Hi all,
After 2 E90 ZCPs (both CPO buys), I took the plunge on an F80 ED order!
The Car
Avus Blue Individual Paint (#276)
ZAWT Cohiba Brown Extended Merino Leather
XT1 Merino Leather Dash
ZCP Comp Package w/ silver 666M (will sell wheels once stateside)
ZDA Driving Assist Package
ZEC Executive Package
415 Power rear sunshade
5AG Active Blindspot
6CP Apple Carplay
6NW Wireless Charging
ZMT Manual Transmission
The Plan (tentative)
6/24 NYC-London
6/26 London-Munich
6/27 Welt pickup/tour
6/27 Salzburg lake, Austria
6/29 Lienz, Austria
7/1 Ortisei, Italy
7/3 Trafoi, Italy
7/4 Bellagio, Italy
7/6 Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland
7/7 Zurich
7/9 [drop off car]
7/12 fly Zurich-NYC
Order Timeline
1/5 found dealer with allocation
1/8 signed agreement and secured production number
1/8 CA submits individual color request
1/19 CA confirms BMW accepted color. Status 111. Provide passport pic, SSN etc for ED approval.
1/20 received ED welcome package in mail!
waiting for ED date approval .......
2/1 confirmation from my CA that my Jun 27th ED date is approved!!!!! He forwarded me the email from ED Specialist in Woodcliff, NJ for good measure
3/8 Received official confirmation letter from ED Supervisor
4/13 called BMW genius - car exited workshop march 1st which I believe is order status 176
6/27 ED pickup at Welt
7/9 ED dropoff in Zurich (Gondrand Intl Ltd in Rumlang, Switzerland)
7/25 car on the Morning Christina which is due to leave Bremerhaven today
8/7 ship arrives in Halifax port ("CAHAL")
8/10 ship arrives at final destination Newark, NJ
DAY 1 Munich
After a few days in London we flew into Munich the day before ED pickup. We decided to stay at the Steigenberger Hotel which was very close to the Welt and was brand new. Nothing fancy but worked for us! I decided to get the Welt museum stuff out of the way today to get it out of the way given tomorrow was a busy day. I went solo while my wife toured Munich. I thought it was worth it given we were nearby but it didn’t wow me.
We used the great complimentary Sixt car service from airport to hotel.
DAY 2 (175km)
ED day has arrived! The delivery time was 940am but we got there early and they were able to move it up 10-15mins. This reduced our rush making the 1145am factory tour and allowed time to run down and get complimentary keychain and safety vests. The whole process was seamless from luggage check-in to documentation processing etc. We met a few other eager customers and it was fun comparing notes on build specs, the agony of waiting …
We took delivery and drove the car to complimentary underground garage and did a pretty packed factory tour and really enjoyed it – strongly recommended!
A few 1st looks - love at first sight!
I don't remember a damn thing the tech said that day
I am thrilled with the choice of Cohiba extended interior
We were then off to Salzburg in the pouring rain. The drive was pretty straightforward (other than having first 6MT in 14yrs…) and the roads are of course in amazing condition. Getting the vignette for Austria toll roads once we crossed the border was pretty easy too. We stayed at Hotel Bloberger Hof for 2 nights which was great, affordable and low-stress. The meals were great and there was ample free outdoor parking (gravel lot but no problem). Upgraded to large honeymoon suite with mountain view on second floor. We highly recommend it!
As the day wound down we were pretty exhausted but excited about the days to follow
Day 3-5 Salzberg to Lienz (200km)
We left the car at hotel and took easy public buses in to explore rainy Salzburg – a place neither of us had been to in over 20 years. It is quite beautiful and full of lot’s of history.
Did I mention it was rainy?
If you are already feeling guilty about your caloric intake on the trip, we recommend The Heart of Joy restaurant (Franz-Josef-Straße 3 5020) which is vegetarian/vegan too.
Our original plan was to hit the GrossGlockner en route to Lienz but the webcams showed cold snowy conditions so instead we made a detour to Berchtesgaden back over the Germany border for a day trip.
The next day we drove from Salzburg to Lienz and walked around the town and had dinner. We stayed at the Grand Hotel Lienz which was spectacular.
Our M-Car was pretty pedestrian by local standards...
For those of you who are OCD about parking spaces...
We woke up early and drove up GrossGlockner pass. The weather was great and traffic was initially light but got progressively worse as the day wore on.
A few Vipers (not sure that would be my choice for these tight hairpins but the sure sounded cool!)
I caught up with a handful of BMW factory workers driving down from Germany
Yas Marina Truck?
We drove to other side and then turned around and drove to the Kaiser-Franz Josefs Hohe, had lunch and hiked and easy hike Gamsgrubenweg (1 hour through some mountain tunnels overlooking the glacier). The views were spectacular and it was good to get out and stretch our legs.
After a long day, a quick spray down!
Now we need a good night's sleep before heading south to Italy!
Day 6-8 July 1-3 335kms
(Lienz to Lago di Braies 62kms, Cortina d’Ampezzo 48km, Colle Santa Lucia 28kms, Passo Falzarego 23kms, Passo Gardena 29kms, Ortisei 18kms, Trafoi 127km )
Off to Italy! We got up early and drove to Lago di Braies – a stunningly beautiful lake in the dolomites. It was busy with lots of European families but definitely worth it for scenery alone. We walked around the lake for 2 hours including lots of stops for photos.
Then it was back in the car to Cortina d’Ampezzo for lunch, before hitting several mountain passes. We picked up a hitchhiker while passing through town:
Unfortunately there was a bicycle race (Maratona Dles Dolomites) which closed the first 2 passes that we wanted to drive so we waited an extra 2 hours in Cortina.
There was a nice restaurant and picnic area to wait:
Finally we lined up for the road re-opening - I guess we got the back of the starting grid...
We drove Passo Giau south to Colle Santa Lucia, then headed north to Passo Falzarego, west to Passo Gardena and then over to Ortisei to our hotel. There were tons of bikes on the road post-race which was frustrating but it was exciting to see all the excitement and huge turnout.
Some good 80's Eurotrash on the route which was super-cool!
We stayed at the Hotel Grones which was a good hiking base camp an the rooms/food were great.
We initially parked out front to check in but the underground garage was fantastic.
July 2 – No driving. We spent the day hiking in Ortisei. Took funicular to Furnes and then changed to Seceda. Hiked over to Rif Firenze for lunch outside on beautiful patio, then hiked down the mountain all the way to St. Jakob and then luckily caught a bus back to Ortisei.
July 3 – Morning hike – took funicular up to Furnes and hiked up #5 trail to Rif Brogles (it was closed when we got there). Very few people on the trail, and a good workout being all uphill. Then took #35 to Funicular Resciesa back to Ortisei. Rushing a little since it looked like thunderstorms and didn’t want to get stuck up on the mountain.
Drove to Trafoi (located right at entrance to Stelvio pass). Stopped in Balzano at Walther’s for lunch on way there and parked in underground parking lot at Piazza Walther.
Stayed at Hotel Bella Vista - Lovely hotel with no other English speaking guests.
The parking was outside in a gravel lot but honestly it was no problem.
As the day came to a close, we were exhausted but ready to tackle Stelvio first thing in the morning!
DAY 9-14 (650km)
July 4th-5th (165km) - We were up early @ 6am and left hotel before breakfast to try and drive Stelvio before it got busy. Drove up and over pass and then turned around and drove back to top and parked at Albergo Ristorante Tibet which wasn’t open for breakfast, but we took amazing photos of the Stelvio Pass from the parking lot.
Bike and bus traffic a bit dicey at times
A quick spray down after a long day
Now it was on to Bellagio on Lake Como! We took the ferry from Varenna to Bellagio, which was fairly straightforward but busy. We even saw a tour bus get on the ferry!
We Stayed at Belvedere Hotel for 2 nights which has beautiful but felt the most "american-ized" of all the places we stayed thus far.
We chipped in the EUR50 extra for secure parking in their one space in a private garage! I got some pretty curious looks from guests sunning by the pool as I shoehorned the car down a narrow lane to get there...
It was really hot when we got there so we ate lunch at hotel and then swam in their pool with great view.
The next day we relaxed around Bellagio. We took the passenger ferry to Varenna and then Menaggio and visited the Botanical Gardens (Villa Melzi). We ate at La Fontana restaurant both nights (very gluten free friendly).
Don't judge me!
July 6 (254km) - Swiss Passes Day!!! First up was Gotthard and the weather was great!
Man I wish I had my AA Midpipe exhaust installed before driving these tunnels...
We also drove Tremola (historic cobblestone road that used to be main pass – quite narrow, but fun, had nice views and not busy). If you can spare the time it's a great detour for the visuals alone.
It became foggy and bit rainy for Furka and Grimsel passes, but we still drove them and enjoyed it!
We stopped for lunch then tried to find a gas station in Obergoms.
Exhausted, we parked the car at Hotel Belvedere in Grindelwald where we were staying for 2 nights and didn’t drive again until Sunday.
July 7 - We hiked in Grindelwald from our hotel to Mannlichen, via Holenstein. Heading up to Holenstein we didn’t see any other hikers – trail was through residential streets for first bit. It was a really nice trail with stations along the way but we took the funicular down to get a good view (and save our shins). We walked through the town afterwards and then went to evening meet and greet with hotel owners.
Swiss precision
July 8 (200km) – Up early to take first funicular up to top of the mountain for a stunning view of several mountain peaks.
We did an easy 1 hour walk to Bachalpsee Lake. Was a bit breezy when we first got there and we couldn’t see the reflection of the alps in the lake, but after about ½ hour we saw it. Good thing we went early since when we took the funicular down around 11:30am there was a huge line.
We then drove to Zurich via Susten Pass and Luzern. Lots of bikers out for Sunday drive. Beautiful views – glad we had option to do it today instead of Friday when the weather was bad. We stopped in Lucern to see a bit of the town (especially the famous bridge) and parked underground in the Bahnhofparking lot (train station).
It was a perfect location for a quick stroll around the historic area.
Then we drove to Zurich, our final stop and stayed at the Widder Hotel for 4 nights. It is in a perfect old town location, but a little tricky for driving and expensive parking. Luckily we returned the car the next day so only parked for one night (parking 44CHF).
July 9 Monday – Today we drove to Stein am Rhine since we wanted to get out of Zurich fairly early to be prepared to return the car at 4pm (our pre-arranged return time) and the location for drop-off was north of the city. We had a hard time finding a car wash that wasn’t a drive in, and ended up using a spray but didn’t work well.
It was fairly hard to find the drop-off location and the parking lot was difficult to get into. Seemed totally in the middle of nowhere in nondescript office building, although actual drop off process was pretty straight forward! We took the bus from there to Rumlang train station and then easily caught the train back to downtown Zurich. It felt pretty weird not having the car - like losing your wallet!
Final Resting place and odometer reading
We stayed in Zurich another 2 days and really enjoyed the city. We highly recommend going up to the Viadukt area – we did free walking tour there (West Zurich) and found it quite enjoyable.
Well that's it! I hope you enjoyed reading this journal - feel free to message me if you have any specific questions. I didn't dwell on this part but my wife is gluten-free (Celiac) so eating abroad is a pain so happy to answer any of those q's too.