# My First European Delivery - 2017 340i



## Spagolli94 (Jan 27, 2009)

I just got home from Europe yesterday. What an amazing experience. I don't even have the car yet and I'm already looking forward to the next one. Here are some pics. Okay, a LOT of pics.

*Day 1: 
*Red Eye to Munich




























*Day 2: *
Factory Tour, Museum and Delivery at BMW Welt


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## Spagolli94 (Jan 27, 2009)

*Day 3:*
Zugspitze, Neuschwanstein Castle and Alpine Road


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## Spagolli94 (Jan 27, 2009)

*Day 4: *
Lindau and Rothenburg ob der Tauber


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## Spagolli94 (Jan 27, 2009)

*Day 5:*
Heidelberg


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## Spagolli94 (Jan 27, 2009)

*Day 6:
*Bruge


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## Spagolli94 (Jan 27, 2009)

Day 7:
Paris


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## Spagolli94 (Jan 27, 2009)

*Day 8:*
Semur En Auxious, France


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## Spagolli94 (Jan 27, 2009)

*Day 9:*
Antibes, France


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## Spagolli94 (Jan 27, 2009)

*Days 10 & 11:*
Cinque Terre, Italy

View from our hotel - epic:


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## Spagolli94 (Jan 27, 2009)

*Days 12 & 13:*
Nice, France

Another epic view:









Has anybody seen a blue car?


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## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

Wow! Amazing trip!


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## Spagolli94 (Jan 27, 2009)

pawarrant said:


> Wow! Amazing trip!


Thanks! I'm exhausted but it was sooo worth it.


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## jjrandorin (May 8, 2013)

Looks Awesome! 

So, I have to ask, how do you like the Estoril Blue now that you have it? I would be interested to hear your thoughts on it, especially since you work with color and design for a living if I remember correctly.


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## Technic (Jun 24, 2002)

That's magnificent!!!


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## Spagolli94 (Jan 27, 2009)

jjrandorin said:


> Looks Awesome!
> 
> So, I have to ask, how do you like the Estoril Blue now that you have it? I would be interested to hear your thoughts on it, especially since you work with color and design for a living if I remember correctly.


Believe it or not, I'm still on the fence about the color. I LOVE it when I look at it or look at the pics I've taken of it. Especially the pics at the Welt, on the cobblestone street or in front of the yellow hotel in Nice. It's stunning. Imagine those same pics with Mineral Gray. Nice, but not stunning. Just beautiful.

I'm not sure if I like the color when I'm driving it, however. It's bold and loud and I'm tend to be a bit introverted. That's how I am with trying new foods or any attempt at fashion as well. Whenever I try something new - and my girlfriend is always trying to dress me better - it takes a while to grow on me before I like it. I have a feeling the same thing will happen with Estoril Blue as well. It's just going to take some time to feel like "me". By the time I was done my trip, I was already starting to like the color more and more every day!!!

I know you were on the fence with your color choice as well and went with EB and love it. Was EB love at first site, or did it take a while to grow on you?


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## jjrandorin (May 8, 2013)

Spagolli94 said:


> Believe it or not, I'm still on the fence about the color. I LOVE it when I look at it or look at the pics I've taken of it. Especially the pics at the Welt, on the cobblestone street or in front of the yellow hotel in Nice. It's stunning. Imagine those same pics with Mineral Gray. Nice, but not stunning. Just beautiful.
> 
> I'm not sure if I like the color when I'm driving it, however. It's bold and loud and I'm tend to be a bit introverted. That's how I am with trying new foods or any attempt at fashion as well. Whenever I try something new - and my girlfriend is always trying to dress me better - it takes a while to grow on me before I like it. I have a feeling the same thing will happen with Estoril Blue as well. It's just going to take some time to feel like "me". By the time I was done my trip, I was already starting to like the color more and more every day!!!
> 
> I know you were on the fence with your color choice as well and went with EB and love it. Was EB love at first site, or did it take a while to grow on you?


Pretty much the same description you just gave. I LOVED it on the lot, even though it wasnt "me". There are also not as many estoril blue cars on the road as you would think, so it IS visible. It doesnt feel "loud" to me, but it DOES feel "visible". I felt a little bold sitting in it, while driving (just like you said). Window tint helped with that, and I am still proud of myself for going with it. I feel special driving it, which did NOT happen in my black (and my wifes white) bmw's, nor do I feel "special" in my wifes new Space grey X5.

I happen to like the space grey / mineral grey colors a lot on BMWs but there are a million of those as well.

Longer answer than I needed to make I guess, but I do feel special every time I look at it, and I am proud of myself for letting myself live a little because the color IS out of my comfort zone, but I do love it.


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## Spagolli94 (Jan 27, 2009)

Ha! You're preaching to the choir man. There are a lot of gray cars here in Philly but in Europe... wow, it seemed every other car was gray. In fact, I only saw ONE Estoril Blue BMW when I was over there and it wasn't even a 3 series. 

EB is a special color, but not obnoxious. It's just louder than I'm used to, but it's growing on me... fast. I did find myself staring at it a lot - to the point I was starting to annoy my girlfriend.

My last few cars have been gray. If I went with gray again, I don't think anybody would've even noticed I got a new car. haha


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## argh (May 25, 2015)

People look at an EB car because it's so pleasing to look at! I'm thrilled every morning hearing the burble start from the barn and see my wife pulling away. Nothing but compliments on the color and the 403M wheels.

Nice tour of Europe in a nice car! If it wouldn't break my bank, I'd buy a new car every annual trip to Europe.


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## Daryll (Jun 10, 2016)

Awesome trip and great looking car. You are absolutely correct about the average car colors in Europe - 50 shades of gray, with a few black ones thrown in for fun. We had a number of people tell us how cool our Midnight Blue car was, and that is not nearly as "blue" as your EB car. You made quite the great circle of Europe on your trip. Hopefully we can do another ED sometime in the next year or two...


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## Spagolli94 (Jan 27, 2009)

argh said:


> People look at an EB car because it's so pleasing to look at! I'm thrilled every morning hearing the burble start from the barn and see my wife pulling away. Nothing but compliments on the color and the 403M wheels.
> 
> Nice tour of Europe in a nice car! If it wouldn't break my bank, I'd buy a new car every annual trip to Europe.


Yeah, the style 403M wheels and Estoril Blue are perfect together. Thanks!!


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## Spagolli94 (Jan 27, 2009)

Daryll said:


> You made quite the great circle of Europe on your trip.


I think we were actually a bit too optimistic with our destinations. We drove 3,200 KM in 10 or 11 days. That's a lot. We never stayed in the same city for more than one night until our final stops in Cinque Terre and Nice. I was glad we were able to slow down at the end because I was pooped. Then again, it was pretty awesome to see such a wide variety of stuff, all over Europe. From the top of a snowy mountain peak to a sunny beach a week later - pretty sweet!!

I can't wait to do it all over again! Next time my lease is up should put me inline for a summer Euro Delivery so I think we'll hit the Alps (Austria and Switzerland), then head down and explore most of Italy.


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## Stevarino (May 14, 2002)

Fantastic photography! Great lokking car and you saw a lot of Europe.


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## Gluhwein (Aug 21, 2011)

I'm still a year and a half away from my next BMW but you have convinced me that Estoril Blue is the way to go. Then again, with the way BMW continually changes things it might not be an option in 2018.


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## Gluhwein (Aug 21, 2011)

And BTW, great photos on a very ambitious (and exhausting) itinerary. We are doing a similar route on a non-ED summer vacation but using 30 days to squeeze it all on. I guess I'm just getting too old to handle all those one night stands.


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## Spagolli94 (Jan 27, 2009)

Stevarino said:


> Fantastic photography! Great lokking car and you saw a lot of Europe.


Thanks! There's always more to see though! On future trips, we still need to see:

• Austrian and Swiss Alps (need a summer trip to do this)
• Prague & Vienna
•*All of Italy - that's entire week right there, at least
• Coast of Spain, Portugal (will probably do this w/o a new BMW as it's very far from Munich)
• Netherlands
•*Norway/Sweden/Finland (too far for Euro Delivery trip)

As you can tell, this trip has given me the travel bug. ha!


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## Spagolli94 (Jan 27, 2009)

Gluhwein said:


> And BTW, great photos on a very ambitious (and exhausting) itinerary. We are doing a similar route on a non-ED summer vacation but using 30 days to squeeze it all on. I guess I'm just getting too old to handle all those one night stands.


Until the tail end of our trip, we were only spending one night in each hotel. It did start to get pretty tiring and some of the stops felt a bit rushed. But we did get to see a TON of stuff, so there's pros and cons to having an aggressive itinerary. When we do it again, we'll try to slow down a bit, I think.

You're going for 30 days? Soooo jealous!!!!


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## argh (May 25, 2015)

Spagolli94 said:


> •*Norway/Sweden/Finland (too far for Euro Delivery trip)


Volvo!


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## MB330 (Oct 18, 2005)

argh said:


> Volvo!


:tsk:

Great report! Thanks for sharing! :thumbup:


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## Eagle11 (Oct 6, 2013)

Spagolli94 said:


> Thanks! There's always more to see though! On future trips, we still need to see:
> 
> • Austrian and Swiss Alps (need a summer trip to do this)
> • Prague & Vienna
> ...


Our next ED will in Slovenia, Croatia and Itay. Right now I'm looking to get a 440GC in Tanzanite Blue. Regarding the travel bug, yes it does, this is why we are going to places I stated. 3 weeks worth.


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## boothguy (Feb 1, 2007)

"all of Italy.." in a week? Surely you jest.


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## ouengineer (Nov 8, 2016)

Looks like a great trip! We just did our honeymoon in Europe, but since we took trains we generally stuck to the big cities which I'm starting to realize I don't like nearly as much. Next time I go, I'm definitely driving everywhere so we can see more countryside.


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## Mark K (Jun 5, 2010)

Eagle11 said:


> Our next ED will in Slovenia, Croatia and Itay. Right now I'm looking to get a 440GC in Tanzanite Blue. Regarding the travel bug, yes it does, this is why we are going to places I stated. 3 weeks worth.


Eagle, I was thinking about that and I would suggest contemplating counterclockwise trip instead of clockwise. Meaning, come down through Innsbruck to Italy, then enter Croatia from there, take old road down the coast, then highway back to Slovenija. I don't know, it kind of feels like it "flows" better that way. Just a suggestion, though.



ouengineer said:


> Next time I go, I'm definitely driving everywhere so we can see more countryside.


+1

Not to mention how much better it is to drive from a countryside hotel to a little town ~20 miles from the city, park without issues at its tiny train station, get local ticket and, after 15-20 minutes ride max get off the train into the middle of everything with no hassle at all. Once tired of big city wonders, jump on local train and you are back to your car in 15 min. Priceless. The parking even tends to be free of charge that way


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## Capt.Decatur (Mar 30, 2016)

Spagolli94 said:


> I think we were actually a bit too optimistic with our destinations. We drove 3,200 KM in 10 or 11 days. That's a lot. We never stayed in the same city for more than one night until our final stops in Cinque Terre and Nice. I was glad we were able to slow down at the end because I was pooped. Then again, it was pretty awesome to see such a wide variety of stuff, all over Europe. From the top of a snowy mountain peak to a sunny beach a week later - pretty sweet!!
> 
> I can't wait to do it all over again! Next time my lease is up should put me inline for a summer Euro Delivery so I think we'll hit the Alps (Austria and Switzerland), then head down and explore most of Italy.


It looks like we ordered almost the same car (except wheels). I am super happy with the EB paint. My wife talked me into it, and I have never regretted the decision. This picture is on the way to Grossglockner Pass in Austria. We did our ED in August...Bavaria, Lake Como in Italy then Halstatt, Austria.


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## 1northcar (Mar 7, 2015)

The day and night view photos from your hotel in Clinque Terre, italy are spectacular. Could you share the name of the hotel and which rooms have that great view?


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## Spagolli94 (Jan 27, 2009)

1northcar said:


> The day and night view photos from your hotel in Clinque Terre, italy are spectacular. Could you share the name of the hotel and which rooms have that great view?


The view from the hotel was EPIC and the hotel itself was one of the nicest in Cinque Terre. The room and the staff were probably at the top of all the places we stayed during our trip.

It was the La Toretta Lodge in Manarola:
http://www.torrettas.com/

Here is a pic of the hotel itself, so you can see what the balconies look like:


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## Spagolli94 (Jan 27, 2009)

Capt.Decatur said:


> It looks like we ordered almost the same car (except wheels). I am super happy with the EB paint. My wife talked me into it, and I have never regretted the decision. This picture is on the way to Grossglockner Pass in Austria. We did our ED in August...Bavaria, Lake Como in Italy then Halstatt, Austria.


Nice!! My girlfriend actually tried to talk me out of EB. haha. The car is on the boat now and I hope to have it in two weeks. I actually purchased a spare set of the 400M rims from eBay to use as winter wheels. I'll have to get those mounted pretty soon after the car arrives.


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## Gig103 (Sep 10, 2007)

Fantastic photos and great route for your first ED!


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## vailento (Dec 14, 2016)

Fantastic photos and trip, be sure to check out Norway some time


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## beware_phog (Mar 7, 2003)

Amazing photos. Well done. ...although a little too much driving as I enjoy staying in the same city for a couple nights while tooling through Europe. I have had my EB for 30 months and continue love it now as much as I did at the beginning.


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## Spagolli94 (Jan 27, 2009)

beware_phog said:


> Amazing photos. Well done. ...although a little too much driving as I enjoy staying in the same city for a couple nights while tooling through Europe. I have had my EB for 30 months and continue love it now as much as I did at the beginning.


Agree. We were definitely over-optimistic with our itinerary. The plus side is we got to see a bunch of stuff. But the downside was it was a TON of driving and we felt like we were constantly on the move. All in all, it was a great trip but we definitely learned some lessons for next time.

I just checked the shipping and my car is docked in Halifax now. It's supposed to sail to NJ next, then on a flatbed to the dealer in Philly. I'm hoping to have it in 1-2 weeks. It would be awesome if I could get it just before Christmas!!!


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## razzy530 (Nov 8, 2005)

so nice not to see an Xdrive car for once being ordered. You can tell such a huge difference in the look too. The stance is lower the wheels are better etc etc.:thumbup: 
Congrats on the 340!! so nice!


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## Spagolli94 (Jan 27, 2009)

razzy530 said:


> so nice not to see an Xdrive car for once being ordered. You can tell such a huge difference in the look too. The stance is lower the wheels are better etc etc.:thumbup:
> Congrats on the 340!! so nice!


Thanks! I see you're from NJ so I'm sure you know all to well that it's impossible to find a non X-Drive car on a dealer's lot in the northeast. In hindsight, I'm glad because that's what forced me to consider custom ordering, which eventually led to my decision to try the Euro Delivery.

If it was easy to find RWD models on dealers lots, I'm not sure I would've ever considered custom ordering or Euro Delivery. I might have missed out on the trip of a lifetime.

Not only do RWD cars have a better stance (when stock), but they are also cheaper, faster from a rolling start, lighter and get better gas mileage. AWD cars make perfect sense for places like Vermont and Colorado. But here in Philly, it only snows a few times per year so I'm not sure why dealers try to force AWD on us. I leased my current IS-350 a couple years ago and I never drove it in the snow a single time!!


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## gks314 (Nov 23, 2010)

Was it hard (or nerve-wracking) driving into (and, especially, in) Paris?


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## Eagle11 (Oct 6, 2013)

gks314 said:


> Was it hard (or nerve-wracking) driving into (and, especially, in) Paris?


If you are talking about driving to the drop off center at the airport it isn't too bad, since you aren't into the city center, but if you are use to driving in LA or other big city traffic it isn't too had.


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## Spagolli94 (Jan 27, 2009)

gks314 said:


> Was it hard (or nerve-wracking) driving into (and, especially, in) Paris?


I had several people warn me to avoid Paris. So much so that I considered getting a hotel outside of the city and taking a train into the city. In the end, I ignored their warnings and I'm glad I did.

We arrived in Paris around 9:00 pm, after the rush hour. We drove through the heart of the city and even did a lap around the Arc de Triumph before arriving at our hotel. The concierge directed us to their parking garage and we left the car there overnight. We woke up in the morning and had to move the car before checkout, so we parked it in a pay lot next to the garage. We then headed out to see all the sights.

While we were out exploring I did notice some pretty snarled traffic around rush hour, but nothing worse than I'm used to in U.S. cities.

We arrived back at the car at 7:00 pm or so, just after dinner. We did have a bit of a scare.... Our ticket didn't work at the pay station. There was no attendant at this lot, nor were there any other people at all. The pay station had a little intercom button and luckily somebody answered on the other side. Unfortunately, the didn't really speak English. After trying to communicated for 5 minutes, they gate went up and I was able to pull out - even though I never paid.

Once back on the road, we were able to get out of the city, no problems, no traffic jams.

All in all, I'm glad I ignored the warnings and opted to spend the night at a cool hotel, just a short walk from the Eiffel Tower.


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## Trinitony (Feb 10, 2010)

gks314 said:


> Was it hard (or nerve-wracking) driving into (and, especially, in) Paris?


Driving in any big city is not particularly hard but I do not recommend using a car to see the sights. My reasons for not using your car for sightseeing in big cities is that you can never find a parking spot near where you want to go. Often the only parking is no closer than the parking garage near your hotel. OK, I am exaggerating, but really most of these big cities have excellent public transport with stations that are close to the major sights - so why risk your car.

My other reason for not driving my new BMW in Paris was watching a young lady park her car. My wife and I were sitting on the balcony outside our hotel room not far from Notre Dame. There were no spaces suitable for parallel parking below us but there was a space perhaps six inches bigger than her car. She was determined to get her car into that space. So she drove her car into the back of the car just ahead of this space. She was able to push it forward an inch or two. She then backed into the car just to the back of the space and managed to get another inch or two. She went through this process several times but was unable to enlarge the space to fit her car. So she gave up and by this time a car sized space had opened up just across the street. I did not wait around to see the reactions of the victims of this parking exercise. But I resolved never to use my car for sightseeing in a big city - and to share my thoughts with anyone who asked.

Also, your car is ideal for touring all the small towns which are not served by air or even by train. It would be difficult to get to see the towns, lakes and mountain scenery on the Alpenstrasse without a car. On our two EDs we visited many little towns and locations that really could only be seen by car. We then took trains or planes to London, Berlin, Budapest and Prague after dropping off our car. Not only did it save our car from the cousins of the young lady demolition-parker but it gave our car a week or so head start on its journey home. Unfortunately a week or two head start does not eliminate the angst of waiting for your car but it's better than nothing.


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## Spagolli94 (Jan 27, 2009)

My car has arrived at the dealer and I'm picking it up tomorrow! So Santa is a little late but the sleight made it after all!! It's perfect timing actually, as my current lease expires on Jan 1st so I planned my ED at the perfect time. I only had 3 days of overlap and more importantly, didn't have any days where I was without a car.


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## Daryll (Jun 10, 2016)

gks314 said:


> Was it hard (or nerve-wracking) driving into (and, especially, in) Paris?


Center-city Paris would rank as one of my top five most challenging cities to drive in, but certainly not impossible. If you have driven in New York City that is the best practice in the US, although Paris has some unique driving features that I have not seen anywhere else - for example, the six-lane-wide roundabouts with no lane markings, but with traffic lights in the middle. That was interesting!

But - in our case - our hotel was close to the Louvre, so our only option was to drive to it. Once we got there we left the car in the garage for the rest of our stay in Paris. Other towns in France were much easier, and outside of the center city Paris is pretty much like any other large city as far as driving.

Bottom line - if you are willing to drive through Manhattan you can handle Paris no problem. So far in my travels throughout Europe and North and Central America the only city that I would not drive in is Mexico City - the traffic there is insane.


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## Daryll (Jun 10, 2016)

Spagolli94 said:


> My car has arrived at the dealer and I'm picking it up tomorrow! So Santa is a little late but the sleight made it after all!! It's perfect timing actually, as my current lease expires on Jan 1st so I planned my ED at the perfect time. I only had 3 days of overlap and more importantly, didn't have any days where I was without a car.


Awesome! Nice New Year's present to yourself! Also very nice how well it worked out on your lease - rarely do I plan things that well


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## KevinM (May 2, 2003)

Great trip and nice pictures. Thanks for sharing!


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