BMW European Delivery Program Ending for North American Customers!

[GOLFFRR]

It is a sad day for all the euro delivery fans out there. BMWNA has just announced that it will be ending its European Delivery program for North American customers.

Details:

1. May 18th will be the last day BMWNA will accept pre-reservation forms.
2. The last month you can choose to do ED will be September 2020
3. If you have placed a deposit for a 2021 model and would still like to take delivery within the timeframe stated, BMW will accept the pre reservation form without a production number. Once a production number is available BMW will assign accordingly. (as pricing/allocations is available you will be able to schedule delivery)
4. Anyone who is scheduled currently to purchase a vehicle through ED will still be able to pick it up at the Welt through September 2020.
5. If #4 applies to you, you will receive an email stating you will be able to complete your original delivery as scheduled.
6. For the remaining orders which still qualify for European Delivery, these vehicles may not be operated on any racetracks or involved in any racing activities while they are in Europe.

If you have any other questions please feel free to shoot me a buzz or talk to your sales rep.

Cheers.
GOLFFRR

[Jason]

Updated with statement from BMW (posted by site Administrator)

Ultimate Delivery Experience Continues in SC as Sun Sets on European Delivery
European Program to Begin Phasing Out Operations in May

"As the global market has evolved and BMW NA sales volumes have shifted more heavily towards SAVs during the past several years, the Performance Center Delivery in Spartanburg, South Carolina has seen continuing growth. Since its beginning in 1999, Performance Center Delivery has grown to more than 28,000 vehicle deliveries, while European Delivery, which has delivered approximately 30,000 vehicles since the 1970s, has experienced a significant decline in participation. Although BMW NA has historically represented an average of 2,000 European Deliveries annually, such deliveries have declined in recent years to under 500. Based on these trends and long-term evaluation, BMW Group will end the European Delivery Program in 2020 and cease accepting reservations as of May 18, 2020.

Our delivery programs have always provided owners with the opportunity to expand their BMW ownership experience and while BMW Group is ending the European operation due to declining global demand, we are proud to continue offering the Ultimate Delivery Experience to our customers through the Performance Center in Spartanburg," said April Vigilante, department head, corporate & special sales, BMW NA. "We encourage all centers to leverage this exciting program to immerse customers in the culture of BMW at the Zentrum, explore the factory and experience the 'Ultimate Driving Machine' on the track."

[zorrro]

Well that sucks! Glad I got one done in '18 but I was hoping for another one at some point.

[RyanBMW]

Is this a temporary thing or permanent? Is there a reason why for this? It really going to suck A$$ if it's really the truth, because it's one of the things on my to-do list :

[Dog Face Pony Soldier]

Another CCP Virus fatality. RIP European Delivery program.

[GOLFFRR]

Originally Posted by RyanBMW

Is this a temporary thing or permanent? Is there a reason why for this? It really going to suck A$$ if it's really the truth, because it's one of the things on my to-do list :

as of now it's permanent. I would imagine it has a lot to do with the current market conditions as well as the safety issues etc.. must make more sense to just shut it down.

[Jaszm]

nooooooooo

[The Automotive Enthusiast]

Audi pulled the plug on their Euro Delivery two or three years ago also. Sad to see the trend continue with BMW. I had dealt with clients that went with BMW simply due to the Euro Delivery experience.

[stein_325i]

Wow, this really sucks. I'm so glad I got to experience European Delivery, even if it was almost a decade ago, it truly was a memorable experience.

[F32Fleet]

Damn, but I have had the opportunity numerous times in the past and never took advantage of it so I only have myself to blame.

[M3LBOURN]

Nooooooo. This was on my bucket list

[elitesales305]

Sucks:

[keylime503]

Damn, that blows. I'm really glad I got to do it once in 2017. But it makes me super sad that I won't be able to do it again.

[ChrisK]

Oh this sucks!

Glad I had a chance to do this my e92 M3.

[Aaaaaaaaa]

What about mEXiCaN DeLiVeRy

[nisam]

Volvo and MB still offer it right?
Was planing on doing euro delivery with my next BMW...
I guess theres truth to the saying if you wanna make god laugh make plans.

[virosky]

What a bummer! ED for the G80 M3 was on my bucket list. I too had a few opportunities to ED a F80 M3 in recent years but I kept putting them off. Hope it reopens again after this pandemic madness settles.

[Mar48]

That’s a huge bummer

[E46M3forRay]

damet! I was just sketching out my plan for an ED experience. What a waste of toilet paper ugh

[nicknaz]

Wow. So sad.

Thankful I got to do euro delivery on my ‘15 f80 but sad no chance on m2 comp or other car

[pikkagtr]

wow sad day indeed
Very thankful to have had the ED experience in 2015 for my first F80
welp there goes the plan for a G80 ED
might persuade me to spend more on something that begins with P though...heard they still had Euro Delivery

[SD ///M4]

Originally Posted by Dog Face Pony Soldier

Another CCP Virus fatality. RIP European Delivery program.

While COVID-19 might be an additional factor, it's certainly not on the top of the list.

1. The European Delivery Program has been a loss-leader for North American sales for years (decades?)
2. BMW is now more focused on X vehicles for North American customers. See the post by Jason above. More North American customers want to take delivery of SAVs in Spartanburg than take Euro delivery. It didn't help that BMW reduced the ED discount from 7% to 5%.
3. In addition to reducing the discount, BMW has been been steadily tightening the Euro Delivery program. They changed insurance carriers and now specifically disallow any driving on race tracks (think Nurburgring, famously) from being covered. Dents, dings, curbed wheels, and any other collision damage during your trip is no longer covered. Their original goal was to deliver a "showroom fresh" car upon redelivery regardless of whatever happens during Euro Delivery. This is no longer the case.
4. Increased European pollution standards are not favorable to cars built to less-strict American pollution standards and being driven for thousands of miles in Europe.
5. The European Delivery Program has only been discontinued for North American customers. It is still available for European customers, as it always has.
6. COVID-19 has crashed automotive markets and travel markets worldwide. This seemed like a good time for BMW to pull the plug on Euro Delivery for North American customers.

I've done three European deliveries. The first one, my wife's 2011 335is Coupe, completely sold us on the European Delivery program. That was followed by my 2016 M4, and lastly, my wife's 2018 M3. Unfortunately, the program was diminished each time. The European Delivery program, and BMW CCA and all the hundreds of friends I've made through the club, are arguably the top two reasons that first attracted us to BMW and why we've continued to buy BMWs. We looked forward to buying new BMWs so we could do Euro Delivery.

The 2016 Euro Delivery of my M4 was part of the epic #CentennialMTour, a group delivery of over a dozen ///M cars with over 30 people, ranging through 7 cities (Munich, Merano, Grindelwald, Stuttgart, Bad Neuenar, Zandvoort, and Spa) in 5 countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Belgium) and included track days at 3 tracks (Nurburgring Nordschleife, Zandvoort, and Spa Francorchamps). In Munich, we also toured BMW Classic, had a private tour of BMW Welt, and had a private tour and Q&A session at BMW M HQ in Garching.

The 2018 Euro Delivery of my wife's M3 helped us celebrate a milestone birthday for my wife and our 25th Anniversary, and culminated in 5 days in Paris.

One of the best things about all of those trips is that we got to drive our own car, when and where we wanted, taking us to off-the-beaten-path locations and allowing us to find the best driving routes and the best passes.

I don't like the G8x grilles based on leaked photos, so a Euro Delivery for a G8x M3/M4 probably wasn't in the cards anyway. It's ironic that BMW has concentrated on X vehicles in recent years and less on real enthusiast cars. More ironic that the X vehicles have contributed directly to the demise of the European Delivery program. A sad day indeed...