2011.75 Interlagos Blue M-Individual Interior Euro Delivery Report Journal

[ssabripo]

After many months of planning, coordinating, and decision making, and with close coordination with both David Aviles and The good folks of BMW M-Individual GmbH, the delivery of my dream M3 sedan has been completed. Hope you guys enjoy this quick report

Planning stages
For over a year now, I've been mauling over the purchase of an M3 sedan, since having a family with 2 kids and a very demanding job have reduced the amount of time I can actually spend on the track, I decided that an e90 M3 sedan would be the best fit for my needs.

It provides:

• 4 doors yet a very aggressive sporty look
• M driving dynamics thru and thru
• that S65 glorious engine
• likelihood of not seeing a F3X sedan, at least any time soon

Once these requirements where analyzed, the next decision was the colors.... and no other color, IMHO, symbolizes the M dna more than interlagos blue, thus an easy choice for an exterior. I considered Monte Carlo blue very closely, but decided to invest the money in the interior instead. For over a decade, i've been fascinated by well done two-tone interiors in luxury sports coupes/saloons, and the blue two-tone on the e39 M5 was one for the ages.

Thus, I contacted M-individual GmbH, and thanks to the hard work and help of the likes of Christine Fleischer, David Aviles, and a few other folks, we started the process of deciding which interior combination would make the car have that unique touch. After several iterations, including some photoshop ideas, I settled on an interior that would be quite unique for a e90 M3 sedan.

Here with Christine Fleischer and Matt Russell:



The order was put thru late 2010, for a delivery in spring of 2011.

Arrival in Munich, M-individual

The planned trip started with a red-eye flight arrival to Munich on 5/11. From there, we went directly to the M facility in Munich, and visited with Christine, and looked around some of the goodies out there.




No pictures where allowed in the premises, but I took this one without permission... Yes, I did see an M5, an M6 coupe and convertible, a Valencia M3 with a Valencia 1M side by side, and a few other goodies I cannot speak of


We had the pleasure of looking at some of the few goodies available thru M-individual, as well as looking at some of the limited edition cars such as the GTS M3 and the original e38 7-series M individual:





if it was only available here in the US...oh well




After the tour, we went to our hotel, dropped off the luggage, and headed to enjoy our lone day in Munich...visits to the Marienplatz, Hofbrahaus, and a few good eateries around town! Next time you guys are there, you HAVE to try Hugo's italian lounge: amazing!






Delivery at Welt Center, 5/12

the next morning, was time to get up, and go to the BMW Welt Center to take delivery of the beast. We arrived at 9:00am, and headed to the lounge to sign all the paperwork and wait for the M3 to be finally delivered.

the valencia orange 1M was beautiful and very aggressive:




pictures don't do Hellrot Red justice...it is a STUNNING red color, and likely my next color for an M:




the "long" wait for the car:




FINALLY! She is here:





Proud new owner:



first sit down....whoa!




the M-individual two tone interior... fox red/black novillo with contrast stitching:






the Man who delivered our car, Bernard Hausmaniger... not kidding!




first drive, the victory lap around the welt center:



well, there she was...finally got her, and it was all I expected and more. We put our luggage in the car, filled her up with Gas, and on we went to our 1st stop on the journey from Munich: The castles of Fussen!

[ssabripo]

Fussen, and the castles

After the delivery, we headed towards Fussen and to our hotel (Best in town in terms of view and price, IMO), Hotel Mueller! It was a rainy day unfortunately, but it didn't make a difference...the car drove immaculately, and the scenery was astounding!



official "bimmerfest" pic location:


Checked into the hotel, got some lunch, and then onto the castles...nice 10min walk to the Hohenschwangau was first:



the view was spectacular:



After a tour, it was time to head to the main attraction in town.... the Neuschwanstein castle:



the bridge view was amazing, and the waterfall beneath it was beauty at its best:


is there a more beautiful place on earth?


the next morning was time to say goodbye to Fussen and our hotel:


and onto the highlight of the trip.....

...The Klausenpass

what else can I say here. Last time I did the Stelvio Pass and I thought I had seen it all, but words cannot describe how beautiful the ride towards Luzern via the Klausenpass really is.

I will let the pics do the talking:

approaching the initial decent close to linthau:




initial climbing stage:




Middle of the climb.... most magnificent place on earth I've been to! Holy GOD!






after a nice lunch break/picnic on the flowers, breathing the alpine air and hearing nothing but a light wind and cowbells, in a crisp and magestic 56deg F weather, we proceeded to go up:

words cannot describe this:



somewhat cheesy pic my wife took, but I was just taking it all in...we were about 1000ft from the top:




to really capture the essence of where this spot was, I had to make a video...it's short, but it will give you an idea of the magnificence of this place:

continued onto the top of the mountain...just amazing



finally reached the top of the Klausenpass:

[ssabripo]

Klausenpass (continued) towards Luzern

The way down was just as beautiful on the western side:





Once in Luzern, we checked in our Hotel (Hotel Des Alps), and got a room with this view:


Luzern was a very nice city, with a quaint old section and a superb lake:






Black Forest (route 500) to Baden-Baden

For those of you driving in Germany only, or want to see the real side of the Bavarian countryside, this road is a must:



It was a gorgeous drive, with lots of twisties where I pushed the car a little (keeping it within it's pre-1200 mile guidelines of course ):



On our way, we stopped at the "clock" village of Germany, and we saw a caravan of these beauties enjoying a nice weekend joy ride:


they don't call it the black forest for nothing:



getting close to Baden-Baden, after a 5 hour ride:

[ssabripo]

Baden-Baden

We arrived at our hotel, Hotel Aqua Aurelia, and it was nothing short of spectacular!



you can see the thermal spa behind our hotel, with a tunnel walk directly to it!


at the spa:



not many pictures here, as it was just a chill time to enjoy the natural thermal spa, but it was a very quaint town...my favorite thus far in germany:




after a second morning spa threatment, we headed towards Reims, the champagne region in France:

Reims (fra), and then Dropoff in Paris:

we stayed in this beautiful B&B in Lavanne, outside Reims:



beautiful little bed and breakfast:



I was resting, and wifey took a pic...she got the car in the background:


little garden in the backyard:


quaint little room:


TT Transit dropoff in Paris:

well, the journey ended after 889 miles, at the TT transit dropoff at Charles De Gaule airport:


little dirty, but some final shots:

[Brosef]

cool story bro. would have been better if you had just waited til you could provide pics.

[PKL]

mmmmmmm Individual

[mkoesel]

Can you at least describe the interior? I feel a bit led on...

Anyway, I do remember your past posts and threads about planning this purchase, so congratulations for seeing it through to the end. I'm sure you will have a lot of fun with the car.

[mdosu]

congrats, not digging the two tone FR with Black, but I do dig the contrast stitching.

[Crazy Bimmer]

Excellent pictures! I had a huge smile reading through this.

Today is my car's anniversary. 2 year exactly since the day I picked up my IB sedan at the Welt. Time goes by so fast.

[chmura]

Congrats on your new e90!

I am about to order a e90 M3 via ED in a day or so!

[greycrx87]

very nice photos, congrats on the new car

[snowboarder]

the nicest post here ever! Great photos and story, very happy for you guys!

Andrew

[punksterz626]

congrats. Beautiful family and car.

[rbk1115]

Congrats on the ED! Great pictures too!

Can you list what the individual options you got on the car were? Was it just the interior and steering wheel? BMW does offer a FR/Black interior options, but yours is different.

[H2C]

nice pics, looking forward to seeing more.

[SIIK2NR]

Thanks for sharing.... Nice pics.

[ssabripo]

Originally Posted by rbk1115

Congrats on the ED! Great pictures too!

Can you list what the individual options you got on the car were? Was it just the interior and steering wheel? BMW does offer a FR/Black interior options, but yours is different.

The individual consisted of:
- all red middle (headrests, back, seating, thigh support)
- contrast stitching
- two-tone steering wheel
- red shifter (not pictured...it was not done in time, but will be sent out post-mortum)

[dave70]

Great photos - you look like a very happy couple !! Congrats

[ssabripo]

Originally Posted by dave70

Great photos - you look like a very happy couple !! Congrats

thank you.

it was a great time!

[Navin323i]

Fantastic thread and beautiful pics!! You and your wife make a beautiful couple.

Some of the pics you posted of the mountainous areas reminded me a bit of India (where my parents are from) where mountain (hill station) resorts are quite popular.

Navin

[ssabripo]

Originally Posted by Navin323i

Fantastic thread and beautiful pics!! You and your wife make a beautiful couple.

Some of the pics you posted of the mountainous areas reminded me a bit of India (where my parents are from) where mountain (hill station) resorts are quite popular.

Navin

thank you. Yes, we had a wonderful time.


I've gotten a couple of PM's regarding high res pics. If anyone is interested, just post which one, and I'll try to upload a 1900x1200 version.

[SamS]

Wow! Just wow! Thanks for sharing the nice write up and wonderful pics.

I'm going for ED in October, your write up makes the wait unbearable!