# Fourth time's a charm



## boothguy (Feb 1, 2007)

It’s our fifth European Delivery (four with BMW, one with Volvo), and we may be off to the smoothest start yet. 

We flew to London for some English countryside touring a week ago, and made the short flight to Munich Sunday. 

Some friends we had inspired with our tales of ED adventures 1-4 (minimized the dodgy parts, obviously), decided to take delivery on a new Volvo XC60 in Gothenburg and drive to Munich to meet us. 

We took delivery of this Sunset Orange 230 M-Sport convertible Monday morning and drove through varying sun, clouds, wind and then rain, in the wonderful Hotel Gallia in tiny Gomagoi Italy. We’re full of a great dinner and a couple of bottles of local Lagrein, ready to cross the Stelvio Pass tomorrow and head to Lake Como for two more weeks of fun.

I had rented a 2-er ‘vert about a year ago for a couple of days, and within about 15 minutes, understood the glowing reports of its fun, nimble nature and being “..the rightful heir to what made BMWs fun in the first place..” magazine hype. 

I definitely miss the heads-up display from my 4-Series and am bummed about the European maps occupying the only USB drive in the car (will try downloading music from my iPod tomorrow), as well as there inexplicably being no kilometers scale on the speedo. Fun to drive, fits like an old shoe right away. Fabric top doesn’t dampen much reflected overhead noise in the tunnels, though. Ran through just enough rain around Garmisch to get it dirty, but lots of Chinese tourists wanted their pictures with it at Welt this morning. Must be the color.

Met Mr. and Mrs. Strulock in the delivery lounge and took delivery right next door to their sinister-looking M550 – the lucky bums.

Asked for Bernard Hausmaninger for our Delivery Specialist and learned he’s transferred to a different department now. Museum closed Monday (today) and factory shut down for vacation. Okay, let’s get the keys and get on the road, then.

Asked for a contact number in the ED department in case something semi-disastrous (like the ’08 delivery) happened, and was met with what I took as a somewhat flippant “we deliver cars, we don’t fix them” response from the delivery floor supervisor at Welt. So I acted like An American for about 30 seconds and got an apology and a phone number in return. That’s all I asked for, dammit..

Was most graciously helped by the lovely Svenja at the front desk when we wanted to jockey the car back and forth for the attached picture, then valet park, voucher our friends’ Volvo parking, and then valet our car back for the departure. Hope she winds up in the Premium lounge. She would be a welcome addition to the somewhat dour staff.

There’s a Dawn Patrol run to the top of the Stelvio for the 2-er and the Volvo scheduled for the morning while the spouses sleep off the dinner. Hopefully, I won’t come slinking back, looking to borrow a steak knife to cut off some dangling piece of torn bodywork. With any luck, the lesson from last time will stick.

Key to today's pictures:

Pity they don't do the pro photos any more: everyone's camera was fooled by the backlighting.

Had to shoo the Chinese tourists away from the car in order to pull around the front of the building for this shot. It's covered in dirt now, but sure looked nice right off the delivery floor.

House-made lasagna at Hotel Gallia, Gomagoi, Italy, at the foot of the Stelvio. Paper-thin noodles, flavorful Bolognese sauce, nice local Lagrein accompaniment.


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## MB330 (Oct 18, 2005)

First!
Congratulation, boothguy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
Can't wait for more post with pics of you and your spousal unit in new car! :rofl:


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## 808dakine (Jul 21, 2016)

Congratulations, great looking color. We're sort of birds of a feather. I did an ED on a M240i. So much fun and what a raucous sound when you unleash the ponies. Stelvio must have been fun. 
On a side note, we're doing a XC40 later this fall (no not going to the dark side, it's the wife's ride-to-be). Wondered if you had any thoughts to share.


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## Me530 (Feb 17, 2005)

Nice Job booth!


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## Gluhwein (Aug 21, 2011)

Loved that synopsis. Very funny. Good luck this time around. Keep your car in Germany. Those problems never happen in Deutschland. I love that color. 

We noticed on our recent ED that the bus-riding tourist groups rolling in to each tourist site are really getting to be a PITA . Oblivious to everyone else and absolutely no concept of courtesy and manners.


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## frank325 (Dec 29, 2005)

Congrats, and great color! It was my second choice. I was coming from estoril blue so I figured I'd take it down a notch this time


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## BamaGoose (Feb 18, 2018)

Hey booth. Let me know if this car is coming through California, and if you want some final pictures of it at the VDC


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## MB330 (Oct 18, 2005)

Where your car will be delivered? Another stop for lunch in LA?


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## Asteroid (Aug 17, 2005)

Good job booth! 
Car really stands out! Don't think I've seen one in that color out in the wild.
Maybe we crossed paths in the English countryside. Flew home on the the day of royal wedding.
Outside of London, we did not see any tourists from the most populous country until we ran into busloads of them in tiny Bibury.
Enjoy your travels. Auguri.


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## boothguy (Feb 1, 2007)

Thanks for all the comments. The car is indeed coming through the VDC at Port Hueneme and I'd love photo and if we can, another fun lunch with MB330. We didn't quite cross paths in the English countryside, Asteroid. We got there a week after the nuptials.

Had planned to post a new installment, but I'm being pulled away to go to Barbaresco for wine tasting, so we can get back here to La Morra for a private tasting with the producers we're staying with later, and then dinner at a favorite spot later. Hey - someone's got to do it.


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## BamaGoose (Feb 18, 2018)

boothguy said:


> Thanks for all the comments. The car is indeed coming through the VDC at Port Hueneme and I'd love photo and if we can, another fun lunch with MB330. We didn't quite cross paths in the English countryside, Asteroid. We got there a week after the nuptials.
> 
> Had planned to post a new installment, but I'm being pulled away to go to Barbaresco for wine tasting, so we can get back here to La Morra for a private tasting with the producers we're staying with later, and then dinner at a favorite spot later. Hey - someone's got to do it.


sounds good. shoot me a pm when it is near and I can get you a few pics of it at the VDC


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## boothguy (Feb 1, 2007)

Had this post all written and photos attached last night when I inadvertently closed the browser page and lost the whole shootin' match. It was midnight so I gave up and went to bed. Let's try again.

Back in the Italian Piemonte region, famous for its Barbera, Barbaresco and Barolo wine, and at our favorite place: Cascina del Monastero. It's an eight room Agriturismo, (bed and breakfast on a farm), near the town of La Morra. We love the proprietors, and they also produce the wine - always a plus. Though we couldn't get the exact room we wanted, the one we're in, called _Autunno_, is hard to fault. That's an antique elementary school desk (for two) on the left in the picture below. Though hard to see, there's an antique spinning wheel at the far end of the couch. Vaulted brick ceiling is an extra cool feature. The rooms and tasting cellar are in the converted barn.

We had crossed the Stelvio Pass through clouds and in a steady rain, so the cars got very dirty. Dirty always being preferable to damaged, I decided not to complain. The rain was hard enough and the clouds thick enough that usual 70 mph top speeds were down to no more than 50.

Once in the Piemonte, we went in search of a hand car wash because the cars, being only about two weeks old, need a bit more time for the paint to cure enough to withstand a machine wash. The guys in the photo below did an excellent job. The overall experience was enhanced because they were all migrants from Kosovo, who took time to express their gratitude for the USA preventing the Serbs from destroying their country. The owner had an American flag and photos of the Clintons in his office he proudly showed us, while giving us a steep discount on the wash and refusing more cash. A pretty moving experience, if I'm being honest.

Lined up the BMW with our friends' Volvo XC60 in front of Cascina. Clean enough to show some proper pride of ownership. Our room is behind the greenery upper left. No idea why I didn't have the presence of mind to drop the top for the solo photo. Uh... it gives you a feel for the brilliant decision I made in selecting the brown top instead of the black. Yeah, that's it..

We were lucky enough to be here again for the official release of the 2014 vintage of Barolo, held at the old castello in the town of the same name. A 40 Euro charge got us unlimited tasting of the 123 producers' wine on hand, plus a commemorative bottle of wine produced for the occasion. We shattered our 2011 record of 33 samples by seven. Although The Spousal Unit said she was seeing double by #36.

Stopped by the church in the nearby town of Pollenza, and was fascinated by the confessionals. Not only did the person doing the confessing have to do it on their knees, on the unpadded wooden step on their side of the confessional, but they were also in full view of anyone else in the church at the time. Extra incentive to behave, I guess.

Part of the Gastronomic University in Pollenza is a Wine Bank, dedicated to preserving Italian wines, some of which are no longer being produced. Each wine has a sample of the soil from the vineyard in the sealed jars.

Now, back to Cascina for a private tasting of their wines, and then off to Tuscany the next day.


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## SD ///M4 (Jan 24, 2011)

Congrats! Gotta love that Sunset Orange! My M4 is Sakhir Orange, very similar.

We'll be doing our third Euro Delivery on July 14. Sue is getting an Individual San Merino Blue M3 Competition Package with Individual Polar Blue stitching. Our three-week trip will include tours of BMW Welt and BMW Classic; the German Grand Prix the weekend after our delivery; Rothenburg ob der Tauber; Schwangau; a drive from Schwangau to Murano, Italy via Timmeljoch Pass; then Lake Como via Stelvio Pass. We'll spend three nights in lake Como, visiting Monza and Milan. Then we'll head to Swizerland via Gotthard, Furka, Grimsel, and Susten passes, and spend a night in Grindelwald. Then we're off to Paris for 5 nights, stopping in Dijon for a night on the way.

The car is for a milestone birthday for Sue and Lake Como and Paris is for our 25th wedding anniversary!


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## AggieKnight (Dec 26, 2008)

Looks like an awesome trip. Thank you for sharing.


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## CarSwami (Oct 2, 2005)

Congratulations on your fifth ED. The Sunset Orange color looks brilliant. I've only done two ED's so far, one for my 2007 335i convertible and the other last year for my Audi Q7. Enjoyed both of them tremendously.

CarSwami


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## boothguy (Feb 1, 2007)

Back at Cascina del Monastero, where we're staying, we got down to some serious tasting of their Nebbiolo, Barbera and Barolo wines. My buddy's allergies were raging, so he opted out. My allergies were going a little nuts as well, but no way was I missing out on this. The girls were having a fine time. Two cases of this wonderful product are on their way to San Diego. 

Leaving the Italian Piemonte is less painful when going straight to my favorite place in Italy: the hill town of Cortona in the southeastern corner of Tuscany. In the photo below, Lake Trasimeno and Perugia are on the left, with the Appenine mountains in the distance. Beautiful afternoon weather when we arrived, turned into spectacular thunderstorms the next night. Trunk is too full to arrive in style with the top down, so that will have to wait until later. Still managed to get a top-down photo before we left the Piemonte, but I'm still looking for the real beauty shot of the trip.

Once in Cortona at fabulous Hotel Villa Marsilli, my favorite hotel in the world, it was time for a repeat of a fun cooking class with Chef Ilaria in the Villa's cramped kitchen. The Spousal Unit has had a pretend "Italian husband" in Cortona since she first laid eyes on the Villa's former manager, Stefano in 2004. Loud, big personality, ready laugh and a grip that could buckle your knees, Ilaria, who describes herself as "a farmer who cooks" would be my "Italian wife". First course was potato Gnocchi in a tomato-garlic sauce. Main course was pork fillet, wrapped in bacon and pan seared, with Tuscan beans in a tomato sauce. I overruled my fellow class members and picked the beans over roasted potatoes because it's a traditional dish in Tuscany. Absolutely everything was made from scratch, and the reward was that we got to eat the fruits of our labors.

Since cooking class was for lunch (burp), there was no room or appetite left for a dinner. A slice of pizza in the town square sufficed just fine.

Key to today's photos:

Who wouldn't be happy with all that nice wine to taste. As much as you want....

Don't think the view out the window is a big part of of a great hotel stay? The Tuscan Val di Chiana stretches out below Villa Marsili in Cortona.

Ilaria directed us in preparing a great meal: first course potato Gnocchi on the left, and main course pork fillet with Tuscan beans on the right.

Lunch was too big to fit anything more than a sllice of pizza in for dinner.

Top down in the Piemonte - still looking for the money shot.


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## boothguy (Feb 1, 2007)

Next day in Cortona, the Volvo threw a check-engine-light. Uh-oh. Knowing how things can go sideways on one of these trips (ref. our 2008 ED trip), we found the closest Volvo dealership about 40 minutes away, and I tagged along for interpreter duties. Turned out the electric-motor side of the hybrid XC60 wasn't talking to the gas-engine side of the car, and the service department gave us the "..95%, almost for sure.." blessing to drive the rest of the way, including all the way back to Munich. The Volvo seemed to run fine, so we crossed fingers and pressed-on.

Nice opportunity to explore this most-favorite town in Italy, for me. The Franciscan Friars built a Hermitage on the outside of town where Francis (before sainthood, obviously) lived for a while. Faith was a literal way of life for these folks. Nearby Santa Margarita church was built in just five years after the local-saint's death in 1297.

Since both couples have small vineyards at home in California, we visited a number of producers in Italy, including (just for scale) Banfi - a gigantic producer owned by an American family. The matron of the family heard us talking and glommed onto us, walked us around the tasting room, and gave us each a couple of bottles of wine before we could say no. My fave car picture below was taken on their driveway.


We were lucky enough to be in Cortona for the first night of their annual Medieval festival - this evening featured the flag-throwers from Cortona representing the six neighborhoods of the town, along with troupes from nearby Arezzo and Castiglion Fiorentino. This is the kind of wonderful (no charge) surprise that you chance onto in Italy seemingly all the time.

Key to today's photos:

Not a view you ever want to have on an ED trip: our friends' Volvo in a dealership service bay near Perugia. Italian language skills to the rescue - again.

My buddy's a pizza oven fanatic, so a stop at this oven manufacturer was mandatory.

800-year old Franciscan Hermitage is still occupied by half a dozen monks.

Nearby Santa Margarita church honored local saint. Her mummy is in the glass-fronted case below the altar. Hey, it's Europe.

2-Series on the driveway to Castello Banfi. Gravel road imparted an extreme amount of white dust on the bodywork.

Flag-throwers at the medieval festival in Cortona. No charge - all civic pride. 

Detail in the costumes is impressive.


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## MB330 (Oct 18, 2005)

: popcorn:


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## boothguy (Feb 1, 2007)

Unexpected delay in posting the last days of our European trip - sorry.

Back in the Valpolicella region of Italy and staying with our final producer of the trip - Brunelli - in San Pietro in Cariano in the heart of the Valpolicella region. Wonderful, restored 400-year-old building, and terrific Valpolicella, Ripasso and Amarone wines. The nearby village of San Giorgio is picturesque as always and lunch ends in a decision to taste with one more producer recommended by the restaurant's owner: a one-man operation in the tiny town, where we wake the owner from his lunchtime siesta. This one is 100% in Italian with me trying to provide the translation and enjoy the wine simultaneously. Not the simplest task.

Our friends are both airline pilots and they tend to get antsy at the end of a trip, given that their flights are not chiseled in stone. They hit the road for Munich a day early, leaving us a non-tourguide day to visit the pretty town of Malcesine on Lake Garda. Just a 90-minute jaunt over the mountain, with some roads too narrow for the BMW plus a pedestrian. Nav is always an adventure, but dead-reliable compared to the Mercedes Nav from two years ago - yuck.

Having been a big fan of traditional Balsamic Vinegar, was delighted to get to see a real Acetaia, where the vinegar is left to evaporate for 12, 25, 50 and sometimes even longer times. The end result is a heady combination of sweet and tart and quite expensive. Purchased a tiny bottle from a Modenese producer, where the best Aceto Tradizionale comes from.

Next day, back over the Alps via the Brenner Pass to Munich. Hoped to stay ahead of the threatening skies as we turned north on the A22, but was soon being pelted by torrential rain, which lasted pretty nearly the whole way to Munich. Nary a drop made it inside the car - impressive. My old roadsters here (one British, one Italian) would have had us and the interior soaked. 

There's not much unlimited-speed Autobahn between Innsbruck and Munich, but did find a combination of dry road, and light traffic which allowed a brief blast to 130 mph where legal. Feeling the transmission shift into top gear at 110 made me smile. 

Had to balance an umbrella on my shoulder while finding a blade on my Swiss Army knife which would unscrew the clips for the warning triangle in the trunk lid. We still hafta do this, right? Quickest check-in ever with the always-efficient Kathrin Gaugele at Log-In-Out: under 20 minutes from hello to goodbye.

I'm half-reluctant to know what ship the car is on, because I know from experience it'll just be a big time-waster between now and re-delivery.

Super fun time, can't wait to do it again. Thanks for coming along.

Key to today's pictures:

Traditional balsamic vinegar making is the definition of patience. Must is left to slowly evaporate in smaller and smaller barrels for 12-50 years. YEARS.

Was searching for the perfect pasta with oil, garlic and hot pepper flakes for a week. This one in Malcesine came the closest with it's delicate pepper shavings as a garnish.

View from the top of the thousand-year-old castle tower in Malcesine shows not only the warren of medieval streets below, but also the mountain one needs to traverse in order to get here "the short way" from Valpolicella.

Biagio, the Brunelli's dog, invited himself for our final pizza night in San Pietro, and campaigned persistently for just one more bite of that delicious bacon from my pizza.

Thank goodness for lane discipline on European highways. The road over the alps was pretty much solid with trucks the whole four-hour drive, but they kept out of the way.

Turn-in happened in a steady rain, so here's a last shot when both car and driver were fresh and clean.


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## Gluhwein (Aug 21, 2011)

Excellent.


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