# ED Trip Report (335i M-sport AW/CR) with two young kids



## ewill858 (Mar 2, 2012)

With much gratitude to the Bimmerfest community (and special thanks to Jon Shafer, who helped immeasurably to make my first ED experience go extremely smoothly), I'd like to share some photos and a brief report of our recent trip to Munich with my wife, and two young children (ages 4 and 2).

We departed for Munich, by way of London from San Diego using British Airways. Initially I looked into Lufthansa's BMW special pricing, but the direct flight from SD to London is what sold me on BA. We hauled two Britax convertible car seats, a stroller, one large suitcase, one large duffle, two backpacks, and two wiggly kids onto a redeye flight to London. With the help of various straps and tethers I found online, my wife and I managed to somehow move the entire bundle around the airports, through customs, and even crammed it all into our brand new 335i upon arrival.

The first two days were spent seeing London, and Munich, respectively. We rode the London Eye (a highlight of my daughter's trip), got a ride from Peter (Rolf was away on holiday), visited the Marienplatz, Viktualienmarket, and enjoyed schweinshaxe, weisswurst, pretzels, and beer at the Hofbrauhaus.



















Next, after much anticipation, was delivery day! We enjoyed the very nice treatment from the staff at the Welt, had a good breakfast at the Premium Lounge, and even met a very nice couple from Florida (a fellow Bimmerfest member) who was taking delivery of a 5er shortly after us.
































































They even gave us some free BMW water to take with us on our journey to Neuschwanstein that afternoon!


















Here's a shot of a M5 police car that was doing a lap while I was taking delivery:









I did my victory lap, then drove down to the valet, had lunch, did some shopping at the BMW store, and then went outside to wait for our car to be returned to us. Meanwhile, the kids had fun with the display motorcycles parked out front:









After delivery, we did the trip to Neusch/Howen castles, and then spent the next day visiting Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Driving in Germany was a real pleasure. The autobahn and other roads are in excellent condition, and the German drivers are disciplined and really follow the rules of the road.

The next day, we drove to Salzburg, where we did the Sound of Music bike tour (I got to tow the kids in a trailer behind me).



















Then drove through the Dolomite mountains to Venice, where we spent two nights:










Then we drove westward to the Cinque Terre, where we spent two nights:









And then finally we drove to Nice, where we spent two nights:









We enjoyed a drive through the "Grand Cornich" high above the French Riviera coastline









And drove through Monaco and Monte Carlo. We spotted a BMW dealership there:









I was really proud of myself making it all the way to the last day without bumping into or scratching anything on the car. The streets in Nice were especially hairy, as were all the parking garages.

However, literally on the very last 5 minutes of driving the car prior to taking it to dropoff the next morning, I backed up over this concrete block. I was waiting to enter the hotel parking garage and a guy in front of me starts backing up right toward me. I checked my rearview mirrors, didn't see anything, but backed right up on to this!










The loud grinding noise scared us all, and I ran out out of the car to survey the damage. Some French guy starts pointing at the back of my car talking rapidly, but I didn't understand a word he was saying. Well, the damage isn't too bad. It isn't actually visible from the back, but only can be seen if you get down and look under the rear panel of the car:










I'm hopeful that this might get fixed at VPC, but not really sure what to expect. If anyone has had any experience with something like this, please share!

Anyway, drop-off the next day at TT in Nice was uneventful. The very nice guy looked over the car, helped me document the damage, and then took all of us to the airport.










Again, many thanks to the Bimmerfest community for all the help and guidance to make this trip go as smoothly as it did!


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## mdsbuc (Mar 17, 2005)

Congrats on your beautiful new car and lovely trip. Don't worry about the slight damage you incurred, the car should look good as new by the time it reaches your dealer. :thumbup:

.


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## Bikie (May 2, 2004)

They will fix it at Port Hueneme. I had a smaller scrape on the bottom of my front bumper that Ididn't report because it didn't show and Ididn't want any redelivery delay. They fixed it, only cost me about three days.


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## MB330 (Oct 18, 2005)

Bikie said:


> They will fix it at Port Hueneme. I had a smaller scrape on the bottom of my front bumper that Ididn't report because it didn't show and Ididn't want any redelivery delay. They fixed it, only cost me about three days.


Front bumper replacement after parking in Milan hotel cost one extra month.
Ewill858!
Congratulation on your ED!:thumbup:
Great report and excellent pictures!
Thanks for sharing.
Can you post hotels info from you trip, pls.


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## ewill858 (Mar 2, 2012)

MB330 said:


> Front bumper replacement after parking in Milan hotel cost one extra month.
> Ewill858!
> Congratulation on your ED!:thumbup:
> Great report and excellent pictures!
> ...


Thanks all for the encouraging words about the possibility getting the car back with damage fixed. I'm grateful that BMW really seems to go out of their way to take care of ED folks.

As for our hotels, we stayed at:
Munich: Maritim Hotel Muenchen, booked through Priceline at $100/night, hoping to get the Marriott, but upon lowering to 4 stars, got the Maritim. I actually tried to get Priceline to cancel this reservation (because it's located between two "adult" entertainment venues), but they wouldn't budge. It actually turned out to be a decent place, and a reasonable deal for the price.

Salzburg: ACHAT Plaza Zum Hirschen, very nice, reasonably priced "family" room, with separate room for two small kids. Generous gated parking lot area. Very helpful and friendly staff.

Venice: Hilton Molino Stucky Venice, the most luxurious hotel of the trip. Beautiful room, amazing breakfast, got two free rollaway beds for the kids, enjoyed the rooftop pool with view of Venice. Left car at Tronchetto garage, without incident. We actually arrived at Venice around 7:30pm, and found it difficult to get vaporetto tickets as the ticket office and machines were closed. We had to jump on a boat ticketless, and bought them the next day.

Cinque Terre: Hotel Al Terra Di Mare, in Levanto. Room was clean but small for the price. Got attacked by bees each morning at breakfast. One of my kids dropped a breadstick which rolled under a bed, and we returned to find the room crawling with ants. Very friendly and helpful staff.

Nice: Suite Novotel Nice Aeroport, booked a great deal through AMEX and Travelocity. Comfortable, modern room, with two additional twin beds for the kids. Expensive (and potentially damaging) parking situation. Great staff, and convenient location near ED dropoff and airport. Had a hard time finding the place initially, as GPS destination wasn't actually at the hotel.


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## MB330 (Oct 18, 2005)

ewill858 said:


> Thanks all for the encouraging words about the possibility getting the car back with damage fixed. I'm grateful that BMW really seems to go out of their way to take care of ED folks.
> 
> As for our hotels, we stayed at:
> Munich: Maritim Hotel Muenchen, booked through Priceline at $100/night, hoping to get the Marriott, but upon lowering to 4 stars, got the Maritim. I actually tried to get Priceline to cancel this reservation (because it's located between two "adult" entertainment venues), but they wouldn't budge. It actually turned out to be a decent place, and a reasonable deal for the price.
> ...


Post saved, Google mad updated - THANK YOU! :thumbup:


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## zeezz (Mar 30, 2012)

Congrats! Props to you and your wife for getting it done with two kids, that's not an easy feat!


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## lukeb817 (Mar 6, 2012)

Congrats! Looks like you had a nice trip (despite the minor scrape). Love the color combo! (obviously) The wait for re-delivery after drop off is tough, mine just arrived at the port in the US on Saturday.


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## MB330 (Oct 18, 2005)

zeezz said:


> Congrats! Props to you and your wife for getting it done with two kids, that's not an easy feat!


I remeber only one amesing post by dll2k4 about his ED with kids - link


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## ciboM5 (May 10, 2012)

Fantastic! You've got the same color combo that I do (mine is a F10 M5)! Peter was great! We had two youngsters along as well (8 and 5 y/o). Amazing trip! Write-up to come this week


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## petriej (Jul 29, 2010)

They might fix it at Hueneme on their own. They have techs going through their schooling system there and they like practice.


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## 03BeastCharmer (Aug 29, 2007)

Congrats!! That the same turntable my car was on two weeks ago!!


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## ewill858 (Mar 2, 2012)

ciboM5 said:


> Fantastic! You've got the same color combo that I do (mine is a F10 M5)! Peter was great! We had two youngsters along as well (8 and 5 y/o). Amazing trip! Write-up to come this week
> 
> View attachment 342421


Congrats on your new car and trip as well, and thanks for sharing the photo! Beautiful! Looking forward to reading more about your family's adventures through Europe! :thumbup:


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## SamS (Jan 17, 2011)

Nice write-up and pics, OP!



MB330 said:


> I remeber only one amesing post by dll2k4 about his ED with kids - link


I took my 11-month old daughter on ED for 11 days. Do I win?


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## MB330 (Oct 18, 2005)

SamS said:


> Nice write-up and pics, OP!
> 
> I took my 11-month old daughter on ED for 11 days. Do I win?


How about wife and two teenagers daughters looking for shopping on every freaking stop.... :tsk:


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## 3ismagic# (Mar 17, 2011)

Props to traveling with your kids. It definitely can and should be done IMO.

Our daughter is 3 and in including our ED last summer when she was 2 she has made 4 trips out of the country and has traveled to 8 foreign countries and 20 US states.


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## SamS (Jan 17, 2011)

MB330 said:


> How about wife and two teenagers daughters looking for shopping on every freaking stop.... :tsk:


A different kind of challenge :rofl:


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## Dave 330i (Jan 4, 2002)

SamS said:


> Nice write-up and pics, OP!
> 
> I took my 11-month old daughter on ED for 11 days. Do I win?


In my book? YES.

OUCH, to the OPoster about running into the concrete blocks.


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## SamS (Jan 17, 2011)

Dave 330i said:


> In my book? YES.


The 11 hour plane ride alone should vault me to the top, she didn't sleep a wink on the way back!


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## Dave 330i (Jan 4, 2002)

SamS said:


> The 11 hour plane ride alone should vault me to the top, she didn't sleep a wink on the way back!


Well, I'm glad I was no where near your daughter. I heard bits of ice will calm babies down.


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## SamS (Jan 17, 2011)

Dave 330i said:


> Well, I'm glad I was no where near your daughter. I heard bits of ice will calm babies down.


We tried every trick in the book. For the last hour during decent, the pressure change really got to her and she was screaming bloody murder. They would have kicked us off the plane if we weren't 10K miles in the air. It sounded like someone was stabbing her. Trust me, I hate being THOSE people on the plane, but my wife an I put forth every ounce of our energy to be respectful of our fellow passengers.

On the ground in Europe (we were in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and France), we managed somewhat better.


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## MB330 (Oct 18, 2005)

SamS said:


> We tried every trick in the book. For the last hour during decent, the pressure change really got to her and she was screaming bloody murder. They would have kicked us off the plane if we weren't 10K miles in the air. It sounded like someone was stabbing her. Trust me, I hate being THOSE people on the plane, but my wife an I put forth every ounce of our energy to be respectful of our fellow passengers.
> 
> On the ground in Europe (we were in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and France), we managed somewhat better.


next time - 1/4 glass of good wine before flight :drink: - make everyone happy. She will sleep all 11 hrs. :rofl:


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## gks314 (Nov 23, 2010)

Great post and pics! And beautiful car!

I'm planning a Nice drop-off, too, next year. Would you recommend dropping off the car before we tour the city for a couple of days? You mentioned that it was pretty hairy driving in Nice.


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## 640GC (Mar 22, 2012)

Do they fix rims?

Nice car and enjoyed reading your trip report. Your photos have great composition.

Sorry about the scrapes! We dropped off at Nice as well on the 19th. Similar story, went to American Car Wash thinking I could spray the bugs off, it only had brushes. I scraped two rims trying to turn around to get out. There is a hand wash place past American Car Wash for those returning in Nice. FYI: No one at American Car Wash seemed to speak _"American"_.

I didn't have any trouble driving on the roads in Nice or Monte Carlo where we stayed. The roads are skinny but navigable.

All the car dealerships in Monaco seem really small with hardly any vehicles. Many more are out actually driving around.


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## MB330 (Oct 18, 2005)

gks314 said:


> Great post and pics! And beautiful car!
> 
> I'm planning a Nice drop-off, too, next year. Would you recommend dropping off the car before we tour the city for a couple of days? You mentioned that it was pretty hairy driving in Nice.


It's all depends of your plan. We use our car to drive to Monte Carlo and Cannes.
A lot of recommendation to explore north part of Nice.


> That whole area is overrun with the Russians pretending to have more money than they really do -- not sure if you like that or not. Pretty annoying after a while.
> 
> The good stuff is north of Nice, around the Route Napoleon area, Balcon de la Mescla, Aix, Avignon, etc. Provence area. Otherwise, I didn't care for Nice all that much. Whatever. Nice but nothing to write home about.


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## ciboM5 (May 10, 2012)

Check out the smaller towns East of Nice too. We stayed in Villefranche-sur-mer. Had a secure garage for the beast, parked completely by itself with no prying eyes. Oh, and yes, driving in Nice was more hairy than around Lake Como. Nice drop-off was very easy, close to the airport and a self-serve carwash.


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## ewill858 (Mar 2, 2012)

gks314 said:


> Great post and pics! And beautiful car!
> 
> I'm planning a Nice drop-off, too, next year. Would you recommend dropping off the car before we tour the city for a couple of days? You mentioned that it was pretty hairy driving in Nice.


While driving in the "old Nice" area looking for parking was a bit challenging due to the traffic and very narrow roads, we also experienced some of the more scenic and enjoyable driving routes when traversing the 3 "Corniches" from Nice to Monaco and Monte Carlo. I'd say it is worth keeping your car to enjoy some of the areas just outside of Nice, but be extra careful around parking structures.


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## 640GC (Mar 22, 2012)

I'm with ciboM5 and ewill858, keep the car and enjoy the breathtaking views. We didn't make it all the way to Cannes but will on our next ED. We'll also stop off in Eze which another fester recommended, we drove by to look and it was beautiful. We'll also stay in Saint Paul de Vence which is a little past Nice up high on the mountain. There is a great hotel there. We stayed in Monaco and it was great fun people watching outside at the Cafe de Paris.


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## ciboM5 (May 10, 2012)

+1 on keeping the car and Cafe de Paris!


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