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2017 LBB M4 Convertible
A year and a half in the making***8230;
Officially picked up my 2017 Long Beach Blue M4 Convertible on 9/26/16. We left it overnight in the Welt parking garage, driving to the Official Photo Spot on the 27th.
Day 1
We arrived in Munich at 0745 on the morning of the 25th, with pick up by a Sixt stretch 7-series. That day, we forced ourselves to stay awake as long as possible to fight jetlag. Made it to about 7pm, after walking through Marienplatz and the English Garden. Our stay was in the Hotel Bayerischer Hof, which was a nice place and centrally located for what we looking to do. We went during Oktoberfest, but had no interest in attending.
Day 2
The next day, the 26th, was pick-up day. We used the U-bahn and went in early to do the factory tour (1145 English tour), which was pretty interesting, and then had our delivery at 250pm. It was originally scheduled for 5pm, but had it moved to an earlier slot a couple of weeks before we left the States by email request to the BMW ED folks. After our delivery and victory lap, we moved the car into the underground lot for the night.
Day 3
We came back the next day to do the museum, which is closed on Mondays. Although we had to pay for the ride (about 90 USD), we used Sixt again for our trip back to the welt. After our museum walkthrough, we picked up the car from the Welt garage and drove to Wieskirche, the photo spot and then on to Hotel Mueller in Hohenschwangau. The hotel was great, a very short walk to the castle bus pick-up point. We checked in and took the bus to the Marienbruke. We did not bother with a tour of the castle, but just walked around it and through the courtyard, then hiked down the hill back to the hotel.
Day 4
Wednesday, 9/28, was another relatively easy day. From Hotel Mueller, we stopped at Linderhof Palace, Oberammergau church and Ettal Abbey, before stopping for the night in Nauders, Austria at the Hotel Erika. We intentionally picked this hotel since it is on the outskirts on the South side of town, knowing that we would be leaving first thing in the morning for Stelvio. Probably could have picked a better hotel, but logistics for getting to the pass was more important, while still spending the night in Austria.
Day 5
The morning of 9/29, we left about 8am to hit Stelvio before traffic picked up. We only saw one other vehicle (motorcycle) headed up with us, and we only passed a handful coming the other way. At the top, there was only a handful of folks walking around but the Hotel Genziana restaurant was open with a very nice staff there to help. One note to save some possible heartburn, get gas BEFORE the climb and do not count on the car***8217;s range computer. I showed over 160km left in the tank before starting the climb, but over the next 20 or so km, it was down to less than 40km. It was pretty unnerving to see the range drop so dramatically. Of course, on the way to down, we made gas and still had plenty left by the time we hit a Tankstelle in Bormio.
Day 6-8
From there, it was on to Menaggio on the far side of Lake Como. We stayed at the Grand Hotel Menaggio for 3 nights, leaving the car in the parking lot the whole time (but checking on it daily). BTW-Whoever put the hotel gym right next to the restaurant should have been fired long ago. We toured Villa del Balbianello, a boat tour of the lake villas, and went through Bellagio and Varenna. Note here is that the Castello di Vezio, overlooking Varenna is closed if the weather looks bad. We did not find that out until hiking up a very slippery cobblestone path only to turn around and walk right back down it. Good exercise though.
Day 9
We left Menaggio for Switzerland, through the Gotthard Pass. We ignored the BMW GPS that tried to put us on the old tremola road, and instead stuck to the new pass road. We did a low temp warning (37 F) from the car and, since we were on summer tires, proceeded very carefully the short time at altitude. We skipped Furka and went Susten instead. No temperature warnings for the rest of the trip.
Day 10-12
We stayed in car-free Murren for 3 nights at Hotel Alpina, leaving the car in the train parking garage. It is a basic hotel, but has a great friendly staff. We did Schilthorn, Trummelbach Falls, Lautrebrunnen, Kleine Sheidegg, Grindelwald, Allmenhubel and an Interlaken boat trip. We used a 4-day Bernese Oberland Travel Pass the whole time. The only part not included was Schilthorn, but we those tickets half price. We opted not to do the Top of Europe.
Day 13
We left Murren for our drop off in Zurich. Since the dropoff point is closed over lunch, we checked into the Zurich Marriott beforehand. NOTE - The Zurich dropoff location changed about a year ago, but BMW is still giving out the old address. The correct address is Gondrand International Ltd., Riedmattstrasse 9, CH-8153 Rümlang. There is also a car wash right across the street but it only takes cash. We used a ZVV ZürichCARD (good for 24 hours) to get back from the dropoff to the hotel and to the airport the next morning. We stayed the night in Zurich, walking the ***8220;most expensive street in Europe***8221;, before flying out early the next morning.
We used electronic versions of our ticketing in Munich, Murren and Zurich. Phone apps - SBB in Switzerland and DB Navigator in Germany - provide transit maps and searches for finding the best routing to your destinations, as well as being your tickets. Helpful is the ability to search using a specific arrival time, when you have to be somewhere by a certain time.
I found much useful info on the boards here, and I hope that this can be of use to those that are looking to do a similar trip.
A year and a half in the making***8230;
Officially picked up my 2017 Long Beach Blue M4 Convertible on 9/26/16. We left it overnight in the Welt parking garage, driving to the Official Photo Spot on the 27th.
Day 1
We arrived in Munich at 0745 on the morning of the 25th, with pick up by a Sixt stretch 7-series. That day, we forced ourselves to stay awake as long as possible to fight jetlag. Made it to about 7pm, after walking through Marienplatz and the English Garden. Our stay was in the Hotel Bayerischer Hof, which was a nice place and centrally located for what we looking to do. We went during Oktoberfest, but had no interest in attending.
Day 2
The next day, the 26th, was pick-up day. We used the U-bahn and went in early to do the factory tour (1145 English tour), which was pretty interesting, and then had our delivery at 250pm. It was originally scheduled for 5pm, but had it moved to an earlier slot a couple of weeks before we left the States by email request to the BMW ED folks. After our delivery and victory lap, we moved the car into the underground lot for the night.
Day 3
We came back the next day to do the museum, which is closed on Mondays. Although we had to pay for the ride (about 90 USD), we used Sixt again for our trip back to the welt. After our museum walkthrough, we picked up the car from the Welt garage and drove to Wieskirche, the photo spot and then on to Hotel Mueller in Hohenschwangau. The hotel was great, a very short walk to the castle bus pick-up point. We checked in and took the bus to the Marienbruke. We did not bother with a tour of the castle, but just walked around it and through the courtyard, then hiked down the hill back to the hotel.
Day 4
Wednesday, 9/28, was another relatively easy day. From Hotel Mueller, we stopped at Linderhof Palace, Oberammergau church and Ettal Abbey, before stopping for the night in Nauders, Austria at the Hotel Erika. We intentionally picked this hotel since it is on the outskirts on the South side of town, knowing that we would be leaving first thing in the morning for Stelvio. Probably could have picked a better hotel, but logistics for getting to the pass was more important, while still spending the night in Austria.
Day 5
The morning of 9/29, we left about 8am to hit Stelvio before traffic picked up. We only saw one other vehicle (motorcycle) headed up with us, and we only passed a handful coming the other way. At the top, there was only a handful of folks walking around but the Hotel Genziana restaurant was open with a very nice staff there to help. One note to save some possible heartburn, get gas BEFORE the climb and do not count on the car***8217;s range computer. I showed over 160km left in the tank before starting the climb, but over the next 20 or so km, it was down to less than 40km. It was pretty unnerving to see the range drop so dramatically. Of course, on the way to down, we made gas and still had plenty left by the time we hit a Tankstelle in Bormio.
Day 6-8
From there, it was on to Menaggio on the far side of Lake Como. We stayed at the Grand Hotel Menaggio for 3 nights, leaving the car in the parking lot the whole time (but checking on it daily). BTW-Whoever put the hotel gym right next to the restaurant should have been fired long ago. We toured Villa del Balbianello, a boat tour of the lake villas, and went through Bellagio and Varenna. Note here is that the Castello di Vezio, overlooking Varenna is closed if the weather looks bad. We did not find that out until hiking up a very slippery cobblestone path only to turn around and walk right back down it. Good exercise though.
Day 9
We left Menaggio for Switzerland, through the Gotthard Pass. We ignored the BMW GPS that tried to put us on the old tremola road, and instead stuck to the new pass road. We did a low temp warning (37 F) from the car and, since we were on summer tires, proceeded very carefully the short time at altitude. We skipped Furka and went Susten instead. No temperature warnings for the rest of the trip.
Day 10-12
We stayed in car-free Murren for 3 nights at Hotel Alpina, leaving the car in the train parking garage. It is a basic hotel, but has a great friendly staff. We did Schilthorn, Trummelbach Falls, Lautrebrunnen, Kleine Sheidegg, Grindelwald, Allmenhubel and an Interlaken boat trip. We used a 4-day Bernese Oberland Travel Pass the whole time. The only part not included was Schilthorn, but we those tickets half price. We opted not to do the Top of Europe.
Day 13
We left Murren for our drop off in Zurich. Since the dropoff point is closed over lunch, we checked into the Zurich Marriott beforehand. NOTE - The Zurich dropoff location changed about a year ago, but BMW is still giving out the old address. The correct address is Gondrand International Ltd., Riedmattstrasse 9, CH-8153 Rümlang. There is also a car wash right across the street but it only takes cash. We used a ZVV ZürichCARD (good for 24 hours) to get back from the dropoff to the hotel and to the airport the next morning. We stayed the night in Zurich, walking the ***8220;most expensive street in Europe***8221;, before flying out early the next morning.
We used electronic versions of our ticketing in Munich, Murren and Zurich. Phone apps - SBB in Switzerland and DB Navigator in Germany - provide transit maps and searches for finding the best routing to your destinations, as well as being your tickets. Helpful is the ability to search using a specific arrival time, when you have to be somewhere by a certain time.
I found much useful info on the boards here, and I hope that this can be of use to those that are looking to do a similar trip.
