I bought the car from Brian Jessel BMW in Burnaby, BC. BMW offers a European Delivery program where you buy the car as if you would in Canada, but you pick up the car at their delivery center in Munich and you can drive it around for 2 weeks at no extra cost at all. When you're done they ship the car to the dealer which you ordered it from and completely clean it up and detail it for you, then you take delivery of it a second time at home.
Unfortunately you still have to pay your own way there but if you're going anyway there's no reason you shouldn't do it. Last I heard Volvo includes airfare for 2 to Stockholm also.
I was looking at Audi when I was considering it but they discontinued their European Delivery program. BMW was undergoing a reform on their program and it wasn't 'active' as they were re-designing it but I showed up at the right time and got an exception and was allowed to do it under the new program (which is a hugely better deal than the old program).
Originally I was going to buy a 1993 R33 GTS25T from the UK (where I started) but it is near impossible for a foreigner to get insurance without a UK license, so I wouldn't have been able to drive it which basically ruled that idea out. Sucks because I had the sale of the Skyline all lined up pending insurance, which didn't work out.
The car manufacturers I know that do it or used to do it are:
BMW (except the X5, X6 and Z4 which are made in the states)
Mercedes
Audi (used to, might happen again)
Porsche
Volvo
Bently
So if anyone is looking at buying a car from any of the above, I highly recommend doing this.
Just arrived in Copenhagen with ~4500 km on the odometer.
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Wow, what a trip, I'm sure you had a blast.
Is that car heading back to Canada?Leave a comment:
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you stole my dream trip
Im planning on doing something similar to this in 2 years when Im finished my program
Did you buy that car in germany? Or rental?
that is one fantastic trip.Leave a comment:
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European Road Trip
Well I've been gone for just about a month now and I figured I'd post something up.
I picked up my new car in Munich, Germany at BMW's new delivery center the BMW Welt. From there I've driven exactly 4118 KM to where I am now, in Hamburg, Germany.
I've gone so far to Salzburg in Austria, Venice and Pisa in Italy, Geneva in Switzerland, Paris and Caen in France, Brussels in Belgium, and last night, Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
Tomorrow and the next day are all driving until I reach Stockholm in Sweden where I'm taking a giant boat to Helsinki in Finland to meet my parents and then go back to the south of France.
I haven't been to the Nurburgring yet with my car, but that's coming very, very soon
I just thought I'd fill everyone on the internet in on what I've been spending my time doing, and stir up some conversation.
Oh yea, there is absolutely nothing like blowing past people at 230 km/h on the autobahns in Germany. It's insane. I would have gone faster too if people didn't keep getting in the way!
The car as it sits right now (stupidly dirty):
The map of the trip SO FAR:
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