[svache]

We did a few test drives today in both the 328i and 335i, and both my wife and I were totally in love with the car during/after the drives, what an amazing car

So yeah, needless to say, we ordered our new BMW 3 series and decided to go for the 328i Luxury. While they did not have the color (Mojave) on any of the new 3's right now to show us, they did have it on a new 5 series so we could at least get an impression (it's hard to make a final decision without really seeing the car, well for my wife at least). The color looked really great in normal day light (much better than on the configurator imo) so we decided to go with that in combination with the Veneto Beige and Anthracite wood trim (the colors really are nice accents with each other). Since we will have an ok budget to buy this car, we already decided to go full option if we did order it, and so we did:



I feel like a kid, so happy and excited

One thing, though, and I'm sure you guys could tell me this.. We did our down payment today and I am wondering when I could expect any numbers to follow the car's production and all that in 'my bmw' on bmwusa.com. I know he did mention it because he verified my email addy to send it to me when he had it but I kind of forgot in my excitement when to expect it haha (I could call him but perhaps one of you can give me an indication), the only thing I do remember is that he was going to try and get it still in a February production so that by the time our lease is up of our '09 X5 (April 7) we can trade both cars.. I sure hope that it works out, but thankfully he is able to extend our lease for 3 months if it is needed =) Ah, that and that it will take about 8 weeks to get the car (since I live in Hawaii).

(oh, and for those wondering why on earth I took a cold package on a car that is ordered in Hawaii, this is basically just a 'just in case' as we might move to Europe for a couple of years or so in about a year.. I originate from there and know how cold it can be lol)

Some loooooong 8 weeks this is gonna be lol

[DrivenByE30]

Congrats to you and your wife on a great full option and great color combo!

1) the production number will be given to you as soon as BMW N.A. send the production request to BMW Germany, and when BMW Germany confirms the allocated production time for your car... Once all that figured out, then you will be notified of the Prod #. I would say you will get it within the next two weeks (since your request is to have your car beginning of April)

8 weeks to get the car (from the finished produced car to your dealership showroom in Hawaii). Realistically and as fast as it could be possible, i would say expect to have your car in your Aloha Dealership around mid, if not end of April, beginning May.

That's my guess only, and therefore i can be very well wrong.
Only your dealer would be able to give you the straight face answer.

2) if you, whenever you do if at all, you should consider selling the F30 you are ordering right now, and then get the money to order a new F30 once both you and your wife are installed in Europe (eventually if need be).
Why go through the trouble of shipping the car?!

Just my 2 cents :P

[svache]

Originally Posted by DrivenByE30

1) the production number will be given to you as soon as BMW N.A. send the production request to BMW Germany, and when BMW Germany confirms the allocated production time for your car... Once all that figured out, then you will be notified of the Prod #. I would say you will get it within the next two weeks (since your request is to have your car beginning of April)

Thanks, that's good enough for me not to bother the dealer right away requesting the info again

Originally Posted by DrivenByE30

8 weeks to get the car (from the finished produced car to your dealership showroom in Hawaii). Realistically and as fast as it could be possible, i would say expect to have your car in your Aloha Dealership around mid, if not end of April, beginning May.

He did tell me it usually takes 8 weeks. I am aware it might take a bit longer, which is ok. He can extend our current lease with 3 months (until somewhere in July) so I would be ok with that if it happened, the X5 isn't so bad

Originally Posted by DrivenByE30

2) if you, whenever you do if at all, you should consider selling the F30 you are ordering right now, and then get the money to order a new F30 once both you and your wife are installed in Europe (eventually if need be).
Why go through the trouble of shipping the car?!

Well it's actually a lot cheaper to buy a car in the US than it is in the country where we would go to (the Netherlands). I know from experience (I'm originally from there) that they ask tax over tax over tax (it's no wonder gas costs over $10 per gallon there right now)

While this car starts without options/lines at almost $35,000 over here, it starts at almost €42,000 over there, in USD that would be (according to today's conversion on Google) about $55,000 so that's already a big difference. If you're going to add options, which are also more expensive over there, the car will be almost 67,000 euro (approx 88,000 USD) when it's similar equipped as my 328i at $53,000 (The 335i would have been an even bigger difference, I believe 58-59K here and about 95-98K there with all options (I could be a bit off, though)). Shipping the car there, and importing it, is about 5000-6000 dollar in total according to estimates I received so far so that gives me about 30,000 dollar benefit in buying the car here instead of there

Normally, people have to pay 'BPM' (losely translated Dutch abbreviation for 'Tax over Cars and Motorbikes'), which is about 25%, and I can avoid paying this by living for at least 12 months in another country, having the title in my name for at least 6 months before we go there and not selling the car within a year over there. So this is also something I have to keep in mind. My wife drives a cheaper car to get to work (although she is now saying for fun she is jealous of me because I get to drive this new car mostly so she wants a 3 series of her own now lol) and it would indeed not be too much of a benefit to ship that car as it is valued much lower and closer to the Dutch price.

It's even so bad, with the prices over there, that 3 years ago, when I got my approximately $68,000 X5, it was worth about 110,000 USD (coverted back from the Euro price) over there and even now, 3 years later, I see several similar cars, all similar equipped and with similar mileages, being sold for about $65,000-$75,000 (again converted back from the Euro price). So the way I figure it, if we do go there and sell the car there after 3 or 4 years from now, we wont have that much of a loss in what we pay for it now (there is always some loss, of course, but not as much as when we would sell it here after 3 years). And if we do move back to Hawaii after a few years (my wife owns property here that will be rented out for the time we're away (by a rental management company, so someone can keep an eye on it)), then we would be able to put much more money from the old car to a new car (funny how it is 'the old car' while we don't even have it yet haha).

[Jason]

CONGRATS! The F30 is hard not to like after driving it eh?

[svache]

Thanks! And you're right, it's truly an impressive car =)

[F2006]

Are you positive that a US spec car can be re-exported to Netherlands without additional problems/expenses? You might need to spend some additional money to get it up to Euro specs. Also, there might be some sort of certification to prove local authorities that your car is in compliance with local regulations.

[iwannabimmer]

Wow! Do you really need all those options? What are your terms, financing or leasing?

[svache]

Originally Posted by F2006

Are you positive that a US spec car can be re-exported to Netherlands without additional problems/expenses? You might need to spend some additional money to get it up to Euro specs. Also, there might be some sort of certification to prove local authorities that your car is in compliance with local regulations.

Yeah I did some checks on this as well (there are a couple of import companies in the Netherlands who are specialized in cars from the US (normally cars that are normally not available in Europe but also for people who are in the same situation as we are)) and the cost for that is included in the earlier mentioned price. All in all it's really not that bad

By the way, it might seem a bit on the low side but it really only needs shipping over the Pacific and Atlantic. The part from the West coast to the East coast will be done by ourselves (kind of like a roadtrip so we can enjoy the car and the country in a vacation). This, of course, costs money too but we see this part a bit as a vacation instead of actually transporting

And oh well, if it turns out to be 10K instead of the projected 5K-6K they have given us the estimates for, then that's still ok since the 'profit' on the car itself is about 30K

Originally Posted by iwannabimmer

Wow! Do you really need all those options? What are your terms, financing or leasing?

Haha nah I don't need all of those options, a lot of it is just a fun factor and perhaps a bit over the top, I have no problem admitting that. But, at the other hand, both my wife and I feel like if we do pay a lot for a car like this then why not go all-in if the budget is available (besides: you only live once, might as well enjoy it). Also, if we knew 100% sure we would stay in Hawaii, we might have end up with a 5 series or another X5 instead just with less options (we could've done that now too, of course, but when moving to Europe, it will add a lot of extra cost in insurances, yearly taxes and, of course, gas price with those cars (to give you an idea: I drive 15-16mpg on average with my X5 and that's not much fun with over $10 for a gallon gas)). And finally, we also have several of these options in our X5 and I would hate it if I had to lose them, it's easy to get used to them

As for my terms, if we stayed here, I would probably have gone for financing (or maybe leasing, I'm not sure about that.. My X5 is leased and that works out nicely) but since we need to have the title at least in our name for 6 months, we decided to pay cash on delivery (this just in case we do move to Europe so we can avoid a 25% tax and several other fees over the Dutch sticker price (they don't look at what we actually paid for it but what we would pay for it there)).

[svache]

Sweet! Just received my (estimated) production date: February 15

[90degreeman]

Great combination...classy, I must say. Plus, you got the luxury line - fantastic! The chrome window trim on the outside is going to look beautiful on the Mojavi color. Also, love the wood trim on light leather. *Tips hat* - Well done, sir.

[svache]

Thanks We did indeed look at the trims in combination with the colors, if it all would fit nicely (like dark/light combos). From what I've seen on the 5 series in those colors, it looks really nice

[svache]

Hmm I just looked on the BMW website, and does this mean what I think it means?



If so, then that's pretty sweet because the estimated production date was initially February 15

[justinnum1]

Nice!

[DrivenByE30]

Lucky you!! Not only does your production number came in as expected, but your car will be produced practically at the same time right now as we speak!

54K Cash ??! Must be nice to be you... both of you are very lucky to be able to enjoy life so much... especially in Hawaii too! You both deserve it, i am sure!

[svache]

Originally Posted by DrivenByE30

54K Cash ??! Must be nice to be you... both of you are very lucky to be able to enjoy life so much... especially in Hawaii too! You both deserve it, i am sure!

Thanks, and you're right, I am very lucky indeed, sadly enough I don't always remind myself to that :/

As for the cash part, well it looks better than it really is. My wife owns a few properties here (inherited) and she sold one because of that move to Europe we're planning. So a small part of the money that she got from that sale is being used for this car because the lease on my X5 is expiring (the rest will be used for other moving costs and to buy a house there). So yeah, it does looks pretty cool but it's not as if we're that rich because we're really not. We're not poor either though, just doing ok (but, true, living in Hawaii while doing ok is good enough to be able to enjoy life a lot)

[svache]

Just called the 800 number and heard my car is currently in the paint shop and the est. finishing date is still February 15. Seems we're still right on track

[svache]

And it's final.. we're staying in Hawaii rather than going to the Netherlands.. yay for cold weather package

[PrinceBarin]

Originally Posted by svache

And it's final.. we're staying in Hawaii rather than going to the Netherlands.. yay for cold weather package

Ha ha, no heated steering wheel for you then! It's raining in the UK today, bet the NL is the same...

Seems like there will be a whole bunch of you guys getting your cars in the next few weeks, really excited for you!

[MacAttackBMW]

Originally Posted by svache

And it's final.. we're staying in Hawaii rather than going to the Netherlands.. yay for cold weather package

Look at it differently... Not only do you have one of the most luxurious vehicles on the island, but you also have features that are only relevant on a small number of days but who cares... You're an enthusiast!!!

[svache]

Originally Posted by PrinceBarin

Ha ha, no heated steering wheel for you then! It's raining in the UK today, bet the NL is the same...

Seems like there will be a whole bunch of you guys getting your cars in the next few weeks, really excited for you!

Haha yeah the Netherlands is pretty much raining most of the time as well.. dunno how the weather is now though, been living in Hawaii since 2008 now (much better weather wise ). Looking forward to get my F30, I'm guessing 3-4 more weeks until I have it

Originally Posted by MacAttackBMW

Look at it differently... Not only do you have one of the most luxurious vehicles on the island, but you also have features that are only relevant on a small number of days but who cares... You're an enthusiast!!!

lol nice way of thinking but, yeah, you do have a point lol

Oh well, if we have any cold days like we have lately, I'll be happy to have warm hands and back

[jgrasty]

Originally Posted by svache

(oh, and for those wondering why on earth I took a cold package on a car that is ordered in Hawaii, this is basically just a 'just in case' as we might move to Europe for a couple of years or so in about a year.. I originate from there and know how cold it can be lol)

Some loooooong 8 weeks this is gonna be lol

Which island? You could always claim you work at one of the observatories at the top of the volcanoes on Maui or Hawaii!

I just love Hawaii, BTW...

[enigma135]

Congratulations on the car....and staying in Hawaii! gonna have to get out and test drive one of these soon. I should get out of my 1 series, but so tough to decide what to do next.