17 Day 1700 Mile European Delivery

[MLife168]

Originally Posted by boarchicken

when you received your m3 from customs did it still have the euro plate on it?

Yup, I still have them on the car. I ran with Euro plates while I was waiting for my AZ plate. Now the rear plate is partially covered by the AZ plate.


One week after I got the car back, drove 500+ miles each way to Pagosa Springs for a BMW meet.

Originally Posted by 03BeastCharmer

Nice trip. I wish we had been able to spend more time on our trip. We did go to the ring and Innsbruck as well. I have a similar pic of the jelly fish thing and crystal room. Both were really hard to try and photograph with a flash. The crystal room could not be photographed with a flash.

Great memories, and with time you will forget about the 11 week re-delivery wait.

Nice! Yea flash doesn't work in those rooms. LOL I forgot all about the 11 weeks when I took redelivery. I was actually in the middle of the Nurburgring part of the write up when I took redelivery. Since then I was either working on the car, detailing it, going on drives or car meets. Haha. Finally got around to finishing the write up last week.

Originally Posted by DMH-01

Very cool trip, enjoy the motor

Originally Posted by ///MBDriver

I thought there was something very familiar about this, and then your post to the http://drive4corners.com/" rel="ugc" target="_blank">http://<a href="http://drive4corners...rners.com/</a>" rel="ugc" target="_blank">http://<a href="http://<a href="http...s.com/</a></a> site confirmed it. I was the other LMB E92 in Pagosa.

Nice write up and reminded me of my last visit back in 08.

Hopefully you can make it for the next D4C.

Auf Wiedersehen

Haha, yea I remember meeting you. I should be attending next year's Drive 4 Corners.

Originally Posted by dreamspeed

Very nice !

[MLife168]

Originally Posted by khanyam3

Congratulation, I hope one day there is euro delivery in-store for me in my life.

Thanks. I hope you get a chance to do it yourself. It's such a great experience and I feel very fortunate to be able to do it.

Originally Posted by robbie211

This is the best Euro Delivery thread yet. Very detailed! A great read!

Originally Posted by Raja Ventureshield

great story. Love all the pix and the m3. :-)

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Nang Vann

Nice! Love the pics, man it felt like I went on an adventure.

Congrats on your new car

Thanks. I was hoping to give the reader a first hand experience.

[MLife168]

Originally Posted by dimabimmer

wow!
that is one great story!
absolutely Epic!

and this shot of your M3 ZCP on track is priceless and should be a Wall Poster!

Thanks. Haha yup, already looking to blow up the pic and frame it.

Originally Posted by s!ke

Wait did you paint it frozen blue?

Originally Posted by Snig

Nice!

Originally Posted by Snig

TEMPORARY PAINT PROTECTION.

Thanks, yup temporary paint protection. The pic I just posted up in a response (taken at Pagosa Springs) has TPP on the car too. The fender, part of the sideskirt and side of the rear bumper looks darker. Gives it a frozen look.

[MLife168]

Originally Posted by Staszek

Awesome trip!! I know what you mean about the Ring, I barely wait all trip, I did mine at the end too.

Thanks. Yea the ring was amazing, but the whole experience was awesome as well.

Originally Posted by positiveions

Congrats buddy.

I see you watch Rick Steve's "Europe Destination" which has a plethora of information.

Thanks. Yea lots of info, too bad he's really boring. LOL

Originally Posted by BMW135iAW

What color is the exterior? Its magnificent!!

Thanks! It's LeMans Blue Metallic.

Originally Posted by Murph335

Fellow desert dweller! Nice write up and we'll done pics!

Did you get a peek at a boosted m3??

Thanks, unfortunately no.

Originally Posted by DrivenByE30

Awesome Job ! EPIC Travel ! I am very happy for you, realize a dream, get Your CAR ! and have your girl with you the whole time !



I have to go back and watch some more, first page is taking so long to load LOL

Haha. Thanks. M3 had been a dream car of mine for a long time and being able to do ED is just icing on the cake!

[MLife168]

Originally Posted by mxa121

nice write up!

Originally Posted by rayg

Amazing post. Your car is gorgeous, the e92 m3 is one of the sexiest cars I've ever seen and it will go down as one of the best looking cars BMW has ever designed. Great photos and descriptions of your trip too, I absolutely love Europe and haven't been to Germany yet so it was pretty cool lively vicariously through your trip.

I do need to ask though...$15 is the most expensive taxi you've ever taken?!

Thanks! Hopefully you'll get a chance to go back and visit Germany. Autobahn with no speed limit is awesome to drive on.

No, $15 isn't the most expensive cab ride. But $15 for less then 5 minutes makes it the most expensive in terms of $/mile/time. I mean even a 15-20 minute ride in a black car in Manhattan cost like around $30.

Originally Posted by SJ00

nice tour, looks like you had an amazing time

btw, the Korean restaurant is more like Chinese style Korean food called Cchamppong/JjaJangmyun. definitely not traditional Korean, but Korean food nonetheless

Thanks. I've had Chinese style Korean food and traditional Korean food. This was really neither. More like bad Korean food. LOL

Originally Posted by GotE46M

Amazing trip!

Originally Posted by blackboxmycar

thanks for sharing. My next car will be through ED program.

[N.S.A]

awesome share. my parents are from Tucson I go there 2 times a year. A lot of M car fans out there. my mom and dad went to U OF A. still have family up there. awesome city.

[remmib]

Amazing write-up of your ED trip.

[klammer]

Epic!

[Ghetto2315]

This. Write-Up. Was. Awesome.

[jtuds]

Alot of the same places....exact same time of year.

[MLife168]

Originally Posted by N.Arabshahi

awesome share. my parents are from Tucson I go there 2 times a year. A lot of M car fans out there. my mom and dad went to U OF A. still have family up there. awesome city.

Car scene out here is still not like So Cal. Best I get is Cars and Coffee Tucson once a month. LOL. Drove up to Scottsdale C&C is Sept. Much nicer but over 2 hours away.

Originally Posted by remmib

Amazing write-up of your ED trip.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by klammer

Epic!

Originally Posted by Ghetto2315

This. Write-Up. Was. Awesome.

Haha

Originally Posted by jtuds

Alot of the same places....exact same time of year.

Sweet! Yea so many of the same places. Wish we had more time to visit Prague and Vienna as well. Actually there's just a whole long list of place. HAHA. Great video!

[Marc08EX]

Wow very nice photo journal of your euro delivery! I felt like I was there as well. Thanks so much for taking the time to document your journey and sharing it with us. And most importantly, CONGRATULATIONS on your new E92 M3!!!

What temporary paint protection product did you use? Is it an aerosol product that you spray on the car? Does it really protect it from rock chips? Thanks.

[wdempsey]

Amazing journey, thanks for posting!

[ThaiRacer]

How did u prep it for the trip back home?

[robbie211]

those frozen blue rear view mirrors look sick!

[Powaup]

WOW ultimate vaca good stuff.

Is ED worth doing if you go alone?

[C17MooseDriver]

Probably the best ED write up I've seen. I'm going to use this as a template when I do an ED for the upcoming M4.

Thanks for putting down hotel, restaurants, and activity recommendations.

I'm hoping to make my next BMW experience a lifelong memory for me and my wife.

[absoluteis350]

Originally Posted by Marc08EX

What temporary paint protection product did you use? Is it an aerosol product that you spray on the car? Does it really protect it from rock chips? Thanks.

<--- This... Can you give more info ? Also, did you use any paint protection in Germany? I'll be doing an M4 ED next year and am trying to figure out how to protect it out there.

BTW, for any history buffs going out there, definitely have to visit "The Eagle's Nest", which was one of Hitler's HQs.. absolutely incredible
http://www.kehlsteinhaus.de/en/index.php

As for Salzburg, I -highly- recommend an outdoor/abbey table at St Peter Stiftskeller (http://www.stpeter-stiftskeller.at/index.php).. if nothing else, the ambience is amazing.

[MLife168]

Originally Posted by Marc08EX

Wow very nice photo journal of your euro delivery! I felt like I was there as well. Thanks so much for taking the time to document your journey and sharing it with us. And most importantly, CONGRATULATIONS on your new E92 M3!!!

What temporary paint protection product did you use? Is it an aerosol product that you spray on the car? Does it really protect it from rock chips? Thanks.

Originally Posted by ThaiRacer

How did u prep it for the trip back home?

Originally Posted by robbie211

those frozen blue rear view mirrors look sick!

Originally Posted by absoluteis350

<--- This... Can you give more info ? Also, did you use any paint protection in Germany? I'll be doing an M4 ED next year and am trying to figure out how to protect it out there.

BTW, for any history buffs going out there, definitely have to visit "The Eagle's Nest", which was one of Hitler's HQs.. absolutely incredible
http://www.kehlsteinhaus.de/en/index.php

As for Salzburg, I -highly- recommend an outdoor/abbey table at St Peter Stiftskeller (http://www.stpeter-stiftskeller.at/index.php).. if nothing else, the ambience is amazing.

Thanks guys! Thanks you for taking the time to read it. LOL.

We wanted to go to Eagle's Nest as well, but it was still closed for the winter while we were there. I did not have Paint Protection available to use through Europe. Luckily I only got a couple of small paint indentations on the front bumper (no chipped paint).

As for the Temporary Paint Protection/prep for the trip home, I used Armorall aerosol spray available at Pepboys. Stay away!!! The stuff is horrible. Since it's aerosol, there so so much over spray. I had the stuff all the way on my back window/trunk. It is super difficult to get off. Especially the over spray area. Took me over 5 hours/3 washes and ended up having to use bug and tar remover as the instructions suggested if it wasn't coming off. More layers = better protection/better bonding for easier removal. Well we did about 5 layers in the front and it was still super thin. Didn't feel like there would be much protection. It protected the paint from bugs and probably grains of sand. Wouldn't count on it to protect against small rocks. I think I got one small chip on the hood from the drive home (don't recall that chip being there before). The 5 layers didn't help with the ease of removal either.

I did have Paintshield 5720 on order, just didn't come in time. http://generalchemicalcorp.mybigcomm...ield-5720.html. I would HIGHLY recommend this stuff to everyone. Many people on M3post and GTR forums have used this for track days. I used it a week after redelivery for a 1000+ mile drive. I used two layers just to be on the safe side for this trip. It's super easy to apply. Either with brush, paint roller, or airless sprayer. It's so easy, I arrived for the meet Friday night; Saturday morning after a group drive, I washed it off for the car show portion. Sunday morning I applied two layers in the hotel parking lot in about 1 hour. Goes on white, dries matte. The entire trip I didn't even get a single chip, not even on the front lip! Once dry the surface feels like it has a layer of hard acrylic. There's been a few times where I've only done one layer (i.e for autox to protect against cones) and it still felt very protective unlike Armorall's 5 layers.

Before removal:


After removal:


Application:


You can either peel off or high pressure wash off the stuff. I've peeled parts of it off before and it's pretty easy. I prefer to wash it off since I ended up needing to wash the car anyways. The stuff is also pretty water resistant. I've used it 5 times so far and 3 of those time it rained pretty hard. Even at 70+mph in the rain, the stuff held up. Check out the video below, notice how nothing happens when the water goes over it. But once I hit it directly with the washer at an angle, it comes right off.

[MLife168]

Originally Posted by wdempsey

Amazing journey, thanks for posting!

Originally Posted by Powaup

WOW ultimate vaca good stuff.

Is ED worth doing if you go alone?

Thanks. I think it's worth doing alone if you don't mind driving alone and were already planning on visiting Europe and renting a car. This way you get to experience ED, and have nice car to drive while you're there.

Originally Posted by C17MooseDriver

Probably the best ED write up I've seen. I'm going to use this as a template when I do an ED for the upcoming M4.

Thanks for putting down hotel, restaurants, and activity recommendations.

I'm hoping to make my next BMW experience a lifelong memory for me and my wife.

Awesome. I'm glad the details will be put to good use. I'm sure you and your wife will have a blast and have memories to last a life time. Can't wait to see your write up one day.

[javkhan]

Amazing write up!!!

[robbie211]

Thanks for the tip on the temporary paint protection. I'll have to give Paintshield 5720 a try.