Any recommendations?

[jmh]

Originally Posted by alexey21

Oh yeah... is the food at welt free?

If you pick up a car "yes"

[M54ccibo]

Originally Posted by alexey21

That would be nice Thank you Dave.

M54ccibo, I am picking up the car at 5PM, so I can do the factory tour probably before on the same day. At first I was not very happy about the pick up time, but maybe its for the better.

In that case, if you can do the tour early, you are good! Are you driving straight away after picking up the car or staying in Munich another evening? If the latter, I'd get out and do a little drive somewhere! M-POWER! Enjoy and post pics, or it never happened

[alexey21]

Originally Posted by M54ccibo

In that case, if you can do the tour early, you are good! Are you driving straight away after picking up the car or staying in Munich another evening? If the latter, I'd get out and do a little drive somewhere! M-POWER! Enjoy and post pics, or it never happened

Unfortunatly I have a hotel booked in Verona same night as I pick up the car, So I won't have the time to drive around Munich. Although I will be back in Germany for 2 days before I give the car back. I'll be sure to post pics and do a small write up of the trip and the car when I get back home.

[stealth.pilot]

Originally Posted by alexey21

Oh yeah... is the food at welt free?

In the VIP lounge it's free, but at the restaurant you have to pay.

[M54ccibo]

Originally Posted by alexey21

Unfortunatly I have a hotel booked in Verona same night as I pick up the car, So I won't have the time to drive around Munich. Although I will be back in Germany for 2 days before I give the car back. I'll be sure to post pics and do a small write up of the trip and the car when I get back home.

That's even better! We did the same thing, hit the road immediately and loved every minute of the Autobahn!

[alexey21]

Not to sound like an ass, but is Dave gonna post that video on how to put in the music into the idrive from the USB stick?

[PatrickC23]

As fun as ED was, Ill never do it again. Waiting for re-delivery sucks! Im at 7 weeks and cant take it anymore. My car docked 4/25, spent 6 days in customs and now 6 days in VDC. According to my CA and three calls to VDC directly, my car is not damaged but awaiting some software crap/glitch, which I find an outright lie (hoping im the idiot calling them liars). Now hearing DesertEagles car was damaged and ScottinFL still awaiting re-delivery, I just wont do it again. Getting an answer from my CA is like pulling teeth.

I know many of you guys had great experiences, and getting the M5 solves a lot of problems, but I really feel I have no leverage since Ive already paid for the car. I did escalate the issue at BMW however thanks to RPI.

[Charlie Brown]

No doubt waiting for your car to be re-delivered after ED is the hardest part. Especially after you've experienced the car on the autobahn. BMW says 6-8 weeks is the norm. I got lucky and received my car in 6 weeks.

IMHO, the way I did the Welt was perfect. I had a 10 am delivery but changed it to late afternoon when I arrived at the Welt. This meant my car was out in the turn style delivery area for most of the day. I actually saw it from the spectator balcony around noon and got to appreciate all the comments made about the car by admirers who didn't know it was my car. This also allowed me to easily do the museum and factory tours, enjoy the premium lounge and good food (and drink) all day. After delivery, I left the Welt around 5:30 and headed straight back to the hotel. In the garage I went over the car like a fine tooth comb. I studied all the buttons, connected my music, read some of the manual, got some pics etc. I took time to appreciate the car and all it's features. Next day I headed south out of Munich to Austria. This is one of the best and least used sections of the autobahn for high speed runs.

The rest of the trip is obviously individual preference but you can do all there is to do at the Welt in one day.

Will I do it again? Yes for my next M car. I'm not sure for a non M.

[chillin4now]

Originally Posted by PatrickC23

As fun as ED was, Ill never do it again. Waiting for re-delivery sucks! Im at 7 weeks and cant take it anymore. My car docked 4/25, spent 6 days in customs and now 6 days in VDC. According to my CA and three calls to VDC directly, my car is not damaged but awaiting some software crap/glitch, which I find an outright lie (hoping im the idiot calling them liars). Now hearing DesertEagles car was damaged and ScottinFL still awaiting re-delivery, I just wont do it again. Getting an answer from my CA is like pulling teeth.

I know many of you guys had great experiences, and getting the M5 solves a lot of problems, but I really feel I have no leverage since Ive already paid for the car. I did escalate the issue at BMW however thanks to RPI.

First of all I cant beleive that the agony of waiting for your car is a shock to you. You sat there and watched every one of us suffer through getting on a boat, tracking across the ocean, arriving at port, going "black" at the VDC, getting on a truck and it arriving.
This was the most detailed documentation of the entire process. It is pure agony.
My friends all made fun of me as I withered away. "is it here yet", "wheres the car", "did they lose it"???? This was a 10x time a day occurance for me. I am sure that it was done just to watch me boil.
ED is not for the faint of heart.
I will say this, however.
The very second you see the car at home, that feeling starts to go away as the memories of your trip start to replace the rage.
I can say for certain at this point, that the trip was the best part of the ownership experience.
I am making plans to do it all over again, even with the memories of the WAIT still in my mind.
They say 6-8 weeks for a reason.

[PatrickC23]

Originally Posted by chillin4now

First of all I cant beleive that the agony of waiting for your car is a shock to you. You sat there and watched every one of us suffer through getting on a boat, tracking across the ocean, arriving at port, going "black" at the VDC, getting on a truck and it arriving.
This was the most detailed documentation of the entire process. It is pure agony.
My friends all made fun of me as I withered away. "is it here yet", "wheres the car", "did they lose it"???? This was a 10x time a day occurance for me. I am sure that it was done just to watch me boil.
ED is not for the faint of heart.
I will say this, however.
The very second you see the car at home, that feeling starts to go away as the memories of your trip start to replace the rage.
I can say for certain at this point, that the trip was the best part of the ownership experience.
I am making plans to do it all over again, even with the memories of the WAIT still in my mind.
They say 6-8 weeks for a reason.

Actually I re-lived that very recently (your agony) because in September when your cars were in the VDC black hole I wasnt really active on the boards, I was entrenched in Fantasy Football. I recently went back and reread all the stories, and yes I feel for you guys. Dont get me wrong, I am not in any way saying ED wasn’t fun, it’s the US portion of the process that sucks. Having the last step not be transparent just sucks, especially when the car is literally sitting 15 minutes away from my house. I have other issues in that my dealer gave me a date of 5/11, then renegged on that, and since Im in a situation where my wife and I share one car and don’t drive to work, I find myself with no car now and a wedding I need to attend this weekend. (Traded in my C63 on 3/9) Simple solution obviously is to ask for a loaner or rent a car, but I’ll be at 8 weeks already at that point.

For me personally, once one thing goes bad, I won’t do it again, and based on my personality not having any leverage kills it for me. It’s not like I can say keep your car, because I paid for it already. Yes, undoubtedly, when I finally get it, it will be all better, but next time I will just do a regular order, I spent 3 times as much on the European trip than my discount anyhow so that’s a moot point. I can't lie and say Ill never buy another BMW either because the product sells itself!

And yes, constantly hearing people ask "Did you get it? Did you get it?" doesn't help.

[PatrickC23]

Sorry Alexy for being a Debbie Downer and jacking the thread - have fun! One rec if you will be in Rome. I know the food is amazing everywhere, but I highly recommend this place if you can get a reservations. We did Ad Hoc as well, but felt this place blew it away. Back on topic.

http://www.feliceatestaccio.it/