I Went to Germany and Came Back with a Car: Day 3

Off to Vienna we go!

The morning arrived quickly, overcast and damp. The helpful folks at the front door offered to retrieve my car from parking but I declined. I've had more than one bad valet experience back in the U.S. When I pulled the bright blue rocket up, the doorman took one look at it and offered to drive me anywhere I wanted. We all had a good laugh and it was a great way to start the morning. 

We hit the road and let the car warm up nicely through the lower speeds through Munich and out to the autobahn. It stayed overcast and chilly so there was no need to push anything too fast. After a while though, we settled in with the flow of traffic. In the unlimited sections, actual speeds varied from about 100 kmh to around 170 kmh. And, every once in awhile, a Porsche or other high end vehicle would rocket by like we were standing still.

To break up the trip we stopped at Salzburg. We stopped at one of the gas stations before the Austrian border to pickup the Vignette. If you haven't driven in Austria before, in order to drive on the highways/roadways you need to purchase and display a toll sticker. 

It was a great little town with some real charm. Unfortunately, being Sunday most of the town was closed. Still, we managed to take a few pictures of the area. There was this crazy artwork in one of the courtyards:

Though that might look like Obama, I don't think it was meant as a political statement.

The architecture was really something in Salzburg.


The Austrian autobahn is very similar to the German one. Large sections of it were "unlimited" to the national speed limit of 130 kph. However, the locals don't seem to abide to that much so it is pretty easy to get used to driving very fast. The car handled well throughout - no surprises, at all. Wind noise does tend to pickup quite a bit north of 95 mph though. The 1 series isn't exactly an aerodynamic beast after all. Managed about 23.5 mpg throughout this section of the trip and I was quite pleased at that.

After Salzburg, we headed onto Vienna. I stopped for gas most of the way there and paid a little less than Germany. I definitely noted quite quickly that gas alongside the motorways is not the cheapest source of gas. However, it was still cheaper than Germany.

We reached Austria as it got dark. Once again, the Nav was indispensable - a strange, dark city at night was not easy to navigate into and the Nav's helpful voice and maps made a huge difference.

iDrive note: We setup the iDrive to have the split screen view so that is shows the map plus the current street you are on, what you should do now and what you should do next. It was very helpful for planning ahead. It also will tell you visually, which lanes to be in once you are in this mode.

Once we reached Vienna, the car stayed put for another day, but I'll leave this entry with a couple more pictures of Vienna. It's a really great city.

St Stephans Church


Austrian Parliament






Last edited by former; 11-09-2008 at 08:44 PM.

I Went to Germany and Came Back with a Car: Day 2, Part 3

I returned back to the Welt to pick up my car and in only a few moments it was pulled up in front. Time to go pick up my traveling companion at the Munich airport. Thankfully, during the car setup process, Matt had programmed the Nav for the airport already. Yes, the Nav does work in Europe as they load the European maps while you are there.

Off we went and even with the Nav's help I made an immediate wrong turn. Overall, driving in Europe is pretty similar in terms of the rules and signs and so forth. However, there are certain styles of roads there that are just different enough to cause confusion or hesitation. It would take some time to get comfortable with them - but, in the meantime, the Nav was great about re-routing.

Back on track, I hit the Autobahn after a short tour on local streets. Traffic around Munich can certainly be fairly thick, but it was pretty sparse being a late Saturday afternoon and headed toward the airport. Typical speed limits seemed to be generally in the 120/KPH area - sometimes faster or slower. However, within about 8 miles I hit an unrestricted zone.

Any new car really needs some break-in. Tires are new and tend to be a bit more slippery. Brakes need some time to acclimate and rub off that manufacturing sheen and certainly the engine shouldn't be flogged either. That said, BMW has higher limits that, say domestic manufacturers, when it comes to break-in. They prefer you merely keep it under 100MPH/4000RPM for the first 1,200 or so miles.  That's a laughably high limit when purchased in the States, but in Germany is actually seems pretty restrictive.

Therefore, it is more than a little odd to be driving 95 miles per hour on your car's maiden voyage. Completely legally and even on the slow side compared to other traffic - completely without drama. I left plenty of room around me at all times due to the aforementioned tire and brake conditions, but had no problems whatsoever. Traveling that fast got me over the airport pretty quickly and after a minor bit of hunting around successfully collected my companion.

Programmed the Nav for the hotel and started back to town. On the way back, we stopped for gas since if you noticed from the earlier pictures of the instrument panel, you only get about 5 gallons of gas. Though people have accused BMW of being cheap, apparently this steps from a legal limit of fueling cars in enclosed buildings. But, I digress. Europe uses a different octane rating system than we do here, but I selected the best stuff I could find: Super 100. Filling up the tank ran about 68 Euro or about 100 bucks at the conversion rate. Not cheap.

The Nav faithfully took us back to the hotel with no issues. It was rapidly becoming clear it was going to be a life saver. I previously had a BMW with the first gen iDrive and that thing was clunky and difficult to use. While the 2009 version still isn't perfect, it is MUCH easier to use that the old one and the Navigation is top notch. I think it would be very hard to drive in Europe without a nav unit. And it seems the natives agree - I cannot tell you how many people had nav units stuck to the windshields of their cars. They are ever-present.

The hotel parking wasn't cheap but it was off the street. It was also somewhat snug. The 1 series is pretty small though and fits almost anywhere. The tight spaces made the fold in mirrors more of a necessity and less of a luxury. And with that, Day 2 was over. Tomorrow... Vienna.

I Went to Germany and Came Back with a Car: Day 2, Part 2

Delivery complete. I now take the "victory" lap around the delivery ring and head out of the Welt. It's a privilege relatively few folks get to experience and yet it is relatively anti-climactic. Down the ramp and out the door... ready to roll! Nah, not so fast.

Instead, I hand the car back over to the Welt valet staff only moments after I've taken possession. And, being no fan of valets, you'd think I'd be concerned. But heck, if you can't trust BMW of Germany with it, who can you!? Besides, unlike in the states, the vast majority of Europeans know how to drive stick.

Before I hit the road, I have time to visit the BMW museum. Admission is "free" since you've just bought a car (as is the valet service and a factory tour if you so choose). Since you've come all the way, might as well go to one or both.

I Went to Germany and Came Back with a Car: Day 2, Part 1

Day 2 and Day 3 have been combined since the point of this journey into the past is focused on the car pickup. Apologies for some of the photos, they were primarily taken with an iPhone 3G.

After arrival, the next day was spent seeing the sights in Munich. I won't relate all the typical sights, but it was a pretty dense day of walking, taking photos and figuring out where everything was. The day passed quickly and I turned in early - both for the next day's event and because of some residual jet lag.

Friday morning was spent seeing the last few sights that I had missed the previous day and shopping for a few souvenirs. Though the delivery appointment wasn't until 3:40PM, my excitement got the better of me and I left for the Welt around 1PM. I'm glad I did too - the station at Marienplatz confused the heck out of me. The ticket kiosks which were translated into English at the airport were not so much in the city itself. And even the location of the U3 platform was not completely obvious to me. I felt like a complete dope - but like most men refused to ask for help and eventually figured it out on my own.