# ED Road trip with my Dad



## ds928 (Mar 14, 2010)

Since I found so much information and advice on the ED forum and WIKI before I went, I wanted to return that by sharing my experience

My ED adventure was enabled by my 2008 e93 being repurchased by BMW NA due to 3 HPFP replacements, this led to less of a need for instant gratification and an opportunity to plan the trip of a lifetime for a European Delivery with my Dad...I placed the order for a 2010 e93 just before Christmas, with an ED date of 3/23

*The Spec:*

205 - 6-Speed STEPTRONIC Automatic Transmission
2MP - M Sport Package Wheel/Tire Upgrade
302 - Anti-Theft Alarm
322 - Comfort Access w/Comfort Loading and Open
494 - Heated Front Seats
4B9 - Aluminum Trim
5AC - Automatic High Beams
609 - Navigation System
655 - Satellite Radio w/1 Year Subscription
677 - Logic7 Sound System w/Surround Sound
6FL - iPod and USB Adapter
7XA - M Sports Leather Steering Wheel w/Paddle Shifters
MET - Metallic Paint
ZMP - M Sport Package
ZPP - Premium Package

*The Summary:*

Sun - Flight/Meet my Dad (from London) in Munich
Mon - Sightsee Munich
Tue - ED/BMW Factory Tour/BMW Museum
Wed - Audi and Mercedes Museums
Thur - Porsche Museum
Fri - Sightsee Berlin
Sat - Drive to Nürburgring
Sun - BMW Ring Taxi lap followed by 4 laps in my car
Mon - Drop off/flight home

*The Details:*

*Sunday - Arrive:*
Rolf met my Dad off the London flight, then came to my terminal to meet me, took us to our hotel downtown Munich, narrated for us on the way (in his 3 series wagon), came in to our hotel to ensure we checked in OK and then sat with a hotel map of Munich and gave us sightseeing trips, advice on public transport options and the best way to get to the Welt...So long as you don't mind spending more than a train ticket would cost you (but less than a cab), this is an excellent way to arrive in Munich and to get some local knowledge.

*Monday - Munich Sightseeing/The Australian Pink Floyd Show:*
Spent the morning wandering around town, taking in the architecture, the market and the atmosphere in general (very clean, no police to be seen anywhere, no graffiti and the people all very friendly and speaking excellent English), took the open top bus tour in the afternoon, saw more of Munich than our legs were going to allow us to...

_*Antiquarium of the Munich Residenz*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_Residenz:_









_*Neogothic staircase in the courtyard of the Neues Rathaus*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Town_Hall,_Munich:_









Went to see *The Australian Pink Floyd Show *at the Olympiapark in the evening, 5th time catching this band, first time outside of California***8230;.they really do an excellent job covering Pink Floyd, the sound is fantastic and mostly faithful to the original, light show is old school Floyd and no talking***8230;.if you're a Floyd fan and they come to your town you won't be disappointed***8230;.

*Tuesday - The Welt:*
Early appointment at the Welt, checked in at the desk on the ground floor, left our luggage at the check in desk.
Up to the Premium Lounge (have to say it's better than the United and Lufthansa airport lounges), signed the paperwork, received the temporary registration and insurance paperwork, looked around the lounge, and down from the balcony (couldn't see my car)...
Back to the ground floor and looked at all the new models, 6 series with matt paint (seems to be the new thing, saw a matt Mercedes at the Chicago Auto Show and a Matt Porsche Carrera GT at the factory showroom)
Delivery time; down the staircase, round the corner and there it is:

*My Car*





Completed the delivery process, drove around the floor twice and then down and out, valet parked and over to the Factory Tour.
It's a long walk, up and over the production line, the robots are amazing, the logistics involved incredible and overall a very impressive experience.
Then on to the Museum, the 507 is gorgeous, the bike wall is impressive, the hanging ball display is mesmerizing, in general a good museum, although not the best of the trip***8230;.

I was however pleased to see the following:
An example of my first ever *BMW ***8211; 2500 *(Purchased from my farther-in-law back in the UK):









An example of my BMW bike ***8211; *R1200C* (Still in the garage, hardly used but can't bring myself to part with it):









And of course *my latest BMW*...just across the street from the Museum:









At the end of pick up day we headed off to Ingolstadt, just about an hour up the road, found our hotel, checked out the high street (main street) and found a nice Turkish restaurant for a late dinner***8230;.

*Wednesday ***8211; Audi and Mercedes museums:*
Up early, a walk down to the river and back before breakfast and then off to the *Audi Museum*
Very reasonable (4 Euros), free parking, and a fantastic *vertical rotating car display (elevator)* all the way from the ground to the top of the building:









We were lucky enough to be there while they had a special display of 10 "*Silver Arrows*" ***8211; 7 Auto Union and 3 Mercedes (on loan from the Mercedes museum) celebrating their 75th anniversary, there's just something special about these vehicles, unbelievable engineering and performance from the 1930s
This is a *V16 Auto Union Type C/D*, notice the 4 rear wheels to provide extra traction for the Hill Climb Competitions









~150 miles west and we find ourselves in Stuttgart at the entrance to the *Mercedes Museum*.
Of the 4 visited this week, this (my opinion) is the best, it covers everything from the birth of the engine, to its application first in a boat and then in a car, thru the 1930's silver arrows, the 1950's silver arrows to modern day Formula 1 and everything else in between. I particularly liked the photos on the wall as you circle down giving chronological information about the inventions and developments of Mercedes but also interspersed with world events in the same period.

The *W196 *driven to 1st and 2nd place in the 1955 Grand Prix of Great Britain by Sir Stirling Moss and Manuel Fangio - I have a print by Alan Stammers of Moss in #10 and Fangio in #14, signed by both drivers, so this was special to see an original...









The *Mercedes Silver Arrows *including the famous #722 300 SLR (development of the W196) driven by Sir Stirling Moss with Denis Jenkinson as Navigator to 1st place in the 1955 Mille Miglia









The *F400 Carving concept car *(Active camber control allows the camber angle on the outer wheels to vary between 0 and 20 degrees):









*Thursday - Porsche Museum:*
Dad hasn't been feeling so good for a couple of days now, we decide it's best for him to head home to see his own doctor, we spend an hour or so looking at flights out of Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin, decide on an 06:00 flight tomorrow morning from Berlin, that gives us the rest of today to visit the Porsche Museum and drive the ~400 miles to Berlin

Having been a Porsche fan all my life (College paper on Porsche, queuing up at the London motorshow as a teenager for over an hour just to be allowed on the stand to sit in the cars on display, an owner of a 928S2 before emigrating to the US (now owned by my Dad (and in better condition than it ever was when I had it))) this was a not to be missed Museum and it didn't disappoint. So much of Porsche's history is in this museum, the museum itself is impressive, it's clean, it's spacious and it's full of Porches  Here are a few of my favorites:

*718 W-RS Spyder:*









*917K:*









*935/Moby Dick:*









*936/77:*









*16 Porsches - can you make them all out?*








The back end of a 914
Two 911
One 924 (prototype)
One 928 (no paint on the Aluminum)
One 935
One 959
Two 962 (one upside down)
One GT1
Six 917

*Friday - Berlin:*
After a ~400 mile drive to Berlin, boy I LOVE those Autobahns, and the lane discipline is excellent too, no one stays in a lane, everyone once there is room moves to the lane on the right, even the Porsche doing 150+ mph pulls in from the outside lane to the middle lane when there is space, and even over to the slow lane when there was space there...we could learn a thing or two from the Germans...

*Brandenburg Gate **at night*









Up early to take my Dad to the airport, drove past the old AVUS grandstand (click the link and checkout the shape of this track!) which is preserved right beside what used to be the Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungs-Straße (AVUS) motor racing circuit, but is now Bundesautobahn 115, part of the public highway system.

Took this picture of the *Brandenburg Gate** at dawn*









*335i outside the Reichstag Building*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_building









*335i next to the Holocaust Memorial*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust_Memorial,_Berlin









And one that we didn't see in Stuttgart...but did in a Berlin dealership, *Mercedes SLS AMG*:









*Saturday - Berlin to Nürburg*
A lazy morning and a ~315 mile drive west from Berlin to Nürburg, did I say how much I LOVE those Autobahns?

*Sunday - Nürburgring*
Up early for the ride around the Nürburgring Nordschleife in the BMW "Ring Taxi"...Decided not to have breakfast before the 08:30 ride.

Found the BMW "Ring Taxi" office at the Nürburgring Nordschleife track entrance, turned out it was the first session of the 2010 season and there was a German TV crew doing a piece on the ring...I had to sign a waiver because they had a fisheye lens in the M5 strapped to the door handle...

My "taxi" driver was none other than Sabine Schmitz, the winner of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, famous in the UK for her appearances on Top Gear, co host of a German TV show and Nürburgring Nordschleife lap record of 7:07

The "taxi" was a brand new M5, it had been run in before coming to the ring and Sabine had taken it out for one lap with the film crew in it...then it was my turn.
We left the start complex and immediately were up to speed on the long straight, because of the camera strapped to the door handle I had nothing to hold on to, I wish I did...turning into the first corner was scary, I have enormous respect for the M5 but Sabine...unbelievable car control and oh so much fun sliding sideways through the corners...couldn't help but grin 

*My "taxi" driver":*









*Sabine in the same car a couple of hours later:*





Then it was my turn to lap the ring in my brand new e93...with the advice from the guy who runs the BMW ring taxi saying to take it easy, he'd seen too many new cars damaged and having had the having had the amazing lap with Sabine I didn't feel the need to push it...and then when I saw an older M3 smashed into a wall around turn 5 and the owner with his head in his hands I took it very easy enjoyed a quiet lap and even had the upcoming corners displayed for me on the GPS...

Then ~350 mile trip back to Munich and an 08:30 drop off at Loginout on 3/29
Rolf's  colleague Peter met at the exporters in his BMW GT (Diesel), nice ride to the airport, turned out Peter had hired a light aircraft from a town about 40 miles from where I live in California as a part of his holiday the year before...small world...

Where is my car now? - It departed Bremerhaven Germany on the DORADO LEADER on 4/18, expected in PORT HUENEME, CA on 5/13, then another 10 to 17 days for customs, BMW VDC and transport to my local dealers...

*In conclusion*
All in all a fantastic trip, it was brilliant to spend some quality time with my Dad (even if it was a couple of days less than planed), the European Delivery experience is fantastic, I loved driving the car in Germany, to be able to visit the BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Porsche Museums...and then have Sabine drive me around the Ring...a car guy's dream come true!!!

Thanks for making it down this far...and hopefully for enjoying the adventure with me...


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## beauport (Jul 2, 2002)

What a wonderful adventure for you and your Dad - thanks for sharing this and in great detail.


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## mason (Jun 8, 2006)

Good Pics and really jealous riding with Sabine. Congrats afterall!!


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## MB330 (Oct 18, 2005)

beauport said:


> What a wonderful adventure for you and your Dad - thanks for sharing this and in great detail.


+1 Congratulation and thanks for sharing! :thumbup:


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## TeeZee (May 17, 2004)

Well done! Thanks for that.


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## woodie5 (Mar 11, 2007)

That was great, thanks for sharing your pics.


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## mrbelk (Dec 5, 2003)

mason said:


> Good Pics and really jealous riding with Sabine. Congrats afterall!!


When we took the Ring Taxi back in 2007, I was really hoping for Sabine or Hans Stuck. Instead we got Claudia Hurtgen. She was a terrific driver; but who doesn't want the original Ring Taxi driver to take them around?

This year, we're letting Sabine take us up in her helicopter for an aerial tour of the 'Ring. I guess I'll take that as a suitable substitute.

-MrB


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## skier (Oct 19, 2004)

What an experience, Congrats!


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## bagbklyn (Apr 28, 2006)

*Nice!!!*

Really Nice. Love the color combo.:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:


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## pnut4912 (Jan 25, 2005)

Wow, what a report - very cool stuff.


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## Gig103 (Sep 10, 2007)

I wish I had a chance to meet Sabine, she seems like an awesome person to be around. You had a memorable experience and it was great to read about! Congrats!


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## ds928 (Mar 14, 2010)

mrbelk said:


> This year, we're letting Sabine take us up in her helicopter for an aerial tour of the 'Ring. I guess I'll take that as a suitable substitute.
> 
> -MrB


Helicopter, Sabine, aerial tour of the ring...sounds fantastic...post details and pictures when it happens...just to make us even more envious


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## mrbelk (Dec 5, 2003)

ds928 said:


> Helicopter, Sabine, aerial tour of the ring...sounds fantastic...post details and pictures when it happens...just to make us even more envious


As long as the weather's good. My wife and I have really bad luck when it comes to the weather on our European vacations. We keep pushing the dates further and further into the year to miss as much of the spring rains as possible.

-MrB


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## stan01 (Jan 15, 2010)

Great post.
+1 on the Mercedes Museum in Stutgart. I especially enjoyed their tribute to ordinary working vehicles -- trucks, buses, ambulances -- as well as their passenger and racing cars. The Germans build some of the most impressive specialized working vehicles around. As you said, it is a comprehensive history of Daimler/Mercedes.


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## boothguy (Feb 1, 2007)

Very enjoyable post - thanks for sharing. I'm also liking your color combination - you're clearly a sophisticated and discerning gentleman of unquestionable good taste.

Also liked your approach to the Ring experience. Experience a really quick lap with Sabine and then just enjoy the experience in your own car without the need to do something potentially expensive and trip-disrupting.


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## emdreiSMG (Dec 10, 2003)

Good stuff man! Great report...glad you had fun.


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