I just place an deposit down on an M3 for February European and (don't know when) performance center delivery.
Some of the dealers in the area were quite frustrating to deal with.
Called Sterling BMW and they said that they didn't have any M3's in stock but I could drive the M4 that they had. Showed up at Sterling BMW and they said that they could not allow test drives on the M4 that they had because it had the carbon ceramic brakes and that if a "regular" one came in that they would be able to set something up. The sales guy indicated that European delivery and performance center delivery would not be a problem to setup.
Called Passport BMW and talked to a sales guy. He said that they had an M4 in stock but could not allow any test drive unless I bought the car. That sounded a little strange to me and I asked to talk to the sales manager. He said the same thing. When I asked about European delivery and performance center deliver he flat out told me that they would not do European delivery and that performance center was a "maybe." When I asked why he said that they wanted to make the "extra money" on the car.
Drove over to BMW of Fairfax (which I had no idea existed) and talked to a sales guy there. They did not have an M3 in stock and were not allowing test drives on the M4 that they did have. The sales guy looked new and couldn't comment on the European delivery or performance center delivery.
I then went home and just started calling dealers.
Talked to BMW of Annapolis. BMW of Annapolis does not allow test drives on the M cars. The sales guy I talked to was the "certified M" consultant and knew his stuff but still couldn't arrange for a test drive.
I used the web contact form for a couple of dealers and sent them my configuration and that I wanted to do European delivery and performance delivery.
Northwest BMW contacted me and I talked to one of their sales guys. He said no M3's in stock but they had an M4 and that I could drive it whenever I wanted to. So I did. Took the day off from work and drove over with my wife. Drove the M4 and was pretty impressed with it. Especially the Silverstone metallic. On the web site it looks like a baby blue. In person it looks like a light silver. I thought it was fantastic. I then gave him an deposit and placed an order for a M3. Highly reccomend working with BMW of Northwest and especially my sales guy John Kim. Including the test drive I was in and out of there in 1 hour.
So the summary:
- Dealers in Virginia are not currently allowing test drives of the M cars
- Northwest BMW is allowing test drives of their M4