Hi all, dropped off and am heading back so thought I'd toss out a few things I've learned, with pics to come once I return.
So some notes on my European Delivery experience ... just ED notes here, more on the car in another post. Caveat: all of this is obvioiusly my opinion based on my experience, YMMV. I am not a travel, ED, or Euro touring expert.
(1.) Arrival in Munich
We arrived in Munich the day before; The MUC airport is small and very managable, but about 1/2 hour from downtown... You can take a train, taxi, or use Sixt which is an awesome way to arrive - really provides a first class experience. Our driver was training to be an airport firefighter and also was into extreme sports - very fun to talk to. As for all the BMW museums, etc many others have covered all of that so I'll skip it. As for hotels, there are lots of German hotels of course, but it's worth noting the hilton has a train station and secure parking.
Recommendations: Hilton hotel, Sixt for airport transfer
(2.) Pick-up
For the second time we selected the earliest time available on our day, 915. This is great as there are few people in the Welt and it's easy to see everything, take pictures, and shop with no crowds. You also leave the Welt right after rush hour (~1030a) but before lunch rush so it makes the first moments in the new car less stressful. This time around I also taped a Mobius to my glasses - looked pretty janky but it worked well, especially for driving ... walking, eh. I also tried my 6D with IS which was ok but if you want a smooth video shot of delivery you probably need a gimbal. We also had the 2-series pace car give us a victory lap out - I was glad we did, pretty hilarious.
Recommendations: early delivery time, pace car victory lap, video gimbal if that's important to you
(3.) Road trip!
Last time we did Munich to Hamburg and back. That was a great trip as it had lots of autobahn driving, lots of German back roads and was, in general, great with the car. This trip I'll break up into each leg:
3a.) Munich - Zurich
Lots of routes you can go, but we took the direct route, stopping back at our hotel first to pack up - even so, we arrived about 5pm. Theres secure underground parking at 20 Beethovenstrasse which is public and very nice / secure. A lot of cars way more expensive than an M4 in there. If you like car spotting find any cafe in town center.
Recommendations: Find a nice underground ramp, Lindt chocolate factory.
3b.) Zurich - Milan
This was the best drive of the trip - lots of mountain passes to dive bomb and, depending on the route you take, you can have them all to yourself. We took a less travelled path southwest towards Interlaken. Originally we were going to take the Furka pass east but it was a beautiful day and there were lots of cars so we opted to back track north on the Grimsel pass and then take the Sustenstrasse east so we could use the Gotthard tunnel - it was beautiful and very few cars. I was able to push the car a bit and get a comparitive sense of it versus the E93 - more on that in another post. Needless to say, the scenery was insane. Cows with frickin bells next to fresh black-topped roads. And the Swiss loved the car; color (moonstone) vs car questions were about 50-50.
Recommendation: drive mountain passes in Switzerland! You can take famous roads but taking the not-so-known roads will give you sports opportunities in the best scenery in the World.
Recommendation #2: We had warm weather, but it was 40s / 50s in the mountain passes ... get snows if you're Nov-spring.
3b.i) Lugano
Just don't do it. It's a trap, you'll never get out, and it's nothing compared to the lake roads. GPS, google maps, Via Michelin .... Lugano laughs at such tools. Lugano: if you don't know where you're going, what are you doing here? At one point I was driving on a sidewalk (technically a road) with 8' stone walls on both sides - I had to retract the mirrors and just prayed it would let me out somehow. It did, but that's the worst 15 minutes of driving I've ever had.
Recommendation: do not drive in Italy, and whatever you do, do NOT drive in Lugano.
3b.ii) Milan
Driving into Milan is easy, driving IN Milan is asking for trouble. If you're not familiar with the roads you will need to break the law and you'll likely be almost hit about 1000 times. If this worries you in a new car avoid the inner-city. That said, Milan is awesome.
Recommendation: don't drive inner-city and secure parking is challenging - do your homework ahead of time
3c.) Milan - Nice
Sorry Italy, but you're no Germany or Switzerland when it comes to roads. Both my wife and I were counting the Ks to the France border. I likely will not drive an ED car in Italy ever again.
Recommendation: do not drive your ED car in Italy
3c.i) Italian Riveria
The tunnels. OMG the tunnels. Tunnel, tunnel, tunnel vision. The idea of driving a convertible along the Italian coast to the French Riviera sounds awesome! The reality? Not so much. An un-ending series of tunnels next to semis for 3 hours. In a few places one tunnel would end and another would start within 5 car lengths.
Recommendation: Italy is best seen by rail or in a rental car
3c.ii) Nice
Great walkable city, fairly easy to drive into and out of. Lots of traffic, but if Chicago or San Francisco doesn't scare you neither will Nice. There's a public secure ramp that's spotless at the corner of Rue du Congres and Prom des Anglais - lots of spendy cars in there and many spots on the lower floors are singles so no worries about door dings
Recommendation: park in the Rue d. Congres ramp, lock up, and don't return until you leave town
3c.iii) Monaco
Take the train in, driving it would be tough, although not as bad as Milan and nothing is as bad as Lugano except a head-on crash. Lots of car stuff in this town: Grand Prix obviously, but also the Prince's car collection which has all kinds of cool stuff: F1 cars, motorcycles, etc.
Recommendation: take the express train from Nice (the bus takes longer), plan on a day if you want to see the sights and the car museum. Baller note: you can take a helicopter too - a limo picks you up at your hotel and the ride is 7 minutes. (I didn't do it, but others say it's worth it albeit spendy at ~$120/person)
3d.) Nice - Geneva
Originally we planned to take the Route de Napoleon (where they did the launch) but dedicded to go through Provence instead. Great scenery, but this is the time to note that while neither of us would do it differently, the miles started grinding at about this point. Lots of crazy stuff happened as you'd see on any road trip, like getting passed by a neon green Lambo that had to have been doing 150mph.
Recommendation: take the Route de Napoleon unless Provence has special allure to you
3e.) Geneva to Belgium
For this part we mirrored the Route de Vin, crossing through many of the towns. That was smart because traffic can be like Napa or any other bucolic-touristy place in the World. Driving around Lake Geneva was awesome - everything Lugano wasn't - and the transition from the French Alps to Swiss to Vosges wine country was awesome.
Recommendation: take this lesser discussed drive if you're looking for a romantic country cruise
3e.i) Belgium
If you like Chocolate, beer, mustard, coffee, and bakery products Belgium is a must stop; however apparently the Germans show up on the weekends and eat all of the eggs.
(4.) Paris Drop-off
Great place to drop off - car wash is right around the corner, if you need a hotel at the airport there are lots and the Hilton has a great public ramp that's very secure if you need a place to park to travel into the city before drop-off
Random Notes:
* Credit cards - unless you have a chip-n-PIN credit card you're going to have some trouble at various gas stations, parking ramps, and other small merchants. Bring a lot of Euros (or Swiss Francs) and be prepared for your cards not to work. Larger stores and merchants where a signature is possible work fine, but automated card machines are a no-go.
* DCT Neutral issue - the car-goes-into-neutral problem is HUGE. Many a new Bimmer will be crashed and/or damaged because of this horrific change. Multiple valets left my car in neutral - luckily I was able to avoid almost all of them, but don't trust your car with anybody or even yourself. Shutting off the car after reversing is going to cost insurance companies millions. Pull the brake EVERY TIME.
* Tolls - If you drive a lot of miles expect to pay a LOT in tolls - we probably spend 200+ with some stretches costing $20 or more. You may not be able to use credit cards (see chip-n-pin) so have the cash ready and always use the cash lanes
* Gas - there were a few stretches where gas was hard to find. In the e93 it would've gotten critical, but with greater range is only mildly worrisome. At one point we had to stop at an "exclusive" which is a toll exit with a single pump just sitting by the toll booth. If need to use it, go really slow because if you miss it you can't go back. My delivery specialist said to use 95 and that there was very little benefit to using 98 or above - so that's what I did with no problems.
* Speeding - I did quite a bit of speeding, but I used the same rules as I apply in the US: always use a rabbit or 2, watch the ramps, watch for brake lights, etc etc. I did see a few traps and a few pull overs, but nothing close to me. That said, I did get flashed in Switzerland when I was in a small town more worried about the directions than my speed. DOH!
So some notes on my European Delivery experience ... just ED notes here, more on the car in another post. Caveat: all of this is obvioiusly my opinion based on my experience, YMMV. I am not a travel, ED, or Euro touring expert.
(1.) Arrival in Munich
We arrived in Munich the day before; The MUC airport is small and very managable, but about 1/2 hour from downtown... You can take a train, taxi, or use Sixt which is an awesome way to arrive - really provides a first class experience. Our driver was training to be an airport firefighter and also was into extreme sports - very fun to talk to. As for all the BMW museums, etc many others have covered all of that so I'll skip it. As for hotels, there are lots of German hotels of course, but it's worth noting the hilton has a train station and secure parking.
Recommendations: Hilton hotel, Sixt for airport transfer
(2.) Pick-up
For the second time we selected the earliest time available on our day, 915. This is great as there are few people in the Welt and it's easy to see everything, take pictures, and shop with no crowds. You also leave the Welt right after rush hour (~1030a) but before lunch rush so it makes the first moments in the new car less stressful. This time around I also taped a Mobius to my glasses - looked pretty janky but it worked well, especially for driving ... walking, eh. I also tried my 6D with IS which was ok but if you want a smooth video shot of delivery you probably need a gimbal. We also had the 2-series pace car give us a victory lap out - I was glad we did, pretty hilarious.
Recommendations: early delivery time, pace car victory lap, video gimbal if that's important to you
(3.) Road trip!
Last time we did Munich to Hamburg and back. That was a great trip as it had lots of autobahn driving, lots of German back roads and was, in general, great with the car. This trip I'll break up into each leg:
3a.) Munich - Zurich
Lots of routes you can go, but we took the direct route, stopping back at our hotel first to pack up - even so, we arrived about 5pm. Theres secure underground parking at 20 Beethovenstrasse which is public and very nice / secure. A lot of cars way more expensive than an M4 in there. If you like car spotting find any cafe in town center.
Recommendations: Find a nice underground ramp, Lindt chocolate factory.
3b.) Zurich - Milan
This was the best drive of the trip - lots of mountain passes to dive bomb and, depending on the route you take, you can have them all to yourself. We took a less travelled path southwest towards Interlaken. Originally we were going to take the Furka pass east but it was a beautiful day and there were lots of cars so we opted to back track north on the Grimsel pass and then take the Sustenstrasse east so we could use the Gotthard tunnel - it was beautiful and very few cars. I was able to push the car a bit and get a comparitive sense of it versus the E93 - more on that in another post. Needless to say, the scenery was insane. Cows with frickin bells next to fresh black-topped roads. And the Swiss loved the car; color (moonstone) vs car questions were about 50-50.
Recommendation: drive mountain passes in Switzerland! You can take famous roads but taking the not-so-known roads will give you sports opportunities in the best scenery in the World.
Recommendation #2: We had warm weather, but it was 40s / 50s in the mountain passes ... get snows if you're Nov-spring.
3b.i) Lugano
Just don't do it. It's a trap, you'll never get out, and it's nothing compared to the lake roads. GPS, google maps, Via Michelin .... Lugano laughs at such tools. Lugano: if you don't know where you're going, what are you doing here? At one point I was driving on a sidewalk (technically a road) with 8' stone walls on both sides - I had to retract the mirrors and just prayed it would let me out somehow. It did, but that's the worst 15 minutes of driving I've ever had.
Recommendation: do not drive in Italy, and whatever you do, do NOT drive in Lugano.
3b.ii) Milan
Driving into Milan is easy, driving IN Milan is asking for trouble. If you're not familiar with the roads you will need to break the law and you'll likely be almost hit about 1000 times. If this worries you in a new car avoid the inner-city. That said, Milan is awesome.
Recommendation: don't drive inner-city and secure parking is challenging - do your homework ahead of time
3c.) Milan - Nice
Sorry Italy, but you're no Germany or Switzerland when it comes to roads. Both my wife and I were counting the Ks to the France border. I likely will not drive an ED car in Italy ever again.
Recommendation: do not drive your ED car in Italy
3c.i) Italian Riveria
The tunnels. OMG the tunnels. Tunnel, tunnel, tunnel vision. The idea of driving a convertible along the Italian coast to the French Riviera sounds awesome! The reality? Not so much. An un-ending series of tunnels next to semis for 3 hours. In a few places one tunnel would end and another would start within 5 car lengths.
Recommendation: Italy is best seen by rail or in a rental car
3c.ii) Nice
Great walkable city, fairly easy to drive into and out of. Lots of traffic, but if Chicago or San Francisco doesn't scare you neither will Nice. There's a public secure ramp that's spotless at the corner of Rue du Congres and Prom des Anglais - lots of spendy cars in there and many spots on the lower floors are singles so no worries about door dings
Recommendation: park in the Rue d. Congres ramp, lock up, and don't return until you leave town
3c.iii) Monaco
Take the train in, driving it would be tough, although not as bad as Milan and nothing is as bad as Lugano except a head-on crash. Lots of car stuff in this town: Grand Prix obviously, but also the Prince's car collection which has all kinds of cool stuff: F1 cars, motorcycles, etc.
Recommendation: take the express train from Nice (the bus takes longer), plan on a day if you want to see the sights and the car museum. Baller note: you can take a helicopter too - a limo picks you up at your hotel and the ride is 7 minutes. (I didn't do it, but others say it's worth it albeit spendy at ~$120/person)
3d.) Nice - Geneva
Originally we planned to take the Route de Napoleon (where they did the launch) but dedicded to go through Provence instead. Great scenery, but this is the time to note that while neither of us would do it differently, the miles started grinding at about this point. Lots of crazy stuff happened as you'd see on any road trip, like getting passed by a neon green Lambo that had to have been doing 150mph.
Recommendation: take the Route de Napoleon unless Provence has special allure to you
3e.) Geneva to Belgium
For this part we mirrored the Route de Vin, crossing through many of the towns. That was smart because traffic can be like Napa or any other bucolic-touristy place in the World. Driving around Lake Geneva was awesome - everything Lugano wasn't - and the transition from the French Alps to Swiss to Vosges wine country was awesome.
Recommendation: take this lesser discussed drive if you're looking for a romantic country cruise
3e.i) Belgium
If you like Chocolate, beer, mustard, coffee, and bakery products Belgium is a must stop; however apparently the Germans show up on the weekends and eat all of the eggs.
(4.) Paris Drop-off
Great place to drop off - car wash is right around the corner, if you need a hotel at the airport there are lots and the Hilton has a great public ramp that's very secure if you need a place to park to travel into the city before drop-off
Random Notes:
* Credit cards - unless you have a chip-n-PIN credit card you're going to have some trouble at various gas stations, parking ramps, and other small merchants. Bring a lot of Euros (or Swiss Francs) and be prepared for your cards not to work. Larger stores and merchants where a signature is possible work fine, but automated card machines are a no-go.
* DCT Neutral issue - the car-goes-into-neutral problem is HUGE. Many a new Bimmer will be crashed and/or damaged because of this horrific change. Multiple valets left my car in neutral - luckily I was able to avoid almost all of them, but don't trust your car with anybody or even yourself. Shutting off the car after reversing is going to cost insurance companies millions. Pull the brake EVERY TIME.
* Tolls - If you drive a lot of miles expect to pay a LOT in tolls - we probably spend 200+ with some stretches costing $20 or more. You may not be able to use credit cards (see chip-n-pin) so have the cash ready and always use the cash lanes
* Gas - there were a few stretches where gas was hard to find. In the e93 it would've gotten critical, but with greater range is only mildly worrisome. At one point we had to stop at an "exclusive" which is a toll exit with a single pump just sitting by the toll booth. If need to use it, go really slow because if you miss it you can't go back. My delivery specialist said to use 95 and that there was very little benefit to using 98 or above - so that's what I did with no problems.
* Speeding - I did quite a bit of speeding, but I used the same rules as I apply in the US: always use a rabbit or 2, watch the ramps, watch for brake lights, etc etc. I did see a few traps and a few pull overs, but nothing close to me. That said, I did get flashed in Switzerland when I was in a small town more worried about the directions than my speed. DOH!
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire