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Part 2 (The Green Hell) at http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=575954
My love of BMW's started in 1988 with the purchase of my E30 325ic. I loved that car and like many of you, I have had the pleasure of owning many of these wonderful cars through the years. In 2000, as a graduation present I gave my son the E30 and it served him well through 450,000 miles - he drives a 335i today and loves the brand. I am happy to have passed this obsession on to my family and we had the pleasure of doing a PCD delivery last October form my wife's X5. Finally, after years of dreaming of ED the purchase of the 1M finally came true and to share that with my son was especially great! I am sincerely grateful to everyone on this forum for their willingness to share and support by sharing invaluable information - we were able to have a better trip as a result! I would also be remiss if I did not acknowledge the sales team at Otto's in West Chester, Pa. (especially Mike) who were ethical, supportive and enthusiastic from the very beginning over an eighteen month period where I insisted on being on a list before the car was announced
- yes, I got plenty of heartburn with the crazy allocation process but believe me, it all goes away when you get to hit the "start button" on your special day. Ok, our goal was to drive passes (Grossglockner, Stelvio, Gotthard, Susten) and visit Koln and finally drive the "ring" ...... off we go ....
(this is my first time posting photos and videos so have patience and be gentle)
Our first night in Munich we did all the touristy things ..... seriously, if you did not have a beer or two how could you sleep?
Of course we had fun on the streets identifying Alfa's, Renault's and various cars that do not come to America but this one was a shocker ....
..... not sure this one was "007" approved.
As they say "it's a small world" .... here we are with Forum Member "NachoB" and his wife who were having their 1M serviced. Great to get some good tips and make new friends! Safe trip home to Cali you guys!!!
We had a 8 am appointment and a 9 am delivery so we were at the Welt at 7:30. The stay at Leonardo Royal was great (had a unique way to use the AC by putting in your room card) and very close - the bar staff there are also motor heads. I walked up to the observation platform on the chance my car was already in place and spotted a new convertible (another forum member and couple from Illinois). It was only a few minutes before I heard the whirring of the glass elevators and .....
Our delivery specialist was "Tillman" and he was patient and fabulous answering our every question. The whole experience at the world was the BEST.
Great fun for the first day with the car that immediately gave us both driving confidence amongst some brave motorbikes and tight curves.
Mean, Mean snow machine on the way up .. there were people sledding ...
Finally at the top ... now off to our targeted first day destination - Gerlos!
Video of "victory lap" at the Welt and some footage of driving Grossglockner ..... kinda long but give a good sense of the roads/views.
The light was starting to fade so the VO was starting it's personality shift ...
This may be my favorite photo during the trip ...
So we saw our fist "cow" road signs and it is not a joke .... cows could be around any corner crossing the road. Did however like the sound of the bells
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Almost dark but a beautiful waterfall ..... and a local native below ...
Finally made it to Hotel Elisabeth ..... great hosts, great food, great town!
More to come (if I figure out video) .... again, many thanks to all of you on this forum and to BMW for making a great car and having such a great delivery program!
Ok - I am going to apologize for my lack of technical knowledge and just keep adding content here as long as it will let me.
Day 2 found us heading through Innsbruck towards Stelvio. Nice to have a little rush from some Autobahn bursts (bye bye S3 and AMG) after a day of pass driving. Beautiful scenery as we started to wake up and anticipate Italy.
Time to wake up and get going .....
Some scenery along the way .....
Starting to get excited at what we see on the horizon ...
The next section (begining of Stevio) you can't really appreciate and perhaps the video - will upload later today - will give you perspective. VERY tight and winding drive up the mountain (scary fun). We were finally able to pull over and take some photos where the gravel road starts.
After a short few miles on gravel back on the tarmac ....
At the Top, there are shops, restaurants and generally a fun atmosphere as people refresh and enjoy the views. We were both astonished at the amount of bicyclists and hikers who made the ascent.
The view down the other side was breathtaking .... good thing we have great brakes
Half way down with a view back towards the top ....
The people who live here must have some commute ... lol
After the pass we drove to San Gottardo to spend the night and prepare for some more passes and a sprint through Germany to Koln.
OK ... Stelvio Pass Video ... hope you enjoy!
OK ... sorry everyone, I said I was a photo rookie .... I deleted the first day photos when I went to upload the second day _ I will restore now ... Sorry!
Ok ... I hope everyone can see the photos from day one (did not restore the cows
....lol ... I'm learning
Day 3 - Gotthard, Sustenpass - heading North
We had trouble with the video camera and only shot about 28 seconds of the Gotthard pass. Very Scenic and a fun drive ... more neat tunnels that the other passes.
I have reached my limit of uploads with these pictures so I need to do some more learning/research before more posting (The Ring) or I will just create a new Post .... any help from a mod or experienced poster would be appreciated
Did I mention that there were "cows" everywhere. Living in Pennsylvania we are so very used to Deer ... not sure why cows in the road struck us so funny!
Her are a few different perspectives of moving shots. The beauty of the panorama is a wonderful sight.
After a short drive from Gotthard we went to the Sustenpass - long windy (not sharp) drive along the rim of the mountains. Really nice long views.