# Mason 550GT Delivery & Excuse to Ignore 12 Hours Rule



## mason (Jun 8, 2006)

No, I am still going to report with 12 hours despite some unfortunate thing has happened. Today, we took delivery of 550GT this afternoon. The process was handled by the famous Bernard. 

The problem is in Air France. The connection in CDG lost my daughter's stroller. They are trying to track it down with no success so far. Without stroller, it hampers our mobility and a lot things have to be changed or cancelled, like spending a couple of hours in museum. 

Mandarin Oriental is great. Services are top notch. Besides the stroller, my only complaint was CDG was hot and humid - very uncomfortable; and, Welt seemed to have gotten warmer by the hour. I was joking with my wife that BMW must have some kind of sensors counting heads. As the number of people in Welt drop, the system cuts back in AC.

Here are a few photos, I will post more as day goes by. Make sure you check back to this thread for more new story and pictures. Tomorrow we are off to Padova Italy.


----------



## MB330 (Oct 18, 2005)

Well, can't see any photos! :dunno:
Edit: I can see tham now - very nice! 
Congrats on your delivery. :thumbup:
sorry about stroller.


----------



## BayouBimmerGal (May 20, 2010)

Congrats on your ED, and comiserations on the misplacement of the stroller - but most of all I need to tell you that the Imperial Blue is staggeringly gorgeous.


----------



## stan01 (Jan 15, 2010)

Looks great!

CDG is the worst airport in Europe (maybe the worst airport in the world outside the US where we have the likes of LAX, JFK, and EWR offering CDG solid competition for the bottom of the pack).

I'd work with the hotel concierge to find a place to get a new stroller.


----------



## MB330 (Oct 18, 2005)

stan01 said:


> Looks great!
> 
> CDG is the worst airport in Europe (maybe the worst airport in the world outside the US where we have the likes of LAX, JFK, and EWR offering CDG solid competition for the bottom of the pack).
> 
> I'd work with the hotel concierge to find a place to get a new stroller.


I will add London Hitrow to this list! :thumbdwn:


----------



## mason (Jun 8, 2006)

BayouBimmerGal said:


> Congrats on your ED, and comiserations on the misplacement of the stroller - but most of all I need to tell you that the Imperial Blue is staggeringly gorgeous.


Thank you......we first looked at black but on the day of the test drive, it was a blue. It just looks so good.



stan01 said:


> Looks great!
> 
> CDG is the worst airport in Europe (maybe the worst airport in the world outside the US where we have the likes of LAX, JFK, and EWR offering CDG solid competition for the bottom of the pack).
> 
> I'd work with the hotel concierge to find a place to get a new stroller.


MO concierge is doing that for me. It increasingly looks like that someone might have stolen it.



MB330 said:


> I will add London Hitrow to this list! :thumbdwn:


Heathrow definitely offers so many horror story.


----------



## beauport (Jul 2, 2002)

Congrats - such a super looking auto.... Luckily a few days away from the delayed stroller the awful airport and lack of A/C and everything will be right in the world as you enjoy the new car and Europe.


----------



## bimmer_fam (Apr 16, 2007)

Congrats on the car! Perhaps it's worth looking into acquiring a new stroller locally at this point to enjoy the trip to the fullest?.. Good luck!


----------



## JSpira (Oct 21, 2002)

Gratuliere! Car looks super.


----------



## ViaPerturbatio (Jul 25, 2009)

Congratulations Mason! Stunning looking car and absolutely gorgeous picture quality as well. When possible let us know what camera you are using.

Hope the rest of the trip goes well for you. You post time should do the trick. :thumbup:


----------



## adc (Apr 1, 2003)

I like big trunks and I cannot lie... 

Congratulations! :thumbup:


----------



## ViaPerturbatio (Jul 25, 2009)

adc said:


> I like big trunks and I cannot lie...
> 
> Congratulations! :thumbup:


Is it the trunk or the junk in the trunk you are referring to? :rofl:


----------



## mason (Jun 8, 2006)

ViaPerturbatio said:


> Congratulations Mason! Stunning looking car and absolutely gorgeous picture quality as well. When possible let us know what camera you are using.
> 
> Hope the rest of the trip goes well for you. You post time should do the trick. :thumbup:


Thank you......Nikon D700



adc said:


> I like big trunks and I cannot lie...
> 
> Congratulations! :thumbup:


Well in some way it is deceptively small. The trunk is not as deep as 5 sedan. I really believe 5 touring can out-store 5 GT.


----------



## mason (Jun 8, 2006)

Friends,

We have moved into day 2 and 3 of our trip. The horror story of lost luggage by Air France has come to an end, a dead-end possibly. Sunday morning, the front desk at MO told me that Air France had just called that the piece would arrive @ 11:55 am. I was thinking, 'hey, we are on the way out, I would just go to pick that up......." ... Wow that turn into another horror story. I got there and was told that by the check-in desk staff that they wouldn't bring out so I had to go inside the claim area with them issued me boarding pass like document. I went in to retrieve my daughter's stroller, which we packaged in a travel case, and return to my car. I got the key from my wife and open the case......Bam! The stroller is snapped......It is broken! What the heck!! I went back inside, asking to file a damage report. They defended Air France by saying: 1. I went outside and return, who knows what happened outside, 2. There's no 'Fragile' label on the package 3. There isn't enough padding inside........so sure they could file for me as a courtesy but it's better than guaranteed the airline wouldn't do a thing.  What a start to the trip!

Well, we've to move on..... From there, we embarked our drive to Padova Italy. The drive was great. We did take 2 lengthy breaks for the baby since she needed change and food. Let me attest some other festers claim: Autogrill is great especially the ones in Austria. Soon after leaving Munich airport, I hit restriction free autobahn...... I responded in kind. I hit 130+ with ease, roughly @ 3,000 rpm. Once we entered the Austria portion, I had to slow down since traffic wasn't moving as fast. I was driving around 75 mph to 85 mph. Once we hit Italy, it's time to move fast again except near Bolzano (Bozen) - It was pouring. That also changed my plan to do a scenic drive around Dolomite.

We went back today......Dolomite is beautiful. It is some place I like to spend some more time in the future. Will post pictures in later day. On the way to Dolomite, I was out-run by another 5 series GT. I tried, I put the car to work at 130 mph....... but that GT was just gone. I asked my wife: Did you see that GT? My wife responded: Where is it? I said: the little blue dot in front of us. :yikes:

As far as the hotel in Padova, I am a little disappointed. This NH Hotel has all the looks with no substance. AC is minimal. Shower is only OK. There aren't enough electrical outlets. If I want the minibar to work, I have to unplug the TV....... Hmmmm, so I have to decide World Cup or cold water ....

Tomorrow, the car takes a break. We are going to take a train to Venice.

I'm posting some additional pictures:

- My daughter is happy about the gadgets on the car
- She wants her kind of delivery
- She and I try to create a marketing campaign for BMW: Freude am BMW
- Munich shot during a dinner at Mandarin Oriental roof top
- Autostrada rest stop with mountains in the background
- On the way to Dolomite


----------



## mason (Jun 8, 2006)

Well, we went outside Padova to Venice yesterday. It turned out driving or riding the train doesn't cost much price difference. We elected to drive specailly the weather continued to be rainy here. We are leaving today (Wednesday) to Monte Carlo. It is still raining here. I hope the weather forecast will be accurate there.

On the way there, we will stop by Sirmione on Lago di Garda. Once we arrived in Monte Carlo, we will embark an laundry trip in Nice. I did some research and google streetview, making sure the surrounding is safe. By the way, iPhone is great since I can't speak much italian. I used the phone to surf website for information, google translations, calculations.......so store staff and I communicated just fine.

Here are some pics of us in Padova, going back to Dolomite and Venice.


----------



## adc (Apr 1, 2003)

Thanks for the pics and enjoy... Venice at dusk can be pure magic.


----------



## Ian_L (Aug 13, 2009)

mason said:


> Well, we went outside Padova to Venice yesterday. It turned out driving or riding the train doesn't cost much price difference. We elected to drive specailly the weather continued to be rainy here. We are leaving today (Wednesday) to Monte Carlo. It is still raining here. I hope the weather forecast will be accurate there.
> 
> On the way there, we will stop by Sirmione on Lago di Garda. Once we arrived in Monte Carlo, we will embark an laundry trip in Nice. I did some research and google streetview, making sure the surrounding is safe. By the way, iPhone is great since I can't speak much italian. I used the phone to surf website for information, google translations, calculations.......so store staff and I communicated just fine.
> 
> Here are some pics of us in Padova, going back to Dolomite and Venice.


Im just back from Peschiera, Sirmione is fantastic esp the ice cream shop down near the port, don't try the one on the corner near Scaliger castle far too dear.

Enjoy the fragola and limone :thumbup:


----------



## TeeZee (May 17, 2004)

Nice pics- keep 'em coming and enjoy the trip!


----------



## Tanning machine (Feb 21, 2002)

Is that one of those super-sweet Stokke strollers that got busted up? No wonder you're bent out of shape.


----------



## SJAPoc (Apr 14, 2007)

Great pictures and report. Congratulations, the car looks fabulous! Keep them coming


----------

