European Delivery Italy - Yeah, I Totally Went There (Long Story)

[richmondbimmer]

Amazing writeup. How is the german license plate mounted? Personally I prefer no front plate, do they screw it in to the bumper which obliges you to put a plate on when you arrive stateside?

[Carl L]

IKW15- wow, that sucks. Hope it gets fixed up asap, scum in all countries unfortunately.

OP- great writeup!!

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by dd1981

that white Mr. Bean car

dude, it's how you use it that matters

[GBPackerfan1963]

Originally Posted by richmondbimmer

Amazing writeup. How is the german license plate mounted? Personally I prefer no front plate, do they screw it in to the bumper which obliges you to put a plate on when you arrive stateside?

double stick tape.

[JoeyLeeBMW]

Thanks for sharing all the info & pictures!

[bobcatwong]

Thanks for sharing your journey. A detailed yet funny write up. Takes me back to last year when we did a similar trip to Venice & Florence in our 535 dx. We had no problems cruising along the Fiats & Scooters. I couldn't get enough duplio espressos at the Autogrills.
Cheers from Vancouver.

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by GBPackerfan1963

double stick tape.

REALLY GOOD double stick tape.

Mine is still on the front of my car 3 years later. It's been tested at autobahn speeds annually !

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by variable229

Probably because tipping isn't required in Italy.

My understanding is that in most EU countries the taxes and tip is included with the cost of the meal automatically.

[coolmody]

Great writeup. I'm a fellow Canadian that just returned from their ED last night directly from Rome. I applaud you for taking the car to Italy. I didn't have the guts to do it and there is something to be said about making it out of there scratch free. I spent 2 weeks in Italy, and couldn't find any cars there that didn't have their bumpers and fenders scratched up from the daily carnage that takes place on the roads.

I dropped off my car to the Login Out GMBh in Munich prior to heading to Italy and relied on a rental from there. I'm glad I did, as driving your 100k new vehicle on those streets are not for the faint of heart.

[KevinM]

Originally Posted by lkw15

Great post, OP. Love your car!

Just be careful where you park if you can help it. This happened to me in Parma the night before last.

Wow, so sorry to see this. You have a great attitude!

[stressdoc]

It would be awesome if you could pick one up at the Welt... And vignettes.

Originally Posted by solstice

I created an account but unfortunately they require a license plate number which I don't think is possible to retrieve at this point in time. Well, it was worth a try.

[M4TW]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

Really nice write up! Italy is such a great country to drive in. I've been there five times already this year and planning a nice drive thru the Dominites next month! Only things I would add are...


Make sure you have an Austrian(or Swiss) Vignette BEFORE leaving Germany. Most German gas stations on the Autobahn(or any ADAC, the German AAA, but more and much better than AAA) you can buy the decal/sticker/Vignette. AND... be sure to FULLY apply the decal to your windshield!! I've seen some Americans who want to make it easy to remove the "sticker" not full apply it... IF the Austrian Polizei see that... its not 120 euro fine, but 500 euros! Because they think you are moving the sticker from car to car.

Speed limit in any European city is 50 kph when you see the "village or city's name sign). In Germany these signs are yellow. In some sections of the city it can be 30 kph, but you will see a red and white lolli-pop sign.


Speed limit in Austria is 130 kph on the Autobahn unless otherwise posted! At night it is only 110 kph! Tunnels on the autobahn have a 100 kph speed limit. The Austrians use cameras as you pass by they take your rear plate/tag. (in Germany the Blitzer's always shoot from the front of the car to see the driver. In Austria this is not the case.

Do not tail gate... the Germans/Austrians and Swiss all Blitz(photo radar) for tail gating(and speeding) AND for not having a vignette displayed!! And the ticket is not cheap. Two second rule for keeping your distance. The Germans call Tailgating "Abstand".

NO turning right at a RED LIGHT! Not allowed!!

NO passing on the right, on the Autobahn. Only exception is when speeds are lower than 80 kph or in the city and the speed limit is less than 80 kph. Generally passing on the right is not a good idea.

In Italy the speed limit is 130 on the Autostrada, but when you drive from Munich down the Brenner... that section is 110 kph. Speed limit in tunnels is 110 kph.

Vignette's Swiss/Schweiz/CH (left) Austria/österreich/A (Right)
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You MUST have a warning vest for EVERY person in the car. AND the vest must be stored somewhere accessible by the driver/passengers.
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Typical Italian toll plaza. This in on the Brenner Autobahn/Autostrada A22 heading into Italy from Innsbruck.
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When you enter or leave most Italian villages you will see an orange box like this... most of times the box is empty.. but not always! So don't speed past one! normal speed limit in most cities is 50 kph.
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Most Italian gas stations are unattended during the mid day siesta. Not to worry, every gas station has one of these boxes that takes credit cards or CASH(euros)!.
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Yup. $11 per gallon. Normal price for Italians. Sometimes its less.
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Autostrada toll ticket... just like driving on the NJTurnpike... get your ticket when you first enter the Autostrada... then when you exit you can go to a toll both or machine to pay your toll.
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ticket for the Autostrada... (no it doesn't tell you how much, like on the NJTunrpike. lol)
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checking out on the Autostrada... you inset your ticket into the ATM-like machine and drop in your cash/coins or CC...
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Paying: electronic ATM like machine to pay on the Autostrada... (multi lingual)
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You MUST purchase a Vignette...
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typical Italian Autostrada...
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Rules of the Road...
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What's not to love about these roads!
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Bella...
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Munich city sign... these Yellow signs ALSO MEAN the speed limit is now 50 kph!
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Maut is German for TOLL ROAD!
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Detour sign on the Autobahn. When you see the BIG blue autobahn signs flip over to one of these orange arrows... it means in Stau(traffic jam) follow these orange detour signs!
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V-Max sign... the Law... CH = Swiss. Also take note on country roads the speed limit is Switzerland is only 80kph... IF the Polizei catch you driving more than 40 kph over that 80 kph limit... they TAKE your car! No joke!!
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V-Max Italy...
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Auto speedlimit open or free. This sign also means end of controls - for instance IF the speed limit was 80kph say in a construction area... you will see one of these signs. IF its on the autobahn(and there is no other speed limit signs) there is no speed limit.

But even in "free" unrestricted sections of the autobahn... the German government recommends a 130 kph. Have an accident over that 130 kph... and your insurance might not pay. This is why you see very small engine cars driving slow on the autobahn. That and that they don't have much horse power.
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You will see a sign like this in most cities. It means you CAN drive thru this street or city center... but at Schritt tempo... meaning 5 kph! YES, 5 kph! Walking speed. The Polizei is very strict on speeding in the inner city limits.
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Sneaky Polizei is now putting the Blitzer's under the guard rails.
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Yellow highway signs means this is a BundesStrasse... meaning max speed limit of 100 kph! IF the sign were BLUE, then it's an autobahn with a speed limit of 130 kph unless otherwise posted.
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Abstand = Tail gating cameras temporary mounted on an Autobahn overpass. Two video cameras from above... and one high res, high fps video camera bellow on the autobahn guard rail. They take video and still pics. Sometimes you see bar code lines etched into the autobahn shoulder or sometimes just large big white lines across the autobahn as you approach a bridge.
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You will see this sign in construction zones on the Autobahn. It means, offset driving - no cars/trucks side by side. Also for cars in the LEFT lane... they can NOT be wider than 2.0meters wide, mirror to mirror.
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You MAY turn right on red, ONLY after you stop! And ONLY when you see a metal green arrow sign like this. But for the most part 97% of the lights in Germany, there is NO right turn on RED!
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And the most important of all signs... when you are stuck stopped in traffic on the Autobahn(or in a city for that matter)... you MUST make room for Polizei/Ambulance/Fire rescue vehicles... cars on the left move LEFT, cars on teh right move to the RIGHT! IF you are on a three or four lane Autobahn/Road... Left lane cars more LEFT... all other lanes move RIGHT! To make a lane for first responders.
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I forgot to thank-you for this hat trick post contribution to the thread. This boots-on-the-ground information makes a huge difference to us tourist drivers and helps reduce the havoc I imagine we cause on your roads.

Originally Posted by K20A2_S

I just got confirmed for September 22nd pickup date, booked my flight to land September 21st. I'm staying in Munich with a friend I've met at work here in Siemens (Houston)......September 22nd is the start of Oktoberfest. I was thinking of just staying in Germany for a lot of my trip. But after reading through this thread, I will most definitely be taking my M3 to italy now.

Thank you and everyone else for the great insightful and informative information of traveling to Italy. I can't wait to plan the rest of my trip now!!

That's fantastic! If I were going to be there at that time of year I would also look into tickets to see FC Bayern Munich play at Allianz Stadium. After the World Cup, I've become a soccer fan.

Originally Posted by stressdoc

It would be awesome if you could pick one up at the Welt... And vignettes.

I'm cheering for Solstice to get these as I love to see someone on ED team M3/4 tame those toll booths.

[.BMW.]

Great write up and a beautiful car!

[01ON19]

Originally Posted by stressdoc

It would be awesome if you could pick one up at the Welt... And vignettes.

BMW had installed transponders for Italian autostrada in the 15 F8x picked up for the June 25-29 European tour. Extremely convenient but no idea how they did it.

My point is they must have known the license plate numbers beforehand so maybe the Welt could provide that. Or, maybe you could guess at plate number when ordering and change it on-line later?

[christof30]

Nice post!

[Brosef]

awesome write-up. I always enjoy reading your pedantic posts.

[RPiM5]

Oustanding. Reminds me of my ED when I drove in Italy too. It sounds like I didn't plan as much as you did though. Lol! Man I miss it!

[cipri]

To this I will add the necessity of the Blue Parking hour disc which is required in Italy. It is called disco orario.

[lonewolf1870]

Thanks for the writing, always nice to read good things about my country

One comment (which probably I should not do...): the Italian system is such inefficient that you'll never get any traffic fine unless you are stopped by the police - in such a case they may require to pay cash!
So, things like "resident radars" or tutor work only for cars with Italian plates

On another matter, I would not park such a car as yours in public streets for too much time, or you may not find it in one piece (either stolen, scratched, or who knows what!)

Finally, if you enjoyed the Adriatic see and the beaches in Alba, you should definitely visit the south or the islands (Sardinia, Sicily): beaches are wayyyyy better there! Maybe these are good places to visit for your next ED

[JimboF32]

This is a great one, wish I read it prior to my ED. First time BMW owner, first time post. I experienced a very similar trip and I would highly recommend it. The experience at Welt is astounding for the entire family, we had a great time on the tour, at the museum, and taking delivery.
We left Welt in the late afternoon on our way to the Black Forest, where I was pulled over for going too slow on a country road between towns. One of the police spoke English and explained that they were comparing how new their 3 Series squad car compared to my F32. They liked it, and I explained it was only 2 hours old.
After a few days in that area we headed through Switzerland on our way to Tuscany. The drive was stunning, both in scenery as well as the driving on the road. We went through what has to be the longest tunnel in the world, literally through the top of the Alps (instead of going over them) and ended up on the Italian side of Switzerland, where it already seems like you are in a different country. Soon we crossed the border into Italy.
TIP #1: Driving in Italy is a totally different experience than Germany, Switzerland or Austria. In the other countries the roads are immaculate and the drivers are following all the rules while cruising at high rates of speed. In Italy, rules and laws are a mere suggestion. Immediately over the border your travel is now heavily influenced by honking, tailgating, and more than a few close calls along the way. You have to pay more attention to what is going on, and there seems to be construction on the highways every 30-60 minutes (at least when we were there). It is still a great experience, the scenery is stunning as well, but just pay attention.
Our first stop in Italy was Lake Como, and it is as beautiful as everyone says. The food is great as well. However, the road from Como to Bellagio was absolutely crazy. While beautifully winding along the lake, it is barely wider than one car, blind curves for 40 minutes, and all the locals are driving 50+ miles an hour. On one side is a drop to the lake and on the other side is a rock wall uphill. There were even a few full size busses coming the other way that took the entire road (had to back up to get past). I was definitely sweating, and my wife was so shaken she wanted to get back via ferry to skip that road.
TIP #2: On our way out we headed south and happened to go out on the southern side of the peninsula. We left in the morning to avoid traffic. The road this way was wider, less traveled, and much easier. If approaching from the North, I think it would be worth the extra time to pass Como and approach Bellagio from the Southern side of the peninsula.
Next we headed south on our way to Tuscany. Unplanned, we were noticing the next town approaching was Modena. After thinking why that sounds familiar I realized it was the home of Ferrari and since it was lunchtime we decided to pull off and go to the museum. Great stop, although it was not as nicely done as the museum at Welt. Amazing cars to see as well. Ironically, while there were Ferraris all over the place worth well over 4x my new F32 M-Sport, numerous locals and tourists alike were checking out our new car. Funny, and it made me feel like a king. Even at a restaurant a few blocks away the locals came out to the parking lot and were asking lots of questions, all the while there were new Ferraris heading down the street.
We made it into Tuscany where we stayed on a farmhouse outside of Siena, I would highly recommend this kind of approach. From there we took day trips to different locations around Tuscany. One great drive that should not be missed is heading from Siena to Florence on SR222, a stunning country road winding through Chianti vineyards.
TIP #3: Parking in Italy is insane. The spots are so small that it is a tight fit for a Fiat 500, let alone anything larger. Cars are parked so close together that the doors are nearly touching. There simply are not any larger spots, and I did get a door ding even when I found a spot that was wider than others. Best thing I found is to go into the paid garages and head to the highest or lowest level from street level. The spots in these paid garages are bigger, and it is well worth the money to avoid what ended up happening to me. Another tip would be to parallel park on a street if you can find a spot, doing so early in the day or closer to dinner is far easier than prime time.
After a number of days in Tuscany it was time to head home, up through Austria where we stayed in Innsbruck. Back over the Alps this was was just as fun as the Swiss pass and it was great to do this over two different passes. I wish we had more time to spend in all the areas we stayed. We made it back to Munich the afternoon before our departure.
TIP #4: You do need to wash your car before drop-off (or they will wash and wax for 40 Euro), but you can't do it yourself. I was parked at our hotel right next to a hose, and asked if I could borrow it to quickly wash the car. They looked at me like I was from the moon. They explained that it is illegal to wash your car at your house or any establishment except for an official car wash. The fines are very serious, and has to do with pollution from the dirty water. I am not sure if this is only in Munich, only in Bavaria, or across all of Germany. It took me a while to find a car wash (Waschanlage in German), but they are sure setup nicely. They have large areas to vacuum and detail your car...the locals all had boxes full of detailing products where it looked like they spent hours finishing their cars.
We had our last dinner in Munich, and headed to the airport in the morning. The drop-off is very well done and I was out of there in 15 minutes, right back to the airport in a short walk (easiest to drop off your bigger luggage with others and then walk back to meet them).
My car is almost at the dealership, I should be picking it up next week. I can't wait. I would definitely recommend this experience, and exploring Italy through the Alps to anyone. We'll be back, and who knows...maybe we will take ED on another great BMW some day. Until then I look forward to sharing experiences with this BMW community!

[kinimod]

I don't believe this is true. BMW M3/M4 F8x should be filled with standard SAF-XJ oil without the FM additives, in USA, per the service bulletin SI B00 02 14 from August 2014 (from bmwtis.com - North America).

It says, extract:

"Change the engine oil and filter, as well as the rear axle differential fluid."

"Active M Differential fluid Castrol SAF-XJ 1.0 liter 83 22 1 470 080"

This part number is a 1 liter of SAF-XJ oil. Per RealOEM, there's also a 60-liter packaging of SAF-XJ available with part number 83 22 9 407 870, which dealerships also carry. I confirmed with two dealerships in Germany and Austria. These are not with FM additives.

Maybe if customer complains about the differential noises, only then the dealership is required to use FM version, since they are very expensive. At least it was like that in E9x M3 case where dealerships were instructed this way (SI B33 01 02, July 2011). But there are no SIBs for it for F8x models.

Also there's SI B33 02 11 labeled "Rear Axle Differential (Final Drive) – New Operating Fluid Requirement" mentioning the FM fluid, but it only applies to E90, E92 and E93 (M3) with the S65 engine and the E82 (M Coupe) with the N54T engine.

Also note that M3/M, as far as I can remember, has the exactly same differential as F10 M5 and F12 M6 and there's no trace of using FM-based fluid in these differentials, no SIBs.

Where did you get your info from please?

Originally Posted by Dackelone

@Zero4910 & @M4TW

The M3/M4's use Castrol SAF-XJ (API GL5, 75W140 weight) as a factory fill oil for the diff. BMW NA uses the same oil but with a friction modifier(+FM). BMW calls it SAF-XJ+FM

The reason why BMW NA uses the +FM oil, is to cut down on customer complaints from a noisy differentiation operation at low(parking) speeds.

When parking(or doing full lock turning) you might notice some grinding or shatter from the diff's clutch pack. This is not a harmful/deferential noise, but BMW NA doesn't want customers to be upset with their new cars... so they spec an oil that eliminates this "chatter". BMW also says once you start using +FM oil, you shall always use it. There is no going back to the regular oil.

REAR DIFFERENTIAL OILS:
bmw p/n 83 22 2 282 583 SAE 75W-140 SAF-XJ + FM BOOSTER (you get 3, 0.5l bottles)
bmw p/n 83 22 1 470 080 SAF XJ w/o Friction Modifier (1, 0.5l bottle)

German BMW dealers do not stock this gear oil(!)... but they can order it and get it the next day or in a few days(depending on how they order it). My local BMW dealer(Zentrum) gets two delivers from BMW AG every day!

The +FM oil is not cheap, I think around 130 euros for the three, 0.5l bottles, over here in Germany.

Also note IF you have your manual trans oil changed, most German doeals only stock the MTF-LT3 oil used for the e9x M3's. The 1M and the new F8x M3's/M4's use MTF-LT5 trans oil! So double check what your dealer uses. (of course BMW says a trans oil change is not needed at 2K kms... but I would do it).


All the 1M owners went thru this same ordeal when the 1M came out. You would think BMW would have learned it's lesson then.
CORRECT 1M Fluids List [Engine, Transmission, Differential]
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=620282

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[dak125]

Bringing this back from the dead. Thanks for the post, very helpful for a planned ED for my honeymoon later this year.