European Road Trip

[aaronisonfire]

Well I've been gone for just about a month now and I figured I'd post something up.

I picked up my new car in Munich, Germany at BMW's new delivery center the BMW Welt. From there I've driven exactly 4118 KM to where I am now, in Hamburg, Germany.

I've gone so far to Salzburg in Austria, Venice and Pisa in Italy, Geneva in Switzerland, Paris and Caen in France, Brussels in Belgium, and last night, Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

Tomorrow and the next day are all driving until I reach Stockholm in Sweden where I'm taking a giant boat to Helsinki in Finland to meet my parents and then go back to the south of France.

I haven't been to the Nurburgring yet with my car, but that's coming very, very soon

I just thought I'd fill everyone on the internet in on what I've been spending my time doing, and stir up some conversation.

Oh yea, there is absolutely nothing like blowing past people at 230 km/h on the autobahns in Germany. It's insane. I would have gone faster too if people didn't keep getting in the way!

The car as it sits right now (stupidly dirty):



The map of the trip SO FAR:

[dah_hunter]

Fricken Sweet man..


That trip is what i want to do..

[doublejceballos]

you stole my dream trip
Im planning on doing something similar to this in 2 years when Im finished my program
Did you buy that car in germany? Or rental?
that is one fantastic trip.

[Daryl @ RightDrive]

Wow, what a trip, I'm sure you had a blast.
Is that car heading back to Canada?

[aaronisonfire]

I bought the car from Brian Jessel BMW in Burnaby, BC. BMW offers a European Delivery program where you buy the car as if you would in Canada, but you pick up the car at their delivery center in Munich and you can drive it around for 2 weeks at no extra cost at all. When you're done they ship the car to the dealer which you ordered it from and completely clean it up and detail it for you, then you take delivery of it a second time at home.

Unfortunately you still have to pay your own way there but if you're going anyway there's no reason you shouldn't do it. Last I heard Volvo includes airfare for 2 to Stockholm also.

I was looking at Audi when I was considering it but they discontinued their European Delivery program. BMW was undergoing a reform on their program and it wasn't 'active' as they were re-designing it but I showed up at the right time and got an exception and was allowed to do it under the new program (which is a hugely better deal than the old program).

Originally I was going to buy a 1993 R33 GTS25T from the UK (where I started) but it is near impossible for a foreigner to get insurance without a UK license, so I wouldn't have been able to drive it which basically ruled that idea out. Sucks because I had the sale of the Skyline all lined up pending insurance, which didn't work out.

The car manufacturers I know that do it or used to do it are:

BMW (except the X5, X6 and Z4 which are made in the states)
Mercedes
Audi (used to, might happen again)
Porsche
Volvo
Bently

So if anyone is looking at buying a car from any of the above, I highly recommend doing this.

Just arrived in Copenhagen with ~4500 km on the odometer.

[Oakville]

that is AWESOME. LHD? whats it like?

[The Stig]

Looks like a fantastic trip! Tell us more about the car when you get the chance.

[dah_hunter]

why dont you have photos. upload that shiz..

[aaronisonfire]

that is AWESOME. LHD? whats it like?

Looks like a fantastic trip! Tell us more about the car when you get the chance.

Yea the car is LHD, it's a Canadian spec car so it's exactly like a car you would buy from a dealer in Canada, no difference at all. Only thing is that you pick it up in Munich and drive it before it gets shipped home.

The car is a 2009 328i Coupe. I opted for the 328i over the 335i as I was planning on driving it a long distance and lots of people have had the high pressure fuel pump fail on their 335's early in their life. That and the 335 was much more money than the 328. For those that don't know the 335 is basically a twin turbo variant of the 328, which is outputting 300 bhp.

It's a 220 bhp 3.0L I6, and unfortunately a couple hundred pounds heavier than my GTST was, which means its not as quick as it. It's fat and heavy but it still does 230 km/h surprisingly easily.

Good thing is it's a 6MT which is really nice. Apparently if you want a BMW with a 6MT you have to order it and wait, since dealers don't usually stock them because they're not terribly popular.

Its too bad that Nissan doesn't do a Japanese Delivery on the GTR... I may have considered it. My brother might be looking into getting a car when we're in Japan a while from now (NSX ???) So if anyone knows if a Canadian can insure a car to drive in Japan, I'm all ears.

Delivery day, much cleaner then than now, since it's got a nice new paint job of bugs on the front.




Interior shot:

[The Stig]

Car looks gorgeous! 328i Coupes are great driving machines, I'm glad to see you're having fun with her on the Autobahn and other great European roads.

[Oakville]

Yea the car is LHD, it's a Canadian spec car so it's exactly like a car you would buy from a dealer in Canada, no difference at all. Only thing is that you pick it up in Munich and drive it before it gets shipped home.

The car is a 2009 328i Coupe. I opted for the 328i over the 335i as I was planning on driving it a long distance and lots of people have had the high pressure fuel pump fail on their 335's early in their life. That and the 335 was much more money than the 328. For those that don't know the 335 is basically a twin turbo variant of the 328, which is outputting 300 bhp.

It's a 220 bhp 3.0L I6, and unfortunately a couple hundred pounds heavier than my GTST was, which means its not as quick as it. It's fat and heavy but it still does 230 km/h surprisingly easily.

Good thing is it's a 6MT which is really nice. Apparently if you want a BMW with a 6MT you have to order it and wait, since dealers don't usually stock them because they're not terribly popular.

Its too bad that Nissan doesn't do a Japanese Delivery on the GTR... I may have considered it. My brother might be looking into getting a car when we're in Japan a while from now (NSX ???) So if anyone knows if a Canadian can insure a car to drive in Japan, I'm all ears.

Delivery day, much cleaner then than now, since it's got a nice new paint job of bugs on the front.




Interior shot:

Most countries are RHD over there correct? I know places like UAE are strictly LHD but thats it. Shows how much i know about european car culture.

and yes, i find it strange that non M cars require special order for stick, i figure now they are not geared towards a racing gen (again, non M cars), but more a business type. a lot of sucessful women drive these and from what the dealers tell me, they all cringe at the thought of stick.

[aaronisonfire]

The only RHD over here is the UK. Everywhere else is LHD. The majority of the world is LHD while a small fraction is RHD. Basically places that were old British colonies are RHD like India, and some places in Africa. Japan obviously and I think Hong Kong is.

Most of the cars that are stocked at the dealership are automatics and now the new Dual Clutch Transmission which apparently is very very good.

[Oakville]

Yes Hong Kong and Australia, two places ive been to often and used to live in, are RHD. Koreas are LHD, im not sure about mainland china though.

[aaronisonfire]

Drove the Nürburgring for the first time yesterday and wow what an experience. I recommend everyone on these boards do it at least once.

I got 4 laps in during the evening public session on July 2nd between 5:45 and 7:30 for 75 euros. Definitely money well spent. I've never ever tracked a car before in my life and had a blast doing it. I was slow but I still managed to overtake 2 people Two minor accidents when I was there, Biker hit a rail and an NSX ended up off the track which spurred the yellow flags to slow down for it.

Got to see the new BMW twin-turbo M5 all stealthed up in testing before the track opened to the public too.

Extremely great fun I think I might move to Germany.

[bignate]

Drove the Nürburgring for the first time yesterday and wow what an experience. I recommend everyone on these boards do it at least once.

I got 4 laps in during the evening public session on July 2nd between 5:45 and 7:30 for 75 euros. Definitely money well spent. I've never ever tracked a car before in my life and had a blast doing it. I was slow but I still managed to overtake 2 people Two minor accidents when I was there, Biker hit a rail and an NSX ended up off the track which spurred the yellow flags to slow down for it.

Got to see the new BMW twin-turbo M5 all stealthed up in testing before the track opened to the public too.

Extremely great fun I think I might move to Germany.

Sooooooo Jealous dude. One of my life goals for sure. You picked perhaps the worst track on earth to pop your track cherry lol. Good job staying off the walls.