GROUP BUY: 500E "Euro" Headlight Lenses

[gerryvz]

GROUP BUY: 500E "Euro" Headlight Lenses

The sights of "pairs" on display were many and frequent yesterday..... this capture was provided with 100% permission.

Klink would have been over the moon....

 

[remotemark]

Actually, several german beer styles are ales. Weizenbier is an ale as are Koelsch and Altbier. The difference between an ale and a lager (which includes pils), is that ale is made with a top-fermenting yeast which is active at warm temperatures. Lager yeasts ferment on the bottom and do their magic best at colder temperatures and over a much longer period, hence the need to "lager" them. The purpose of Oktoberfest is to empty the barrels to make room for the beer made from the freshly harvested grains so they could be lagered until March. Hence the name of the ever popular Bavarian Maerzen style.

 

[Klink]

The sights of "pairs" on display were many and frequent yesterday..... this capture was provided with 100% permission.

Klink would have been over the moon....

Yep, been over a "moon" or two as well. Thanks for the mammaries...

 

[Klink]

Re: GROUP BUY: 500E "Euro" Headlight Lenses

I have been smiled upon by the Gods of MB parts.

Evidently the old ladies in Eastern Europe who are responsible for squishing out W124 rubber mirror boots repaired their machines and are still squeezing a few here and there ....

Nope. Unfortunately there is only one left, and her name is Fran.

 

[mwaldron]

I hope I'm one of the lucky ones? Fingers crossed.

 

[gsxr]

Re: GROUP BUY: 500E "Euro" Headlight Lenses

Nope. Unfortunately there is only one left, and her name is Fran.

Klink, the left booty is not really NLA, is it? Just out of stock at the moment - right?

 

[bing]

The sights of "pairs" on display were many and frequent yesterday..... this capture was provided with 100% permission.

Klink would have been over the moon....

You sure Gerry ? That photo is mighty close ! Thanks anyway, I've saved it for my collection

 

[gerryvz]

GROUP BUY: 500E "Euro" Headlight Lenses

Well, I'm en route home ... Currently at Heathrow Airport, London, where my flight to Houston leaves in about 3 hours.

I'll never do this again, as far as bringing home a large amount of parts. I completely lost my shirt on this deal ... The airlines charged me $400 (United) and EUR 150 (Lufthansa) for the outsized baggage. Unfortunately as everyone has paid in full I've no way to recoup the costs, so consider it the Honcho's gift to those who ordered a set of lenses [emoji12][emoji8]

Also,, just so you know ... There are no VAT tax refunds on passenger car parts [emoji15][emoji23]

I still have US Customs duties to pay and that should be about an additional 2.5% of the total, so probably another $200 out of my pocket. You guys who took advantage of the group buy did very well...all I can say !! I did the work and paid the nasty tax and transport bills. Sorry ... I've not had a lot of sleep & my foot is paining me something fierce, so I'm venting a bit.

I'll get about to getting the sets of lenses sent to all of you on Friday & over the weekend.

Cheers,
Gerry


Savmjv, your pair of lenses is safe here with me

 

[sheward]

Even though I didn't take advantage of the offer (thought long about it) it was very generous of you to undertake. Wish you a speedy recovery.

drew

 

[500AMM]

Re: GROUP BUY: 500E "Euro" Headlight Lenses

Well, I'm en route home ... Currently at Heathrow Airport, London, where my flight to Houston leaves in about 3 hours.

I'll never do this again, as far as bringing home a large amount of parts. I completely lost my shirt on this deal ... The airlines charged me $400 (United) and EUR 150 (Lufthansa) for the outsized baggage. Unfortunately as everyone has paid in full I've no way to recoup the costs, so consider it the Honcho's gift to those who ordered a set of lenses.

Also,, just so you know ... There are no VAT tax refunds on passenger car parts.

I still have US Customs duties to pay and that should be about an additional 2.5% of the total, so probably another $200 out of my pocket. You guys who took advantage of the group buy did very well...all I can say !! I did the work and paid the nasty tax and transport bills. Sorry ... I've not had a lot of sleep & my foot is paining me something fierce, so I'm venting a bit.

I'll get about to getting the sets of lenses sent to all of you on Friday & over the weekend.

Cheers,
Gerry


Savmjv, your pair of lenses is safe here with me

Hmmm, this has nothing to do with me, but if it was so I would gladly pay my share of the unexpected freight fee and custom duties.

Gerry took on this group-buy, organized everything, witnessed the packing & transport to the airport, and repack & send to the individuals - all done with a broken foot!?!

It is some moral in this, so I hope peps will pony up for Honcho, he really deserves that.


Arnt

 

[Melville]

Re: GROUP BUY: 500E "Euro" Headlight Lenses

Hmmm, this has nothing to do with me, but if it was so I would gladly pay my share of the unexpected freight fee and custom duties.

Gerry took on this group-buy, organized everything, witnessed the packing & transport to the airport, and repack & send to the individuals - all done with a broken foot!?!

It is some moral in this, so I hope peps will pony up for Honcho, he really deserves that.


Arnt

+1

 

[gsxr]

Gerry, just turn in the receipts as a business expense! Problem solved...

Seriously though, bummer they hosed you that bad. Hope you have a smooth flight back to !!

 

[Klink]

Re: GROUP BUY: 500E "Euro" Headlight Lenses

Hmmm, this has nothing to do with me, but if it was so I would gladly pay my share of the unexpected freight fee and custom duties.

Gerry took on this group-buy, organized everything, witnessed the packing & transport to the airport, and repack & send to the individuals - all done with a broken foot!?!

It is some moral in this, so I hope peps will pony up for Honcho, he really deserves that.


Arnt

I'm in.

 

[maw1124]

Re: GROUP BUY: 500E "Euro" Headlight Lenses

I'm in.

GVZ, what's your total unexpected out of pocket?

Airlines have gotten out of hand these days. I'm just back from Maui, and it actually made sense to take MORE bags rather than use one bag I have that would have sufficed, just to avoid the $100 overweight fee. Silly.

maw

 

[Maui]

I will pay my share. Just send me a PM. You should not get stuck with this.

 

[gerryvz]

Just got out of US Customs. One hour there watching the agent dick around all so they could collect $68 duty.

The total cost for transport & duty all came to $648 out of my pocket. Ugh.

Good news is that all of the boxes seem to have come through ok. A couple on the bottom are crushed a but so I will have to inspect those carefully when I get back, but I think they will be OK.

Currently waiting for my wife to pick me up in the G-wagen now...

 

[savmjv]

Let me know when and where to meet to exchange mine and I'll chip in for whatever the overage was.

Thanks for organizing!

On a side night, I was at Oktoberfest 2013 and I came home saying Augustiner was my favorite. For whatever reason, my opinion changed to Spaten for the 2015 Fest Tour.

I got back this afternoon, so I'm available...pending whatever backlog accumulated while I was gone.

 

[Trae]

Well,

I feel guilty for not offering to pick these things up when I was in Frankfurt/London.

I think my own airline would have charged me, but not that much.

 

[s4cruiser]

I will pay my share. Just send me a PM. You should not get stuck with this.

+1

 

[J-Sauce]

I will pay my share.

 

[gerryvz]

Let me know when and where to meet to exchange mine and I'll chip in for whatever the overage was.

Thanks for organizing!

On a side night, I was at Oktoberfest 2013 and I came home saying Augustiner was my favorite. For whatever reason, my opinion changed to Spaten for the 2015 Fest Tour.

I got back this afternoon, so I'm available...pending whatever backlog accumulated while I was gone.

Let's get together this weekend. I will likely be around the Loop area. Your boxes traveled safely with me in the overhead bin [emoji3]

 

[Maui]

Like I said I will cover my share, but you'll have to show me your titie tattoo.

 

[Klink]

Like I said I will cover my share, but you'll have to show me your titie tattoo.

Ok, we know you two like each other, and the rest of us here love the both of you as well, but there are some things that should just stay private...

 

[nocfn]

OH MY.......

 

[J-Sauce]

So should we divvy this up by % of dollars spent, or headlights=$x.xx and mirror boots=$y.yy?

I had a feeling this might happen with the way airlines are run these days. I was optimistic with Gerry's club membership and all, but left room in the budget for these just in case.

 

[mwaldron]

GROUP BUY: 500E "Euro" Headlight Lenses

I just figured total damage / 11 lenses buyers, thinking rubber boots filled voids in his checked bags would make the Honcho whole quickly. Now about the bottle of Scotch or two that we owe him?



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[ghm]

Gerry, count me in for my share. Really appreciate your hard work getting everything back.

 

[gerryvz]

Hi Guys,

I'm finally starting to get recovered a bit after getting back in on Wednesday evening. I attached the final US Customs receipt so that you can see the total for the duty. That wasn't too bad - actually a fair bit less than expected because I didn't know if they would subtract the personal exemption off the top (which they did, surprisingly).

I really do appreciate people stepping up to cover the out of pocket expenses. I wasn't so pissed at Lufthansa for the EUR 150 (which I had with leftover cash in my pocket) as I was at United for just really exhorbitant baggage fees, given that the boxes weren't huge in size or weight (less than 50 pounds each). My status allowed me 3 pieces of baggage free, but I had a total of 5 to check (including my personal belongings given that I was on a business trip) so I got stuck with 2 pieces at an absolute rip-off price of $200 each. I was seriously fuming but I didn't have a choice, and living in Houston I can't really boycott flying United either because they dominate the airport with about 70% of the flights.

Let me do some calculations on this. I figure the boots will be very small cost because they traveled in one of my bags (and the percentage of the duty will be pretty small), and two of the lenses traveled with me, so the cost will just be split between the lenses.

Thanks
Gerry

 

[gerryvz]

OK guys -- I did some calculations with regard to the duty and the transportation costs.

Again, I am grateful for the offers from folks to help cover my out-of-pocket cost to do this deal. It was significant extra work with the bad foot to lift and haul boxes into cars, out of cars, into the terminal, from tax & custom offices to ticket counters, and from baggage claims to cars. So I truly do thank you for your generous offers of assistance.

The duty ($68.00) split came out to $2.19 per item imported (boot/lens/headlight). That's an even split given the total number of items imported. If someone only ordered a boot or pair of boots, it's not worth the time to pay that little, so don't bother to pay anything if you just ordered boots!!

For the lenses, it came out to $24.17 (transportation $580 out of pocket) + $2.19 (duty) for each lens, so a total of $52.72 per pair of lenses. If you would like to help cover the costs (and this is NOT a requirement -- I will ship all lenses out to everyone regardless) I would be very grateful for a donation of $50.00. First packages are going out tonight.

Thanks
Gerry

 

[bing]

Gerry, you know you have to return that leg boot once your foot is mended, our NHS is struggling big time! [emoji12]

 

[gerryvz]

GROUP BUY: 500E "Euro" Headlight Lenses

I happened to check the price on it today. It's $300. So I figure I sponged pretty good on the British taxpayer to the tune of about $3,000 !!! Thanks Bing !!

Of course I've contributed many times that to the British economy over the past 20+ years, the biggest beneficiary being Fuller, Smith & Turner Ltd.

 

[Klink]

Re: GROUP BUY: 500E "Euro" Headlight Lenses

I sponged pretty good on the British taxpayer to the tune of about $3,000 !!! Thanks Bing !!

WINNING!

 

[gerryvz]

Re: GROUP BUY: 500E "Euro" Headlight Lenses

WINNING!

I know, I love it !!! They pay $8+ a gallon for gas and I get to go over there and get free medical!

 

[gerryvz]

More than one-half of the boxes of lenses and boots have now shipped. The rest will be shipped Monday night, to go out with Tuesday's Priority Mail.

I opened each box containing a lens to personally inspect for damage before sealing it back up again and then reboxing everything together for transit to you buyers. All appears to have come through just fine, thankfully.

For shipment to you, each pair of lenses is being bubble-wrapped, and then packed with newspaper and styrofoam peanuts for maximum cushion. I retained the original MB boxes for the lenses, as well.

Regards,
Gerry

 

[gerryvz]

Two boxes remaining to be shipped (J-sauce and Klink). They will go out on Wednesday.

Confirmed that 100% of the lenses came through with no damage whatsoever. One box was a bit crushed, and another box was slightly crushed -- but no damage to the contents of either. All other boxes in great shape. Glad we took lots of time to pack things up as well as we did.

Foot is slowly getting better. I can feel a very slight improvement each and every day, but it's going to be a slow road. Thursday early morning will be two out of the mandated six weeks in the boot.

 

[gerryvz]

One additional thing.

It looks like I will be going back to Germany for a few days in mid-November, by way of a business trip to Barcelona.

If this does materialize, I will be HAPPY to order up to TWO pairs of additional lenses, and as many mirror boots as people want. This is because I can carry all of this in my carry-on luggage and won't have to bother paying import duties and airline transport fees, which should bring costs very close to being inline with my original quoted costs.

If anyone is interested in a pair of mirror boots, or missed out on lenses, I can accommodate per the limits above. Just let me know via PM. If I do go to Germany, I will know in the next couple of weeks, and we can coordinate a very mini-group buy like what I did this past summer.

Note that the mirror boots are approximately one-half the cost of what they are in the US. The driver's side boots appear to just have become available again, so if you need a set it is probably a good time to get a set. They're not going to get any cheaper.....

Cheers,
Gerry

 

[captruff]

One additional thing.

It looks like I will be going back to Germany for a few days in mid-November, by way of a business trip to Barcelona.

If this does materialize, I will be HAPPY to order up to TWO pairs of additional lenses, and as many mirror boots as people want. This is because I can carry all of this in my carry-on luggage and won't have to bother paying import duties and airline transport fees, which should bring costs very close to being inline with my original quoted costs.

If anyone is interested in a pair of mirror boots, or missed out on lenses, I can accommodate per the limits above. Just let me know via PM. If I do go to Germany, I will know in the next couple of weeks, and we can coordinate a very mini-group buy like what I did this past summer.

Note that the mirror boots are approximately one-half the cost of what they are in the US. The driver's side boots appear to just have become available again, so if you need a set it is probably a good time to get a set. They're not going to get any cheaper.....

Cheers,
Gerry

If this happens sign me up for mirror boots.

Jeff

 

[gerryvz]

I think mwaldron is also in line for a driver's boot.

 

[nocfn]

Possible spares order

 

[mwaldron]

I'm definitely ready for a drivers side boot.

Mark

 

[s4cruiser]

Lenses just arrived all safe and sound!! Now all I need is a 500E style hood/grill and paint then I'm ditching the facelifted look and going OG.

Thanks again for all this Gerry!!!!

 

[Maui]

My lenses arrived today and they were packaged better than a new kidney. Gerry went way out of his way on this for no personal gain.

You are gentleman and a scholar.

 

[Klink]

On short notice, I found myself passing through Houston for one night only, so I picked mine up in person at Rancho del Honcho!

Thanks Gerry!!

 

[nocfn]

Whoop I missed you Klink!!!

 

[Klink]

Whoop I missed you Klink!!!

It was a short notice/ultraquick/whirlwind/pass-through trip, Louie! I got off the plane at the airport, and realized I was only a few minutes away from the Honch, so the timing simply worked out for a very brief visit. I asked about you, and it turned out you were a little too far away for the time I had available. I'll be sure to catch you on the next round through.

 

[mwaldron]

Package received in good order.

Thank you Gerry for all of your trouble, a lesser man wouldn't have succeeded [emoji844]

Mark


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[ghm]

Unpacked my lenses, arrived in perfect condition. Thanks Gerry.

 

[gerryvz]

Thanks guys. Glad things have arrived OK. I was surprised at the price of those packing peanuts. It was well over $50 for a large bag of them at Office Depot !!

 

[gerryvz]

It was a short notice/ultraquick/whirlwind/pass-through trip, Louie! I got off the plane at the airport, and realized I was only a few minutes away from the Honch, so the timing simply worked out for a very brief visit. I asked about you, and it turned out you were a little too far away for the time I had available. I'll be sure to catch you on the next round through.

Hope you got your headlight & lens home OK Klink. Thanks for saving me the shipping and all that.

And thanks for the BBQ dinner. Hopefully you enjoyed the mini-tour of the Honcho shop. You were geekin' pretty hard on the G-wagen

 

[Hollybrook]

Thanks guys. Glad things have arrived OK. I was surprised at the price of those packing peanuts. It was well over $50 for a large bag of them at Office Depot !!

About a year ago, I started saving packing material and now have a few garbage bags worth. It sure is a pain storing that stuff, but I do ship a fair amount and having packing material is a big time saver. Now I know how much it costs, I am doubly happy!

Glad to hear your foot is on the mend!

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