Nail Biting

Obtaining and confirming a European Delivery date is a multi-step processes. First your Client Adviser (CA is BMW speak for sales person) sends in a pre-reservation request with the date, model, color and option. A few days later BMW responds and lets you know if there is allocation to build your car and also availability at the Delivery Center for your requested date. Once you have a confirmed pre-reservation, your CA will create a Purchase Order and ask for a copy of your passport. Even after BMW accepts the Purchase Order you don't have a guaranty the car will be ready on your pickup date. The factory isn't scheduled to build it for another month or two and things do happen. The car gets a VIN number and goes into production about 3 weeks before the pickup date. This is when a sane person buys their plane tickets and makes hotel reservations.

Not us. When we found out about the current X3 promotions we scrambled to find a way to get to Europe on our frequent flier miles. The promotion rules require that we take delivery within 90 days of the end of June. Debbie searched on United and the only flight she could get arrives in Amsterdam September 25th. I got on the phone with Delta and they found a seat on Continental that arrived within minutes of Debbie. Delta put the ticket on hold. I contacted our CA and had him submit a pre-reservation request for a Red X3 with September 26th pickup.

Here is a photo showing the complex system BMW North America uses to assign ED pickup dates:
http://edbmw.com/photos/displayimage.php?album=17&pos=4

The hold on my SkyMiles flight was going to expire before we would hear back from BMW. We committed to our flights. If BMW ran out of post-its we'd be taking a vacation in Amsterdam without a car. A few days later BMW responded. Our future X3 has a production number and is in 112 status. 112 is the final status before production. We signed the PO. I started looking into getting from Amsterdam to Munich.

I hadn't paid much attention to dates. By dumb luck we are going to be in Munich during Okoberfest. Munich. Oktoberfest. The Oktoberfest. 3 months ahead of time and most of the berths on the night train from Amsterdam to Munich were already taken. Yikes! I did an extensive airline search and found cheap tickets on Lufthansa. I think we got the last pair. During Oktoberfest Munich hotels triple their rates. Several of the hotels frequented by ED customers were already booked. I used several internet search tool and picked a 3 star hotel more or less at random. 175 euros or $235 at the current exchange rate. During the off season people using Priceline can get a 3 star hotel for $75 or less. After I made the reservation, it occurred to me to look at a map. We ended up very close to the Delivery Center and the Englisher Garten, home to several of the best beer gardens. Dumb luck again.

We haven't gotten notice back from BMW that they've accepted the PO. We don't know when our car will start production. Most BMW factories shut down mid-August to switch model years. The X3 is built under contract by Magna Steyr in Austria. The customer center in Munich closes permanently a few days after our pickup. There are rumors of a fuel injector shortage.

I just checked. No fingernails left.