MY18 Avus Blue F80 ZCP - Order Timeline and ED Journal

[adc]

Very nicely done, congrats!

[Spritztour]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

Awesome ED photos. Thanks for taking us along!

Great that you got to drive Sella Passo. (ie: Passo Giau, Passo Falzarego and Passo Gardena). I never tire of visiting the Sella area. Yes, Sella Pass does close for the "Giro" Italian bicycle race. Same with Stelvio Pass in June.

Btw... Stelvio(and most other Alpine Passes) open up in June and close around October or when the first major snow falls. It takes until June for most of the snow to melt from the winter months!


When you were at the top of Stelvio... did you grab a wurst at Richard's wurst stand? He's the best!! He's been selling brats for over 52 years there, since he was a kid!

Richard is the guy on the left with the Tiroler type hat...
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Stelvio is great...used to take trips from my hometown Zurich to drive the Pass. Great pics and great car. Congrats!

[cfm56d7b]

Having had zero opportunities in the past to enjoy ED experience, I love reading these journals. Congratulations! The car is phenomenal and so was the trip.

[Batang.Gapo]

Awesome!

[///M TOWN]

Wunderbar.

Congratulations!

[ZHPsedan]

Love the spec you have chosen. Would like to see more pics of the seats.

[lab_rat]

What a beautifully spec'd car, and a wonderful ED trip. Pictures and journals such as yours are very motivational to complete my own ED delivery/tour. It all equates to a larger-than-life event IMO. Thanks for sharing!

[Fugly M3]

Originally Posted by zorrro

Thanks all! Ugh still need to upload the rest of the trip ... hopefully soon.

@kief do you want to buy your winter wheels back? Special price

OP, please provide details on the trim piece below the rocker panel...is that protective?

[EL Jeffe 5]

Congrats Thanks for posting

[positiveions]

Congrats. Thanks for the detail write-up.

[phillycx]

I would like to echo the sentiment of those above. Excellent spec, write-up and pics. I actually look forward to others ED experiences and this one did not disappoint.

[KevinM]

Great car and trip! I always love reading Euro delivery posts - I get to re-live the experience. Congratulations on ordering the MT!

[The English Guy]

can't beat cohiba

[Suave]

Very well done on trip and Build. Never gets old reading about the great trips. Thanks for sharing.

[Ghostriderf80]

Originally Posted by zorrro

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!

Why manual? The giant head is in your hand lol... very retro man. I bet the porsches had smooth DCT boxes. Very nice choice of hotels I must say. Will have to visit this weekend.

[GaoKS]

Absolutely love these write ups. Beautiful car and amazing trip! ED is a dream of mine, been to Europe many times but being able to pick up a new car and drive it there and experience it all would be surreal. Not sure how I would feel about gravel though.. I can feel my OCD just thinking about it. Oh and driving in Italy, you're a brave man. Italian roads/drivers are nuts IME.

[Fugly M3]

Originally Posted by GaoKS

Absolutely love these write ups. Beautiful car and amazing trip! ED is a dream of mine, been to Europe many times but being able to pick up a new car and drive it there and experience it all would be surreal. Not sure how I would feel about gravel though.. I can feel my OCD just thinking about it. Oh and driving in Italy, you're a brave man. Italian roads/drivers are nuts IME.

Do it! As long as you stay up in the Alps/Lakes region, Italy isn't bad...get down to the Riviera but don't stop to stay overnight until Monaco...you'll be fine in a garage there too. Venture down into the boot...good luck to you.

[Kwando]

Great write up and pics! I did my ED last June and we can't wait to go back! My wife sounds more excited to do another trip than I am.

[zorrro]

Originally Posted by Kwando

Great write up and pics! I did my ED last June and we can't wait to go back! My wife sounds more excited to do another trip than I am.

Thanks! I have been slacking off doing the final uploads but hope to do so soon.

PS - I see you are from London ONT. I'm a UWO and Ivey grad!

[zorrro]

FINALLY! I just completed the final few legs of the ED trip journal on page 1 - warning it's pic-heavy!

Here are my top 3 of the trip







Enjoy!

[Wolfmanica]

Hi. Great write up and illustrations on your experience. I currently have a 2017 M4 Convertible. I will be doing another M4 Convertible 2020. The cars seem similar or the same. However, I am exited about the ED experience. I contacted my local BMW dealer and got similar payments to my current M4. I will pick it up in October. Maybe catch October Fest! Any suggestions will be appreciated.

FL

[zorrro]

Originally Posted by Wolfmanica

Hi. Great write up and illustrations on your experience. I currently have a 2017 M4 Convertible. I will be doing another M4 Convertible 2020. The cars seem similar or the same. However, I am exited about the ED experience. I contacted my local BMW dealer and got similar payments to my current M4. I will pick it up in October. Maybe catch October Fest! Any suggestions will be appreciated.

FL

Thanks!

When in October are you considering? One thing to note is that after oct 15th, all-season or winter tires are required:

https://www.bmwusa.com/european-delivery.html