New to BMW, looking at ED, have questions!

[Shamingo]

I currently have an 06 IS350 but have grown tired of the uninspired driving, so I starting looking at a new car, namely BMW. I fell in love with my friend's 2010 135i/6MT. I'm still early in the stages of buying, however I have read quite a bit about european delivery here on the forums and it seems like a great way to save quite a bit and more importantly, have a great experience. Here come the questions!

1) If I am trading in my current car, when do we finalize the price of the trade? For example, I order in say April, it is delivered to Welt in say June. Anyone ever done this?

1a) Do I have to trade in the car prior to new car EU delivery?
1b) If I pick up my vehicle from PCD, when do I trade in my car?

2) With the new 2012 models being built soon, when is the best time to buy through ED?

3) It seems like the general consensus is that I may be able to save about 8% off of US MSRP by going through ED, is this true?

4) Anyone have any great recommendations for purchasing a BMW through ED in the Chicagoland area?

Sorry for all the questions, especially for a first post! I've done a fair share of searching around here and found many answers to questions I haven't asked here. This place is such a valuable resource and I hope to contribute as much as I can.

Thanks!

[pinmagic]

Can't answer your questions, but can tell you that ED is an awesome experience. You will LOVE it!

[m_thompson]

Originally Posted by Shamingo

1) If I am trading in my current car, when do we finalize the price of the trade? For example, I order in say April, it is delivered to Welt in say June. Anyone ever done this?

It is very difficult to predict the future trade-in value, so I would expect a dealer to be very reluctant to commit to a value. In my case the trade-in value was so low that it was unlikely to change, so I got a committed value.

Originally Posted by Shamingo

1a) Do I have to trade in the car prior to new car EU delivery?

You need to purchase the car a few weeks before Euro Delivery. In most states the trade-in reduces the purchase price and therefore the sales tax. If you don't trade in then you will loose the tax advantage.

In my case the dealer bought the car from me when my new car was redelivered. You may be able to arrange the same thing, or you may want to just sell it privately so you have something to drive while you wait for redelivery.

Originally Posted by Shamingo

1b) If I pick up my vehicle from PCD, when do I trade in my car?

Same answer as 1a.

Originally Posted by Shamingo

2) With the new 2012 models being built soon, when is the best time to buy through ED?

I picked up mine in July, just after the model year change over. I think that the changeover date varies from year to year.

Originally Posted by Shamingo

3) It seems like the general consensus is that I may be able to save about 8% off of US MSRP by going through ED, is this true?

Forget working down from MSRP. Depending on which dealer you go through you should pay between $500 and $1,500 over invoice price.

Originally Posted by Shamingo

4) Anyone have any great recommendations for purchasing a BMW through ED in the Chicagoland area?

Look on the Bimmerfest Euro Delivery Forum for recommended dealers. If you do ED and then PCD it really doesn't matter where you buy the car.

Originally Posted by Shamingo

Sorry for all the questions, especially for a first post! I've done a fair share of searching around here and found many answers to questions I haven't asked here. This place is such a valuable resource and I hope to contribute as much as I can.

Thanks!

Look on the Bimmerfest Euro Delivery Forum for lots of details and recommendations on ED. It is a great experience that you will never forget.

[mbanshchikov]

I just did ED and it was one of the greatest trips of my life (minus the factory being closed due to renovations )