[DE Urlaub]

As I write this, we are about 5 weeks out from heading over the pond. Our anticipation is building and it is time to give back to all of you folks at Bimmerpost! Man do I love reading the ED veterans' preparations and exploits at the Welt and all that follows - photos ain't bad either. Talk about stimulating the imagination! It has been a long research process for me to fine tune the exact, perfect M machine that belongs in my garage. BTW, I am nearly finished with a complete refurbishment of a detached 2.5 car garage to include insulation, dry wall, lighting, upgraded electrical, 220V outlets, epoxy floor coating, car lift, and climate control so as to pamper the beast between spirited operations!
Can't tell you how much useful information that I have captured regarding this impressive, sophisticated piece of machinery from my questions asked and all of YOUR inputs and discussions. THANKS!!

So...........
Background: First M, First BMW, Third ED, Fifteenth or so visit to Germany (DE). Wife is 1/2 German and she and my oldest boy are nearly fluent (aka my "crutches"). As you can tell from my signature, my high performance automobile experience mostly pre dates the Model Year 1971. So I am thinking that the technology of an M3 may have evolved a bit from the subtlety of an 850 HP '66 Nova or a Super Performance Axle package behind an original HEMI 'cuda. However, I figure tail-happy is tail-happy once the nannies are turned off.

Build: 25th week, F80, 6MT, SSII, Amaro Brown, Comp Pkg, CCB, Exec Pkg, Lighting Pkg, Driver Assist Pkg, Enhance USB/Bluetooth. A study in contrast! Max luxury/technology vs. a manual tranny. One of the compelling arguments for a BMW for us was that my wife HAD TO HAVE a manual tranny. Tough to argue with that! We will also head to South Carolina in the late summer for a PCD with at least one extra day for performance driving instruction.

BMW Welt p/u: Independence Day! 4 July 2016 with a 1000 check in and 1130 delivery.

We love EU and particularly DE. My work (retired USN) occasionally took me there starting in the early 90's. I started taking my family there in '95 utilizing the "Space A" military hops (if there are extra seats available on certain Mil transport aircraft or tankers, they allow active duty + families to tag along). Well, this caught on like wild fire with my family and we just kept going back, and back, and back. We have made some dear friends and one family in particular (3 generations living in one house) has two girls the same age as our boys and they have effectively grown up "together". They have visited us in the U.S. as well. They live in the tiniest of villages on a small farm in a very non-touristy, but very beautiful kind of place in a region known as the Sauerland. Each time we go to DE now we invariably meet them there or some other place in EU for holiday. This trip will be no different.

Because we have been to EU so many times (still not enough) we like to take a slightly more relaxed pace as we have seen many of the tourist attractions. Our farm friends have given us a real behind-the-scenes look at German life including traditions, local festivals, Flohmarkt (flea markets), Schutzenfest (Shooting festival), Grillplatz (Communal gathering to grill up some terrific meats), visiting their extended family and friends, architecture tours, etc. Spending time on our friends' farm is like stepping back in time and throttling back a bit. The house we stay in was burned to its foundation in a battle at the waning days of WWII. The patriarch of the family was twelve years old and fondly remembers the American GIs and how well they treated him (Hershey Chocolate!).

For me, planning is half of the fun. So, here's our itinerary:

Day one - Wife and I drive to D.C. and leave dog with a shipmate stationed in D.C. Depart IAD for FRA. We are using our Lufthansa "Miles and More" flight points to get us there.

Day two - Arrive FRA at 0530. Take ICE train to MUC. Stay at Airbnb nr the Welt.

Day three - M3 delivery at the Welt! Depart for Sauerland - staying at friends' farm.

Day five - Our boys (+ one of their GFs) join us. They live nr LAX and will depart for BRU.

Day six - p/u kids and head to a suburb of Bruges and Ghent, Belgium. Staying 4 days at Airbnb (servants quarters on ancient 30 acre estate).

Day nine - head to Sauerland to stay with (same) friends.

Day eleven - head to Bremen to visit friends' daughter finishing up Masters at local University. Staying at small Hotel on Weser River.

Day thirteen to eighteen - head back to Sauerland farm. Multiple day trips to cool places like: Munster, Soest, Arnsberg, Sorpesee, Mohnesee, etc. 1200 mile service accomplished at local BMW dealership with spirited driving and top speed run to follow!!

Day nineteen - drop off kids at FRA for return to LAX.

Day nineteen to day twenty. Em and Pee (aka Ma and Pa) relax in and around Sauerland farm.

Day twenty - Em and Pee drive to FRA and wash/drop-off M3. Stay overnight at Flughafen Sheraton.

Day twenty-one. FRA to IAD and p/u pup and drive home!


Here's most of our rail/driving plan:



Here's a site that helps you find an unfettered/extended/unlimited-speed autobahn stretch. I plan on having some fun using the stretch between Dortmund and Kassel (A44).
http://www.autobahn-speedhunter.com/