First, I'd like to thank all that contribute to the various BMW forums who have done writeups of their ED trips and the logistics/economics of the program. Your advice has proven invaluable in planning this trip and throughout the purchasing process, and the entire undertaking would have been daunting without your help. As such, I've been looking forward to posting a write-up of my own to document such a fun and exciting experience and to hopefully pass on some advice of my own.
That being said, this trip has been almost 4 years in the making. From the time I decided I HAD to have an M4 to first time I even heard of European Delivery to finally paying off my student loans and having the funds (and time) to make it possible, I've been looking forward to this for quite awhile. At times to the point that my girlfriend has threatened to leave me if I didn't shut up and just plan the thing. She'll be joining me so at least she gets a nice trip out of the deal, win-win amiright? That's what I've convinced her anyway, anyone who tries to tell her otherwise be damned.
So I walked into the dealership on December 30th, Bimmerfest's ED pricing guide in hand, and placed my order with planned delivery in June. I initially hoped for pickup either June 12/15/18, however ended up with June 26th, 2018.
Anyway, onto the car:
I know everyone has posted that ~$750-1000 over ED invoice is the norm, however my dealer stated that the M models are more difficult to acquire an allocation for blah blah blah needed some meat on the bone for it to be worth it for them blah blah blah and basically said that the least they'd do it for is $2500 over ED invoice. There's only one other dealer near me and I've dealt with them previously for my other cars and, needless to say, the extra cost was money well-spent to not have to deal with them again. This dealer (and my representative in particular) had done several ED's within the previous several months and made me feel a little better that they knew what they were doing. I also didn't want to go out of state. I'm sure I paid too much but still paid less than what I was expecting so I was still generally happy with the price. Call me a sucker, but oh well. I'm sure it'll be a drop in the bucket over the lifetime of the car.
My proposed itinerary:
June 20th 2018:
-Fly overnight out of JFK (Aer Lingus), land in Berlin morning of June 21
June 21-22:
-Explore Berlin
June 23:
-Fly (Lufthansa) Berlin to Munich
June 23-25:
-Explore Munich
June 26:
-PICK UP THE CAR!!!!
-Drive to Fussen, visit the Monks at Andechs on the way
June 27:
-See Neuschwanstein Castle, take a pic at "The Spot," more on that later
-Drive to Bellagio, Lake Como
-Through San Bernardino Pass and Bellinzona
June 28-30:
-Hang out in Bellagio and Varenna
June 30:
-Drive to Merano
-Through Stelvio Pass
July 1:
-Drive to Salzburg
-Through Brenner Pass and Inssbruck
July 2:
-Eagle's Nest
-Drop off car
July 3:
Fly out of Munich (Aer Lingus) to JFK
Once I get back from the trip, I'll update with more detailed sites/restaurants/bars/accommodations as well as driving routes for each leg of the journey. I did my best to include can't-miss driving while traveling to the destinations we wanted to see so a few of the legs are a bit long. I didn't initially plan on doing Lake Como, however a surgeon I work with who did ED of an M4 last year said it's a must-see, so I adjusted accordingly. The last few days are a little packed, but I pick up the car a little later in the trip than I wanted and it was necessary.
Oh, and after planning all this I realized that the World Cup will be going on while we're there. Not sure yet whether that's a blessing or a curse, but in any case I'm sure it'll be a great time. I factored some of the bigger games into our daily schedules. Germany v. Sweden our first night in Munich, how do you say "more beer please" in German?
That being said, this trip has been almost 4 years in the making. From the time I decided I HAD to have an M4 to first time I even heard of European Delivery to finally paying off my student loans and having the funds (and time) to make it possible, I've been looking forward to this for quite awhile. At times to the point that my girlfriend has threatened to leave me if I didn't shut up and just plan the thing. She'll be joining me so at least she gets a nice trip out of the deal, win-win amiright? That's what I've convinced her anyway, anyone who tries to tell her otherwise be damned.
So I walked into the dealership on December 30th, Bimmerfest's ED pricing guide in hand, and placed my order with planned delivery in June. I initially hoped for pickup either June 12/15/18, however ended up with June 26th, 2018.
Anyway, onto the car:
I know everyone has posted that ~$750-1000 over ED invoice is the norm, however my dealer stated that the M models are more difficult to acquire an allocation for blah blah blah needed some meat on the bone for it to be worth it for them blah blah blah and basically said that the least they'd do it for is $2500 over ED invoice. There's only one other dealer near me and I've dealt with them previously for my other cars and, needless to say, the extra cost was money well-spent to not have to deal with them again. This dealer (and my representative in particular) had done several ED's within the previous several months and made me feel a little better that they knew what they were doing. I also didn't want to go out of state. I'm sure I paid too much but still paid less than what I was expecting so I was still generally happy with the price. Call me a sucker, but oh well. I'm sure it'll be a drop in the bucket over the lifetime of the car.
My proposed itinerary:
June 20th 2018:
-Fly overnight out of JFK (Aer Lingus), land in Berlin morning of June 21
June 21-22:
-Explore Berlin
June 23:
-Fly (Lufthansa) Berlin to Munich
June 23-25:
-Explore Munich
June 26:
-PICK UP THE CAR!!!!
-Drive to Fussen, visit the Monks at Andechs on the way
June 27:
-See Neuschwanstein Castle, take a pic at "The Spot," more on that later
-Drive to Bellagio, Lake Como
-Through San Bernardino Pass and Bellinzona
June 28-30:
-Hang out in Bellagio and Varenna
June 30:
-Drive to Merano
-Through Stelvio Pass
July 1:
-Drive to Salzburg
-Through Brenner Pass and Inssbruck
July 2:
-Eagle's Nest
-Drop off car
July 3:
Fly out of Munich (Aer Lingus) to JFK
Once I get back from the trip, I'll update with more detailed sites/restaurants/bars/accommodations as well as driving routes for each leg of the journey. I did my best to include can't-miss driving while traveling to the destinations we wanted to see so a few of the legs are a bit long. I didn't initially plan on doing Lake Como, however a surgeon I work with who did ED of an M4 last year said it's a must-see, so I adjusted accordingly. The last few days are a little packed, but I pick up the car a little later in the trip than I wanted and it was necessary.
Oh, and after planning all this I realized that the World Cup will be going on while we're there. Not sure yet whether that's a blessing or a curse, but in any case I'm sure it'll be a great time. I factored some of the bigger games into our daily schedules. Germany v. Sweden our first night in Munich, how do you say "more beer please" in German?