BMW Welt: New Munich showroom

Today' s ITH: BMW Welt aims to make entering the showroom a cathedral-like experience


So you pray and buy a car all at once. Pretty cool place.

"Rather than picking up a new car at a local dealership, drivers who pay a little extra for the privilege will come here to take delivery of their vehicle"

I once picked a new Audi from their similar place in Ingolstadt and paid less because I picked up there. Audi don't charge the delivery charges if you opt for picking it up from them instead of the dealer.

Nice, they've kept saying opening Summer 2007 until now...and there it says October. Bastards.

I always heard October, having been in contact with the architects in a different matter. I lived around the corner from this site, watching the construction week by week was quite an experience. The finished building will indeed be a highlight equal to the admin building across the street.

Another pic...

Hmmm... My "concern" with ultra-modern design is that it looks kitsch and cheap in no time. Look at the 70s buildings that are around now...

Somethings remain timeless...

Bauhaus,
Dessau, 1925-26. Architect: Walter Gropius (1883-1969). Courtesy of Prof. Jeffrey Howe, Boston College.

and still others...

just one more...

I wish they'd finish the damned construction already - it's a mess getting to work if you take the 51 bus from Olympiazentrum.

about 2 years ago they placed a huge countdown with the seconds until opening or something. I guess they wanted to catch the WM frenzy; which they failed anyway. It would have been funny though to see that counter go counting the negative seconds (how much they went over the deadline)

Do they do Popemobiles?

Of course. Didn't you know that the "B" in "BMW" stands for "Benedict"?

The best deserves the best design. Beautiful work!!!

I think it was Janis Joplin who said it best "Lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz" Next time I'm in town I am lighting a candle here!

Smart girl that Janis Joplin.

Great Idea! Typical of BMW to make you pay for something you would normally get free .

Did they finally open sometime this past weekend? As I drove by on Sunday, all lights were on and many people were walking inside it.

I think by "pay a little extra" they mean pay for the flight here and back for the customer, BMW doesn't make any extra money off this option. The cost of the car is, as far as I know, cheaper than buying from the dealership because you forego the middle man.

I know my dad is looking into taking advantage of this option for his next BMW but so far Canadian dealers aren't really interested in organizing because they make no commission on the sale. OG can confirm this when he gets back from his meeting.

Yes, it opened on Saturday. As we drove past on Sunday, there were huge queues out of the door, so I guess a lot of people had the same idea for a rainy Sunday afternoon. Think we'll wait until it settles down a bit, but I'm still waiting on the Allianz Arena!

is it open to the general public to walk through? could be rainy day amusement for out of town guests...

Edit: whoops, you beat me to it.

Yes, it is open to the general public. A friend of mine is working there and it opened on Saturday.

nope I was told by BMW last week that when I order my new car it'd cost me €500 to pick it up from BMW Welt - and I live all of 10mins on the u-bahn from there. Apparently for your money you get a tour of the factory then get your car unveiled like at a car show.

Oi! That's not cool!

The way my Dad worked it out it was cheaper for him than paying dealers comissions.

ER is talking about European Delivery for North American customers. They generally receive a discount off the new vehicle price which is so high that it covers a fair chunk, if not all, of the travel costs to Munich to pick up the car. BMW also offer special deals on the flights and hotels as a package.

oi! No it's not. Especially as Porsche told me that if I got one of their cars I can pick it up from Stuttgart for free.

When I was last in the UK BMW and Mercedes offered you an option to collect your car from the manufacturer in Germany. The buyer flew out for free, was given a free train ticket to the hotel and stayed overnight in the hotel, all paid for by the respective manufacturer. You received a free tour of the factory and then you were presented your car with a tank of fuel in it. A "partner" could also accompany you for a "reasonable charge".

When I purchased my Mercedes from the dealer on Ingolstadt Str I was given a choice.

1. Make my own way to Hamburg to collect it (as that was where they made the CLK) have a tour of the factory and I would only pay a 200 euro collection fee on top of my travel expenses.

2. Collect it from that massive Mercedes place in Munich (anyone purchasing a new Merc within Munich HAS to collect from there) after making my own own way over and it would only cost me 500euro. (This was despite me wanting to collect it from the dealer on Ingolstadt Str)

The Mercedes place was quite spectacular (as car showrooms go), the car was crap, so I sold it, purchased something better, collected it from their showroom... for FREE!!

Was it just the chassis you were buying or the whole car? I'm wondering why they'd send you to Hamburg?

Basically the chap told me that I had to go to Stuttgart and then he said "Oh, its a CLK, you have to go Hamburg" (as did my friend in the UK that works for Merc and had to undergo the "customer experience"). He was coming to visit me but as he was picking up a CLK too, he had to go to Hamburg.

I would not mind but having being a fleet manager with some fairly major fleets, I have seen the money that car manufacturers throw around (Flights on the Mercedes private jet and being delivered to a hotel in Portugal where the occupant of the next room was the current King of Jordan), being told I can take a bottle of brandy home that was worth £1.000s, having a chef flown in to some island to cook us a 7 course meal, to name but a few), it seems that being charged to pick up your car is a bit rich.

As you probably know, it is not just BMW, Merc and other luxury brands that throw that sort of cash around. Vauxhall, Ford, VW also do this.

Have to say it was nice while it lasted except one thing...I hate flying The manufacturers loved me as I was a cheap date (Rugby tickets to all major internationals and no VIP lounges...cabbage patch first then into Richmond. Many great memories and still have contacts within the fleet industry that can (just) remember their "cheap date" with me.

Yes, I saved roughly $3000 USD for the European Delivery of my E90. It is not for everyone because you have to order 3 months in advance and wait 6 weeks for re-delivery after your trip. The 3 and 5 series do not come out of the dealer quota so it is free money for the dealerships above their invoice for the Euro Delivery. Lufthansa does a 2 for 1 airfare deal, but you can usually do better yourself since it is a high priced ticket. Overall, it was a wonderful experience breaking in the car after 1200 beautiful miles in and around Bavaria. I can't wait to do it again at BMW Welt.

Anyone planning on doing a American Delivery of a Ford in beautiful Detroit?

We took a small break from the Immobilien Fair to walk through the BMW Welt last weekend. I was pretty impressed actually. There are a few levels higher up you don't even realize are there, until you walk along the 'catwalk' high above and look down. Pretty cool design...

But what can a "normal" visitor see there?
Just the building? Is there a Car exibition? Or something else to see to make the trip worth?

There are some restaurants/bars. You can just mingle about all these BMW cars and bikes and stuff, I guess one from each series. Some little science thing for kiddies. Shouldnt take you too long to go through it, Id say worth a visit. and as canuck says, if you go up high it looks pretty impressive looking down.

doesnt cost anything, apart from the kids bit.

Not quite - if you use their car park they charge you €3 per hour

well, i took the ubahn so wouldnt know.

whats with all the security? loads i saw.

I took my brothers and sister-in-law (all from Seattle) over the holidays and we did the tour of the building. It was pretty interesting and the building is astounding.

Afterward we had lunch at the International Restaurant; my club sandwich was great and they also offer sushi plates, which my raw-fish eating relatives recommend. They have two or three other eating choices (restaurants) also.

They apparently had some Christmas concerts there, but we were not aware of them in time. They claim that they post all events on their web site.

You can also book factory tours there but I would assume that you normally would need to book those in advance.

It's right at the Olympia Zentrum U stop and there are also two parking levels.

Don't dress too heavily as there is no Garderobe and it is very warm inside.

The museum at Olympiapark is now closed so there is no museum till at least spring. We checked it in person, as my bro really wanted to see it.

If anyone has taken both the factory tour and the BMW Welt tour, which would you recommend for visiting parents? I presume English tours are available for each, though I find no specific reference on the BMW Welt website (in English).

link to Guided Plant Tours

Of course they do the tours in English (and also in German).
I took my parents on this tour back in September and it was very interesting (except the part when the guide said the cars are "glued" together - she was so wrong!).

An article from last Sunday's Observer.