As promised, I’ll be posting full recaps about my European Delivery Program trip and Performance Center re-delivery. Up first is the Euro Delivery….
When I first decided that I was ready to purchase my beloved Bimmer, I had no doubt that I wanted to take advantage of all the special programs BMW had to offer. If I was going to plunk down this amount of cash on a car, I wanted to ensure I was getting far more than the physical vehicle–I wanted an experience that I’d remember for a long time.
And a long time, indeed. I’m certain that I’ll never forget this trip!
BMW European Delivery Program Logistics
The program is available to anyone age 18 and older who is purchasing or leasing a brand new BMW. In August, I met with my client advisor to choose my car and its options as well as to discuss potential travel dates. Due to multiple scheduling conflicts, I decided to push my actual delivery date out until November. Usually, you could have your date within 4-6 weeks of placing your order. I “met” my car on Friday, November 23, 2012.
After your car is ordered, you receive a crapload of paperwork to fill out including customs forms, insurance declarations, travel arrangements, etc. You also get your production number and online access code so you can travel along with the real-time production of your vehicle:
Once the car logistics are out of the way, it’s time to book your travel arrangements. For anyone taking part in the European Delivery Program, you receive an automatic discount on the base price of the car–up to 7%. This is a built-in advantage that’s positioned to help you pay for the trip (aka a sales gimmick!). I of course got the 7% and then some. We also used Amex points to cover the entire cost of both of our round-trip flights–including all taxes & fees! 
I’ll talk more about the trip itself in a future post as this one is dedicated 100% to the Welt and all things cars.
Arriving at the BMW Welt
Once your paperwork is processed and production dates are confirmed, your delivery date is set. As I mentioned, mine was 11/23/12. I had a morning delivery time, so we were off to the Welt bright & early for an 8AM arrival:
I’d never been to Germany let alone the Welt before, so I was literally blown away by the amazing architecture of the building and the grounds that surrounded it. I instantly knew why tourists have the Welt listed as a “must-see” destination while in Munich.
When we arrived, we were escorted up to the private buyers’ floor and reception area (BMW does VIP better than any other company I’ve ever personally experienced). I was introduced to my personal ambassador, finished up a bit more paperwork and was given my scheduled car presentation time. Afterwards, we were invited to relax, walk around and/or help ourselves to anything we wanted to eat or drink in the private lounge (all free of course) until it was time to see my car.
From where we were in the building, you could look directly down at the cars below. Some of them were even on rotating platforms and were spinning around in circles; taunting their new owners who were all patiently waiting around us.
Around 10AM, it was time to meet my ambassador and, more importantly, my car!! It definitely felt like I was in some sort of movie as he (I was so excited that I completely forget his name…oops!) guided us down this massive stairway and onto the platform where the new cars were sitting. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel as if I was floating as I giggled my way down the stairs…
Once I was on the platform, I made a mad dash to my car; leaving my ambassador and BF in stitches as they cracked up over how excited I was. I wasted no time in whipping the car door open and jumping inside.
After I finally calmed down enough to listen to him, my ambassador spent the next hour or so going over every single feature of my car, helped me set all of the seat/mirror memory settings, showed me how to use the navigation system, etc. If you’re a Peanuts fan, you’ll understand why I describe this time as nothing but Charlie Brown’s teacher’s dialogue: “Whomp, whomp, whomp; wah, wah, wah.”
After the feature briefing, it was time to drive my car–inside the building. In the pictures below, you’ll see the gray area painted on the floor. That’s the victory lap. All new owners who take delivery of their vehicle in the Welt get to drive around the entire circle and down the ramp, out of the building. I took two laps.
A better view of the victory lap; borrowed from Auto Channel
After all of the car excitement, the day wasn’t even close to being finished. We parked the car out front of the building then came back inside for a 2-hour factory tour (sadly, no photos because cameras aren’t allowed inside). I was in awe (and a bit scared of) the robotics they use to manufacture these cars. They almost look human!
After the tour, we had lunch in the buyer’s lounge and then headed to the museum. Here’s a sampling of what we saw there plus a few random Welt pictures:
Yes, that’s a stunt man riding his motorcycle up & down the staircase!
When the end of the day came, I spent some time in the gift shop collecting the free swag we were given. The best part? Having my custom key chain engraved with my delivery date (nerd alert!).
After that, we were off on a whirlwind tour of Germany, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Italy and Austria. Basically, I spent the entire time running back to my car and taking glamor shots of it….hahaha…
Feel free to pin these to Pinterest or perhaps Manteresting?
(if you don’t know what the latter is, Google it!)
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Last week in my miscellaneous updates, I mentioned