself is available, but there is little incentive in the system for sales personnel and management to learn much about it -- nor to go the extra mile to put the details together for you.

Want to have some extra fun? Tell them you want the car to be a BMW Individual machine, and enjoy all of the blank stares.

Chief

[Pinecone]

That's because there is NO BMW Individual in the US. BMW NA doesn't do it.

There are plenty of dealers who would be glad to do a Euro delivery for you.

[16hr Day]

e36M3r is exactly right. You can specify European Delivery, but you won't get the associated price break.

As with most situations involving BMWUSA, the program itself is available, but there is little incentive in the system for sales personnel and management to learn much about it -- nor to go the extra mile to put the details together for you.

Want to have some extra fun? Tell them you want the car to be a BMW Individual machine, and enjoy all of the blank stares.

Chief

great looking car. loved your site. oh, GO NAVY BEAT ARMY :thumbup: :thumbup:

[Army Chief]

Navy? Navy, who? :D

Pinecone, you're correct about BMWNA technically not having a conduit for participation in the Individual program; nonetheless, this remains accessible to U.S. purchasers who (a) have the right dealer connections, (b) are educated on the process, and (c) have the patience of Job.

In the past, it has taken Herculean effort (and occasional light bribes) to pull this off at times, but there are BMW Individual machines in the U.S. that have nothing to do with European Delivery or Military Sales. That's why I drew the analogy; it can be done, but no dealer or sales rep is going to go out of his way to make the requisite calls to BMWNA -- and by extension, BMW AG. Most don't even know that such a thing exists.

Chief

[Cowboy Bebop]

right again chief...
I looked into both options when I ordered my M, and dealer didn't know anything about ED or Individual.
Salesman took it upon himself to find out though and a few weeks later a Euro Delivery packet arrived in my mail.
Funny thing was, it was the "Inside" scoop on the ED process.
It was written for Dealers and Salesmen to help them through the process... it was quite interesting.

As mentioned, individual can be done in the US, you just have to find a dealer willing to do the work, and you need have just slightly more patience than job in fact.

[Shades]

If this info is correct it looks like the US will finally get the individual program.

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/100/m-powered.html?partner=rss

[patton03m3]

That's because there is NO BMW Individual in the US. BMW NA doesn't do it.

Interesting, wonder how that got there. :)

[Cowboy Bebop]

My strut tower plate says much the same thing...and it proves what exactly?

we have said that you can get it done, but that doesn't change the fact that there is NO OFFICIAL PROGRAM in NA.

last year Helmut, or one of the other AG bigwigs said that they were reconsidering the Re-Introduction of the Individual program in NA... we can only hope.

[patton03m3]

My strut tower plate says much the same thing...and it proves what exactly?
we have said that you can get it done, but that doesn't change the fact that there is NO OFFICIAL PROGRAM in NA.


Easy, padner! :) == pokin' a little fun. I agree, it's not in full, official effect in the US. Unfortunately. But I hope we don't discourage people from trying by saying it doesn't exist. That's what will get the people at NA acting on it. God knows they need some prodding.

It's all good.

[rommelrules]

Don't know if this has been mentioned, I but was told that you can't order an Individual car
through the ED process. Doesn't make much sense to me, but there was just no way around this. My salesman was more than willing to order any kind of Individual options I wanted (wasn't even a big deal-- I guess everybody is ordering Indvidual cars here in SoCal) as long as I took delivery stateside.
Can anybody confirm this once and for all?

Obviously, ED was far more important to me, so I skipped the whole Individual option.
Would have been nice though to take delivery in Munich of an Avus E46 M3 instead of IB. Oh, well... next time-- provided it's possible...

[Cowboy Bebop]

Easy, padner! :) == pokin' a little fun. I agree, it's not in full, official effect in the US. Unfortunately. But I hope we don't discourage people from trying by saying it doesn't exist. That's what will get the people at NA acting on it. God knows they need some prodding.

It's all good.


My bad, it was late when I wrote that and it didn't seem that harsh when I thought it , but it sure does read that way.

not intentional at all, sorry for the fuzzy brain syndrome post.

"the mind is a terrible thing, wast it"

FYI, I certianly do hope to encourage more people to fight for the Individual options as this will only help NA decide to get off it's collective keister and bring the full program here!

by posting over and again pics, and showing the availability of Individual cars Iam/we are trying to help others do the same.
They just need to know that they can't just ask the dealer for the Individual program and expect to get very far.

[Pinecone]

Actually BMW NA has allowed the ordering of certain options that are not in the order book, but not the full Individual catalogue. They finally opened up the custom colors officially, but only to those being sprayed on other models of BMWs, not truely custom stuff.

I am sure that there are some people with the right connections to get BMW Individual cars, but I would guess that most are born or married into the the connection with BMW NA> :)

[Army Chief]

Again, not to be contrary, but this is not exactly so. The full BMW Individual pallette is available (at varying prices), and this includes a great many colors not found elsewhere in the BWM product range. My own color is an example of this, and while I availed myself of the back door via U.S. Military Sales, I do know of at least two other Velvet Blue machines in the United States. Likewise with Techno Violet, Avus Blau, Chiaretto Red etc.

As you suggest, with the right connections, one can get considerably more than just special paintwork, and there are many custom interiors (including full leather) out there as well. The issue is that (a) very few people know about these options, and (b) fewer still dealerships are willing to leverage their clout with BMWNA to force these orders through for a "regular" customer. You correctly identify the trend, but never say never.

Chief

[Pinecone]

Again, not to be contrary, but this is not exactly so. The full BMW Individual pallette is available (at varying prices), and this includes a great many colors not found elsewhere in the BWM product range. My own color is an example of this, and while I availed myself of the back door via U.S. Military Sales, I do know of at least two other Velvet Blue machines in the United States. Likewise with Techno Violet, Avus Blau, Chiaretto Red etc.

As you suggest, with the right connections, one can get considerably more than just special paintwork, and there are many custom interiors (including full leather) out there as well. The issue is that (a) very few people know about these options, and (b) fewer still dealerships are willing to leverage their clout with BMWNA to force these orders through for a "regular" customer. You correctly identify the trend, but never say never.

Chief

At least Avus Blue WAS on the US list of special order colors as it was being painted on the M5 at the time.

Yes, there are exceptions to the rule, but in general, for the average buyer, Individual is not available in the US. Heck, even when Alcantara was known to be available (complete with order code), most people could not get it.