Scheduling PCD Pick Up Date

I just had an email from my CA giving me a pick up date that wont work for me. I emailed him and he replied with an email saying "It will be very difficult to change the date" and that he can change it "one time, but not sure the date they will give me".

Is this correct how this works? I mean you buy a $50k car and BMW expects you to drop work, planned vacations etc and fly to pick up your car on the exact date they give you which is "very hard to change"?

My ED was very flexible, yet PCD is not.

Does anybody have any insight on this and how to pick an exact date or at least have a top 3?

PS My CA is one that was receommended by this forum and is on the wiki

Jonathan has replied a couple times I've seen that the Performance Center is very busy, especially on Mondays and Fridays. They can accomidate only so many people and are pretty well booked up. They occasionally have another event impacting their ability to do deliveries - like the schools. I don't know the days of the week you want or how early everything started but I believe they will pencil you in well in advance but ED is a potential issue because your car may be held by customs for a somewhat indefinite time if it is selected for a detailed search. It rarely happens but the performance center doesn't want to lose a slot by scheduling you and then having your car held up too close to PCD for them to put somebody else in the slot. So I think they wait to firm up PCD for ED cars until they clear customs. And by then they are pretty booked.

I had no huge issue but I could do it the middle of the week and I can take vacation as long as I don't have something pressing scheduled. I was flexible. If your vacation time has to be scheduled well in advance and especially if you want to do PCD as soon as possible, I can see where you could have difficulty. It seems like a good chance it is not your CA, just the issue of the performance center being busy.

Jim

Just have your CA reply back to that date offer email with a couple of dates (in preference order) that would work better for you. If they have a cancellation and a spot on one of those dates is available, they can move you. Worst case would be that all the dates you're looking at are booked and there is no alternate date available.

As "JimD1" stated, we are pretty much staying booked and Friday's and Monday's are the most sought after. They schedule the reservations on a first come first serve basis. For ED vehicles, all the vehicles that release from the VPC at the same time are then schedule and offer available spots for those vehicles in the order the reservations where received.

Our program is intended to have the capacity for about 1200 deliveries a year. With current demand we've stretched out as far as we can with the space we have and have already exceeded that number this year just trying to accomodate. In comparison, ED can handle 250 vehicles a day, however there program doesn't compare apples to apples with what we offer.

Originally Posted by I-Won-Today

For ED vehicles, all the vehicles that release from the VPC at the same time are then schedule and offer available spots for those vehicles in the order the reservations where received.

How (and when) are reservations typically received from dealers? Not having good luck communicating with my CA...

My car is ED redelivery, and he's known I'll be doing PCD for many months. Can I assume I'm high on the reservation list, once my car clears customs? It should clear customs next week, or the following.

Originally Posted by SamS

How (and when) are reservations typically received from dealers? Not having good luck communicating with my CA...

My car is ED redelivery, and he's known I'll be doing PCD for many months. Can I assume I'm high on the reservation list, once my car clears customs? It should clear customs next week, or the following.

My CA answered my question. He made my reservation on 9/16, but car just got to port today. Hopefully I can get a PCD date assigned next week!

Originally Posted by SamS

My CA answered my question. He made my reservation on 9/16, but car just got to port today. Hopefully I can get a PCD date assigned next week!

I will be surprised if you get a PCD appointment next week.

My PCD reservation was submitted 7/28
My car got to Port on 11/14.
I was offered a first available date of 12/7

Originally Posted by Stealth.Pilot

I will be surprised if you get a PCD appointment next week.

My PCD reservation was submitted 7/28
My car got to Port on 11/14.
I was offered a first available date of 12/7

How long after your car got to port did PCD contact you? My car is in customs today.

They'll contact your CA as soon as the vehicle has been released from both Customs and the BMW VPC. At that time the vehicle is ready to be shipped and your CA will receive an email with the first available date we can offer.

If 5 ED vehicles release on that same day, dates are assigned in the order the reservations where submitted. The reservations are submitted electronically which are date and time stamped when submitted. That is then the order they are scheduled.

Our program is definetely not the quickest way to take re-delivery, nor do we market it to be. Typically the window from the vehicle releasing at the port until re-delivery here is about 2 weeks. That's how long it will take us to safely get the vehicle and have it prepped before the delivery date.

Depending on your dealer's location to the port, you could possibly take re-delivery about a week earlier (or sooner) if shipped directly to them. Since customers are making travel plans to arrive and travel home when taking delivery here, we have to build in some buffer to account for any shipping delays or issues with the vehicle that we find when it arrives. We also have to allow some time to prep and clean the vehicle before delivery.

For the record, my wait ended up being just under 3 weeks from the time of the first email with the first offered date to the actual date itself. I got the email maybe two days after my car hit port, but mine was technically classified as a "direct ship" and not ED so it cleared customs almost immediately.

Honestly, the worst part I think is this last week... one more week and I'll be at the PC. Hope my current ear infection clears up before then, but either way I'm going to have a riot

Originally Posted by I-Won-Today

They'll contact your CA as soon as the vehicle has been released from both Customs and the BMW VPC. At that time the vehicle is ready to be shipped and your CA will receive an email with the first available date we can offer.

If 5 ED vehicles release on that same day, dates are assigned in the order the reservations where submitted. The reservations are submitted electronically which are date and time stamped when submitted. That is then the order they are scheduled.

Our program is definetely not the quickest way to take re-delivery, nor do we market it to be. Typically the window from the vehicle releasing at the port until re-delivery here is about 2 weeks. That's how long it will take us to safely get the vehicle and have it prepped before the delivery date.

Depending on your dealer's location to the port, you could possibly take re-delivery about a week earlier (or sooner) if shipped directly to them. Since customers are making travel plans to arrive and travel home when taking delivery here, we have to build in some buffer to account for any shipping delays or issues with the vehicle that we find when it arrives. We also have to allow some time to prep and clean the vehicle before delivery.

Thanks for all that info Jonathan.

Yes, I am (relatively) patient, and know PDC is not the quickest method for getting your car.

Just getting a bit anxious because after you get to spend ED with your car, every day without it seems like a month!

In better news: I just checked, and my car got Customs release and Liner release today! I guess it's on it's way to the VPC now

Originally Posted by thumper_330

For the record, my wait ended up being just under 3 weeks from the time of the first email with the first offered date to the actual date itself. I got the email maybe two days after my car hit port, but mine was technically classified as a "direct ship" and not ED so it cleared customs almost immediately.

Honestly, the worst part I think is this last week... one more week and I'll be at the PC. Hope my current ear infection clears up before then, but either way I'm going to have a riot

Cool. Just a few more days for you!!!

Originally Posted by SamS

Thanks for all that info Jonathan.

Yes, I am (relatively) patient, and know PDC is not the quickest method for getting your car.

Just getting a bit anxious because after you get to spend ED with your car, every day without it seems like a month!

In better news: I just checked, and my car got Customs release and Liner release today! I guess it's on it's way to the VPC now

You're more than welcome

My post wasn't entirely directed at you. I was simply trying to answer your question and provide an entire timeline for anyone else taking ED and wanting to take re-delivery here. I've been getting a lot of ?'s about it lately, just need to find time to figure out how to get some stickies at the top of this forum.

After looking back, I didn't fully answer your question. The timeframe from when the vehicle arrives at the port until a date can be offered will vary. It will depend on how long it takes Customs to clear the vehicle and then how long the VPC takes to process it. Customs is usually the longest unless your vehicle has any damage that the VPC needs to fix before releasing it.

Regarding "thumper_330"'s vehicle, Since it was a direct ship, it basically skipped Customs. It was imported in under BMW and not the owner.

I can only imagine how tuff it is to enjoy the vehicle in Europe and then have to wait to get behind the wheel again. Hopefully you'll get a date and I'll get to meet you soon

Have a Happy Thanksgiving holiday!

Jonathan, you give much better info than any dealer!! That's a huge help, as we complete the "sale" process via ED/PCD. It has now been 7 months since I put down the deposit for my '12 E92. I had 7 glorious days with it in Europe, but I am definitely ready to be able to drive it as much as possible, back at home.

I'll definitely track you down when I do my PCD, hopefully there's still spots before the end of this year!