Tips to avoid ED-related damage?

[sb1805]

Part of the joy (for me) of a new car is picking up, from the dealership, a car in near perfect condition. This time, I'm going for ED, so I'm curious if I won't get the same experience when the car is redelivered to the dealership (because I have been driving it around Germany, because it's not transported to the US all packaged and sealed, etc.). To this end, I was wondering if anyone has tips for ED for preserving, to the extent possible, the "new car pickup" experience. For example, wash the car right before dropping it off, etc.

[BavarianFanatic]

For starters, you're required to wash it before dropping it off. If you don't they'll do it for you and charge a penalty. Unless you damage it yourself during your trip, you shouldn't expect any other damage or wear. It'll arrive in as-new condition.

[vonmayr]

Originally Posted by sb1805

This time, I'm going for ED, so I'm curious if I won't get the same experience when the car is redelivered to the dealership (because I have been driving it around Germany, because it's not transported to the US all packaged and sealed, etc.). To this end, I was wondering if anyone has tips for ED for preserving, to the extent possible, the "new car pickup" experience. For example, wash the car right before dropping it off, etc.

Congrats on your forthcoming ED! I thought about all kinds of protective strategies to protect the paint on the ED and then decided not to do anything special. I brought some hand wash materials and washed the car 2 times during the trip plus at the end. The roads in Europe don't have much in the way of stuff to come up and mar your paint. I put in 12 days and 1500 miles with nary a scratch or mar on the paint except one I put on the rear bumper by the trunk when I dropped a tripod as I was pulling it from the trunk, which was fixed at the VPC.

When I got the car in the states 9 long weeks later, I didn't allow the dealer to touch it and went straight to a detailer for a paint correction followed by PPF and Opti Coat. The paint was in awesome condition. Just make sure to use Iron X and a clay bar when you get your new ride, but that doesn't make any difference whether you get it delivered to the US or ED.

[absoluteis350]

Originally Posted by vonmayr

When I got the car in the states 9 long weeks later, I didn't allow the dealer to touch it and went straight to a detailer for a paint correction followed by PPF and Opti Coat. The paint was in awesome condition. Just make sure to use Iron X and a clay bar when you get your new ride, but that doesn't make any difference whether you get it delivered to the US or ED.

Exactly what he said.

Refer to my ED journal (link in my signature) for what I did, but essentially I did Optiseal on the entire front of the car at BMW Welt, in the garage, immediately after driving out. Optiseal goes on very easily and quickly, there's simply no reason not to do it. I estimate the entire front of the car took maybe 5-7 minutes to do. In retrospect, I probably should have also done the rear bumper and lower half side panels, to really prevent the dirt from sticking.

I also followed that with Trakktape (again see ED journal) which is a clear, thick tape that is theoretically like a clear-bra. The idea was to prevent any potential rock chips, and I did this to the entire nose of the car. This takes longer than it seems, 30+ mins if you want to do a good job. I did a rush job in about 15 mins, since I was behind schedule (my entire trip was pretty tightly planned). I pulled this tape off after a week, driving through rain, snow, sun, etc. Yes, there were rocks on some of the backroads I was on, due to snow melt causing mini-avalanches of rocks onto the road surface (not really rocks, more like pebbles).

The result? When I pulled the Trakktape of the paint was flawless.. like glass. Would this have been the case had I not gone through with my protection measures? Maybe. But I felt better having done everything I could. Had I not done anything, and gotten a rock chip, I would have been kicking myself for the entire life of the car (every time I saw the ding).

In the US, I had to IronX/claybar the entire front hood (and spot treat the rest of the car). Unbelievable that BMW ships the cars in this state. I have had multiple new car deliveries, and never have I seen that degree of raildust.
And no, I never let the dealer detail any of my cars prior to delivery, and yes, they are always custom orders so the dealer never has a chance to detail them prior to me seeing the car.

It's really not a big deal.

[sb1805]

Thanks for your insights!

[MrSmileyDC]

Your car will look just like it did in Munich. Only difference is hopefully it will have 1000+ miles on it. I just pressure washed mine at a gas station near the Munich airport and once about halfway through my trip at a self wash in Beaune, France. It's just a car. Drive it and have fun with it.

[jwzimm]

I put about 300 miles on mine during my ED (yes, pretty low but still drove there). I didnt even have to wash it when I dropped it off at Loginout. I also made sure my dealer didn't touch it when they got it in. The first time it was washed/touched was by my detailer when they prepped it for CQuartz and Xpel. He told me that the paint was one of the best jobs he has seen on an OEM BMW.

[SamS]

As a veteran of two European Deliveries, there are really only two scenarios for receiving your car back in the states:

1) Wash before you leave and instruct dealer not to wash it upon arrival. It will be filthy once it arrives at your dealer. After various means of transportation from your European drop-off location, you can expect a good layer of grime/filth. Nothing permanent though.
2) Have your dealer wash the filthy car, risk getting swirls etc. Alternately if you do PCD pickup, they will wash it, but in my experience do a fine job on the prep.

If you just mentally prepare yourself that the Munich pickup is indeed your "new car experience" then it won't be such a letdown if your car arrives back stateside less than clean.

[Macheins]

You should have no concerns about the re-delivery treatment. If you don't want the dealer touching it (washing, etc.), just tell them you want to handle it yourself. If you do PCD, they do a real good job on cleaning it up for the re-delivery.

As far as protecting the car while in Europe, I wouldn't sweat it too much. I put 1,700 miles on mine and had no issues from rock chips or other. I did receive some front bumper damage though. Just be very careful and learn the boundaries of the car. Find hotels/locations with plenty of parking space. Be mindful that you do not have curb clearance on the front bumper as well. Keeping that all in mind, you should be able to have a good time and have no damage/issues for re-delivering the car back to the U.S.

[BavarianFanatic]

Originally Posted by SamS

As a veteran of two European Deliveries, there are really only two scenarios for receiving your car back in the states:

1) Wash before you leave and instruct dealer not to wash it upon arrival. It will be filthy once it arrives at your dealer. After various means of transportation from your European drop-off location, you can expect a good layer of grime/filth. Nothing permanent though.
2) Have your dealer wash the filthy car, risk getting swirls etc. Alternately if you do PCD pickup, they will wash it, but in my experience do a fine job on the prep.

If you just mentally prepare yourself that the Munich pickup is indeed your "new car experience" then it won't be such a letdown if your car arrives back stateside less than clean.

Bear in mind that the cars are actually washed at the VPC prior to distribution to the dealer for redelivery. They have to clean them in order to do a thorough damage inspection. The crud you see at the dealerships is from transit on the ground here.

[SamS]

Originally Posted by BavarianFanatic

Bear in mind that the cars are actually washed at the VPC prior to distribution to the dealer for redelivery. They have to clean them in order to do a thorough damage inspection. The crud you see at the dealerships is from transit on the ground here.

Sure, makes sense. One rainstorm between the VPC and your dealer is all it takes to make your car filthy. I personally don't let the dealer touch my car

[mptpa]

Originally Posted by vonmayr

Congrats on your forthcoming ED! I thought about all kinds of protective strategies to protect the paint on the ED and then decided not to do anything special. I brought some hand wash materials and washed the car 2 times during the trip plus at the end. The roads in Europe don't have much in the way of stuff to come up and mar your paint. I put in 12 days and 1500 miles with nary a scratch or mar on the paint except one I put on the rear bumper by the trunk when I dropped a tripod as I was pulling it from the trunk, which was fixed at the VPC.

When I got the car in the states 9 long weeks later, I didn't allow the dealer to touch it and went straight to a detailer for a paint correction followed by PPF and Opti Coat. The paint was in awesome condition. Just make sure to use Iron X and a clay bar when you get your new ride, but that doesn't make any difference whether you get it delivered to the US or ED.

I've done 5 ED, lasting from 1/2 day of driving to 2 weeks, and the most I did was car wash prior to drop off (mandatory if it is dirty and dead bugs). Nothing else.

[Rustang Cobra]

Scout out parking garages before you leave to go anywhere. There are some that are literally built for fiat 500s only and its just a matter of time until you curb your rims.

[MrSmileyDC]

Originally Posted by SamS

Sure, makes sense. One rainstorm between the VPC and your dealer is all it takes to make your car filthy. I personally don't let the dealer touch my car

Mine went to the PCD and they require them to be cleaned since they're basically put on display.

[Bluex]

Originally Posted by Rustang Cobra

Scout out parking garages before you leave to go anywhere. There are some that are literally built for fiat 500s only and its just a matter of time until you curb your rims.

This.

All the other mentions about paint protection are valid....I did so much research prior to my trip and ultimately didn't do anything. Not a scratch or rock chip at all. The most I had to contend with were the ridiculous amount of bugs in May. I had them hand wash and wax the car and it came back to the states in excellent condition.

The parking garage thing mentioned above doesn't get mentioned enough on here. When you go to the old cities (my main experiences were in Munich and Heidelberg) these garages are just not built for larger type vehicles. I made sure that I did alot of research on them, including street view maps to get a feel for the roads. Even with all that, I had one garage that almost created an issue.

Know where your hotel is, the roads around them and parking situation. Fortune favors the prepared.

I say this also because there are some gorgeous hotels in old Heidelberg and I almost booked them. Thankfully I didn't, because when I saw their location it would have been a nightmare. They were in the old town where the roads are pretty much closed to vehicular traffic....just huge throngs of walkers. To get to the check in area of this one hotel, you had to drive on this pedestrian road and park right out in the middle of it all. I saw people in Mini's having a hell of a time trying to navigate it. Took them a while to get through. I can't imagine doing that with an M3.

Just know your hotels and parking garages and you'll be fine.

[RowanBuds]

Originally Posted by BavarianFanatic

For starters, you're required to wash it before dropping it off. If you don't they'll do it for you and charge a penalty. Unless you damage it yourself during your trip, you shouldn't expect any other damage or wear. It'll arrive in as-new condition.

I had no penalty charged, nor did I ever see one referenced in the ED paperwork.

Funny enough I dropped my car off in Zurich and it was filthy for my standards. When I went to pick it up the same road grime I left on her was on the rockers and the interior still had the same European flora scattered about. The car was exactly how I dropped it off in Switzerland.

From taking an NJ VDC tour earlier in the year I was told that all cars that pass through the facility go through a machine wash on the route into the building - I even watched the cars go through it going from the holding area into the VDC on my tour. I really expected my car to have been washed before getting to the dealership. I did ask my dealer to not wash the car and picked it up basically right after it came off of the truck, but was surprised to find it dirty.

[MrMotorwerk]

When you wash it at the gas station near the Munich airport, make sure you go into the convenience store to pickup some Sonax microfiber towels to dry your car off.

[MrMotorwerk]

Originally Posted by RowanBuds

I had no penalty charged, nor did I ever see one referenced in the ED paperwork.

Funny enough I dropped my car off in Zurich and it was filthy for my standards. When I went to pick it up the same road grime I left on her was on the rockers and the interior still had the same European flora scattered about. The car was exactly how I dropped it off in Switzerland.

From taking an NJ VDC tour earlier in the year I was told that all cars that pass through the facility go through a machine wash on the route into the building - I even watched the cars go through it going from the holding area into the VDC on my tour. I really expected my car to have been washed before getting to the dealership. I did ask my dealer to not wash the car and picked it up basically right after it came off of the truck, but was surprised to find it dirty.

Log In Out requires the car be washed or they will charge you to wash the car for you.

The car wash basically lets Log In Out better assess your car before accepting your car for shipment back to the US.
They don't want to be responsible for the scratches in the paint covered up by the dirt on your car!

[RowanBuds]

Originally Posted by BavarianFanatic

For starters, you're required to wash it before dropping it off. If you don't they'll do it for you and charge a penalty. Unless you damage it yourself during your trip, you shouldn't expect any other damage or wear. It'll arrive in as-new condition.

Originally Posted by MrMotorwerk

Log In Out requires the car be washed or they will charge you to wash the car for you.

The car wash basically lets Log In Out better assess your car before accepting your car for shipment back to the US.
They don't want to be responsible for the scratches in the paint covered up by the dirt on your car!

My post is from my personal experience, but I dropped off in Zurich at a company called Gondrand Logistics. I washed the car but it was a nasty rainy day in Zurich and by the time I got it to Gondrand it had mud and dirt on the lower quarter of the car.

[BavarianFanatic]

Originally Posted by RowanBuds

My post is from my personal experience, but I dropped off in Zurich at a company called Gondrand Logistics. I washed the car but it was a nasty rainy day in Zurich and by the time I got it to Gondrand it had mud and dirt on the lower quarter of the car.

I would venture to guess that your experience was not typical. The fact that it was a rainy day and that it wasn't Loginout likely played a part. The requirement for the car to be clean upon drop-off is documented in the ED literature as is the fact that they will back charge you for washing it if you don't clean it out. It's a USDA requirement thanks to the whole foot and mouth debacle several years back. I too have been through the VPC, so it's definitely a mystery how yours made it through without a wash.

[RowanBuds]

Originally Posted by BavarianFanatic

I would venture to guess that your experience was not typical. The fact that it was a rainy day and that it wasn't Loginout likely played a part. The requirement for the car to be clean upon drop-off is documented in the ED literature as is the fact that they will back charge you for washing it if you don't clean it out. It's a USDA requirement thanks to the whole foot and mouth debacle several years back. I too have been through the VPC, so it's definitely a mystery how yours made it through without a wash.

Agreed. I was told by Gondrand the car would be washed at the port of exit and also saw on the tour that they're washed. I believe my experience to be the exception.