My Austin Yellow F80 ED + PCD Experience :-)

[LDSM]

Great post!
AY is really starting to grow on me!

Sorry if this was answered already, how long did it take to get to the PCD from the end of your ED trip?

[Fairfield1285]

Congratson your new f80. Question on PCD. Do you have the option of choosing a manual or automatic at PCD? I ordered a manual and my PCD is coming up on 2/27. I'm considering requesting an automatic at PCD so my guest can participate in the activities [she can't drive a mt ]

[ciressiws]

They only have PCD cars to drive.
What I like is that your spouse get's to drive too.

[ciressiws]

Any one doing ED should drive the Stifser Joch from the east-side.
42 switch backs in about 5 miles. Not on a Weekend in the summer. 500 motorcycles and lots of bycicles.

[Doctor///M]

Originally Posted by ciressiws

This trip sounds very similar to ours.
We did our third ED with my M3 on Sept 19th. It is always a great experience.
PCD delivery was on Dec. 6th. As I instruct in Performance driving events, the track driving was fun just to see how much more powerfull this beast is compared to my 1995 M3 which was set up for some track driving.
Since we originally are from Switzerland we spend usually our vacation there.
This time we were over there for 4 weeks hiking and driving the German,Austian, Italien and Swiss Mountain road. Since we did the Stilfser Joch previously, we decided to try the lesser known Timmelsjoch. We highly recommend it. The day after we drove it it was snowed in.
Since we drove more than the 2000 km, we had to turn it in for service in a local dealership in Switzerland. If you ever do ED, stop at a dealership and compare the sticker price. You will not believe what a comparable car will cost.
Add about 30%.
After the PCD we also did the tail of the dragon because my motorcycle buddies were always talking about it. What a trip!
I would recommend to also take the foothill parkway as we did, to Ashville , then hook up to the blue ridge parkway. We went on the parkway to Blowing Rock and stayed over night.
It was a great drive and sine the weather was good and no traffic. It was a blast. My hart rate went up a few beeps when I swept around a turn and Smokey flew by in a flash. I observed the rear view mirror for a while but he did not come after us.
Since I am familiar with Europe, a couple hints; Do not park in under ground garages, they are to tight and difficult to get out. Watch out for the curbs, they have a lot of granite in the Alps and the curb stones are very sharp and rim eaters. Do not speed, they only have a 3-5 km/h grace limit and they will find you. Two years ago, when we picked up my wife's 328, we received a 40 SFr ticked for 7 km/hr over the posted limit of 50 km/hr. The ticket arrived 2 month later.
I still have not down loaded lots of go pro videos from the dragon and parkway but hope do do it on a snowy weekend.

Thanks for sharing!! You should do a similar post with all of your pics and videos! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that no tickets show up in the mail, but I tried to keep my driving as clean as possible for the few days we spent.

[Doctor///M]

Originally Posted by LDSM

Great post!
AY is really starting to grow on me!

Sorry if this was answered already, how long did it take to get to the PCD from the end of your ED trip?

Ha, it does have that effect on some folks. I took redelivery 9 weeks after drop off in Munich. Thee was a 2 week delay before leaving Germany, and then although the car got into port and was cleared in early December, I had to wait another month before getting a PCD appointment due to the holidays. As a result, I can see it taking as few as 7 weeks if there are no delays!

[Doctor///M]

Originally Posted by Fairfield1285

Congratson your new f80. Question on PCD. Do you have the option of choosing a manual or automatic at PCD? I ordered a manual and my PCD is coming up on 2/27. I'm considering requesting an automatic at PCD so my guest can participate in the activities [she can't drive a mt ]

They only have DCT cars, my guess is so that to not have to do any maintenance associated with money shifts!

[okroger]

keep coming back to your story while i wait on twiddling thumbs for offers.
can you share the route(s) you took after pcd? trying to see if totd would be more interesting, or all the wonderful scenery off the brp. thanks!

[davem3fan]

EPIC! Enjoy.

[ciressiws]

We left PCD after lunch and drove local roads to Ashville. We would not do this again. Take 26.
From Ashville we went Waynsville,Bryson City, Lauda, RT 28 to Stecoah, Rt 143 to Robbinsville.
Stayed over night in Robbinsville.
This got us an early start on Rt 109 that brings you to the Tail of the dragon.
Stop by the dam where movie the from Fugitive was made.
At the end of the dragon, by the lake, watch for the turn-off for the foothill parkway. You may not be able to drive it all the way to Ashville but all the roads parallel to the hills are great. We eventually ended up in Ashvill and hooked up on the Blue ridge parkway.
At around 5 pm we reached Blowing Rock for our overnight stay.
The next day we left for the 650 ml trip to Chicago land under sunny sky.
Got 27 ml/gal average doing 9 mls over the limit most of the time.

[Doctor///M]

Originally Posted by okroger

keep coming back to your story while i wait on twiddling thumbs for offers.

can you share the route(s) you took after pcd? trying to see if totd would be more interesting, or all the wonderful scenery off the brp. thanks!

After PCD, took 276 to Brevard via Travelers Rest. Nice leisurely driving, but the one stretch of road in Caesars Head State Park was worth it (photo 1). We got to Sylvia via Waynesville on 276, and the road has some really nice windy bits in little chunks. Alternatively, you can detour through 215 or 281 (photo 2) which seems to be a more eventful drive. I chose not to do the smaller roads b/c of the freeze warning during the time and the Blue Ridge Parkway was closed as a result.

My experience was that the TOTD came and went pretty quickly. Because I had a tight schedule to get back, I couldn't make some of the suggested loops in the area e.g Cherohala skyway, which I heard is a great drive (attachments 3 and 4). We ended up taking 28 to Robbinsville and then did the TOTD. I'd certainly recommend any of the twisty roads over the Foothills Parkway due to the sheer nature of driver involvement and to experience the excellent handling of the car.

Otherwise, you really can't go wrong. During the week, you pretty much have the roads to yourself!

Originally Posted by davem3fan

EPIC! Enjoy.

Thanks! Definitely enjoying :-)

Originally Posted by ciressiws

We left PCD after lunch and drove local roads to Ashville. We would not do this again. Take 26.

From Ashville we went Waynsville,Bryson City, Lauda, RT 28 to Stecoah, Rt 143 to Robbinsville.

Stayed over night in Robbinsville.

This got us an early start on Rt 109 that brings you to the Tail of the dragon.

Stop by the dam where movie the from Fugitive was made.

At the end of the dragon, by the lake, watch for the turn-off for the foothill parkway. You may not be able to drive it all the way to Ashville but all the roads parallel to the hills are great. We eventually ended up in Ashvill and hooked up on the Blue ridge parkway.

At around 5 pm we reached Blowing Rock for our overnight stay.

The next day we left for the 650 ml trip to Chicago land under sunny sky.

Got 27 ml/gal average doing 9 mls over the limit most of the time.

We only ended up driving 28 nearest to the TOTD, although would've liked to drive the entire think out from Walhalla

[okroger]

Thanks for the info. I would have been doing totd north up 129 rather than west on 143. Sounds like 143 is the better portion

[e36]

I really like those winter wheels.

Do you or anyone else know what style they are? Are they OEM?

[Doctor///M]

Originally Posted by e36

I really like those winter wheels.

Do you or anyone else know what style they are? Are they OEM?

They definitely look the part on the car, and are OEM. I believe they are 640M wheels, hopefully someone else can confirm.

[ciressiws]

143 was great. We almost missed it and had to pull over.
We wanted to stay in Robbinsvill over night.
We stayed at the Microtel. 100 parking spots for Motorcycles.

[funk74]

Wow,

Thanks for the great story.

Nice car.

[Doctor///M]

Originally Posted by funk74

Wow,

Thanks for the great story.

Nice car.

Thanks man! Always happy to share

[MN2///M]

Thanks for the great pictures and information. Just dropped my deposit on a ZCP M4 for a May ED with follow-on PCD. Now the waiting begins!

Any recommendations on hotels in Munich and specific highlights of your travels through Germany?

[Doctor///M]

Originally Posted by MN2///M

Thanks for the great pictures and information. Just dropped my deposit on a ZCP M4 for a May ED with follow-on PCD. Now the waiting begins!

Any recommendations on hotels in Munich and specific highlights of your travels through Germany?

Thanks man, congrats on the order!

I don't think there is a place that's not worth visiting. If it's your first time in the area, I'd suggest you check out some of the sights in Munich and head south toward the mountains. The experience is unlike any other!

Here are some other threads worth checking out:

F80 M3 at Grossglockner by Drive Magazine

dsm918
My 16 Day European Delivery Route Planning is Complete

Dackelone
1Addicts tour the Italian Alps: Sella 1.0 tour...

Dackel's Swiss Alpine tour...


My wife and I hit up wine country in southern Austria/northern Italy, which was the best of both worlds for driving and local wineries. The Grossglockner and Stelvio isn't too far away either. One of my other favorite areas is the Furka/Grimsel/Susten loop in Switzerland, but I imagine can get very crowded in the summertime.

Otherwise, simply choose one or two themes and focus on those so that you can get to enjoy the car! I'd also suggest to keep away from the big cities to avoid traffic and/or parking issues.

There truly isn't another experience like it, and good luck!!

[MN2///M]

Originally Posted by Doctor///M

Thanks man, congrats on the order!

I don't think there is a place that's not worth visiting. If it's your first time in the area, I'd suggest you check out some of the sights in Munich and head south toward the mountains. The experience is unlike any other!

Here are some other threads worth checking out:

F80 M3 at Grossglockner by Drive Magazine

dsm918
My 16 Day European Delivery Route Planning is Complete

Dackelone
1Addicts tour the Italian Alps: Sella 1.0 tour...

Dackel's Swiss Alpine tour...


My wife and I hit up wine country in southern Austria/northern Italy, which was the best of both worlds for driving and local wineries. The Grossglockner and Stelvio isn't too far away either. One of my other favorite areas is the Furka/Grimsel/Susten loop in Switzerland, but I imagine can get very crowded in the summertime.

Otherwise, simply choose one or two themes and focus on those so that you can get to enjoy the car! I'd also suggest to keep away from the big cities to avoid traffic and/or parking issues.

There truly isn't another experience like it, and good luck!!

Thanks for the great tips and quick reply. I've driven Southern Switzerland / Northern Italy in a 335d and absolutely loved it. Also have been to Southern Bavaria previously - Garmisch/Fusen and the immediate surrounding area for a couple of days after a flat out autobahn run from Koln Germany.

Looking to do a lot of off the beaten path stuff in Northern Bavaria and planning on doing the Wine Road this trip Planning on only 2-3 hours a day in the car right now, so have much too much on the itinerary right now so trying to find the gems that are worth stopping at versus just driving by.

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by MN2///M

Thanks for the great tips and quick reply. I've driven Southern Switzerland / Northern Italy in a 335d and absolutely loved it. Also have been to Southern Bavaria previously - Garmisch/Fusen and the immediate surrounding area for a couple of days after a flat out autobahn run from Koln Germany.

Looking to do a lot of off the beaten path stuff in Northern Bavaria and planning on doing the Wine Road this trip Planning on only 2-3 hours a day in the car right now, so have much too much on the itinerary right now so trying to find the gems that are worth stopping at versus just driving by.

You should definitely stop by: Würzburg & Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Also these towns are quite nice too South of Rothenburg... Nördlingen, Dinkelsbühl, and Feuchtwangen. All these towns have that mid evil "feel" to them. Nördlingen was made famous by that closing scene in Willy Wonka where they used the magic elevator capsule.

Just North-East of Würzburg is Zeil am Main Every year the WHOLE town has a big winefest in the city's center merket area. It really is something special! This year it will be held on July 30th and August 1st, 2016. IF you can swing it I would not miss it!

www.zeiler-weinfest.de


Bamberg is another very nice city(with wine and beer links). Its still kind of off most people's radar - but its such a nice city!! Bamberg is better known for its MANY beers... they are in the Guinness Book for the most beer breweries packed into one city. I think over 200 different beer breweries. And in the area of Bamberg-->Bayreuth-->Nurnberg there are over 2K breweries.

Bamberg has a big street party every year called: Sandkerwa This year the week long part will be held on August 25 - August 29, 2016.


Another very nice area to visit not far from Bamberg is the Frankische Schweiz or "little Swiss" bc of all the steep rocks and cute German houses built atop of them. This area is really quite nice. Especially as you drive towards Pottenstein (where hey have a summer rodelbahn aka luge/slide)


Dackel

[MN2///M]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

You should definitely stop by: Würzburg & Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Also these towns are quite nice too South of Rothenburg... Nördlingen, Dinkelsbühl, and Feuchtwangen.


Bamberg is better known for its MANY beers... they are in the Guinness Book for the most beer breweries packed into one city. I think over 200 different beer breweries. And in the area of Bamberg-->Bayreuth-->Nurnberg there are over 2K breweries.

Bamberg has a big street party every year called: Sandkerwa This year the week long part will be held on August 25 - August 29, 2016.

Dackel

Thanks for the tips; I added Feuchtwangen to my list of over a 100 small towns/cities; always so much too see and never enough time. We'll be there in late may to early June. Bamberg, Bayreuth, Nurnberg where on my list, but did not know about the "MANY" beers....definitely not to be cut from the list. I'll have to research the beers/breweries in the area to select a few to visit/sample.