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BMW Welt: If St. Peter bought a bimmer, he'd take delivery here
Mercedes has been offering factory delivery of its cars since the fifties, and today more than 80,000 folks are handed their new Mercedes fobs right at the plant. One of the top tourist attractions in Germany is VW's Autostadt, which gets more than a million visitors per year. Now BMW has joined the factory delivery crowd with its BMW Welt, built next to the BMW campus at a cost in excess of $275 million.
Looking like a breakaway chunk from the Guggenheim in Bilbao, it contains a gallery showcasing the roundel's complete line, a conference center, a kiddie center, and exhibits. BMW expects 800,000 visitors per year. Of those, 45,000 of them will be coming to collect their new ultimate driving machine. After a tour of the BMW factory, in a separate building, new owners will collect their cars, which will be waiting for them on a revolving turntable... atop a plinth... bathed in the spotlight. Indeed, it will be a dramatic way to collect your 1-Series.
The creation of such a building was inspired by marketing. With relative tadpoles in the auto business muscling their way into the top tier, one of the last battlegrounds for distinction is age. With the BMW Welt, the company that was winning races before Toyota had made its first car wants to show that old girls still have a lot of fight left in them. Porsche is expected to join the party next year with its own specially designed factory delivery monument.
[Source: New York Times]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mike 10:19AM (8/03/2007)
"Indeed, it will be a dramatic way to collect your 1-Series."
Ha ha, hey a BMW is a BMW. Entry-level or not!
;-)
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rob 10:40AM (8/03/2007)
i love that little barb against toyota.
you're so smart, autoblog. NOT.
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John 10:46AM (8/03/2007)
You can easily configure a 1 series to cost more than a 3 or a 5 series.
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YouFaceTheTick 10:56AM (8/03/2007)
If you can configure a 1 series via ED to cost more than a 5 series then you've accomplished an amazing feat. As ED as cars tend to run 4-5k below MSRP, it'd be incredible to get a 1 series that expensive.
John 11:08AM (8/03/2007)
I mean here in Europe :)
jg 11:57AM (8/03/2007)
Of course you can in Europe, you have low level 3 series' over there. If we had access to the 316d it wouldn't be that hard to make a 135i more expensive.
I can't wait to do my ED maybe next year. I've never bought a new car, only used rides so far.
YouFaceTheTick 10:54AM (8/03/2007)
"Mercedes has been offering factory delivery of its cars since the fifties, and today more than 80,000 folks are handed their new Mercedes fobs right at the plant...Now BMW has joined the factory delivery crowd with its BMW Welt,"...
Uh, WTF? BMW has had european delivery for well over 4 decades too. Hundreds of thousands of people have picked up their bimmers via ED. I got my last BMW in Munich via European Delivery last year. Talk about misleading. The only thing that's newsworthy about this...that BMW built this worthless new building to do the job it was already accomplishing with a nondescript, little white building.
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MosquitoControl 10:57AM (8/03/2007)
Tick is (obnoxiously) correct.
I don't know if BMW has been doing it for that long, but european delivery is nothing new. Pick the car up in Munich, all the paperwork filled out for a cross-europe drive, and you ultimately save money, so long as you were willing to take a European vacation anyway.
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YouFaceTheTick 12:28PM (8/03/2007)
Actually, it will save money no matter what. My 330i was 5500 cheaper than MSRP. Had I opted for the dash and grab it still would have been a huge savings (I took a two week tour of southern europe in my car instead). 1 flight with frequent flyer points = free, 1 night at the Munich Marriott = $55 via priceline. Train ticket to ED Delivery center from the airport = 8 Euros. Cab ride from the ED drop off to your hotel = 20 euros. Bus ride on Lufthansa Airport Shuttle from Munich Marriott to the airport = 10 euros. Sundry food for two days = 50 euros. Total cost = maybe $200.
It's theoretically possible to fly in and out the same day - land at 7 am and fly out at 1 pm. But that might be cutting it close.
My next BMW will be ED again as it's too damn much fun to pass up. As for the BMW's new ED Center with museums and such...don't give a damn. They could have a tin shack with a toothless Bavarian handing out the keys and it wouldn't matter to me.
Ben Carufel 10:59AM (8/03/2007)
I'll be doing my first European Delivery on my 135i there next year. Seventh BMW, first ED. Can't wait.
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willem 12:16PM (8/03/2007)
Because nobody would bother going to Japan, Inc. for an "Asian Delivery" of a lousy Toy or Lex-ass.
Seriously, though, why would anybody want to go to Japan, only to be discriminated against?
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YouFaceTheTick 12:30PM (8/03/2007)
Have you been to Japan? It's fantastic. Expensive but a great place to visit. I'd gladly opt for a Japanese Delivery if Infiniti offered it (and made a car worth driving). The food, the sights, the friendly people (at least in my experience)...it's an incredible country to visit at least once.
Jorge 2:52PM (8/03/2007)
To me who is in canada. Anywhere on other continent will be great compare to North America. Canada and US is so similar. It gets boring very fast.
zamafir 3:08PM (8/03/2007)
pitty it doesnt look that good in person
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