M3 Euro Grand Driving Tour, or two guys and a car

[E92 M Sport]

Awesome adventure. Ty for sharing. How did the car ride on those cobblestones?

[raysspl]

What an awesome ED experience! Thank you for sharing. Maybe I missed it, but what type of blue is that? Mexico, Miami, or Yas?

[________]

Originally Posted by raysspl

What an awesome ED experience! Thank you for sharing. Maybe I missed it, but what type of blue is that? Mexico, Miami, or Yas?

Lol

[Curt2000]

Reminds me of my Santorini ED! Looks like an awesome trip! Do you come out to the National Capitol CCA meets?

[adc]

Originally Posted by E92 M Sport

Awesome adventure. Ty for sharing. How did the car ride on those cobblestones?

On comfort setting, anything above 40 mph was seamless. But it wasn’t a speed contest, we were just soaking in the atmospheric vibe, like we were taking a trip in history with all the long gone drivers cheering us on. It was unusual, unexpected and truly a gift.

Originally Posted by raysspl

What an awesome ED experience! Thank you for sharing. Maybe I missed it, but what type of blue is that? Mexico, Miami, or Yas?

Santorini Individual.

Originally Posted by Curt2000

Reminds me of my Santorini ED! Looks like an awesome trip! Do you come out to the National Capitol CCA meets?

Nice! I didn’t come for some reason, but I will.

I do cars and coffee at Katie’s, and track days. Going to VIR in November.

[joegie]

great journey and stunning car, if you need a travel buddy for next ED let me know

[m3rxn]

Great post, thanks for sharing

[zamboni]

Thanks for sharing awesome trip.

[mmmmQuattro]

awesome trip.
I can't believe you basically drove from the factory to jam park next to that minibus

[Just a 3]

What an amazing, amazing essay. Beautifully written, lots of wonderful pictures and what a beauty of a color for the M3.

Going through your journal made me feel I was right there with you guys, experiencing this dream trip you undertook. Thank you very, very much.

AWESOME

[duky]

Thanks for sharing your journey with us all! Can't wait to do this in a few years. And hopefully, to your point, it is still an option for delivery for US customers

[gaohaibo317]

Awesome post! By the way how much do you have to pay for the european delivery? I'm wondering how they ship the car back to the US..

[________]

Originally Posted by gaohaibo317

Awesome post! By the way how much do you have to pay for the european delivery? I'm wondering how they ship the car back to the US..

Nothing (sometimes there's a discount for doing euro delivery, so you can buy tickets and go sightseeing there).

They ship the car back the same way they ship a brand new car.

You can only do euro delivery with cars built in Europe (so no X cars, X1-X6, which are built in the US).

[OUGrad05]

A+ thread

[Agent11br]

Really really well-done @adc Thank you for taking the time to put this together!

Bookmarked with several other ED threads for future reference. Your coverage on the iconic passes and the three Italian manufacturers were really helpful for my "to-do" and "not to-do" lists I have.

[caustics]

Awesome trip, thanks for sharing!

[adc]

First off, thank you all for your kind comments, I'm happy I could share our trip with you all.

I have some videos from the Ring, 2 short takes from the 325i VLN car following me in the M3, and a whole lap warts and all with me in the VLN car.

Please bear in mind that both T and I were effectively beginners on the Nordschleife, despite countless laps on the playstation. The video game training definitely helped us orient on the track so at all times we knew where the thing would go next, but that never conveys the sheer scale, the sheer elevation changes, the stupendous bumps, and the traffic variety.

In an organized track day, you are surrounded by people of roughly the same skill level so that keeps the things sane. Not so at a typical Touristenfahrten where the greatest care must be given to passing a slower vehicle: you never know if that driver is even aware of your existence.

As a passer, you sometimes know that the other car is aware, when they move over to make room and blink their turn signals, and the most courteous ones make room for you well in advance of the next corner so as to not mess up your line. I've tried to behave like that because, in the general context, I was slow.

Keep your eyes peeled and you will have an incredible amount of fun there.

First lap in the M3

Second lap in the M3

One of my laps in the VLN car

[saveywil1]

@adc Superb post. I was fortunate enough to be able to take in ED this summer. My wife was none to interested in the likely car shenanigans I would get up to so decided to pass.
This allowed me to link up with my Dad and Brother for the trip.
We followed a very similar path to you, had a hot lap of the ring in an M3 with a pro and took in the museums and sights.

I absolutely agree that it has heightened the sense of bond with the car, I don't think I could get another M without ED!

[dereksM3]

Originally Posted by adc

Thank you.



PM me anytime. We spent 11 days in Europe. Due to race weekend logistics we couldn’t spend 2 days at the Ring, but when we do it again in the future (and we will) then I would definitely spend a whole weekend there.



Very much so. Now granted, 2 dudes have far fewer restrictions in terms of food, lodging and the acceptable level of discomfort on a trip like this compared to if we were taking the families. So we took advantage of that and crammed as much as we could into it.

We weren’t disappointed, and at no time did we think it was too much. On the other hand if it’s your first time in Europe it may make sense to space things out a little more.



First off, it creates a bonding experience with the car that you just don’t get otherwise. At the end of the trip it’s more like a cherished pet than an inanimate object (and no I haven’t named the car).

In previous euro deliveries I’ve had the occasional bumper ding or scratched wheel, mostly due to my careless parking maneuvers. This car has cameras which made parking easy. It’s the first time I’ve dropped off a car without a single scratch on it. If you drive there is the summer and follow cars in front conservatively then you shouldn’t get any road rash, but if you are paranoid about these things you ca always get a clear bra installed locally.

I’d say it can happen, but it’s massively outweighed by the rest of the experience.

Thank you for the amazing reply! I will definitely PM you in the future for additional details. Two weeks sounds to be about the right amount of time to really enjoy the experience.

I forgot to mention Santorini is such a good color on an M3. I actually first seen a similar color on an Audi way back when - Nogaro Blue on a B5 S4 I almost purchased. Really stands out from many of the other colors.

[adc]

More videos, this time some timelapse videos - hope you don't get too dizzy.

First one, Day 2 on the Autobahn enroute to Spa, going by the book with the break-in limits.

This one is the late night run to Munich for the service the next morning.

Here we have a brief scene of the madness that is the top of the Stelvio.

A peaceful scene from Andermatt.

Taking a run at the old Parabolica (literally). So steep, mindblowing.

A snippet of the madness that is the Nurburgring car park.

[adc]

Redelivery was this Saturday, quicker than I expected. The guys at Fairfax outdid themselves, a big shoutout to them!

Interestingly enough, the trunk contained my Euro plates (expected) as well as the paper towels/windshield cleaner bottle that I purchased there (unexpected), and my OBD exhaust valve control module that I had forgotten in the car (completely unexpected).

[VMRWheels]

Wow! What an incredible experience! It's awesome that you timed it in such a way to catch two F1 races and experience all of those amazing roads and attractions! Congrats and enjoy!