[SD ///M4]

My $0.02, with (almost) three Euro Deliveries under my belt (we're leaving for our third ED on Saturday):

Talk to your dealer sooner rather than later, even if it's before the "official" 5 or 6 months in advance, (depending on who you listen to). This is even more critical if you want to do Individual for paint and/or interior, even more critical if your desired color isn't one of the "standard" Individual colors, but one that you're willing to pony up an additional $5200 (MSRP) for. Individual interiors need more time because Individual interiors are done in batches by a BMW supplier, and that needs even more lead time.

Find a dealer, preferably a high-volume dealer who won't have a problem getting an allocation. Agree on a price (X dollars over Euro Invoice Price) even before you know the MSRP.

Allocations are released the first week of every month and your dealer should provide you with an allocation within that first week of the month after you place your order. If your dealer has a problem getting an allocation, find another dealer ASAP. That should be immediately followed by a production number and a copy of the VIR (Vehicle Inquiry Report) showing you the European Invoice amount (wholesale price). Until you have this you can't agree on an actual price.

There's two parts to placing an order, signing the European Delivery order form where you supply your three desired delivery dates (or in your case just one) and they take copies of your driver license and passport for your and anyone else who is going to be driving your car in Europe. Financial paperwork (finance/lease) is usually done within a couple weeks of your departure date. Note that you can sign the PO before your dealer has an allocation.

After you have your allocation and production number, your dealer should get an e-mail with the subject "Reservation Letter" which will have the confirmation for your desired delivery date. Make sure that he forwards that to you! Don't make any non-refundable reservations, especially airline tickets, until you have a copy of the Reservation Letter.

After everything is submitted you will get assigned a production week. Follow up with your dealer on a regular basis and call BMW Genius to make sure everything is on track. Tell your dealer that you want an update any time the status of your order changes, particularly when it goes into production.

For my 2016 M4 and my wife's 2018 M3, we did not put down a deposit, and her car has Individual paint and interior, although we know this dealership very well, even though we haven't ordered from them before.

Initial discussion started in May last year for a May 2018 ED, but they advised us to check-in with them again in the fall. We checked-in again in September, but for reasons that I don't recall, the PO wasn't signed until early November. Our lower-volume dealer didn't get an allocation in December or in January. Because they didn't get an allocation until February, it turned out that there wasn't enough time to produce the Individual interior for a May delivery. We had planned a May delivery so we could attend the Gran Prix of Monaco. After being told that the car couldn't be delivered until June 12, we opted for a July delivery so now we're attending the German Grand Prix in two weeks. Our delivery date is next week on Wednesday, July 18.