| 07-27-2017, 09:50 PM | #1 |
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My 50th Birthday/M4 European Delivery June 2017
 Featured on BIMMERPOST.com My ED plans date back to prior to my E90. (2011) I suggested to my wife the trip, and knowing that I keep my cars for 6 years, she suggested waiting until 2017 when I would turn 50 (in February!) so we could really take the time and make it a memorable trip. And so I waited!... Last summer,when airfare started to be posted for June 2017 flights, I noticed that Lufthansa really had fantastic discounts on Business Class flights from the US to Germany. So I did what everybody says not to do, I booked the flights before ordering the car and setting an ED date. My CA,Teri Blakeley at Classic BMW in Cleveland, was contacted in the fall, to let her know I was interested in trading in my car for a new M3 and I wanted a June 13 pickup date. When I realized in January that the M3 was not going to be produced for a June delivery I had to make a choice-- change the dates of the vacation, or get an M4 coupe. With the vacation requested at work, the great price for the flights, and a quick test drive in an M4 coupe to confirm the switch, I re-focused now on ordering a new M4. I wanted Azurite Black Metallic and the Competition Package. The price negotiated, order placed -- the only pressure was on my CA to get me that date! She got a phone call from Munich that an 8:20 am appointment was available, and she took it without asking me first as she knew I needed that date.  With the date confirmed, my wife and I set up to plan the itinerary. We decided not to focus on driving routes or the Nurburgring but on places we wanted to visit. I went to Germany when I was in med school and went on a low budget trip-- I saw Frankfurt, Heidelberg and Berlin. My wife had never been to Germany, but we had been to Vienna together a few years ago. Rick Steve's Germany guide was our starting point. My wife loves to plan trips. Her research noted that we could do a WW2, Nazi era focused trip, or we could just pick beautiful castles and great towns and cities and hotels and really get to know Bavaria. We picked the latter and added a spa across the border in the Austrian alps, a trip to Salzburg and a finish in the Rhineland and finally Frankfurt where we planned to drop-off the car. We could have spent a week in other places we wanted to visit (like the spas in Baden-Baden), but 2 weeks was enough to make a magical vacation. We flew out of Newark to Munich on the RedEye. SUNDAY JUNE 11th We landed in Munich in the morning. Our Sixt driver was there to pick us up after customs and we briskly walked to his 7 series. It wasn’t the most pleasant drive as he was very heavy on the brake and gas pedals. We arrived at the Charles Hotel. As it was around noon, our room was ready and a quick shower and change and a lovely outdoor lunch in the hotel restaurant and we were on our way. Business class seating allowed us to get around 5 1/2 hrs of sleep so we could explore Munich right away. We walked first to the Lenbachaus which houses a large modern art museum. The Lenbachhaus is most famous for the large collection of paintings by*The Blue Rider, a group of*expressionist artists established in Munich in 1911, most famously including Paul Klee. We then headed into the English Gardens, which included a fantastic, not-so lazy river, with a portion used by surfers. Many have posted videos and photos before, but here is one I took. The obligatory stop at the beer garden allowed us to taste our first Bavarian bier and pretzels. We then went back to our hotel for a rest and then out to dinner at Geisel’s Vinothek. It was a fantastic meal and the extensive wines by the glass menu allowed us to try several different wines with small pours. MONDAY JUNE 12th The next day we visited the Munich Residence. I highly recommend to get the 14 day Bavarian castle pass which you can buy there. This allows you into many sites throughout Bavaria without having to buy another ticket. It is generally less expensive than buying tickets at 2 sites, and if you go to 3 or more, you really get your money’s worth. It is currently 44 euros for a couple or family up to 4. The Residence is certainly spectacular, but the highlight is the Wittelsbach’sTreasury, with it’s extensive collection of priceless objects dating back over 1000 years. We toured the streets and alleys around and in the Marienplatz, sampled food in the Viktualien Market and had great beer and lunch in the area. My wife was also able to get some shopping in at a fantastic department store, Ludwig Beck. Dinner, that night, was at one of the Augustiner-Keller beer gardens. The food and beer was great as well. My wife was able to sample the white asparagus that was abundant throughout our trip, and I had a steak with sweet potato fries. And of course more beer! TUESDAY JUNE 13th The next morning, we got up early and checked out of the Charles. The hotel was very nice, but we found the beds a bit too stiff for our taste. A cab to the Welt, we stored our luggage and went to the Premium lounge for check-in. After breakfast, wandering around the Welt and picking up a t-shirt with my credit as well as the engraved key-chain, it was time for my delivery. The walk down the staircase to your car is every bit exciting as I had anticipated! The Azurite Black metallic paint was as great as I hoped it would be. The delivery went smoothly. All my questions were answered. The USB stick was already loaded with the European maps and we loaded our luggage. One large suitcase, one medium and one carry-on fit puzzle style into the trunk! We took 2 victory laps and brought the car around for valet parking. We returned to the Premium lounge for an early lunch before our 11:45 Factory tour. The tour was great and we were really impressed with the ability to build different models with different specs and different destinations back to back. No picture taking was allowed on the tour. At this point, we had to make a decision. We wanted to make the spa hotel we were headed to and get some downtime before dinner, but we also had planned to see the BMW Museum. Because of my wife’s research, we had already started planning a future German vacation that would start in Munich and end in Berlin. We realized that we would have a chance to see the Museum at that time (and my wife was BMW’d out!). So we picked up our car at valet parking and headed out of Munich. Our itinerary looked like this: (I didn’t include on the map the last piece which was the drive from Oberwesel to Frankfurt as it created too much overlap.) The trip to Lermoos, Austria was obviously fun, as I got to open up the car a bit on the Autobahn. This car rides so smoothly, I was able to drive 120mph while my wife slept. We made a quick pit stop in Garmisch-Partenkirchen which was on our list of maybe places to visit. We didn’t spend much time there, but it was obvious why it was popular-- close to the Alps and all these adorable painted buildings. I also stopped to pick up my Austrian Vignette at a gas station. Of note, I love that the gas stations provide plastic disposable gloves so your hands don’t smell like fuel! We finished the drive and arrived at the Hotel Post. A bit on this hotel: We had contemplated some more spectacular spas with Michelin starred restaurants which were much more expensive. But the Post seemed to have a unique charm, a nice indoor spa, beautiful views, and included breakfasts and dinners that we hoped would be good. The location also afforded us the ability to be closer to some of the sights we wanted to get to see. My wife’s instincts were rewarded. We had an identical view of the Zugspitze from our room and from the restaurant. We appeared to be the only non-German speaking guests. The meals were fantastic. Dinners were multi-courses, with 2 choices for each course. If you didn’t finish a bottle of wine, they saved it for you for the next night. Breakfasts were a buffet that was enormous. Salad and bread and cheese buffets were part of the dinners. The spa was small but offered multiple rooms, both cold and hot, for relaxation. It was German/Austrian, meaning no clothes and co-ed. That took some getting used to! We had booked a facial for one day and a massage for another. All-in-all a great experience. WEDNESDAY JUNE 14th In the morning, we planned for a climb of the Zugspitze. We were supposed to meet a group, but the instructions were confusing so we went it alone. The gondola up to the first summit was easy to find and navigate, and I am told the price is much less on the Austrian than German side. We chose an easy hike to a restaurant near the top and headed off. Reaching our destination, everyone was drinking beer at 10:30 in the morning and as we didn’t want to stand out, we had one too! After hiking back down and returning down the gondola, we hopped in the M4 and drove to Linderhof Palace. This was included in our 14 day pass. This was an amazing palace for one (Mad King Ludwig was a loner and he admired the French kings of the 18th century). The tour was in English. We went back to the hotel and enjoyed a spa treatment, the spa and dinner. THURSDAY JUNE 15th Today was our trek to Neuchshwanstein Castle, It was a short but enjoyable drive through some windy roads. I should note that I forgot we would be crossing the German-Austrian border multiple times , but our drives were never interrupted by any stops at the borders. We just passed signs saying “Welcome to …” In fact our passports only reflect our entry and exit from Germany at the bookends of our trip. The castle tour was quick but interesting. We enjoyed the hike up and down and the views. We then drove to Fussen and wandered the town. Most of the shops were closed for the holiday of Corpus Christi, so we just got a bite to eat then drove back to the Post Hotel for our last afternoon of spa treatments and relaxing before dinner. FRIDAY JUNE 16th As I was loading up my car, I noted that we had left a lot of suntan lotion residue on my nice new leather seats. I never remember that problem with my last two M3’s, but I resolved to stop at a BMW dealer to remedy the situation. There would not be one along the way to Salzburg but we would pass nearby one early the next week. The drive to Salzburg was less fun. We hit some traffic and had to slow at times on the Autobahn. I really appreciated my HUD, as it quickly showed me the changes in speed limit as traffic varied. Here I will note that I did something that many who post on this website as blasphemy-- I allowed the hotel to valet park my car! I noted the mileage and hoped there would be no scratches! (PS they didn’t add any mileage and no scratches!) We stayed right in town at a classic old luxury hotel-- The Goldner Hirsch. They gave us a complimentary upgrade to a suite and we later had dinner that first night in their restaurant (same name) that was also included in our reservation. A fantastic breakfast was also included! We wandered the streets that afternoon, and took the funicular up to the Hohensalzburg Fortress. This 1th century fort was added to many times over the centuries and has spectacular views of the city. The main streets are also filled with many shops that were great to wander through (and purchase a few items). SATURDAY JUNE 17th Today was booked for the Fraulein Maria’s Bicycle Tour. It was cheesy as it sounds but we had a great time. We rode for a total of 15 km, but stopped at many sites that were used in filming the Sound of Music. We first met up at Mirabell Palace and Gardens. Then we were off on the tour. We saw different beautiful parts of the city. We saw many places that were recognizable from the movie. It was a great way to tour the city. I highly recommend it. We had a great, late, street side Italian lunch with a some fresh calamari, charcuterie and some wine, before wandering the streets some more. The evening was relaxing with some drinks at a street cafe before a rooftop dinner at the Imlauer Sky. The city looked amazing at night. Some advice for people taking a ED for more than a week. This was already our third hotel in 1 week, and our 2nd week would take us to 3 more hotels in 4 nights before our final stay in Frankfurt. We had unpacked 3 times and repacked twice so far. we decided to pack our 1 medium suitcase for those 4 nights, and left the rest of our luggage in the trunk. This turned out to be a great idea and shortened the times for these tasks. SUNDAY JUNE 18th After breakfast, the valet brought back my M4, we repacked the trunk, and we were off! Our plans included a stop in Regensburg to wander the city. We knew most shops would be closed for Sunday, but it is a UNESCO World Heritage site and it was on our path. As we drove outside the city, we discovered that the lack of traffic info on our Nav was detrimental. The B20 was closed and were forced to use Google Maps to re-route our journey. German and Austrian road closures do not include signs for detours! We ended up on a lesser road, which crossed over the border right by Burghausen Castle. We decided to stop at the castle and drop our plans for Regensburg. The self-guided tour noted that this is the longest castle in the world, (1051 m) with a gothic castle and courtyard surrounded by 5 outer courtyards with sections built at different times. The castle was founded before 1025. Our castle pass allowed us to tour the museum in the inner castle. We had great views of the town of Burghausen, to which we hiked down the long staircase. We treated ourselves to a hearty lunch before re-hiking back up and returning to my M4. The drive to Wernberg-Kobliz took longer than planned, because of the closure of B20. But we enjoyed the beautiful and winding country roads, allowing me to enjoy the car in a different way. But we were rewarded with my favorite hotel of our whole vacation. The Hotel Burg Wernburg is a fantastic hotel built inside a 12th century castle. The room was amazing, the walk around and through the castle was invigorating, and the dinner at Kastell was one of the best of my life. The 2 Michelin star restaurant is headed by a fantastic chef Thomas Kellerman (not to be confused with Thomas Keller of French Laundry fame!) But I don’t think Mr Keller would have put together a better meal. The elegant restaurant, with few tables spaced far apart, provided a romantic setting. The 7 course tasting menu was paired with wines specially chosen for each course. The homemade breads and thrown-in extra courses from the kitchen were equally decadent. It was a magical evening. The maitre-de presented us with copies of our menu signed by Mr Kellerman. To top it off, the chef greeted us and the maire-de took our photo with him! This was a great stop midway through our vacation and one I will never forget. We slept well that night! MONDAY, JUNE 19th We woke up for another amazing breakfast and headed out to Rothenburg ob de Tauber. We made a quick pit stop at a BMW dealer in Nuremberg to get my leather cleaner. Thanks to Google Translate, I was able to buy the correct product and even get directions to Obi (Germany’s answer to Home Depot/Lowe’s). We cleaned the seats in the parking lot and headed to Rothenburg. The streets are a bit narrow and we had to valet park again! We stayed at Hotel Hernscholosschen. This hotel was built in the 11th/12th centuries and is located right on one of the main thoroughfares of the walled city. We walked the wall as far as it would go and wandered down many streets. Dinner was at Zur Holle, in the oldest building in the city. Built in the 9th century, it is owned by the same family who owns our hotel. We capped the evening off with the Night Watch’s Tour, which was corny but fun and educational! TUESDAY, JUNE 20th We left after another sumptuous breakfast and headed out to leave Bavaria and head into wine country and the Rhine River. Before exiting Bavaria, we made a stop in Wurzburg for a tour of the Rezidence and Gardens. The town was also fun to wander through, and we enjoyed another sumptuous meal. After a traffic filled trip west, we arrived at our final castle hotel, The Burghotel Auf Schoenburg in Oberwesel on the Rhine Built in pieces between 10th and the 17th century, this was another chance to enjoy spectacular views from the dining area and our balcony. Multi-course dinners and breakfasts were included in our fare. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21th The day was planned for a spirited drive from the Rhine valley to the Mosel Valley. First stop was Cochem and a steep walk to the Cochem Castle. This castle was reconstructed in the 19th century after being destroyed in 1689. Next came a drive (and lunch) at the town of Mayen-Koblenz. Finally a fun drive to Burg Eltz (which still has people residing in it!) then back to our own castle in Oberwesel. My pictures are a little thin as I was fighting a small cold and we did not take a Mosel cruise as we planned because of my cold. THURSDAY, JUNE 22nd We got up and enjoyed another elaborate breakfast (still not tired of them yet!) and did my final drive to Frankfurt. The Hotel Kennedy was a great place to end our trip. They were kind enough to leave my car out front for it’s last night. We had a credit for use at the hotel and were able to enjoy two lunches, and breakfast was also included. Frankfurt is not the greatest tourist city, but the Stadel Museum was not to be missed. We were able to walk from the hotel. A visit to the old town was also enjoyable. I would like to mention our dinner that night at Lohninger Restaurant. This was our 2nd best meal of the trip (and our dining experiences all over Germany/Austria were fantastic). If you have time, this is a place not to be missed. The menu was unique and everything was prepared exquisitely. FRIDAY, JUNE 23rd After breakfast, it was time to wash my car and drop off for shipping home. Frankfurt is an easy drop off point and The Best Car Wash was easy to find and utilize. The drop off was seamless and there is an S-Bahn stop across from the facility, so we were able to get a quick ride back into the city. We did some final shopping and had a leisurely day back at the hotel. One final dinner at Medici a good night sleep and final packing for home the next day. All-in-all, this was one of my most memorable trips, made even more memorable by having my new M4 at my disposal. Thanks to those who have posted previous ED experiences which helped me shape my trip. I hope I can help shape some who will go after me. I would like to thank Teri Blakeley at Classic BMW in Cleveland for everything she did to make this possible. And of course, thanks to my wife for indulging me in my M obsession and for planning a wonderful adventure with me!
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2023 Dravit Gray/BK G26 i4 M50
2018 AB/BK F82 Competition (DCT) (traded-in) 2011.75 AW/BK E90 Competition (DCT) No Sunroof (traded-in) 2003 Carbon Bk/BK E46 Coupe (SMG) (traded-in) Last edited by thevex67; 07-27-2017 at 10:12 PM.. |
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| 07-27-2017, 10:37 PM | #2 |
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Awesome trip!
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Wife's Car: 2020 X4M Competition, Alpine White on Black Alcantara and Biege
Current Car: 2018 F80 M3CS, SMB, DCT, ZEC, MPE Recently Departed: 2020 F87 M2C, LBB, ZEC, 6MT (Euro Delivery Aug. 29, 2019, totaled by an idiot in a Camry who then ran from the scene) Wife's Prior Car: 2018 F80 M3, Yas Marina Blue, DCT, Black 19s, Carbon Structure Anthracite Cloth/Leather Combination, Driving Assistance Package (Euro Delivery Oct. 9, 2017) |
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thevex6795.00 mikeokimster202.50 |
| 07-28-2017, 12:58 AM | #4 |
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I've been waiting for another full-on ED post! Congratulations; it is such a great experience. It seems you had a fantastic time (as expected!). I'm already plotting my next ED...
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2020 F87 M2C Hockenheim Silver/MT
2002 E39 M5 Sterling Gray/Caramel 2007 E86 Z4M Coupe Silver Gray/Black 2021 Kia Telluride (hauler)  |
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| 07-28-2017, 03:00 PM | #8 |
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Drives: M4 Coupe | M3 | Z4M Roadster
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Garage List 2006 BMW Z4 M Roadster [8.81]
2016 BMW M4 Coupe ( ... [10.00] 2018 BMW M3 (Euro D ... [0.00] 2011 BMW 335is Coup ... [10.00] |
Great trip report! Euro Delivery is the only way to buy a new BMW!
My wife and I are planning our third ED in May next year for her M3, to celebrate her 50th birthday (December) and our 25th wedding anniversary (April)!
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The Coupe: 2016 M4 | Sakhir Orange | Black Full Merino Leather | CF Trim | M-DCT | More | ED 5/13/16
The Sedan: 2018 M3 | San Marino Blue | Black Full Merino Leather | CF Trim | M-DCT | ZCP | ED 7/18/18 The Roadster: 2006 Z4  | Interlagos Blue | Black Extended Nappa Leather | Carbon Leather Trim | Purchased 7/19/12 |
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thevex6795.00 jusblazeee_f22334.00 |
| 07-28-2017, 03:46 PM | #9 |
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Congrats on the M4. Awesome trip and great pictures!
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His: 2016 F80 M3 | SO/Full SO | ZCP | 6MT (ED June 2016)
Her: 2016 F36 428GC | Carbon Black/Coral Red | ZMP (ED June 2016) 2013 F30 328i - Retired 2009 E93 335i (ED June 2009) - Retired 2008 E60 535i (ED March 2008) - Retired |
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| 07-31-2017, 09:05 PM | #11 | |
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Quote:
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2023 Dravit Gray/BK G26 i4 M50
2018 AB/BK F82 Competition (DCT) (traded-in) 2011.75 AW/BK E90 Competition (DCT) No Sunroof (traded-in) 2003 Carbon Bk/BK E46 Coupe (SMG) (traded-in) |
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| 08-02-2017, 07:00 AM | #13 |
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It's here!
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2023 Dravit Gray/BK G26 i4 M50
2018 AB/BK F82 Competition (DCT) (traded-in) 2011.75 AW/BK E90 Competition (DCT) No Sunroof (traded-in) 2003 Carbon Bk/BK E46 Coupe (SMG) (traded-in) |
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| 08-05-2017, 01:10 PM | #17 |
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Major congrats. Epic trip and nice ZCP build
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| 08-05-2017, 01:24 PM | #18 |
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Great right up, love the car! Congrats
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| 08-05-2017, 01:39 PM | #19 |
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Awesome write up. Awesome car. Looks like you definitely enjoyed your trip. Speed safely!
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