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BMW On Demand at The Welt

15K views 28 replies 19 participants last post by  gooselee 
#1 ·
Hello.

Based on a nice suggestion from the user roots, I tried the "BMW On Demand" at the BMW Welt today. (and thanks to SD_335is, too).

Registration was fairly easy, by visiting their website:
http://www.bmw-welt.com/web_rb/bmw-welt/en/bmw_welt/bmw_on_demand/overview.html

Because there would be just a student from Japan and myself, I selected a 135i Coupe, which was for 11:00 am - 5:00 pm, at EUR 25 per hour, maximum charge for three hours. (the most you would pay is for three hours, even if you had it for six hours.)

Monday is also a bank holiday in Germany (following Easter), so we expected a bit of a crowd at The Welt -- and there certainly was!

The Reservation Counter is prominently positioned to the right of the ground ("E") level Gift Shop. I did not recall seeing it there in January 2012 when I did my Euro Deliv...and I asked the customer assistance guy if it was a new program. He replied that it had been ongoing since about 2010. I told him that I don't remember it from January, and he replied that they had moved it from an obscure location in late January to the present position. Okay, that made sense. Admittedly, my first visit to the Welt was packed with a million thoughts in my head....so maybe it was present...maybe not. But the counter is hard to miss now.

All I needed was a Drivers License, Passport, and Credit Card. The Driver License part was interesting, because I had a Texas DL from 1980 to 2009, and then just got another new one having come back from Florida two months ago. There is an "Issue Date" on the latest version of the Texas Drivers Licenses, printed clearly on the face, and so he wondered if I had been driving for any length of time. Apparently there is a minimum number of years of driving experience one must have for qualification to rent the car.

The deposit taken on my credit card was fairly steep: EUR 825.00.

The counter guy was really friendly and nice, and we had gotten into a discussion about our German language course. He started to talk to us in Deutsche, but we both knew enough to say "no, not yet!" He asked if I knew how to drive a manual transmission, and I said, yes, for many many years. He said that they have to ask, because one vehicle required four transmission replacements in just 40,000 km of use!

The paperwork is somewhat similar to that you would file when renting a vehicle from EuroCar -- no, that's not correct. It is about 1/2 of what you would do for renting a vehicle. Pretty simple. Sign your name two times, sign the credit card deposit, and that's it. They hand you two stapled pages of the contract, with a vehicle diagram on each section, and they note any damage. Then you get an electronic key for entering/exiting the parking garage, and you get a BMW vehicle key (not Comfort Access for this model).

Then you go from "E" (the lift/elevator is immediately adjacent to the counter) to P2. You exit the lift, turn left, go out the door, and you see the cars. They have two rows of reserved parking for "BMW ON DEMAND" with signage.

There were two guys getting the run-down on a a M3 Coupe, right next to our car, with an attendant. So I opened our car, tossed our stuff in it, and began setting-up the pairing with my iPhone. My student colleague adjusted his seat and walked around the car. We took a few photographs of it...a white 135i Coupe Manual Transmission. Just as ordered. I popped open the trunk/boot to get attention from the attendant.

For a few minutes, I sort of wished I had gotten an M3 here, but I already have one of those now, so it was time to drive something different).

The attendant finished with the M3 guys and then went over to help someone that had gotten there after we did. Meanwhile, the M3 guys were still inside the car, pointing at this, or that, or whatever. The lights were on the car, but they weren't going anywhere. I knew what was going on! I walked over as the driver opened his door, looking quite perplexed.

Right. He didn't know how to make it go. I asked if the attendant explained the DCT to him...nope. So I gave them the run-down on D and S and Reverse, and how to put it into "P." And then told him to put EDC on Sport, and later to hit "Power" so he can experience a bit more. And I adjusted the D program all the way "up." He was about to drive away, when he asked how to work the turn signals -- he had been pressing the cruise/speed control lever. With that, they got the hang of it, and drove out. I love the sound of that engine!

Finally, we flagged down another attendant, who did not seem happy that we were bothering him. Of all the people at the Welt that I've met during four visits, this was the least cheerful encounter. Oh, well...who likes working on holidays, right?

He quickly checked the car, and I signed approval, and he walked off.

Part of the On Demand advertising is that you can experience the „Bayerisches Adrenalin"
(http://www.bmw-welt.com/web_rb/bmw-welt/en/bmw_welt/bmw_on_demand/routes.html)
Which included the last line: "Due to the approx. duration of the route please be aware that you should reserve your car at least for three hours if you want to experience the whole tour will all highlights."

I looked at the GPS/Nav but could not detect anything like a pre-programmed location in an address book. We flagged down the same guy and I quickly asked him about the pre-programmed tour? He said to press on the radio controls "1" or "2" or "3", and that "8" was programmed to return to the parking garage here.

When hovering over the 1, 2, 3, we did not recognize the names of any places. So we pressed "1" and decided to go with the Mystery Tour #1.

It was about 70km south of Munich. I noticed that we took all city streets, and wasn't really making good time. But this was supposed to be scenic...so okay. Eventually we got out of town and to a more "rustic" area. The program took us to the Buchheim Museum (www.buchheimmuseum.de).
The museum theme (current or permanent, not sure) is Fantasy. So there was an interesting fantasy BMW in the front of the museum (see picture). There was also a special program today, and we were able to read it pretty well, but it was lengthy. We had a good lunch in the cafe, and then went back to the 135i.

GPS Mystery Tour #2 was also only about 70 km to the east.

GPS Mystery Tour #3 was about 220 km south!!!! I don't get how the web advertising material can read that you can do the whole tour in three hours.

We selected Mystery Tour #2 and drove.

Again, I felt as though we were taking back-roads. So this time I checked the settings and found that were were on "Shortest route" instead of "Fast route." We would change that after Tour #2 location.

Tour #2 was beautiful. It is the lake-side, mountain-edge village of Rottach-Egern. A picturesque, post-card perfect area with road-side hotels and cafes. The photograph attached is looking toward the snow-capped mountains with the crisp lake in front, and a church steeple in between.

At that, we went back to the 135i and I found we were about 70 km from Munich, with it being about 4:00pm. We had one hour to get the car back to meet my reservation period!

I pressed program "8" and the BMW Welt garage came up. We started driving.

Even though it was now on "Fast Route" the GPS kept missing the Autobahn. My passenger had never been on the autobahn, and I wanted to get the car up to something reasonable. Finally, I told the GPS voice to shut-up when I saw a sign for the A8, and we headed over to it. I saw the sign for Munich, and we hopped on the autobahn. The GPS was still trying to get me to exit! Anyhow, I asked my passenger about what was the fastest speed he'd ever ridden in a car, and he said 180 km. So I brought us up to 200 km (124 mph) and we drove along that speed for about ten minutes (ah, if only we could do that in Texas!). Then I let the GPS take over, and we got off the autobahn.

We saved about ten minutes, and it appeared we would make it to the Welt at 4:50 pm.

As we hit traffic light after traffic light, I wondered if the GPS had been selected to avoid "highways." Well....that selection option was not to be found! It was completely omitted. Sneaky.

We had consumed about 1/4 tank of gas. I put into a quick petrol station and loaded EUR 30.50 into the tank. It was unclear if we had to refill the vehicle, of if they would have done that at a charge of some kind. I did not know...forgot to ask!

The GPS took us directly to the Welt garage, and the electronic passkey got it inside. I headed down to P2, and pulled into the first spot. The not-super-friendly-guy was there and he quickly checked the car. It was fine. We took our paperwork up to the counter at 4:59 pm.

The original man was busy, so the counter Fraulein helped us (she was nice to chat with) and stuck the key into the reader to get all of the travel data. I signed another piece of paper, she took my credit card and redeposited the EUR 825, and then charged EUR 75.00 for the rental.

Reflections on BMW On Demand:
a) Easy to arrange and the actual take-out/return process is a breeze
b) Pre-arranged „Bayerisches Adrenalin".... hmmmm. mixed. Foremost, my passenger noted that had we not rented this car, he would have never, ever, thought of going to those two places. And he's completely right on that. And we enjoyed visiting those places. So that was a "win." The "mixed" part is the GPS appears to block out travel on the autobahn...(or I couldn't find the override option). The web advertising of "Experience the thrill and exhilaration of driving a BMW model on the German autobahn, on twisting country roads and enjoy typical bavarian villages" isn't quite possible following their GPS. If I had known this in advance, i would have brought the windshield bracket for my iPhone's Navigon and ignored the BMW GPS.
c) Cost. EUR 75 rent + EUR 30 fuel, for a total of 178 km (111 miles), five hours, lunch, and two scenic, cool-to-photograph places. Definitely worth it.
d) If I had known about this prior to my European Delivery, most likely I would have arrived a day earlier, and do a BMW On Demand the day prior to the ED. That would give one a bit of non-stress fun, comfort in using a car (Not mine, hehe), and familiarity with pre-programmed routes.

Win !
 

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#4 ·
Great write-up. I really enjoy your stories on this forum. My wife and I have been visiting Bavaria at least once a year for the past 33 years and our recent February ED was our first drive through Rottach-Egern. What a pretty place. It must be incredible (and wall to wall people) in the Summer. Very, very nice picture.

It sounds like you got better gas mileage than we got in our 128i. It seemed like the second we pulled out of a gas station the indicator dropped to half full. Did you ever find out if you were supposed to refill?
 
#6 ·
Great write-up.

<snipped>

Did you ever find out if you were supposed to refill?
Thank you.

So, my Deutschkurs instructor looked at the paperwork and found where it states they will look at the fuel gauge when you depart, and when you return, and estimate the number of litres consumed...and they will charge you for that.

What was not clear is if there is any kind of up-charge or if the price of petrol is at market rate.

As with other car rental places (i.e. Hertz, Avis) I never take their option to re-fill for me because that's letting someone else take the financial reins over your credit card. Better to fill-it yourself, assuming you have time to do so.
 
#5 ·
I did this in February with an M3. Drove down to Mittenwald via Kochel am See and then back via Garmisch and the A95 at speed.

Plan to do it again in July but this time with an M5! Probably head down to Füssen and the castle plus a stop by Alois Ruf if he is in town (family friend).

Then I'll pick up my Sixt Rental M3 and head for the auto museums by Heilbronn and on to the 'Ring for my 3rd BMW M Fascination Nordschleife event.

Running down the bucket list...
 
#7 ·
Interesting read, thanks!

I'm looking at doing this myself next month. I'm spending a day hopefully at BMW Welt and BMW On Demand.

Initially I planned to take a different car for an hour each time but I'm wondering if thats long enough. If I was to follow say Route 2 only would I be able to do it in an hour?

So torn between experiencing as many cars as I can or getting plenty of time with just one car. Difficult! The F10 M5 is just 70 euro, so I was going to do an F10 M5, M3 Coupe and a 640d Cab at about $140 for 3 hours. This seemed like better variety than just taking one of them all day.
 
#8 ·
Interesting read, thanks!

<snipped>

If I was to follow say Route 2 only would I be able to do it in an hour?

<snipped>
Oh, probably not. The distance between the city centre of Munich and Rottach-Egern is 55 km / 34 miles @ about 46 minutes on the Autobahn at-speed. Then when you get into town, the traffic and speed limit slow you further. If you want to look around the town (a primary reason to go there in the first place) you will need about a half-hour to at least take-in a bit of the lake scenery. In the Summer, the area may be even more crowded than when I was there in April.

Have fun!
 
#9 ·
The only problem is that you can only reserve a month in advance. So if you're planning a trip in 3 months and you want to rent an M5, you cannot be sure it's going to be available.
 
#12 ·
Hey there. I'm just wondering if you had done the M5 and where you went?

- V

.
 
#13 ·
Great write up. Thank you. I am going to take your advice and arrive a day early on our ED trip and try out something different.


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#14 ·
Please rent the M550d, and post a write up!
 
#15 ·
Ok. Sounds like a plan. I've been meaning to try out The Diesel engines for a while now!

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#16 ·
Thought I'd update with my experience-

Had a business trip to germany (2 days!) and my meeting today was moved up to an early breakfast. As a result I was done by 9:30.

So I called BMW on demand (as the website showed no M5 or M6 available) and asked if they might have either an M5 or M6.... "why yes we do"

I was there by 10:15. ;)

Drove the crap out of that M5. Paid for 3 hours (75Euros per) and you get 150 km/hr. With a three hour rental you can keep it from 9AM-5PM or 6PM-9AM.... . Drove a bit, then stopped at the Audi Plant, took a tour, ate, browsed...then drove a large loop getting back at 17:00:10 (car was due back by 5PM or 17:00:00) A bit over on KMs.

Turns out the car is limited to ~268kph.

Quite a machine. Not as visceral or precise as my 996TT, but still beastly. If you've driven the autobahn where it is unlimited, it is white knuckle speed, then people pulling out, brake from 250 down to 120, then they wander back over and you are back up to speeds... again and again...it isnt what many imagine, dealing with the speed, and traffic and changing speed limts is quite a task. Once in a while you pick up someone that can hang with the M5, an audi, a 997TT.... I had an absolute blast- JUST DRIVING- no sights (except the Audi factory).

On Demand was very nice and easy to deal with - pleasant, quick, no fuss.

If I was doing an ED, I would much prefer to flog their car than mine....

A


PS Actually filled the tank up on the way back to the Welt and spent a bit more than one half of the rental amount for fuel..sure was thirsty.... Yikes.
 
#17 ·
If you've driven the autobahn where it is unlimited, it is white knuckle speed, then people pulling out, brake from 250 down to 120, then they wander back over and you are back up to speeds... again and again...it isnt what many imagine, dealing with the speed, and traffic and changing speed limts is quite a task.
Yup. That is The Best part of the whole experience. I don't know what fun would it be to open it up to 155 mph on a straight and empty Autobahn - even if it would be some fun it would probably wear off and become boring pretty quickly.

The amount of pure focus required to blast past vehicles in the next lane sometimes at close to 100 mph speed difference ... yeah, THAT'S what I'm talking about :D

Thanks for your update. I just learned that now one can book a single car, not just type and there are E92 M3s with MT available. Unfortunately, I already booked my trip using Venice airport for September instead of Munich. Oh well ...
 
#19 ·
I just did a dummy booking to check, and one can do multiple rentals back to back, paying the 3 hour charge each time. So, for the overnight jaunt I had in mind I could check the car out at 9:00 one morning and return in at 9:00 the next day, paying for a total of six hours.
 
#20 ·
You are correct, you can also use the same method for multiple days as well...
 
#21 ·
Is BMW on demand best deal for rental BMW or is Hertz at the airport better?


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#22 ·
Is BMW on demand best deal for rental BMW or is Hertz at the airport better?

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It depends on your needs
Hertz (or Sixt) from the airport allows you to jump in a car right at the airport
and drop it off somewhere in the city (Sixt has actually a drop off just 5 minutes from the Welt
at the BMW Mini dealership) .
Depending on your corporate rate a rental car might be cheaper than BMW on Demand (for example
my rate is 25 Euro a day for a mid-size car)
With BMW on Demand you can rent a fun car or something you can't get in the US (M135/M550d etc)
and rates can be reasonable (M135 35 Euro / hour or ~200 Euro for day/night)
However if you do BMW on Demand you have to get to the Welt from the airport which can
be expensive (taxi will be >90 Euro easily) or take a while via public transport
 
#23 ·
@jmh when are you leaving? I'm leaving Weds night.


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#24 ·
@stealth.pilot I am flying out Tuesday for meetings in London and Helsinki and continuing to Munich .
Pickuo on Thursday. No firm plan yet but likely heading towards Swiss alps
Drop off on Monday 10/14 (and flying back the same day)
 
#25 ·
What a coincidence. I did a London and Helsinki trip only 3 weeks ago! Helsinki was surprisingly 23 degrees celsius when I was there. It seems to be a long summer.

I'm flying out Wednesday from Miami, arriving Munich at 1145am on Thursday. Was planning to rent a car till Saturday am (drop-off at Hertz near Welt at 8am, and then go for my 920am pickup). I was thinking of doing Stelvio in the rental Friday morning and then driving back to Munich.

Do you know if my pickup can be moved forward from Saturday to Thursday, or is it pretty much locked down based on insurance dates?
 
#26 ·
Sometimes you're able to move the time/date up if the car is ready and they have an opening. Usually the best is to either stop by when you arrive or call them
I moved my delivery from 5pm to 10am with no problem
Also the weather seems to have changed from all sun to rain and snow so Stelvio (and many of the other passes) may not be great options .
Probably worth checking as you arrive
 
#27 ·
Renting an M4 for the day

I'm considering to rent a BMW M4 for a day in Munich. It seems like the Welt is offering very good options. However, it seems like they have a GPS speed limiter of 240km/h, which is a sticking point for me. 240km/h is the fastest I've gone. Did anybody else experienced the same issues?
 
#28 ·
Sounds like the standard speed limiter. You would experience the same thing on a rental from Sixt. I did.

You could always recode the ECU and remove the limit.
 
#29 ·
Reviving this thread as I just discovered the on demand program.

Business trip coming up in Austria but I'm flying in/out of Munich and will have a free Saturday before my early Sunday flight home.

Anyone have more recent experiences or any changes? It's almost too good to be true - just book an M5 online and pick it up at the Welt for the day? Ideally I could get there early, spend some time touring the Welt/museum, and then get the car and go for a drive (or vice versa).

Would have loved to do something at the Driving Academy or a track but doesn't seem to be many programs on the day I'll be there.
 
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