ED trip report - August 06

We just got back from our ED trip. It was WONDERFUL, thanks to this forum for making it so smooth. At the same time, apologies for not posting pics earlier. I hope to make it up by providing a comprehensive summary, pics, tips etc ***61514;

Facts at a glance:

Pickup: 10th Aug
Dropoff: 22nd Aug
Car: 2007 530i Silver/Black with PP, SP, Nav, PDC, Comfort Access, Logic 7, HD Radio, Heated seats
Miles Driven: 2400 (exact – interesting co-incidence!!)
Gas price: ~$7/gallon
Max speed reached: 130 mph on the Autobahn from Munich to Fussen
Max speed stable picture: ~120 mph
Countries visited: Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Austria
Pictures taken: 1200

I am going to provide a daily summary. In some cases, pictures would convey the entire story. We took ~1200 pictures during the trip. It is not possible to post all of them. At the same time, it is difficult to figure which ones to post to provide the best summary. I can post more depending on feedback. After this post, I will make 1 post for each day containing the pics.


Day 1 – 10th Aug: Arrived in Munich at 0830 am (from Seattle). Slept enough on the plane to be ready for driving and sightseeing the same day. We wanted to make best use of the time. Showered at the airport which was a very good thing, as it increased the energy level. And I must say the facilities were excellent.

Took the train to the delivery center. It took about 45 mins and was very convenient. Things were busy at the delivery center so it took almost 2 hours for pickup. Meanwhile we had lunch at the center.

After pickup, we drove straight to Fussen and checked out Neuschwanstein castle from the outside. Along the way, hit the maximum speed of 130 mph on mile number 45. And the car was still below the 4500 breakin RPM limit. The car was so stable and it felt so good. However, on wife’s (Mahua) insistence, I had to slow down. We could get a good picture at the slightly reduced speed of ~120 mph.

From the castle, we drove to Zurich where we spent the first night. This was a pretty busy day. Almost 200 miles of driving and sightseeing. We are glad that we were able to pull it off.


Day2 – It was rainy in Zurich/Lucerne area so we checked the weather forecast and figured that weather was better in Geneva. Hence, we drove to Geneva for sightseeing. We parked the car in a parking lot, check out how narrow it was. In the night we came back to Zurich where we had prior hotel reservation. Along with way we stopped for a while in Luasanne and took some pics.


Day3 – Weather improved in Lucerne region, so we drove there. Got a good view of the lake from Mt Pilatus – took a cable car to the top of the summit. It was pretty cold at the top though. Later in the day, we spent some time in Interlaken.

Day4 – In the morning we drove to Florence (340 miles). The Tuscany countryside was amazing. We spent the next 2 days in Florence and checked out nearby attractions like Sienna, Pisa, San Gimignano.

Day5 – More Tuscany sightseeing – Sienna and San Gimignano.

Day6 – Tuscany sightseeing continued – Pisa and walking tour in Florence

Day7 – Venice sightseeing

Day8 – Morning in Venice and evening in Vienna

Day9 –Vienna sightseeing

Day10 – Salzburg and evening concert on a hilltop

Day11 – Germany sightseeing – Mittenwald, Fussen and fun on the road

Day 12 – We visited Dachau concentration camp. It was such a humbling experience. Took some pictures of the site but don’t feel like posting.

We dropped off the car in Munich and in the evening took the factory tour. The tour was wonderful. It was amazing to get an insight into the manufacturing process.

Day13 – Fly back


Tips/Notes:

1. We booked all of our hotels through Priceline and got wonderful deals. Priceline really rocks!!

2.Munich has an excellent local rail network. So, you can use it for your transportation for various things like airport->hotel->pickup->drop off in any sequence, don’t really need a cab unless there are specific reasons.

3. Navigation system is absolutely a great convenience. It made our driving so easy and stress free

4. European drivers (atleast in countries we visited) were pretty aggressive. They would cut into lanes abruptly, tailgate frequently and drive fast. I was surprised to see them speeding in residential areas, parking lots etc. So, please be very careful while driving in Europe, more so in Italy.

5. BMW factory tour is great, make sure you don’t miss it. Depending on your model, you might want to pick the appropriate location.

6. Drinking water is not free in Europe. You have to pay for it, ~2 Euros per meal. Water comes in two flavors, with and without gas.

Day1 pics

Nice Pictures!! Thank you for sharing with us

Day2 Pics

Wow!!
You have guts!! I would have NEVER parked there, that close to the POS Porsche next to my new bimmer

Day3 pics

Congrats on the gorgeous new car, Saraj!
And I must say, you have excellent taste in BMWs

Thx for sharing the pics with us

Day4 pics

Day5 pics

Day6 pics

-Very Nice pics and Congrats on the new car

Day7 pics

Day8 pics

I will be posting the remaining pics later in the day.

Congratulation and thank you for sharing!

Congrats on the new car and a great trip. I can't wait to drive throught Austria and Northern Itatly.

Enjoyed your post!
Nice to hear from someone from the NW.
Like to know more about the shower at the airport. It will probably be something I'll need to use.

Nice Pics. Makes me itchy to be back at the doorbell on the fence again starting the pick up process.

I wonder if BMW will make a trophy of it when they move ED to BMW Welt.

Cheers

Originally Posted by Suraj

Day1 pics

That white car on the right looks like a MINI with an ED plate.

Is the Mini now available for ED?

Yes, I think it's a Mini. I saw it being moved around in the garage when I was there. It should be available for ED then by virtue of it being parked in the garage but can not confirm.

Sound like a great trip. We are from the Nortwest too. Who did you deal with on the car and what kind of a deal??

Like others, I have enjoyed the pics and write up. Congrats on that beautiful new car!

Originally Posted by mdsbuc

Like others, I have enjoyed the pics and write up. Congrats on that beautiful new car!

+1

Originally Posted by Bikie

Sound like a great trip. We are from the Nortwest too. Who did you deal with on the car and what kind of a deal??

I worked with Ron Hansen @ BMW of Northwest (ron@bmwnorthwest.com). He provided excellent service. We closed the deal at $1000 over invoice.

Day9 pics

Day10 pics