# ED Report (Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Cz)



## SONET (Mar 1, 2002)

So I have been meaning to post this on this forum for some time now and it kept slipping my mind until I started following Hayden's fantastic post. So here it is, my ED trip of May 2008. heh

First off all of these pictures are straight out of the camera. I haven't taken the time to crop them or adjust them because I never made time to, and I haven't merged any of my HDR shots yet. The bad part is that I shot in AdobeRGB, and in the conversion process lots of color saturation and contrast was lost. I'm frustrated by that, but not frustrated enough to do the process over again. If there are any pics you see here that you want in full resolution (and with full colors grrr) let me know and I will email them to you.

My itinerary was as follows:
Munich (pickup on 4th day) --> Vienna (+3 days) --> Salzburg (+2 days) --> Munich (airport to pickup friend) --> Heidelburg (+1 day) --> Nurburgring (+2.5 days) --> Amsterdam (+2 days, car dropoff) --> fly to Prague (+6 days) --> Munich (+ 1 day, then fly home)

Weather was perfect the whole trip, no rain whatsoever and all days 68-76F. Couldn't ask for more...

Munich
I liked Munich much more than I had anticipated. The city was easy to navigate, very clean and I liked the people there.










My first view of what I really went there for:










I did take part of one day before pick-up to see the concentration camp nearby. Definitely worth a visit:










I always like being prepared, so I headed for the Welt the night before pick-up to make sure I could find my way there okay and just to see the building. I arrived at 9pm and to my surprise the building was open until midnight. So I spent the next three hours looking around. It was great to be there and explore it with hardly anyone else around. What an awesome structure! And it was filled with some great machines for sure:



















A tricked-out diesel with what appears to be forged OEM wheels: 









Apparently this car was driven on the delivery ring on the third floor of the Welt a few days before during a press event. The driver took the loop as fast as he could and left melted rubber all over the delivery area. I was told that it took them days to scrape all the rubber off the floor with razors. heh










Delivery went well, and they were able to change my schedule at the last minute so that I could leave earlier to avoid traffic going to Vienna. Just before my delivery time I was waiting in the lounge on the fourth floor and I spotted this in the delivery area:










A car optioned almost exactly like mine. Same exterior/interior/NAV and other options, but missing the sunroof (like I wanted it) and with the wheels I wanted. I desperately hoped that they had read my mind and built mine exactly how I wanted it, but some punk drove off with it moments later.

A picture I took while my patience was wearing thin:










Delivery at last (E92 335i)!









After a brief introduction I did my victory lap (okay so maybe I did two) and headed down the ramp. I left the car so I could do the factory tour (awesome!), then did a little shopping, retrieved my car to snap a couple shots outside of the Welt, then headed for Vienna.

A bit cheesy I know, but I just couldn't help myself (still would like to see the HDR version): 


















*Austria*

The drive to Vienna was beautiful and lots of fun (although the walls along the highway in Austria are annoying since they almost always obscure the view), and German/Austrian drivers are as good as everyone says. I varied RPMs as much as I could. I picked up my highway tag and safety vest near the border (note: buy vest in Germany, not Austria where it's literally 5x as expensive).

I got to my apartment in Austria only to find that I was already assigned a parking space in the underground lot with no other options. I was worried, but to my delight my space was... perfect.










The bad part was that I didn't get to drive my car for three days. Vienna was too crazy, and there was too much I wanted to see there to venture out. So my car was safely parked in its perfect space all that time. This is when I learned that visiting big cities during ED is a mistake. Small towns are the key to allow for more driving.

I had been told so many good things about Vienna that my expectations were sky-high. The architecture was beautiful, but I was disappointed. It was a nice city, but next to Munich it felt dirty and disorganized. I'm glad I got to see it but I doubt I will ever go back.

Next up was Salzburg. The drive there was good, and we stopped by some beautiful little towns along the way. Salzburg itself was stunning, but it was the biggest tourist trap I have ever visited. To my surprise I enjoyed it anyway and would probably go back to see some of the stuff I missed.



















*Germany/Nurburgring*

Then we were off to Munich to pick up friend #2. Straight from the airport we headed to Heidelburg as an overnight rest-stop on the way to the 'ring. I ended up talking to a local in Heidelburg who directed me to a really neat small town - possibly the most beautiful town I have ever visited. I wish I knew the name of it, and even more that I had brought my camera. I was tired of lugging around 20lbs of camera gear, but my photographer friend had his with him so I'm really looking forward to see how his HDR pics came out.

We left early in the morning and made it to the ring before 10am. There was a race going on (mostly 997s), so we stopped at various places where you could see the track and watched and took pictures. It was a weekend and extremely busy. There were so many amazing cars there that I couldn't believe it. One of my friends called it a 'cargasm'. heh I took hundreds of pics there; here are a few that caught my eye the first time through the pics:

There were literally dozens of GT3 RS 997s there, almost all with German plates.










What appeared to be a rented E92 M3:









Another 997:









There were a few Blacks on and around the track:









Upon parking near the entrance of the track, Sabine appeared out of nowhere. What great timing! Unfortunately there weren't any seats available to take a ride.










Waiting to get on the track after the race. I have watched videos and seen so many pics of this staging area, but it was SO much smaller than I expected. Lots of people go through this area to get on the track, but I learned early that it's just a waste of time - you can take a short-cut directly from the traffic circle to save at least 20 minutes of waiting.










A frenzy just before the track re-opened after the race in the late afternoon:










Just remembered this... gas was actually cheaper near the 'ring than it was in Munich and everywhere I saw along the way. That surprised the heck out of me.

CSLs were a dime a dozen. I went back to my car to find this one parked next to me. I still think the E46 is a better looking car, especially the CSL.










The most awesome car I saw this trip - the Gumpert Apollo http://www.gumpert.de/eng/index_html.html. I hadn't heard of these before I went on the trip but they're fairly well-known now. This was parked near the GP circuit, and I ended up seeing it the next day when it flew by me on the track. 650HP, ~2600lbs. Good times.










Yet another GT3 (what made it rare that day is that it wasn't an RS). I included this shot because this car was in an accident the next day. Apparently someone backed out of the gas station and this guy ran into him at a good clip. No major injuries, but this car was badly damaged.










more to follow...


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## SONET (Mar 1, 2002)

This 996 was in the race. So many of them had Nurburgring stickers, but this one was a little different:










The Gumpert going on the track the next day:










I know flat black is kind of played out, but I still love it. There's just something about it that makes you want to touch it. This was one of two flat black 997s I saw:










I only took two laps on the Nurburgring (with a two hour break between laps). I felt kind of wrong doing it in the first place since the car was so new (although broken in), so I figured two laps was enough. I also had a strange gut feeling to not drive a third lap. I felt like I was pressing my luck somehow. It's completely unrelated to the feeling I had, but there was a fatal accident about an hour after my second run which closed the track for almost four hours.

One thing I didn't know - I was told by a 'ring junkie that even if they find someone dead and in twenty pieces they never pronounce anyone dead at the track. They're afraid it would close the track if they pronounced too many people dead there. So few deaths are recorded there. Instead they pick up all the pieces, fly the dead to the hospital and pronounce the death at the hospital.

Anyway, the drive on the track was an absolute blast. If you think you need to memorize the lines, you're probably wrong. Much of the time you're either passing someone or being passed, so you can almost never even try for the perfect line on any bend. Lots of the guys in the 997s who had been racing the day before hung around and were driving the track the day I was on it, so I was passed quite a lot if I'm honest. There were also Ferraris and Lambos, the Gumpert and many others that were crazy fast. Many of the cars that weren't racing the day before were also running Sport Cups and the like, so my runflats were a joke in comparison. Despite that it was still a rush and I would love to do it again.

The track was closed the next day - VW rented it out for photographing some cars for their brochures and Hans Stuck was doing some laps to practice for an upcoming event. So I took the opportunity to take a cheesy shot of my car in the empty lot of the Nurburgring (okay so I took dozens of them):










Then I drove to a popular viewing area and walked around the track a bit while watching the VWs go by.










The whole area was dead. No more 997s. No more Italian beauties. Just me and the locals. Nurburg is a sleepy town when there's no events going on. Nobody was even watching the track aside from me and my two friends. Actually, Nurburg really isn't much of a town at all, and aside from driving there is little to nothing to do there. Except for the roads nearby, which are super fun one-way roads. I found an awesome road with five or six hairpins that I took several times. Not as fun as the 'ring, but fun for sure!

Hans Stuck was pressing the car really hard here:










*Netherlands*

We finally got ourselves to leave and headed for Amsterdam. This was my fourth visit to Amsterdam - what a great city. After a day in Amsterdam I dropped my car off. That was a huge ordeal that I won't go into here (Welt gave wrong number and address, etc.), but it turned out well in the end.

*Czech Republic*










We flew out the next morning and headed for Prague, where we were to stay for six days. Prague may very well be the most beautiful city I have ever visited and I would like to go back - hopefully when there aren't so many tourists. There is a huge disparity in wealth there however (wish I could have got the pic of the Maybach driving along in the sea of old Skodas), and I'm glad I didn't take my car there.










This was my first ED as I had mentioned before, and I learned a great deal on this trip (I'll share more of it sometime in another thread). Overall it was an awesome experience and I hope all of you guys get a chance to do it sometime! I'm hoping to go again this spring... :thumbup:


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## SONET (Mar 1, 2002)

I forgot to include my favorite shot from the whole trip:










I was browsing a photographer's website a few weeks after driving on the 'ring and just happened to find a picture of me driving on the track! I realize I'm nowhere close to the correct line, but I like to think I may have been about to pass someone right about here. :angel:


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## hayden (Jun 6, 2006)

Absolutely fantastic photo-essay! Thanks for sharing. :thumbup:


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## mdsbuc (Mar 17, 2005)

hayden said:


> Absolutely fantastic photo-essay! Thanks for sharing. :thumbup:


Agreed. Absolutely stunning photos and a nice write-up too! :thumbup:


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## DonnaBlackson (May 14, 2006)

i enjoyed it too! nice pictures and travelogue!!! that is a great picture on the track!!all of the pictures are really spectactular. I agree about big cities... although salzburg isnt big i dont think, it had a big city feel so i left my car parked there, didnt take it anywhere, i walked everywhere.


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## SJAPoc (Apr 14, 2007)

Excellent pictures!!! Congrats on the new ride :thumbup:


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## paul.r (Jul 27, 2009)

Very nice report and pictures! Is that Saddle Brown? Any pics of the interior?


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## SONET (Mar 1, 2002)

Thanks guys, glad you enjoyed it! 

I don't have any photos of the interior, but yes it is Saddle Brown. I have had two 3ers with Gray interior, and as much as I liked it I could never keep it looking as clean as I wanted. Saddle Brown doesn't feel as spacious but it's much easier to live with!


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## paul.r (Jul 27, 2009)

Gotcha. I'm going to order a space gray coupe next spring and am still undecided between black and saddle brown. Leaning towards the black just a little though.

Thanks.


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## SONET (Mar 1, 2002)

I think the Saddle Brown is a little less common, but both are nice. A good friend of mine just got the black with the M-sport package (or whatever it's called) and it looks fantastic.


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## paul.r (Jul 27, 2009)

That's why I'm leaning towards the black. It'll either be a M Sport or a M3, so it will have the black headliner. I'm thinking all black would be a cleaner look but the Saddle is appealing. I'm just not sure I'd like it. Whereas, the black, I may not love it, but I know I won't hate it.

Thanks again and congratulations! I'm jealous.


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## mason (Jun 8, 2006)

Yes, Gumpert for a while held the best track time on Top Gear.


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## beewang (Dec 18, 2001)

SONET said:


> I forgot to include my favorite shot...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


SONET...Yeah!! Sure Pal!! You are *sooo* off on the line... YOu SUCK!!


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## SONET (Mar 1, 2002)

I'm hoping to have another go at it on my next trip! 

Hopefully they will let me back on the track again though. I've been told that cars with those plates aren't allowed to go on anymore and that I just got lucky that day. Even the photographer that took this shot said this was the first car he had seen on the track in a couple years with temporary plates. :dunno:


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## Patrick (Dec 23, 2001)

Fantastic pics, Sonet!! :thumbup:

Even if they are bit late...


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## JSpira (Oct 21, 2002)

SONET said:


> I had been told so many good things about Vienna that my expectations were sky-high. The architecture was beautiful, but I was disappointed. It was a nice city, but next to Munich it felt dirty and disorganized. I'm glad I got to see it but I doubt I will ever go back.


That's the first time I've heard Vienna mentioned in that context.

Please clarify as, if anything, I would say Vienna appears cleaner than Munich (although Munich is pretty clean). I'm not at all sure what is meant by "disorganized."

Nice Fotos btw! :thumbup:


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## MB330 (Oct 18, 2005)

Patrick said:


> Fantastic pics, Sonet!! :thumbup:
> 
> Even if they are bit late...


+1! :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:


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## zoltrix (Mar 14, 2007)

JSpira said:


> That's the first time I've heard Vienna mentioned in that context.
> 
> Please clarify as, if anything, I would say Vienna appears cleaner than Munich (although Munich is pretty clean). I'm not at all sure what is meant by "disorganized."
> 
> Nice Fotos btw! :thumbup:


my friend just came back from Vienna, he said the whole city center is under construction and it kind of ruined the few days he had there. Sitting at an outdoor cafe, enjoying your latte, jackhammers going full blast... That may have been the OP's rationale.


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## JSpira (Oct 21, 2002)

zoltrix said:


> my friend just came back from Vienna, he said the whole city center is under construction and it kind of ruined the few days he had there. Sitting at an outdoor cafe, enjoying your latte, jackhammers going full blast... That may have been the OP's rationale.


Hey Zol, don´t I know you from somewhere ? 

There is a lot of construction in the Fußgängerzone around the Kärtnerstraße and Stephansplatz.

That is far from the "whole city center" - I was in many parts of the 1. Bezirk and I think the only place I saw the construction and heard the jackhammers was there.

I didn´t mind it that much; in fact, it reminded me of the U-Bahn construction there when I was a kid.

But if you didn´t stay in that one small part of the 1. Bezirk, there really was no noise or construction.


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