Back from ED Report: Better Late Than Never Edition

Arrived back home yesterday after a week + long ED trip. Rolf picked us up at Munich at 8am and gave us the VIP treatment he gives everyone. I'm so glad I went that route vs taking the S/U Bahn. But that said I did take the S1 S Bahn back to Liam after dropping off the car and it looked like transferring to the U1 @ Moosach is relatively painless.

We got to the Welt around 9:15 -- 15 min later than our check in time, but it was no big deal. Paperwork took about 15 min. Oddly this time there was no mini lesson on German traffic signs and signals like I received last time and it really bit me when driving on the Mittlerer Ring where I found some of the traffic signals confusing.

We got some snacks and then did the pre-delivery presentation. I could have done w/o it but thought my nephew would like to drive the simulator. Then the moment arrived. It was so surreal to see my car from the lounge. When it started rotating I felt like I was on the Price is Right. It all went so fast after that. Before I knew it I was doing the victory laps.

We spend the rest of the day on the factory tour (kind of souless w/o seeing actual vehicle production. If you can fit in a tour at another plant I would.) and then the museum.

Here is my car looking down from the lounge: http://yfrog.com/h7a1hklj
It's a 335ic w/ M pkg. FWIW I got Michellins. My original e93 had the Bridgestones which I was not fond of. The Michellins seem to ride smoother but maybe that's just because they have better maintained roads in Germany. The N55 engine feels powerful but different than the N54 too. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not since it's not broken in yet.

For those wondering about prepaid SIM cards w/ data I picked up a Vodaphone CallYa card at the store near the Hauptbanhof. The Sim itself was like 15 euro but had a 10 euro phone credit. I added a month of 3G data (3GB) for another 15. You can get a daily or weekly plan too for less but I didn't want to have to bother refilling at a bad time. Any of these plans are a bargain compared to ATT's Int. Roaming bundles.

You will have to show ID, but a U.S. drivers license is fine. You don't need a German address. They only have regular SIMs so if you want to use it in your iPad or you have an unlocked iPhone 4 you'll need to bring along a SIM cutter.

Originally Posted by Hound Passer

...For those wondering about prepaid SIM cards w/ data I picked up a Vodaphone CallYa card at the store near the Hauptbanhof. The Sim itself was like 15 euro but had a 10 euro phone credit. I added a month of 3G data (3GB) for another 15. You can get a daily or weekly plan too for less but I didn't want to have to bother refilling at a bad time. Any of these plans are a bargain compared to ATT's Int. Roaming bundles.

You will have to show ID, but a U.S. drivers license is fine. You don't need a German address. They only have regular SIMs so if you want to use it in your iPad or you have an unlocked iPhone 4 you'll need to bring along a SIM cutter.

Can you share more regarding this? for 30 Euro, that might be a good deal...do you think I can get from any Vodaphone store?

Originally Posted by Prost

Can you share more regarding this? for 30 Euro, that might be a good deal...do you think I can get from any Vodaphone store?

I would assume the CallYa Sims are available at all Vodaphone company stores. I think T-Mobile also has a similar sim based on my research before I left. I chose Vodaphone b/c it was the first store I came across.

All I did was ask the salesman if they sold prepaid SIMs for the iPhone and iPad. He told me only the iPhone 3GS and earlier, not the iPad. (I brought a SIM cutter w/ me but decided spending another 30euros for the iPad was silly.) He pulled out the CallYa packet, asked for ID. I asked if a U.S. drivers license was OK, and he said sure (which surprised me), so I handed it to him, then the euros, and he gave me the SIM and helped me set up the data account.

Congrats on the new car and thank you for the prepaid SIM info.

Originally Posted by Hound Passer

I would assume the CallYa Sims are available at all Vodaphone company stores. I think T-Mobile also has a similar sim based on my research before I left. I chose Vodaphone b/c it was the first store I came across.

All I did was ask the salesman if they sold prepaid SIMs for the iPhone and iPad. He told me only the iPhone 3GS and earlier, not the iPad. (I brought a SIM cutter w/ me but decided spending another 30euros for the iPad was silly.) He pulled out the CallYa packet, asked for ID. I asked if a U.S. drivers license was OK, and he said sure (which surprised me), so I handed it to him, then the euros, and he gave me the SIM and helped me set up the data account.

Thanks a lot