# ED Report January 26 '09 (lots of pics!)



## boothguy (Feb 1, 2007)

Looks pretty cold at Nymphenburg Palace, and quuuiiiiiet at Welt. Congrats on the pickup and anticipating more of your trip report. Care to give us a hint about where you're headed?


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## southpole12 (Jan 10, 2009)

looks beautiful there!


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## squeak007 (Mar 26, 2008)

very nice cant wait for updates


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## Neon01 (Nov 30, 2005)

Thanks for the kind words all, just checking in before heading into Rome on the train. For those of you who asked, I'm using a Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 walkaround. Some of the shots (like the one of the goodies in the premium lounge) are taken with a Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 lens. I have tons more pics of the welt that I plan on uploading. I must say, it's very difficult to take a bad shot in that place - all the angles are perfect. 

Yes, my delivery specialist is Bernhard - he was excellent and a funny guy. I love German humor, it cracks me up. 

Regarding the mileage - I was shocked to see that it had literally NO miles on it too (not even in the tenths of a mile). Then as we drove away I realized someone must have reset the trip odo at 0.2 miles, because the main odo would hit a full digit 0.2 miles ahead of the trip odo. 

As I said, much more to come later - must head to the train station now. Thanks again for the comments.


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## Alfred G (Apr 1, 2007)

Neon01 said:


> Yes, my delivery specialist is Bernhard - he was excellent and a funny guy. I love *German humor*, it cracks me up.


Give us an example, please.


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## alp135i (May 3, 2008)

Hot Car! The pictures are awesome.


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## soledoc (Feb 5, 2007)

Neon01 said:


> Thanks for the kind words all, just checking in before heading into Rome on the train.


Enjoy Rome. One of my favorite cities. I have many relatives that live there. But I must ask...you're not driving your car there? I realize it's a ways there, but I would definitely have driven my car there, but maybe you just want to relax and then the train is the way to go.


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## Gig103 (Sep 10, 2007)

Fantastic pictures; I wish I had bought my DSLR before my trip to Europe! I see you had Bernard as your delivery guy, I wish we had thought to take a picture with him since he was so great. But we were rushing to get to the factory tour... There's always next time 

Thanks for sharing; and I don't blame you for not driving to Rome. Driving around Milan and Lake Como scared me to death, and from what I hear of Rome it's worse!


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## MB330 (Oct 18, 2005)

Gig103 said:


> Driving around Milan and Lake Como scared me to death, and from what I hear of Rome it's worse!


:dunno:
I don't know, maybe driving experience in LA get me prepare for Italy. But I don't have any trouble driving there.
I see more idiots drive in Los Angeles than in Italy.


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## Neon01 (Nov 30, 2005)

Alfred G said:


> Give us an example, please.


My wife just reminded me - as you may know, BMW gives you a one-page list of the closest petrol stations to the Welt since they only fill the cars with 4 gallons of fuel. I didn't think much of it at first, but later Bernhard was going through the pack of papers with us and he takes a look at that one. He says, "oh, and here is a list of the most expensive petrol stations in all of Europe. I don't know why BMW seems to want everybody to think you'll be coasting out of here on fumes and will need to stop within blocks of the WeIt". He advised us to fill up in Innsbruck (where were staying the first night), since Austrian fuel is so much less expensive. Luckily I had found this same information from the forum, but I loved the tip nonetheless.

Couple that with his somewhat broken English (though he was very understandable), and it had my wife and I chuckling several times.


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## fishskis (Dec 18, 2004)

Neon01 said:


> I must say, it's very difficult to take a bad shot in that place - all the angles are perfect.


I completely agree. I just created a photobook of my last ED, and I really had to edit down the number of Welt photos. It is a great building; very asymmetric, incredible angles, space, and a lot of interesting lighting conditions.


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## AK (Jan 19, 2002)

Nice pics + beautiful car.

I got my '07 335i via ED on 1/26/07, exactly 2 years before you did. As you can see from these pics of the old Freimann delivery center, it looks like you had better luck with the weather than I did


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## rmorin49 (Jan 7, 2007)

To the OP:

Fantastic post and pics. Makes we wish I could do another ED soon. Bernard was my Delivery Specialist in April of 07 at the old ED place. He is a great guy. Hope you have a great time and a safe trip home.


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## dan74 (Jan 28, 2008)

AZ-BMW said:


> 0 miles on the odometer :dunno:
> They at least need to drive the car across the strasse from the Factory to the Welt :rofl:


It goes on the truck...mine had 0 on the odometer as well when I picked it up .


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## HWF (Nov 29, 2006)

Neon ... beautiful car. Only 4 gallons,really? I got a full tank when I did my ED, and never had to look for a petrol station, since I drove less than 400 miles. I also had Bernhard as my Delivery Specialist. He took at least an hour with me and my wife, since it was our first BMW. He even gave us his mobile number in case we had any questions before we flew back home. He was great. As for the photos, they're very good. Please tell Snareman that a good photographer can get excellent photos with a good point and shoot.


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## Snareman (Nov 24, 2006)

HWF said:


> Please tell Snareman that a good photographer can get excellent photos with a good point and shoot.


Huh? Who said you couldn't? :dunno: I never said that. Although I don't think I get a quarter the quality shots with my P&S as I do with my DSLR. The information just isn't there in the picture to edit and you in general don't have the flexibility of settings with a P&S as you do with a DSLR and that can make a big difference in the picture.


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## IrvRobinson (May 10, 2006)

dan74 said:


> It goes on the truck...mine had 0 on the odometer as well when I picked it up .


If I remember correctly,the cars have a negative number on the odometer,so by the time they drive them out of the factory and onto a truck or directly onto the railcar it could still be zero or very close to it......your pics are great,can't wait to see the rest !
Enjoy the journey,it seems to go as fast the the car !


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## Snareman (Nov 24, 2006)

IrvRobinson said:


> If I remember correctly,the cars have a negative number on the odometer,so by the time they drive them out of the factory and onto a truck or directly onto the railcar it could still be zero or very close to it......your pics are great,can't wait to see the rest !
> Enjoy the journey,it seems to go as fast the the car !


I always wondered - so that test they do at the factory as it drives off the line must be almost a mile or so of driving. So is the odometer negative there or somehow just not connected yet? Always wondered that. :dunno:


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## HWF (Nov 29, 2006)

John ... just kidding about the camera. By the way, I recall seeing your excellent photos from your March, 2007 ED.

Harvey


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## AustinLonghorn (Jul 26, 2007)

Great pics so far, man!


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## Kanuck (Feb 18, 2003)

Congrats on the great car Neon. Where are the Rome pics? Always nice to see Bernhard.


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## Snareman (Nov 24, 2006)

HWF said:


> John ... just kidding about the camera. By the way, I recall seeing your excellent photos from your March, 2007 ED.
> 
> Harvey


No problem. I thought that might have been the case, but could hear your voice inflection in your typing.  Others may be able to take good pics with a P&S, but I think I suck too much to. :dunno:


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## stressdoc (Jul 14, 2005)

Bernhard is awesome.


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## Neon01 (Nov 30, 2005)

*picking up where I left off*

Adding some photos that I wasn't able to get uploaded previously, now that I have an internet connection. Here are a bunch more of the day's festivities:

A bunch more of the car, Bernhard, and I during delivery:

(great shot by Bernhard of both my pregnant wife and I with the new car in the background)









Some more of the delivery process (including obligatory &*^%-eating grin shots):

































and plenty more of the Welt and all the neat attractions in it. What an amazing facility


























































































leather/fabrics:









the 335d engine









The very cool X6 hybrid concept car - I was mainly interested in the fact that it was made of clay and in seeing the future matte paint









and of course I signed "das buch" before leaving









after delivery (which was very thorough on Bernhard's part), we had only about 20 minutes to get some tasty pretzel sandwiches and white bavarian sausage from the premium lounge before the factory tour started. I thought the tour was very worthwhile, and it was all the more relevant after taking delivery of a completed car (though not one of the ones they build there). After the tour, we finally had some time to just relax and soak in the surroundings. I spent the next 45 minutes just looking around and taking photos while my wife relaxed in the lounge and read a book. All told from the time we arrived at the Welt to the time we left, it was just under 7 hours, and most of that felt somewhat hurried simply because of scheduled events (delivery, tour, etc). I was very glad that we decided to just make a day of it and not rush it.

Afterward we made our way over to the garage where we met Annette, who is an associate of John Lance. She helped us with the process of swapping out the tires for snow tires, and was very friendly and helpful overall.

Finally around 5pm we got on the road for Innsbruck. The drive was incredible! There were only two regrets for the entire day, and somewhat major ones at that. The first was that my car apparently lost the tire lottery and received the Bridgestone run-flats instead of the Michelin's some are now getting. Somewhat of a drag there. Second, when driving around down I noticed a very severe jerking that would occur when the transmission shifted between 2-3 gear or 3-2 gear. It was most unsettling. I figured there wasn't much to be done about it right away, so I tried to ignore it and resolved to deal with it when we got the car back home if it was still a problem.

We made it to Innsbruck with no issues and there was no snow on the roads. Overall the drive was very pleasant. I was in heaven.


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## Neon01 (Nov 30, 2005)

January 27:

Started out the day in Innsbruck at the Hilton, which was very nice. I attempted to contact a number of gasthauses, but none replied to my inquiries for reservation, so we were forced to just stay in town. The weather was cold and somewhat gloomy, with rain spitting. We had been through Innsbruck before, and it was pretty much serving as a stopover on our way to our next destination, Florence, so we didn't linger too long. I managed to get a couple shots walking around town, but most didn't look great on account of the bad weather.

The town from our hotel room:









Naturally my wife stopped at the Swarovski store in town:









The buildings had so many interesting features on them









The shot of the golden roof, of course (nothing that special, IMO)









We stopped at a little hole-in-the-wall cafe and had breakfast before walking around a bit. Unfortunately I was suffering from a cold, and my symptoms were only exacerbated walking around in the cold. We left town and visited the Swarovski factory, where my wife again looked around for bargains (though none were to be had). We weren't particularly interested in doing the factory tour.

We left town and got on the road heading south for Florence. Staying to the motorway, the conditions were pretty good - we encountered no snow on the roads, nor did any fall while we drove, which was a little surprising. Once we got to Italy and had cleared the Alps, the temps started to rise, of course. Not long later we decided to visit a vineyard to sample some of the local wine. Luckily they had a salesperson that spoke pretty good English, because that could have been a slight barrier.

The next events are where the trip takes a little turn for the worse. We headed into Florence preparing to stop at the Hotel Villa Fiesole, which is actually suburb of Florence. Of course, the address provided was not coming up in the BMW GPS, and I had printed directions via Google maps from our previous destination, not the winery. So we were forced to try to backtrack on the google maps and just select two intersecting roads that the GPS recognized. Unfortunately these were not so near the hotel. Worse yet, the BMW GPS was factory set for the "most efficient" route, not the fastest, so it took us right through the heart (and I mean the HEART) of Florence during their rush hour on a Tuesday night. This was EXTREMELY nerve-wracking, as any of you that have been through Florence can attest. I'd been before and anticipated this, which was originally why I wanted to stay just outside the city. Unfortunately my GPS had other plans.

Despite the harrowing experience with all of the motorbikes and scooters buzzing around me for a solid hour through the city, I managed to escape _that_ unscathed. However, as you can read in my other thread, I feel aptly entitled "I'm being punished for 12 hour non-compliance", I managed to scrape my right side mirror housing on a rock wall. Some of the roads leading from Florence to Fiesole, it seems, are about as wide as 1.5 US-width cars, which meant somewhere just shy of wide enough for my car and another small european car with my side mirrors un-retracted. My post to the bimmerfesters definitely set me at ease, however, as I found that this damage would be taken care of. The hotel Fiesole was rather nice, but I wouldn't recommend going there at night and be very sure you understand where its situated.

Next day: Florence


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## Neon01 (Nov 30, 2005)

*Florence*

As I'm about to head off to bed, I'm procrastinating the writing of the next days events for now, but I'll post my photos from Florence since that won't take me long.

The view out the front of the Villa Fiesole in the morning. It was quite lovely with a nice view of the city









From the bus stop heading into town - the street up ahead is the one that claimed my mirror. Note, however, that the cars parked alongside it are AFTER it gets MUCH wider to actually accommodate two lanes of cars









The buildings and vehicles of Florence have such a charm to them - well-worn, I'd call it. I tried to capture some of it with the photos

















































Love these little guys









And of course the architecture and churches:

























































So many of the sculptures are relatively alike in my view, but this one certainly stood out:









More on Rome, Grasse/Nice/Monte Carlo soon...


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## Neon01 (Nov 30, 2005)

Snareman said:


> Huh? Who said you couldn't? :dunno: I never said that. Although I don't think I get a quarter the quality shots with my P&S as I do with my DSLR. The information just isn't there in the picture to edit and you in general don't have the flexibility of settings with a P&S as you do with a DSLR and that can make a big difference in the picture.


I tend to agree. Though some of my best shots were taken with my first digital camera - a Canon Powershot S30 3 megapixel. Some of those I've blown up and framed to hang on my walls at home. With that said, I daresay there are quite a few shots even from this trip that I never could have gotten without the flexibility of a DSLR. Particularly in the areas of depth of field for subject isolation and low light capability, a DSLR is hard to top by a P&S.


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## JSpira (Oct 21, 2002)

HWF said:


> Please tell Snareman that a good photographer can get excellent photos with a good point and shoot.


A really good photographer can get excellent photos from almost any camera (and I would include a pinhole camera in that grouping). A so-so photographer can get good photos from a really good camera - but it can also have a negative effect due to the complexity in many of today's high-end DSLRs.

I would also add that advanced amateur and professional photographers know how to edit what they present - and they know it takes sometimes 40-50 shots (or more) to get one really superb one.


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## kashrahman (May 10, 2004)

awesome pics!! just curious, is the trans still rough from 2-3 or 3-2, or did that go away? also, i'm picking mine up in 23 days (but who's counting?), but staying in Munich, maybe Neuschwanstein at most -- would you suggest snow tires? My original plan was to only drive if weather/roads are decent, but now I'm thinking maybe snow tires, even for just 24 hours, might be worth it. thoughts? Kash


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## AggieKnight (Dec 26, 2008)

I CAN'T WAIT TO GO!!! EIGHTY FIVE DAYS AND COUNTING!

Oh, congrats. Looks gorgeous. Enjoy your trip.


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## C-Los (Dec 12, 2008)

Awesome looking car. Can't for my April 1 ED to arrive.


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## Snareman (Nov 24, 2006)

JSpira said:


> I would also add that advanced amateur and professional photographers know how to edit what they present - and they know it takes sometimes 40-50 shots (or more) to get one really superb one.


Indeed it does. This is one of the reasons I'm happy I didn't get into photography until it got into the digital age. YOu don't lose anything taking 10-15 pics of the same thing with different settings just trying to get 1 good pic. I imagine this got a little expensive with film. Plus you were stuck with 1 film speed for the most part until you changed rolls.


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## JSpira (Oct 21, 2002)

Snareman said:


> Indeed it does. This is one of the reasons I'm happy I didn't get into photography until it got into the digital age. YOu don't lose anything taking 10-15 pics of the same thing with different settings just trying to get 1 good pic. I imagine this got a little expensive with film. Plus you were stuck with 1 film speed for the most part until you changed rolls.


Hmmm, never had to pay for film so I never thought about it - I just kept shooting (this is called bracketing, btw). Re film speed, truly it was not a huge obstacle. A roll of film didn't last too long anyway and most photographers would have several different types of film with them anyway.


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## Snareman (Nov 24, 2006)

JSpira said:


> Hmmm, never had to pay for film so I never thought about it - I just kept shooting (this is called bracketing, btw). Re film speed, truly it was not a huge obstacle. A roll of film didn't last too long anyway and most photographers would have several different types of film with them anyway.


Well I guess I'm doing more than just bracketing as I'll use different exposures, ISO, aperture, etc and take 15 pics of the same thing just trying to get one with the best combination of settings. You can do a lot with under and over exposed pics by shooting raw. I've started doing some bracketing to make HDR pics like this one I took in Las Vegas at Christmas










Or to keep this somewhat ED related, my first attempt at doing one during my ED in Salzburg. I think it was even handheld









One of the places I could see running into film speed problems is when you're walking around outside in bright sunlight and then go into a dark church.

Sorry for the brief thread hijack.


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## Northcar (Sep 21, 2005)

Thanks for adding the additional photos and updating us on your travels.


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## Snareman (Nov 24, 2006)

Neon - You got some amazing pics of the Welt. I haven't been there yet so I don't know how its set up, but it looks like you went over to the "civilian" site of the rail and took some pics. You also got some great "flavor" pics of Italy. :thumbup:


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## chienhsi (Jan 15, 2009)

Congrats! I am happy for you both and your car! I am also impressed by your choice of color especially on the interior (I guess coral red is new on the 2009 this year?). Do you mind posting a few more photos of the interior to share with us? I imagine the coral red with brushed aluminum plus the navi look awesome!


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## bagbklyn (Apr 28, 2006)

*Nice pics*

Keep the pics coming. Nice shots!:thumbup:


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## figure99 (Oct 31, 2008)

Great pictures... helps me get motivated to write my trip report and post more pictures from my ED in December. I've been so busy, and now my car just got delivered on Friday, so I've been too busy driving it before the snow hits tomorrow!


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## turpiwa (Jun 13, 2005)

Neon01 said:


> My wife just reminded me - as you may know, BMW gives you a one-page list of the closest petrol stations to the Welt since they only fill the cars with 4 gallons of fuel. I didn't think much of it at first, but later Bernhard was going through the pack of papers with us and he takes a look at that one. He says, "oh, and here is a list of the most expensive petrol stations in all of Europe. I don't know why BMW seems to want everybody to think you'll be coasting out of here on fumes and will need to stop within blocks of the WeIt". He advised us to fill up in Innsbruck (where were staying the first night), since Austrian fuel is so much less expensive. Luckily I had found this same information from the forum, but I loved the tip nonetheless.
> 
> Couple that with his somewhat broken English (though he was very understandable), and it had my wife and I chuckling several times.


Great shots!

I guess I am a bit out of the loop - I did an ED in 2005 I guess - Nov E90 - and I distinctly remember having a full tank of petrol when leaving - gotta pay for the Welt somehow I guess 

I am getting geared up for the next one - in about July - after being on temp assignment in Calgary for a couple of years. I am hoping to do an M3 Sedan. See how things pan out! Getting antzy though.

I love being back on the ED Forum!


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## dbknightx (Jul 21, 2007)

Fantastic pictures! I look forward to reading/seeing more about your trip. My wife and I will be taking a similar route (Munich -> Innsbruck -> Florence) when we do our ED in late April and your pictures just have me salivating. I can't wait!

-David


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## adc (Apr 1, 2003)

turpiwa said:


> I am getting geared up for the next one - in about July - after being on temp assignment in Calgary for a couple of years. I am hoping to do an M3 Sedan.


Really? Me two, July and potentially M3 sedan... maybe we should try to synchronize?

Anyway - OP, great report! Keep'em coming!


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## turpiwa (Jun 13, 2005)

adc said:


> Really? Me two, July and potentially M3 sedan... maybe we should try to synchronize?
> 
> Anyway - OP, great report! Keep'em coming!


But then the old question that always pops up - if I am going to do July - maybe wait a little longer for the 2010 model (can't believe we are taking about 2010 models!) - but the weather in July/Aug...
Time flies!


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## adc (Apr 1, 2003)

turpiwa said:


> maybe wait a little longer for the 2010 model


M3 sedan will have no change for 2010 - just had one for 2009.


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## MB330 (Oct 18, 2005)

Snareman said:


> Well I guess I'm doing more than just bracketing as I'll use different exposures, ISO, aperture, etc and take 15 pics of the same thing just trying to get one with the best combination of settings. You can do a lot with under and over exposed pics by shooting raw. I've started doing some bracketing to make HDR pics like this one I took in Las Vegas at Christmas
> 
> Or to keep this somewhat ED related, my first attempt at doing one during my ED in Salzburg. I think it was even handheld
> 
> ...


Snereman, have you see this?

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/08/london_from_above_at_night.html
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/01/more_of_london_from_above_at_n.html


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## Snareman (Nov 24, 2006)

MB330 said:


> Snereman, have you see this?
> 
> http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/08/london_from_above_at_night.html
> http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/01/more_of_london_from_above_at_n.html


Wow! :yikes: Those are way cool! Thanks for the links! :thumbup:


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## soledoc (Feb 5, 2007)

Love the pics...especially of Italy. I haven't started my countdown but now I might. My son is already starting to pay attention to BMWs now and he even discovered that his kindergarten teacher has a 525i. It's funny...he said "if you would count that out it would be five hundred and twenty five." He's getting excited about the trip (as is his dad) and is telling his friends that he's going to Germany & Italy.

I will definitely take a lot of pics, but can't promise that I'll have access to computers and be able to post all my adventures so quickly but I will definitely try.


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## adc (Apr 1, 2003)

MB330 said:


> http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/08/london_from_above_at_night.html
> http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/01/more_of_london_from_above_at_n.html


Wow, amazing photographs...


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## SJAPoc (Apr 14, 2007)

Excellent pictures! Thanks for sharing... post more soon :thumbup:


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