I've recently discovered that you can take delivery of a new BMW in Munich for a 7% savings. You can also drive the car free of charge for 14 days. Also, if you book a ticket on Luftansa with the intent of picking-up your car in Germany you get a free companion ticket. You can't beat that for a great deal!! We won't be taking advantage of the tickets because we already have our tickets to Italy and don't want to have to back track to Germany. We pretty much have our itinerary in place but now I have to try and work in Munich to pick up the new car I will be ordering. It is a simple process because you order from a dealer in the US, they do all the paperwork and after you take delivery the car is shipped to them.

I would like to know how long it would take to drive from Munich to Lake Como. Would we have to go throgh Milan to get to Lake Como or would we arrive at Lake Como, sepcifically, Bellagio first? We will be able to drop the car off in Italy to be shipped to the US.

See viamichelin.com for routing.
I prefer the route via Landeck and St. Moritz.

Could be 4 1/2 or 5 hours depending on where in the Como area you're headed. Germany-Austria-Switzerland-Italy (sorta like New England, eh?).

We drove from Oberammergau (south of Munich, near Garmisch) to the northern tip of Lake Como in April 2005. The drive was only about 200 miles, but took about 4-1/2 hours.... and as Jeff says, we went through four countries. It's an absolutely beautiful drive with a couple of options for stopping.

Our route took us over the Fernpass, through St. Moritz and then down the Maloja Pass. The Maloja Pass is an incredible road... zig-zagging down the side of the mountain. (We didn't go anywhere near Milan.)

I loved this entire drive and the transition from Germany to northern Italy. Make the most of it!

Kathy

The route through St.Moritz and Maloja is quite slow (I remember driving about 6 hours from Innsbruck to Lecco). It is very scenic and delightful, but I would not advise it in bad weather.

The shortest itinerary is probably Munich - Bregenz - San Bernardino - Lugano - Como, also quite scenic (even if not as delightful as high Engadin valley).

Please note that if driving on Austrian or Swiss highways you require the local highway sticker.

What's "a local highway sticker" and how would we get one?

There are two seperate vignettes, or autobahn stickers. One is for Switzerland, and one is for Austria. In Austria, you can buy a ten day pass, which I believe costs about 7.60 euros. They are available at gas stations close to the border.

The Swiss only sell a yearly one. So when you buy one, it will be good for the remainder of the year in which you buy it. It is available at the border coming into Switzerland. In fact, you will be waived over and forced to buy one if your car does not have one on it. It costs about 30 euros.

You do not have to go to Milan to get to Como from Germany.

I drive to Munich 3/4 times a year and in any season, my favourite way is: lake Como - Chiavenna - St.Moritz - Zernez - Landeck - Garmish (via Fern pass) - Munich... nice winding roads with lots of fun (if your car has some handling!)
I usually leave lake como VERY early in the morning and it takes me no more than 4.5 hours to get there.
By the way: the last 90kilometers (or the first if you are going from Munich to Como) are pure adrenaline with a fantastic highway with NO SPEED LIMIT !!! two weeks ago i wiped the dust off my Audi with peaks of 270Km/hour!!! (maybe that's why it takes me so little time to get there!! ha ha... DRIVE CAREFULLY!!

To be exact, if you drive in Switzerland only through the Engadin valley (Chiavenna - St. Moritz - Landeck or viceversa) you do not need the Swiss sticker as you do not drive highways. The border guards will probably ask you about your itinerary to be sure. You still would need the Austrian one.

Gio 59, was that the Autobon you were zipping along? Driving the Autobon is something my husband has always wanted to do.

Sorry for the incorrect spelling of Autobahn.

Yes that was one of the wonderfully kept "Autobahn" (highway)you can find in Germany - mind you: not all are "limit-less"