Great write-up, and congrats on your new car! What an amazing experience and yours just confirms it. I've also wanted to do this in the past but always decided against it due to time, wanting the car NOW, etc. But as you mentioned, the savings and experience alone make this worthwhile. It's best to time it with a planned vacation to Europe, but in the worse case, even if one has to go there just for pickup and signin papers, the savings could be worth it. (One forum member had to do that recently due to changed plans, and as you mentioned, the $$$ saved via ED more than covers flight tickets.)
Anyways, getting back to your car...Now that you had the opportunity to push it, how does it compare to your previous 335is? (Acceleration, handling, steering, power, etc) Any mod plans for your car?
BTW, luckily you didn't get the RFT options as that would have limited you on many occasions.
Bummer on the flat you got though, but it seems it got taken care of the same day. (Did you have to pay for a new tire or did you get the tire/wheel insurance? [Not sure if the latter covers things overseas or not, but would be good to know])
Thanks again for the great write-up, and welcome back home.