Four Part German Roadtrip 2011 Journal (56K Warning)

[M-Power111]

so much eye candy, thanks for posting.

[Bimmerlover76]

Thank you for taking the time to write about your trip and post some pics of the experience! I'm amazed at how cars have evolved since the beginning of the 20th century, from BMW to MB to Porsche, simply gorgeous cars all around. Also, it's funny when you think of some of these older cars. Gorgeous to look at, with a seemingly powerful engine to boot. Well, I bet our current day 3er 4-banger could wipe the floor with those old V-12s! Simply wonderful evolution. Cheaper to make, cheaper to maintain, and more fun (I'm guessing).

Again, thank you for the post. It made my day that much better!

[MusclezMarinara]

GReat thread !

[JulieDriving]

Awesome thread.

[uhn2000]

What a great series of picks and descriptions. Thanks for this.

[BimmerM]

Great documentary. One of the best so far. Thank you for sharing.

[gr8000]

I also visited the BMW, Porsche and Mercedes Benz museums back in June 2008 when I did my 2 week European roadtrip from Greece, to Italy, Switzerland, Lichtestein, Germany & Austria (to break in my M3 after delivery).

Whilst in Germany also visited BMW's factory in Leipzig (not allowed to take any pics ) and many many other cool places, including the Ferrari museum in Maranello, Italy, close to the factory!!

What an experience!

[davem3fan]

The next time I go with anyone from my posse, I'll actually skip taking photos of anything but people or totally unique situations, because these are excellent reference of the major attractions.

Thanks for sharing.

[votoc]

And boom goes the dynamite

[auggiem3]

epic!

[EdM5]

Awesome shots, thanks!

[joey5622]

Looks like 39 is gonna happen haha I'm trying to get my dealer to lower the monthly so it becomes closer to what I expected to pay monthly on the 48! Wish me luck so we're f10 buddies soon! Haha

[W///]

Here’s the last installment of my journal (unfortunately). I was lucky to have a 4 day weekend (Bavarian Holiday) so I decided to do an epic road trip across multiple countries. I travelled from Munich to Austria, then Italy via the Stelvio Pass, then a quick drive through Switzerland to end up in the Black Forest. My weapon of choice was going to be a BMW Z4, but Sixt did not have those available. I’m assuming those are put away during the winter, even though the weather was still very mild. I therefore decided to go with something on the complete opposite end of the spectrum: BMW 530xD (F11). Why? I wanted to experience a powerful 6 cylinder diesel while testing the capabilities of a wagon during everyday situations.







The next morning, I set off for Austria, more specifically Salzburg, which was only about an hour and a half away:




Pictures from Salzburg, Austria:










Then I headed off to the Eagle’s Nest, which was unfortunately closed by the time I got there. Still beautiful views though:




Then I headed off to Innsbruck, pretty much just to stay the night. This was my first time driving a car with HUD and came away extremely impressed:






After a nice meal and rest in Innsbruck, I set off for Lake Como (Italy) by going through the Stelvio Pass. I’ve been warned that there was a chance the pass would be closed, but luckily, due to warm weather, I had no such problems. Some people will say the Stelvio Pass is very overrated and I do agree to a certain extent. The roads were so swooping that you couldn’t see traffic coming the other way. If you think that you could really explore the limits of a car like Top Gear did, you are sadly mistaken. However, it is absolutely still worth driving just for the views, which were breathtaking. I’ll let the pictures do the talking:















I made good time and arrived at Lake Como by late afternoon. Here are the pictures from Day 3:









Since I didn’t have any plans, I decided to visit Villa D’este, where BMW has revealed plenty of cars over there. Really beautiful hotel:






Then it’s a quick blast through Switzerland to get to the Black Forest back in Germany:








What a trip that was. Overall, I’ve truly had the time of my life during this “business” trip. As a grand finally, I decided to rent 2 more cars for 3 days to do a little test of my own. I also went to see a few castles not too far from Munich. Here’s Car #1, a Mineral White on Saddle Brown 335i with M-package:







And here’s the car I’ve been waiting all trip to drive. A fully loaded Individual E92 M3 in Ruby Black on Rust Brown (I believe). What a color combination, it was just so classly. I should mention that both these cars were rented through the BMW Welt, a program called BMW On-Demand. I will admit that it is more expensive than Sixt, but I seriously enjoyed every minute.











Well that’s it from me. Thank you very much for reading about my adventures in Europe. Hope that my experiences help you plan your own trip, and should you have any questions, you are welcomed to contact me.

All the best,
W.D

[EdM5]

Great pics, thanks for sharing.

Just curious: did you enjoy the diesel wagon (530xd)?

[richb811]

Fantastic photo tour! Thank you for sharing!

[Small Yellow]

Nice photos! Btw was that the new 911 in red ? 991 that you saw in the mountains? Didnt know they are already for sale.

[sq86]

So much to say and look at so I'll just leave it at this: Awesome.

Glad you had a great trip and thanks for taking the time to post this.

[BimmaDrew]

Holy cow, what an amazing trip!!! Thank you for sharing it with your awesome pictures...hopefully your thread will help convince the wife on a euro delivery (once I get to that point in 2 more years).

What were your driving impressions of the vehicles that you drove (including the Scirocco)???

[W///]

Originally Posted by EdwinF10

Great pics, thanks for sharing.

Just curious: did you enjoy the diesel wagon (530xd)?

Absolutely loved the car. The engine was fantastic, especially on the Autobahn. One of my favorite interiors (great design and quality) and the tech in the car was amazing. It be completely honest, it was very hard to get back to an E9x interior after that. This car makes the perfect DD I think,

Originally Posted by HuangYiChao

Nice photos! Btw was that the new 911 in red ? 991 that you saw in the mountains? Didnt know they are already for sale.

That is indeed a brand new 991 with PDK. Huge Porsche fanatic, but I had to double check that it wasn't a 997 from the front

Originally Posted by BimmaDrew

Holy cow, what an amazing trip!!! Thank you for sharing it with your awesome pictures...hopefully your thread will help convince the wife on a euro delivery (once I get to that point in 2 more years).

What were your driving impressions of the vehicles that you drove (including the Scirocco)???

I had a blast driving all these cars. Luckily, the weather was unusually warm for this time of the year so I was really able to have fun. I can give a summary on each car

1 Series x 2 (no diesel unfortunately): Great little car, handling was spot on. The 4 cylinder engines were enough to get around town, but had to be floored on the Autobahn. Perfect size for city driving in Munich, and both cars had M-interior which was great.

Scirocco: I've always loved the way these things look. Cannot wait until they release it in the US, easily my favorite hatchback out right now. The car was not stock though. But the car handled great (very forgiving), has a lot of torque. I will say the transmission was very indecisive, even in Sport mode compared to BMW's dual clutch system.

F11 530xD: Amazing build quality, big car that IMHO could use more steering feedback, fantastic engine, great versatility. Would be the ultimate DD.

335i: Steering feedback was spot on. Gobs of torque, perfect for passing cars on the Autobahn, even in 7th gear. It did run out of steam towards the upper range of RPM.

M3: A completely different beast compared to the 335i. You'd have to downshift a few gears to take off (completely worth it for sound alone), but that thing went from 120 kmh to 240 kmh in a blink of an eye. I'm definitely not used to shifting all the way at 8300 rpm! Hands down my favorite car out of the whole bunch and hoping to purchase one a few years down the road when the next M3 shows up.

[DDS2015]

This is an incredible photo journal. Thank you very much for posting this up. I'll be referencing when I head to europe next summer (hopefully). What are the requirements to rent cars through this Sixt company?

[E92LNGCGY]

Thank you for the beautiful pictures. Really enjoyed it. I'm itching for ED now.

[M5007]

Superb write up. Excellent pictures.