We are back from our M-Sport 128i Euro Delivery Trip

[mgthompson]

A few months ago we ordered an M-sport 128i from Jack McDevitt at Inskip in Warwick, RI. Jack was really tolerant of the millions of questions about Euro Delivery, changes to the options, and adding M-sport at the last minute.

We just got back from 14 days in Germany where we picked up the 128i at the BMW Welt in Munich. The experience was fantastic. The BMW Welt delivery center is spectacular, the BMW Museum was great, and we got a Munich factory tour so my wife could see how her 328xi touring was made.

We drove south into Austria on some really twisty little roads in the Alps and then back in to Germany and stayed where the Nueschwanstein castle is. This castle was the model for the Disney castles. We then stayed in Ulm looking for ancestors, then drove to Hohenstaufen to look for more ancestors, then to Ettlingen. We did day trips into the Black Forest and Heidelberg. We spent a morning visiting the German factory for the company I work for so I could show the new toy to my collegues. We dropped the car off in Frankfurt for shipment back to Inskip. We should have the car here in 4-6 weeks.

I have driven on the Autobahn lots of times, but driving my own car instead of a rental was really different. Not watching for cops where there is no speed limit was a little strange.

[FredK]

Welcome back to the States! :D

Nice pictures--looks like Germany wasn't spared from the rain either! I bet you were thrilled when you got back that your lawn wasn't dead from the July heat.

[iamhydrogen]

Sounds like an incredible trip! Glad you and your wife had a great experience, it absolutely seems like you made the most of your time while there. Great photos too. :thumbup:

[mgthompson]

Most days were cloudy and cool, a lot different than some of my previous visits. It rained most afternoons, after we finished that day's tourist visits.

The lawn at home actually looks OK, but some of the shrubs grew about a foot from all of the rain. Looks like Saturday will be dedicated to yard work.

I cleaned out my US Airways frequent flyer and Marriott points accounts so it will be a long while before I can do this again.

[mgthompson]

The 128i is on the Maersk Wave and will leave port tomorrow. It will take from 3 to 6 weeks before it is redelivered at Inskip.

[M-technik-3]

Glad you had fun now to take delivery again! fun thing. I see no mention of das Nurburgring? Where did you drop it of for your trip home?

[mgthompson]

Where did you drop it of for your trip home?

We dropped it off in Morfelden, just south of the Frankfurt airport. The ship is in port in Zeebrugge Belgium today. It will be in Southampton tomorrow to pick up MINIs. Its going to be a long wait...

[M-technik-3]

So it will be just like a new car all over again. I know where Morfelden is, Used to work on what was Rhein Main a few years back.

Did you wander over to the Eifel at all?

[NHskibm]

Wow! Great trip! I've always wanted to do that and have been eyeing the same car (128i M-sport)!!!

I'll admit I'm a little jealous at the moment.. :)

[mgthompson]

Wow! Great trip! I've always wanted to do that and have been eyeing the same car (128i M-sport)!!

We cashed in US Airways miles and Mariott points to cover most of the costs. We saved about $1,000 on the purchase price of the car because of ED. The total out of pocket cost wasn't too bad for 12 day vacation.

[NHskibm]

We cashed in US Airways miles and Mariott points to cover most of the costs. We saved about $1,000 on the purchase price of the car because of ED. The total out of pocket cost wasn't too bad for 12 day vacation.

You think like I do... a year ago I had 100,000 miles avail and deb had 100,000 as well... I had a deposit down on a 135i for euro delivery and we were going to do the same thing!

of course then the addiction bug bit, I bought the Touring, and well $36k later I could have paid cash for the damn 135i and had a great trip to talk about like yourselves!!!

[mgthompson]

Did you wander over to the Eifel at all?

We spent all of our time in Bavaria and Baden-Wurttemberg, other than dropping the car off.

[PixMan]

It sounds like you weren't far from the only part of Germany (or Europe, for that matter) that I've ever had the pleasure to visit. I had flown into Zurich, got picked up by the president of the company I was visiting for training, and driven about 60 kilometers to Wehingen. In the off hours we drove to Tuttlingen, nice little city. We visited a Harley dealer there so I could get a T-shirt for a coworker. On the way back that president let me pilot his Mercedes 320SLK around the Black Forest a bit. Lots of fun, beautiful place to be!

[mgthompson]

Just talked to my CA (Jack) at Inskip. Our 128i will be at the dealer on Thursday. :redspot

[mgthompson]

Just talked to my CA (Jack) at Inskip. Our 128i will be at the dealer on Thursday. :redspot

As of August 21 The BMW OC site says my car is at the prep center. My CA said that it should have been delivered last Thursday and he doesn't know what happened.

I talked to the BMW Euro Delivery office. They said that the car is waiting for clearance from the Department of Agriculture and they have no idea when it will be released. They also said that lots of ED cars are getting held up with the Department of Agriculture.

What irritates me most about this process is the false and misleading tracking information from BMW. BMW's Owner's Circle tracking site is worthless. My CA thought that the tracking information that he got was real. The ED people said that the dates the that the CA gets are "estimated". Nobody knows when the car will be release from the Department of Agriculture.http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/images/smilies/cursin.gif

[mgthompson]

The Deparment of Agriculture finally released the car. It is supposed to be at Inskip in Monday.

[FredK]

Department of Agriculture? Did they spray down the bottom of the car with some bug spray?

[mgthompson]

Department of Agriculture? Did they spray down the bottom of the car with some bug spray?

Who knows? We are talking about the government here. It took them 9 days to decide that the car wasn't carrying any fruits & vegetables, pests, or uncooked meats.

[NHskibm]

haha... that's kinda funny... once you have the car you'll laugh...

[mgthompson]

haha... that's kinda funny... once you have the car you'll laugh...

The really frustrating part was being able to update the ship's position every 2 minutes until the car was dropped off in Newark. Then it went into a Customs/Agriculture black hole for 2 weeks with no tracking or schedule information available. BMW had absolutely no idea when the car would be released. They have recently experienced a 5 week customs delay and a 5 week DoA delay so I guess 2 weeks wasn't so bad.

[Itsablurr]

Congrats! Sounds like it was a blast over there.

[NHskibm]

The really frustrating part was being able to update the ship's position every 2 minutes until the car was dropped off in Newark. Then it went into a Customs/Agriculture black hole for 2 weeks with no tracking or schedule information available. BMW had absolutely no idea when the car would be released. They have recently experienced a 5 week customs delay and a 5 week DoA delay so I guess 2 weeks wasn't so bad.

Woh!

that's nuts...

I see my tax dollars are being spent well...

[mgthompson]

Just got a call from my CA. The car should be at the dealer tonight and I should be able to pick it up in the morning.:redspot

I get my keys back!