[DeaconBlues]

Newbie here. I've driven a Saab 9-3 for the past decade and am ready to take the BMW plunge for the first time ... having grown up with many Bimmers, I can't wait to have my own.

I'm planning to lease a 228i (M Sport, black sapphire metallic/coral red, 6MT) in the coming weeks, and want to take delivery in Munich. If anyone's in the DC/MD/VA area, can you recommend dealers who are known for European delivery, if any?

Many thanks.

[five3three]

Originally Posted by DeaconBlues

Newbie here. I've driven a Saab 9-3 for the past decade and am ready to take the BMW plunge for the first time ... having grown up with many Bimmers, I can't wait to have my own.

I'm planning to lease a 228i (M Sport, black sapphire metallic/coral red, 6MT) in the coming weeks, and want to take delivery in Munich. If anyone's in the DC/MD/VA area, can you recommend dealers who are known for European delivery, if any?

Many thanks.

Any dealer can do European delivery for you. You are fortunate enough to be in an area where there are easily a dozen dealers in a 20 mile radius. Focus on price first. My strategy is to email a whole bunch of them and tell them you are shopping prices until you get the best one.

To be honest though, if you want an expert with ED you should contact David Aviles at Steve Thomas BMW in California. He can set you up with redelivery in Baltimore and has an excellent reputation for this stuff. Since you are getting a 228 which is not as in demand as a 235 you should be able go get a pretty nice deal. David used to work at Northwest Bmw near Baltimore and I met him in person there and is a very nice no nonsense guy who will explain everything to you. He is also one of the board sponsors and is very highly recommended by all.

I am actually pretty sure that if you have a chat with him you won't want to bother with the other local dealers here who are known for games and markups.

[DeaconBlues]

Thanks -- this is very helpful. I'll definitely be in touch with David.

[Delnari]

As I found out on this forum you can combine both the European Delivery and Performance Center Delivery (Spartanburg, SC). For me this would be the ultimate delivery. Driving your new BMW in Europe for a really cool vacation then picking it up at the Performance Center and getting do some track driving specific from BMW instructors followed by a wonderful drive home through the Appalachian mountains back home. You can take a train down to the PDC or fly in to make getting there easy.

[DeaconBlues]

That's great you can combine ED and PCD ... I am strongly considering doing both! Might as well go all out...

[five3three]

Originally Posted by DeaconBlues

That's great you can combine ED and PCD ... I am strongly considering doing both! Might as well go all out...

I agree that is the ultimate combination. Any dealer can set you up with both ED and PCD.

This is good when you are not in a hurry to get the car. When you do PCD it delays your delivery by about 2 more weeks over picking up locally. So if you are in no rush go for it. For me though I did European delivery but two more weeks of waiting after I already sold my car would have been a little too much so I skipped the PCD this time around but it is definitely an experience I want to do sometime.