Found this on Bimmerfest - http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=902574

 

Before my first ED in 2005 I used to keep my wallet in my rear pants' pocket. Since that time my wallet has always been kept in the front pocket. When I find myself around a lot of people, my hand drapes over the pocket. My thought is, "No one is going after it without me knowing about it." So far, so good.

Hopefully I won't get gassed in a train, or pulled over by a bogus cop!

 

True storie: my father-in-law work all his life as a mold maker and had very strong arms. Ones he borded bus in Berline, and after few minutes he felt that some one go to his right and left pens pocket. In one he has his valet in another his us passport. He "gently" squish both hands in his pocket until two teneger girl behind him start screening from pain. He told me he even heart bone cracking sound before screaming start.
We use money belt and yes, wallet in my front pocket allweys

 

Wow, I have a somewhat similar story with my dad. He and my mom were taking in a Broadway show in NYC, waiting outside to go in when he felt someone in his pocket. My dad, who in his younger days had been a U.S. Treasury agent in the city, popped the guy in the jaw and got his wallet back. This was probably in the 80s. Those were different times.

 

I'll have you know, your interest in castles, and my consequent search and finding of nearby Burg Hohenzollern, has made me alter my itinerary. I'm making a longer drive on the day before we turn the car over to the shipping company so that we can stay the night in a hotel with a view of the castle. We plan to visit the castle the next morning before driving to Sindelfingen, which is supposed to be about 50 minutes away. That castle looks so beautiful in the photos!

 

I also alter my route to visit this beauty.

 

 

I think that everyone who is doing European Delivery should have to go to that castle! Lol. They will be overrun by mercedes buyers!

 

We have done 2 European Deliveries, getting set for our third in May, and have always had the good folks at the Delivery Center supply the vests. Can't imagine taking something from the States!

 

Dnease,

I should have posted the response that I received from Mercedes. You are correct, they are taking care of it! Here it is below -


Reflective jacket, warning triangle and first aid kit are delivered with the car.
The headlamps are matching continental standards (have to be adjusted for the UK).

A spare pair of glasses are not required in Germany, but in other European countries.

I hope I could answer your questions.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen / with best regards

Ronald Gunning

Kundencenter
Team kaufmännische Kundenbetreuung

 

Do not forget take out warning triangle and first aid kit before return your car to drop off location. Or they will be removed before shipping - not allow in US. At least that was the case with BMW a few years back. First aid kit must go to check in luggage - it has small scissors.

 

Lurkerlisa,

I think you may have to buy the Swiss Vignette no matter what.
We crossed into Switzerland from Como, Italy and we were promptly pulled from the traffic flow by the border patrol police and told that we need a sticker. They even had one on hand and sold it to us for 40e, smiling and saying "A souvenir from Switzerland"

 

When we received our car in Sindelfingen, it already had 2 safety vests in it.
If you need more than 2, you can also buy them at the giftshop at the Customer Center.

 

They will be provided by the Delivery Center along with the required warning triangle and first aid kit.

 

You probably crossed using the A9 (toll road on both sides of that border).
If you had crossed on the SS340, you would not have been required to purchase the Vignette.

 

We did the ED last summer and like you had all sorts of worries before going. MB took care of just about all of it! Vests, traffic triangle, insurance, info, lunch, taxis, drop off paperwork, luggage, and just about anything I could think to worry about was handled before I even asked.
A couple things to add to the list...
GPS. Ask MB for one before you go so it's waiting for you in the car. They'll give you one to use for free while you're in EU. I think that the nav system built into your car will be setup for the US, so the little portable one is a must have! Don't worry, it'll be in English and we found it to be pretty good at getting us where we wanted to go.
Tolls. Outside of Germany you should be expecting to pay some for bridges, tunnels, and highways. I never found one in Germany. For Austria you need to buy a 10 day toll sticker for 8euro. You will find it at the gas stations near the border, and I think they even had them for sale at the border crossing.
Parking isn't too bad in Germany. I found it to be similar to the US, in that suburbs are easy to find free parking on the street, cities had some meters or time limits to be aware of, and you could always find a parking garage. The prices weren't too bad in most places, certainly much cheaper than in NYC!
Speed limits. OBSERVE THEM! Seriously. Germany isn't really a 10 mph over kind of place. There's either no limit on the autobahn or a strict speed limit with a traffic camera that's going to give you a ticket. The speeds (or lack of) are clearly marked. The GPS that MB gave us told you the speed limit and had a warning that would tell us when we were approaching a known speed camera.
I found it much easier than I expected to get around in EU. If you're worried about this kind of stuff take a few minutes to google EU traffic signs so you don't have any surprises.
Ok, now the fun stuff... The factory tour is nice, but a bit long. Plan on at least a couple hours if not three. The lunch at the factory was great. Make sure you get the vouchers for it!
Once you have your car there are some great drives. This one was my favorite: http://losapos.com/german_alpine_road_alpenstrasse
When you drop off your car you don't need to fill it up like it's a rental car return. They actually prefer to ship them with just enough gas to drive on and off the boat. I was told they even empty them, but I don't know if that's true. When you pick it up at your dealer they'll fill it up.
If you want your plates, and why wouldn't you? Just request them when you drop off your car. They'll add a note to the paperwork. At drop off they said we couldn't take off the front one as it would slow down the process and possibly delay shipment. Something about automated scanners at the port. We got both of our plates with our car when it came back to the US.
Enjoy your trip and your new car!

 

Thanks for your post.
Is your was ordered with Navigation system?
I was under impression that only AUDI had this issue with Navigation - their navigation do not work in Europe.

 

Since about 2013, virtually every Command unit will have European Maps directly on the Command unit for ED.
When the vehicle gets back to the States, The VPC will reprogram the Command Navi for North American Maps.


Hope this helps.

 

I can confirm that has been my experience as well. If you have a built in nav system it will be loaded with the European maps. Our assistant who walked us through the features of our GLK at pick up in 2013 even programmed our first destination into it.

 

I should have mentioned that ours didn't have the nav system. It was still nice of MB to provide us a EU GPS for free!
I had read somewhere that some models had incompatible nav systems for EU. Maybe it was the old Becker ones? Happy to hear that's been sorted out.

 

I ordered my car with the Garmin Navigation. It's SD-card based, so in Sindelfingen I asked if they can put in a card with European maps. They said No, but offered to a portable GPS (to return at drop-off).
I declined and relied on Waze and Google maps on my phone (thank you, T-Mobile for the free internet ).

 

Ah ha! So I'm not imagining things!
We went with the portable GPS and found it quite helpful. I have T-Mobile too, but found the internet pretty slow without paying for the upgrade.

 

my Bimmerfest friend Beewang for long time offer BMW navigation DVD for rent (I rented from him in 2006) and now he offer $25 Garmin Map Europe NT SD Rental $55 Nav Rental

 

When make reservation for your hotel - make sure they have secure parking. You do not wont this happen to you.
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...48&postcount=1




In Caen, FR, a thief succeeded in taking all four wheels off my 550i, but a hotel clerk<br/>interrupted him before he could get away with the goods. Check out the picture:[/QUOTE]


That was our brand new European Delivery 2008 BMW 550i early one morning in a Caen, FR motel parking lot. It was secured with a fence and gate. The thief parked outside the fence in the middle of the night, hopped over, jacked up the car, and got all four wheels off. He was headed back to his truck with a wheel in each hand when the staff caught him in the act and scared him off. They brought the wheels into the lobby, then waited the next morning to see which hapless guest came to the desk to report that his car was on blocks, minus wheels. The local cops clued us in: wheel locks. When we pick up our 2018 E400 wagon next June, I'll hand a set of locks to the delivery mechs to install before we drive away.