European Delivery Experience - E91 328xi Touring (lots of pics)

[RAS]

I recently picked up a new E91 Touring via EU delivery at the Welt in Munich. As I noted in a previous thread, I decided that I wanted to grab one of the last E91s off the line with the straight six, AWD, and a manual transmission. And since I've always wanted to, I decided to come over to Munich to pick it up.

What an experience! The Welt is an amazing place, and they treat you pretty well throughout the entire EU delivery process.

I thought I'd share some pics of the experience, the BMW museum collection, and my new ride.

The Welt is pretty hard to miss as you approach the place:


It occupies a large chunk of ground adjacent to Olympic park north of downtown Munich.


It's right across the street from BMW's iconic corporate headquarters building in Munich, which sits adjacent to the BMW Museum.


The Welt also happens to be right across the street from the Munich plant that builds the 3 Series sedans and tourings, mine included.


Here's the map view to give a sense of scale.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=BMW+We...15000&t=h&z=17

I arrived just before 9AM, and the place was already busy. As soon as you head towards the door, you're presented with a taste of what's to come. These motorcycles were on display and available to try on for size.


And it gets better once you step inside. The size of the place is impressive, and the attention to detail and overall "presentation" of the brand is top-notch.


As you would expect, there are a lot of displays in the public space showcasing the latest and greatest from the product line. Here's the new F30 3 Series display.


The new 6 Series Grand Coupe looks pretty nice in person, even though it seems uncomfortably close in size and concept to the 7 Series.


The regular two-door 6-er isn't bad either, and it presents a much more cohesive design than the last version (IMO).


The new 1 hatchback was on the floor too. It looks somewhat better in person, but I'm still not sold on the headlight design. Regardless, it seems to work for others, as there were numerous people taking delivery of new 1 hatchbacks throughout the day.


To be continued...

[RAS]

The other models were available for viewing too.




After taking it in for a while, it was time to leave the "Blvd of Joy" and head up to customer check-in on the third floor....


As soon as you step off the elevator, you're greeted by a receptionist who takes your name and introduces you to your facilitator.


Paperwork takes about 30 minutes, after which you are free to wait in the lounge or go explore. The lounge comes with all the free food and drinks you care to eat.


The view from the observation deck adjacent to the lounge gives a hint of what's to come.


Down below you can see others taking delivery of their new vehicles, while other cars await their new owners on the delivery floor.






To be continued....

[RAS]

After a snack, we headed over to check out the BMW museum. Admission is included for free with your delivery. The museum was amazing. I would love a day in there with the camera (and a tripod!) to capture some of the amazing vehicles in pixels. I had about an hour and a half before our scheduled factory tour, so I tried to take in as much as possible.



Lots of mint, factory-fresh, vintage 3 Series on display...
















Continued....

[RAS]

Of course the M Cars were on display, too. This E30 M3 looked almost as clean as Keith Fournier's....




Lots of vintage examples too...


Many examples of BMW's racing heritage were here.


And an Art Car, this a 7 Series....


There was a nice informative display on the history of the company, including some of the less-than-favorable bits of BMW history as it relates to WWII.


This huge, interactive timeline let you browse all sorts of historical nuggets on the company.


And of course, the Beemers were represented too, new and old.




continued....

[RAS]

The museum also had a clay model of the now-familiar 1-series coupe on display.


The badge display was pretty cool....


Frankly the whole facility was amazing in detail and presentation....


And of course, no BMW collection would be complete without at least one Isetta....


All too soon, we had to head back to the main building to check in for our factory tour. This was also included for free as part of the EU delivery experience.

They didn't allow cameras on this portion of the event, but suffice to say, it's pretty amazing how automated the entire manufacturing process is inside the Munich plant. What's more, vehicle assembly happens on different levels of the building, so not only are cars moving around on a floor, they move up and down between floors, too, in the process of assembly.

Finally, at 3:20 that afternoon, it was my turn to get my car. Your name appears on a monitor when your time is up.


Your advisor takes you down the so-called "Stairway to Heaven" where you typically get the first view of your new ride.


Here's my crappy iPhone pic of my first view of the car (my real camera was still stored from the factory tour).


On the way to the vehcile, you get a quick stint on a "simulator" that demonstrates some of the safety benefits of new BMW vehicles. While a bit hokey, they were fun in their own way.

Then the fun begins - you get a personal tour through your new vehicle.


First time I've ever purchased a car with literally zero miles...


After the orientation, you are asked to take a 'victory lap' around the delivery floor, then drive down the exit ramp. At this point, you can depart the Welt, or hand the car over to valet if you want to go back inside. I parked the car while I took a few more photos. Here's the car being brought up from the valet garage when it was time to leave.


Continued...

[RAS]

The day went fast, and I headed back to the hotel about 6:00 PM. Here's a shot of the car, still factory clean. An impending thunderstorm would change that in about 30 minutes....



From that point, vacation begins. It was fun breaking a car in on the Autobahn, but a real bear to keep below the recommended break-in speed of 150 kmph. Here's a few more random pics of the car from my time in Germany and Switzerland. I didn't take as many as I wish I had. Too late to go back and do it over, at this point.





1174 miles later, I dropped my car off in Geneva for shipment back to the US. All shipping, insurance, registration, and other ancillary costs are included as part of the EU delivery program. And the best part, the car was significantly cheaper to purchase this way, which ended up paying for a good portion of the trip.

A few final views of the car at the dropoff facility next to the Geneva airport. Now the wait begins.....





All in all, it was an amazing experience. If you've ever considered it, don't hestiate. It's worth the 10 hour flight, no question....

-Rick

[reidconti]

Awesome, congrats on the new ride! What's the color, orient blue? I love the thick steering wheel.

[RAS]

Color is Le Mans Blue Metallic. Here's the build sheet from the BMW USA website. In the interest of simplicity and cost, I tried to avoid expensive electronic options that confuse and can stop working over time....



And yeah, the thick M-Sport steering wheel feels really nice. The run-flats, not so much. But that's easy to fix, and I guess there's no point starting that age-old debate again....

-Rick

[ZeGerman]

Great photos, and an excellent touring! Congrats.

[Vetrano]

Thanks for sharing; that was cool! Best of luck with the patience while you wait for it to re-appear stateside :-)

cheers,
John

[Scott H]

Many examples of BMW's racing heritage were here.

My first (maybe second) purchase upon winning MEGA!

Thank you so much for sharing. Very very cool.

[v0od0o]

Very cool, congrats and thanks for sharing!

[cbouchez]

What a great experience! Thanks for sharing.

[Jeff Butler]

Hey Rick, congrats on your new car. Looks very cool. I knew as soon as I saw the first photo it was Le Mans blue with an M-sport package but hey, I am a bit biased. Thank you for sharing your trip with us, looks like an amazing experiance. GLWTS of your ZHP.

[540 M-Sport]

Rick, thank you for the amazing photographs and narrative. Well done, and congratulations on your beautiful new car.

Dave