# Trip Report



## basiluf (Dec 16, 2010)

Yes, I broke the 12 hour rule, but we are still exhausted from our short trip. We picked up our car on Saturday 2/26. The experience was sort of anticlimactic, but it was still well worth the trip. We received a free key chain with a name engraved on it, plus 10 Euro credit to use in the gift shop, and another 15 Euro for food. The premium lounge, pictured below, had an assortment of food and drinks, and was a nice place to wait. Most of the deliveries were for European customers, but we did have a twin with bigger shoes waiting for its new owner as well. A nice catch was one of the first new 650i convertibles to be delivered.

After delivery, we visited the BMW museum which we found to be underwhelming compared to the Porsche museum in Stuttgart. It was more art than substance. Afterwords, we headed straight to the castles of Neuschwanstein, which was a nice drive. Speaking of driving, the car is absolutely fantastic and the DCT transmission is great. Just like driving a manual without the third pedal. The car handles extremely well for its weight, and it was tough keeping it below the 107 mph limit. I did unknowingly cruise at 120 mph for a few minutes until my wife yelled at me. The autobahn is just so smooth and it's hard to tell the speed at which we were traveling at.

The navigation system is great as well, and the wide screen is very easy to use. We found the system to be very accurate in telling our location, as well as telling us restricted access roads. Once we were used to the system, it was very easy to use. One confusing aspect was getting our iPod to play music. The only way to access the iPod(that I know of) was to click on main menu, then cd/multimedia, and there you can access your iPod. Other than that, great system.

On Sunday we headed out to Stuttgart and visited the Porsche museum, which was much more alligned towards gear heads than the BMW museum. Unfortunately we were running late, so we didn't visit anything else in the area. We had lunch plans with a friend of mine in a small town called Bretten around 50 kilometers NW of Stuttgart. What amazes us that a town of 30k has a BMW, Audi, and Mercedes dealership along with a Ford...that we saw. I guess that it never sunk in that it was the same as a small town in the US having a ford, chevy, etc dealership.

After lunch with our friend, we headed out to Strasbourg, France, which was a very nice treat and worth visiting if in the area. The Notre Dame Cathedral is amazing, along with other buildings. From there, we headed back to Munich ready for our flight the next morning. Our drop off point was at the airport, and I knew I was cutting it close with a 830am drop off time, with a 940am flight out to Atlanta. We checking in for our flight, and I went to the drop off point. It is located off of Terminal Two, and you take the entrance to the Kempinski hotel. The company is called Log in/Log out, and it is directly on your right before the hotel. The employee arrived to work 10 minutes early, so I was able to get a head start. After signing the papers and looking over the car, I then followed him to a lot filled with BMW's and Audi's where I parked the car. He told me to take the triangle and first aid kit out of the car or else they would throw it away. He then took me to the terminal for my flight. The whole process took around 40-45 minutes. Luckily security allowed me to take the triangle and tools on the plane. I was worried they would make me throw them away.

All in all a very tiring trip, but well worth it. Our next ED will have to require more time to travel. Some points from our trip.

1. In my opinion, the Munich area shouldn't require that much of your time. I just wasn't too fond of the city compared to other European cities. Food and drink isn't as easily accessible as in other city centers where there are a myriad of choices.

2. Gas. $8.50/gallon plus high speeds equal a formidable expense. Expect to pay roughly $135 to fill up an M3 tank when it is empty, and it will empty often.

3. February isn't the best time for Euro delivery. Save it for the spring. This might have been a large factor in the mood of Munich.

4. Our car still received a ton of looks and gawking from all over. It was rather surprising. As we drove off the platform at the Welt, onlookers were whistling. I assumed it was at the car and not my wife. She assumed the opposite.

5. The Museum and factory tour is free for people taking delivery. We almost paid for the tour until we mentioned we were taking delivery the next day.


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## carnick (Sep 29, 2010)

Very nice!! Enjoyed your trip summary and the photos.:thumbup:

Congratulations on the new Bimmer. 

Keep 'er 'tween the ditches -
CARNICK


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## Me530 (Feb 17, 2005)

Bee's going to be angry there is no photo of the car with its new owner!


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## MB330 (Oct 18, 2005)

carnick said:


> Very nice!! Enjoyed your trip summary and the photos.:thumbup:
> 
> Congratulations on the new Bimmer.
> 
> ...


+1! congratulation!!!!


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## fishskis (Dec 18, 2004)

Congratulations. Love the color combination. Overall impressions on the car; positives...negatives...surprises?


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## basiluf (Dec 16, 2010)

fishskis said:


> Congratulations. Love the color combination. Overall impressions on the car; positives...negatives...surprises?


We absolutely loved the car. I'm 6'6, and it is very comfortable for me. The only issue I had with the seating position was that I could never figure out how to raise the seat belt as it rests uncomfortably on my shoulder. The DCT transmission is wonderful, response is great, and the engine note is pleasing. The only negative I can currently think of is the fuel consumption, just because it hurt so much filling up in Germany.


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## boothguy (Feb 1, 2007)

Thanks for posting. Must admit your pictures of the car have me re-thinking my initial rejection of the white, judging that it makes the car look a little overweight.


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## basiluf (Dec 16, 2010)

Me530 said:


> Bee's going to be angry there is no photo of the car with its new owner!


My wife told me to go ahead and do it, not to anger the mighty duck....


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## basiluf (Dec 16, 2010)

boothguy said:


> Thanks for posting. Must admit your pictures of the car have me re-thinking my initial rejection of the white, judging that it makes the car look a little overweight.


White works best in Florida due to the excessive heat, plus I wanted a change. My last six cars have been black, black, silver, silver, black, and silver in that order. I saw a Interlagos E93 M3 in the parking lot at the airport waiting to be shipped back to the US and it was drop dead gorgeous.


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## wmo168 (Mar 26, 2009)

Nice car, looks like the exact same combo I am getting except I am going for Mineral White.. Still thinks the wheel should be gunmetal color like it was before.. sad..


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## Me530 (Feb 17, 2005)

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:


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## bmw325 (Dec 19, 2001)

QUick trip huh? What about the delivery was anti-climactic?


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## basiluf (Dec 16, 2010)

bmw325 said:


> QUick trip huh? What about the delivery was anti-climactic?


Yes, due to tax season my wife was lucky enough to miss a couple of days of work max. Plus, we have a couple of out of town weddings to attend that will also require vacation days, so we are holding on right now.

The delivery was anti-climactic, in my opinion, in that we saw our car, he showed us a few features, and told us a valet will park our car to go to the museum outside. We drove downstairs and outside, and we were like WTF do we do now as there was no one to be seen. Walked inside and asked the front desk, who turned out to be the valet. Once done with the museum, we sat outside the entrance figuring out the navi and how to head to Fussen and then our hotel. Maybe it was just a miscommunication, but we felt like we were left hanging and they wanted us out to make room for more deliveries on a busy Saturday.


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## kl07rph (May 4, 2010)

Thanks for sharing your ED experience!! I'm subliminally planning out a future ED (much to my wife's refusal  ) and was curious how "short" yours was. I was wondering on the feasibility of a 4 day trip. Also, one of your pics has the check engine light...was there an unfortunate issue?


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## basiluf (Dec 16, 2010)

kl07rph said:


> Thanks for sharing your ED experience!! I'm subliminally planning out a future ED (much to my wife's refusal  ) and was curious how "short" yours was. I was wondering on the feasibility of a 4 day trip. Also, one of your pics has the check engine light...was there an unfortunate issue?


We had three full days and it's enough for Munich and the immediate vicinity. Heck, we even made it out to Strasbourg.


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## basiluf (Dec 16, 2010)

kl07rph said:


> Thanks for sharing your ED experience!! I'm subliminally planning out a future ED (much to my wife's refusal  ) and was curious how "short" yours was. I was wondering on the feasibility of a 4 day trip. Also, one of your pics has the check engine light...was there an unfortunate issue?


It was a "service engine soon" light that our BMW delivery employee stated was normal until our first oil change at 1200 miles.


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## claud 3 (Jun 27, 2005)

I enjoyed your trip report, especially when your wife yelled at you for doing 120mph. Same thing happened to me, but I floored it to 130mph indicated and then let off to relive the screaming spouse. To this day I have a souvenier on my Garmin that recorded highest top speed at 128 mph on that day.


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## [email protected] (Jan 9, 2010)

*trip report*

When I took delivery of my M6 in Munich in March, 2010, the person doing the delivery was very helpful. He helped us program several destinations into the nav system. I had leased a 2007 M6 previously so there were not many changes for him to show us other than the I-drive.

Bob Hutto


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## dunderhi (Dec 10, 2006)

basiluf said:


> We had three full days and it's enough for Munich and the immediate vicinity. Heck, we even made it out to Strasbourg.


Hmm, we're spending a week in Munich right now, and I don't think we will get to see as much as we would like in and around the city. 

Congrats on the new wheels & thanks for the pics. Our AW 550 was already pretty dirty on day two, but unlike my 2007 ED, the misses was actually in the car when I hit 150 mph and surprisingly she was without complaint. Her comment was it kind of felt like being in a jet during take-off. She was a bit concerned when we passed a Polizei car doing around 130 mph. :bigpimp:


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## adc (Apr 1, 2003)

The car is certainly beautiful, but I would agree with your wife on this one.

Congratulations!


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