[TiresOnFire]

Here's my experience that might help answer questions about the European Delivery experience and when you should expect your car.
I ordered a 435i M Sport convertible, and a 550i M Sport - "received" both Sept 2, 2015 at Munich. Both vehicles had 2 miles at delivery at BMW Welt. Both were then trucked to the train (or to the ship?) to Bremerhaven.
Approximately two weeks later (the 19th) the vehicles were in route to the Port Hueneme and after stops along the way the Asian Emperor RORO ship arrived October 15, 2015.

The process so far was rather uneventful and understandable as it was easy enough to track which ship the cars were on and then the slow movement of the ship, though I did find some websites much more reliable than others and ended up with three different iPhone apps of which any one of the three usually had positioning information if the others did not.

Both vehicles arrived in the Phoenix, AZ area at the end of October, approximately two weeks later. And here is the lesson learned.

From the time your ship arrives at Port Hueneme, simply give up on trying to track your car. Based on my experience, your dealer can't tell you, and the BMW NA 800 number doesn't know either. Simply, kick back and relax and wait to hear from your dealer good news that your cars have arrived.

I corresponded with three other Bimmerpost members during this who also had cars on the same ship. Two were not ED, and they had their cars within a week of Port arrival, I recall. One other was ED, and just received their car today, and was located in California, which is basically the same timing that my cars arrived at the local dealer and now need to be prepared for me, so the Arizona delivery adds about a week to the process.

Examples of flawed information:
The 800 number advised the 435i was still at the port, where in reality it was delivered to the dealer the day before.
The dealer advised the 550i was on the truck on the 26th, due to them on the 28th, and in reality it arrived on the 31st, two days after the 435i.

It seems odd that in such a technologically advanced era we know the whereabouts of a small FedEx envelope but someone can't locate a 4000 pound car.

If someone from BMW NA cares, my business operations advice is to prohibit the 800 number from providing vehicle location information, since it's clearly a waste of time and money for your business. Further, deal with a trucking company (Waggoners in my cases) who provides a website for a client to track their vehicle thus making your dealers more efficient so they don't have to answer the "when will my car arrive" question with "maybe tomorrow".

Don't construe any of this as complaining, but rather, as constructive ideas to add efficiency where there presently is little. Overall, the experience was fantastic, and I'm now spoiled that it's the only way to buy a new car... would do it again in a heartbeat.

Other observations:

• Both cars arrived with all European license plates intact (good, wanted them for a souvenirs). The front plate is attached with double sided tape and here in Arizona, we don't use front plates, so I'm pleased there's no holes where none is required.
• 435i arrived with the hazard triangle and first aid kit, 550i did not. Didn't expect to get them according to what I was told / read.
• Both cars are spotless (no ding's, no scratches, no dents), other than some exterior dust and dirty driver door mat - all this will be cleaned by the dealer after they prep the car.
• 435i has 14 miles. 550i has 17 miles. More will be added when the local dealer does their pre-delivery inspection.
• Both cars gas is full.
• Dealer expects to complete their PDI and window tinting around mid week, making the BMW Welt to local delivery around two months (two weeks Welt to Port, four weeks at sea, two weeks from port to local dealer).
• On the BMW USA website, where I can track my vehicles, both were updated to Finishing Touches when the ship arrived at Port, and though they are now both AT the dealer, they've not yet advanced to the next status of At your BMW Dealer.

[Fugly M3]

So you did ED and did no driving in Europe??

[TiresOnFire]

As funny as it might seem, you are correct, no driving. Why?, you might ask. The list is long: I had my mother-in-law with us, next with two cars it just didn't seem right to drive one and send the other back alone I wanted the two keep each other company on the long voyage, European delivery was an afterthought while also planning a trip to Paris and also building one car that turned into getting two cars and my local dealer was gracious enough to allow us to cancel the one vehicle already in production, but I had to make the timing of the trip and already purchased travel tickets fit into my schedule, vehicle break-in procedures do not include redlining on the autobahn, and finally I have a paranoia about door dings and bumper dents on narrow European city streets. It really was more about a European trip to Munich and Paris and touring the BMW Welt factory, than a European driving experience.

[Fugly M3]

Originally Posted by BillFuchs

As funny as it might seem, you are correct, no driving. Why?, you might ask. The list is long: I had my mother-in-law with us, next with two cars it just didn't seem right to drive one and send the other back alone I wanted the two keep each other company on the long voyage, European delivery was an afterthought while also planning a trip to Paris and also building one car that turned into getting two cars and my local dealer was gracious enough to allow us to cancel the one vehicle already in production, but I had to make the timing of the trip and already purchased travel tickets fit into my schedule, vehicle break-in procedures do not include redlining on the autobahn, and finally I have a paranoia about door dings and bumper dents on narrow European city streets. It really was more about a European trip to Munich and Paris and touring the BMW Welt factory, than a European driving experience.

Well all those reasons are logical enough...they just don't make any sense!

[G30 B58]

Do you expect BMW NA to read any of your observations? I'm not saying you're wrong but there's a 1 in 10000 chance of that getting read.

Wife and MIL in one car, you in the other. Driving in Europe problem solved.