ED Report - Long

I'm back a few days and finally have time to file a report of Jill and mine ED. To get it out now I'll do it without pictures and post those later.

But first things first . . thanks to all who've helped me learn about the ED opportunity (I'm a convert now and wouldn't buy a BMW any other way) and plan our trip through their responses to my posts and PM's. And special thanks to ED Guru Jspira (Jonathan) who not only helped in planning our trip, but who shared our delivery date, as well as the plane ride to Munich, and who traveled with us for a bit.

DAY ONE
Due to delays in both departure and landing we arrived in Munich two hours or so late. We were met by a driver from BMW with a 7 series to bring us to the delivery center (did I mention that traveling along with Jonathan has its perks?).

Everyone at the center was helpful and friendly and we soon made our way over to the Marriott with no trouble. We had pricelined and gotten the room at a good rate. The only problem was that after no sleep on the plane the bed looked very inviting, but we had no time to nap as we were scheduled for a plant tour.

We decided to take the Underground over and found a helpful person (the first of many) who helped us figure out the system. The tour started late - which was good since we were about 20 minutes late.

The tour was awesome - one of the highlights of our trip. I highly recommend it to anyone going for an ED who can fit it into their schedule. The tour ran about 2 1/2 hours and we were dragging at the end - but couldn't go back to the hotel yet as we were meeting an old roomate of mine who's lived in Munich for almost twenty years. We met him where he lives in Schwabing and then took the Underground to Marienplatz where we had a late dinner at a great Vegeterian restaurant. Not everyone in Germany eats sausage and the like.

My old roomate had a story about when he worked as a contract engineer for BMW in the late 80's to early 90's on control electronics for 6 and 7 series cars. Apparently the kind of motors BMW was specifying for cruise control and other tasks were known to have stability problems under certain conditions, but were about 1 DM (probably about 60 to 65 cents) cheaper than motors that would not have any problems. Despite the concerns with the cheaper motors those were the ones that were used.


DAY 2
We met Jonathan for breakfast at the Holiday Inn he was staying at. Jonathan said it was the best breakfast buffet in Munich. While I can't swear to that it was a great buffet.

After taking pictures we drove south into Austria towards the Brenner Pass and into Italy. Very pretty snow capped mountain scenery as we got further south into Austria and then Italy. Jonathan also promised to show us only the best rest areas. We stopped at one while in Austria that puts anything I've seen in the US to shame - very attractively displayed entrees, vegetables and deserts. Not like what you'll find on the NJ Turnpike or Mass Pike. They also had wine - interesting since Austria has a very restrictive legal limit for driving while intoxicated of 0.05% After that we headed north and then east towards Berchtesgaden where we would split up - Jonathan staying at the Intercontinental, and Jill and I staying at a forgettable Gasthof and wishing we were staying at the Intercontinental. Jonathan mentioned in a post how well his car handled on the twisties in the dark making his way to the top where the hotel was - he didn't mention the guy behind him trying to stay close.


DAY 3
The area around Berchtesgaden was very pretty in the daylight. It was a beautiful sunny morning and we soon left for Salzburg where we spent a pleasant few hours (except for a parking ticket) and then continued towards Vienna. Driving into Vienna was the worst part of our trip. In the future on any ED I would work our schedule to drop off our car before attempting to drive into the central part of a large old city where I don't understand the signs, can't read the language and am driving a car without NAV. We were staying at the Vienna Marriott (also pricelined) on the Ring so I thought we could find it without too much trouble. Wrong. We probably stopped about ten times to ask directions before finally getting there.


DAY 4
Had a fun day doing the usual tourist things - the Schonbrunn Palace and museums and walks through parks.


DAY 5
Fly home day. Did the drop off and caught a flight from Vienna to connect to our flight home from Munich.


I miss my car.

Originally Posted by richyz

I'm back a few days and finally have time to file a report of Jill and mine ED. To get it out now I'll do it without pictures and post those later.

But first things first . . thanks to all who've helped me learn about the ED opportunity (I'm a convert now and wouldn't buy a BMW any other way) and plan our trip through their responses to my posts and PM's. And special thanks to ED Guru Jspira (Jonathan) who not only helped in planning our trip, but who shared our delivery date, as well as the plane ride to Munich, and who traveled with us for a bit.

DAY ONE
Due to delays in both departure and landing we arrived in Munich two hours or so late. We were met by a driver from BMW with a 7 series to bring us to the delivery center (did I mention that traveling along with Jonathan has its perks?).

Everyone at the center was helpful and friendly and we soon made our way over to the Marriott with no trouble. We had pricelined and gotten the room at a good rate. The only problem was that after no sleep on the plane the bed looked very inviting, but we had no time to nap as we were scheduled for a plant tour.

We decided to take the Underground over and found a helpful person (the first of many) who helped us figure out the system. The tour started late - which was good since we were about 20 minutes late.

The tour was awesome - one of the highlights of our trip. I highly recommend it to anyone going for an ED who can fit it into their schedule. The tour ran about 2 1/2 hours and we were dragging at the end - but couldn't go back to the hotel yet as we were meeting an old roomate of mine who's lived in Munich for almost twenty years. We met him where he lives in Schwabing and then took the Underground to Marienplatz where we had a late dinner at a great Vegeterian restaurant. Not everyone in Germany eats sausage and the like.

My old roomate had a story about when he worked as a contract engineer for BMW in the late 80's to early 90's on control electronics for 6 and 7 series cars. Apparently the kind of motors BMW was specifying for cruise control and other tasks were known to have stability problems under certain conditions, but were about 1 DM (probably about 60 to 65 cents) cheaper than motors that would not have any problems. Despite the concerns with the cheaper motors those were the ones that were used.


DAY 2
We met Jonathan for breakfast at the Holiday Inn he was staying at. Jonathan said it was the best breakfast buffet in Munich. While I can't swear to that it was a great buffet.

After taking pictures we drove south into Austria towards the Brenner Pass and into Italy. Very pretty snow capped mountain scenery as we got further south into Austria and then Italy. Jonathan also promised to show us only the best rest areas. We stopped at one while in Austria that puts anything I've seen in the US to shame - very attractively displayed entrees, vegetables and deserts. Not like what you'll find on the NJ Turnpike or Mass Pike. They also had wine - interesting since Austria has a very restrictive legal limit for driving while intoxicated of 0.05% After that we headed north and then east towards Berchtesgaden where we would split up - Jonathan staying at the Intercontinental, and Jill and I staying at a forgettable Gasthof and wishing we were staying at the Intercontinental. Jonathan mentioned in a post how well his car handled on the twisties in the dark making his way to the top where the hotel was - he didn't mention the guy behind him trying to stay close.


DAY 3
The area around Berchtesgaden was very pretty in the daylight. It was a beautiful sunny morning and we soon left for Salzburg where we spent a pleasant few hours (except for a parking ticket) and then continued towards Vienna. Driving into Vienna was the worst part of our trip. In the future on any ED I would work our schedule to drop off our car before attempting to drive into the central part of a large old city where I don't understand the signs, can't read the language and am driving a car without NAV. We were staying at the Vienna Marriott (also pricelined) on the Ring so I thought we could find it without too much trouble. Wrong. We probably stopped about ten times to ask directions before finally getting there.


DAY 4
Had a fun day doing the usual tourist things - the Schonbrunn Palace and museums and walks through parks.


DAY 5
Fly home day. Did the drop off and caught a flight from Vienna to connect to our flight home from Munich.


I miss my car.

5 days seems too short, doesn't it! Looking forward to the pictures....

Congradulations on your trip. Welcome back.

We want pictures!

The 1st rule of fight club (err I mean bimmerfest) is you have to post pictures within 12 hours.

Originally Posted by richyz

Jonathan mentioned in a post how well his car handled on the twisties in the dark making his way to the top where the hotel was - he didn't mention the guy behind him trying to stay close.

Rich didn´t mention the one small wrong turn on the way up to Hintereck in Berchtesgaden. The nav system insisted I should bear right - so I did even though I had my doubts. Rich followed me into a farmyard and, when we stopped, quipped "hmmm, this doesn´t look that expensive..."

Originally Posted by richyz

...

Driving into Vienna was the worst part of our trip. In the future on any ED I would work our schedule to drop off our car before attempting to drive into the central part of a large old city where I don't understand the signs, can't read the language and am driving a car without NAV. We were staying at the Vienna Marriott (also pricelined) on the Ring so I thought we could find it without too much trouble. Wrong. We probably stopped about ten times to ask directions before finally getting there.

Yup, been there done that When I did my ED 3 yrs ago we went to Vienna and I spent probably a good 1 hr circling the ring road trying to find our hotel (Crown Plaza by the UN complex).

Finally I gave up and pulled out my GPS setup (a Magellan Meridian GPS connected via serial cable to a Dell laptop running Microsoft Street and Maps Europe). My dad who was sitting on the front passenger seat was holding the GPS out through the window and holding the laptop toward me so I could see the screen. LOL. But with the GPS, we made it to our hotel right away.

Originally Posted by mdreviews

The 1st rule of fight club (err I mean bimmerfest) is you have to post pictures within 12 hours.

**2nd rule- post later if rule one seems impossible.

Originally Posted by Jspira

Rich didn´t mention the one small wrong turn on the way up to Hintereck in Berchtesgaden. The nav system insisted I should bear right - so I did even though I had my doubts. Rich followed me into a farmyard and, when we stopped, quipped "hmmm, this doesn´t look that expensive..."

"If possible, make a legal U-turn."

Originally Posted by mdsbuc

**2nd rule- post later if rule one seems impossible.

Since I created the 12 hour rule, I guess we can admit this as rule no. 2

Originally Posted by mdsbuc

"If possible, make a legal U-turn."

,,Wenn möglich, machen Sie bitte eine Kehrtwendung``

Originally Posted by Jspira

Since I created the 12 hour rule, I guess we can admit this as rule no. 2

Phew, I was kind of sweating this.

Originally Posted by mdsbuc

Phew, I was kind of sweating this.

Yes but have another and it´ll be nothing to worry about.

Originally Posted by Jspira

Rich followed me into a farmyard and, when we stopped, quipped "hmmm, this doesn´t look that expensive..."

Would've been a better choice than where we did end up.

Originally Posted by Jspira

Yes but have another and it´ll be nothing to worry about.

You don't have to ask twice.

no pics?!!!