M3heaven's European Delivery Travel Tips

[m3heaven]

Hey Guys,

I'm nearing the end of my 2 week ED trip and just dropped off my car at Paris CDG. I drove a total of 3,000+ km (1,860+ miles) with 40 hours of seat time and traveled through Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, and Luxembourg.

I thought it would be helpful if I wrote a list of tips for future ED trips. If you live in a major metropolitan city I don't think anyone should be scared to drive around Europe. I personally think the highways in Europe are 10x better than the ones in the United States.

Overall, the M3/M4 in my opinion is the best all around sports car. Whether I was driving 5 mph or 160mph on the autobahn, the car always made me smile.

If anyone has any questions, I'll try my best to answer them!

• Most countries you will be driving in will have a standard 130km/h speed limit. (However, most of the time I just cruised around 140+/- and followed what other drivers were doing.)
  
  
• The left lane is almost always only used to pass cars. Never use the right lane to pass anyone. You'll notice, no one ever really stays in the left lane so it'll be a good habit to always remember to always get back in the right lane after passing a car.
  
  
• If you're ever driving through Luxembourg buy gas. It's way cheaper than any other country I drove through.
  
  
• There are two types of gasoline you can fill your car with usually. Super (95) and Super Plus (98/100). Either works for the car and just depends on your budget. You'll also see a green handle or the words san piombo (Italy) which means unleaded fuel.
  
  
• Buy vignettes in whichever country you're traveling through that requires them (I only needed to buy Austria's). It's worth the 7-10 euros to not have to worry about it. I've also heard they use cameras on the highways to check to see if you have one.
  
  
• Always carry at least 100 euros in change and different size bills as your card might not always work on the toll roads.
  
  
• Expect to pay anywhere from 2 to 30 euros on some toll roads. (I probably spent over 70 euros in tolls from my drive from Nice, France to Dijon, France.)
  
  
• Don't always wait last minute for the navigation to give you directions. There were a handful of times when the navigation gave me last second instructions and I took the wrong road. Use your intuition.
  
  
• There isn't a freeway exit every couple miles like the United States. If you miss an exit, expect to have to take a 10-30 minute detour.
  
  
• Watch out for the speed cameras and traps. Unlike the United States where we have highway patrol on the roads, Europe likes to just use cameras instead. I only saw one police officer on the side of the highway using a radar gun.
  
  
• If you have the time, take local detours off of the highways. There were many little towns and cities I drove through that I enjoyed passing through to get a more in depth look of the area. This is one of the many joys of driving from city to city vs. flying.
  
  
• If you have any remote interest in race cars or going on a track, go to the Nurburgring!!! I drove from Nice, France -> Dijon, France -> Nurburgring in one night just to check it out (11 hour drive). It was totally worth it!!! Definitely drive on it at least once and also get a ring taxi to take you around.

[MFNATIK]

Cool! Would you still think this is doable with 2 small kids 7 and 5? This is very similar to the route and amount of time I have planned for my ED next September. My route isn't exactly like yours but the seat time is about 40hrs as well.

[Damasconian]

I just did my euro delivery at BMW welt today. Truly the experience of a lifetime.

My wife and I will make our way to Paris over the next week, and I'll be dropping it off at CDG as you probably did. How were the people at TT car transit? Was it a smooth drop off? Anything you can share about Paris drop off will be helpful.

Thanks!

[Damasconian]

Originally Posted by MFNATIK

Cool! Would you still think this is doable with 2 small kids 7 and 5? This is very similar to the route and amount of time I have planned for my ED next September. My route isn't exactly like yours but the seat time is about 40hrs as well.

I love my kids as much as anyone....very glad they didn't come with us. Although mine are 4 & 1, not a bit older like your kids.

Either way, you'll never forget it.

[MFNATIK]

Originally Posted by Damasconian

I just did my euro delivery at BMW welt today. Truly the experience of a lifetime.

My wife and I will make our way to Paris over the next week, and I'll be dropping it off at CDG as you probably did. How were the people at TT car transit? Was it a smooth drop off? Anything you can share about Paris drop off will be helpful.

Thanks!

Did the BMW photog take that for you?

[Damasconian]

Originally Posted by MFNATIK

Did the BMW photog take that for you?

My wife is a photographer, she took it. I did two laps around that little circle at the reception hall today, one wasn't enough!

[MFNATIK]

You are a lucky man! I am the family photog and I suppose I can set it up for her but its always easier said than done haha

[Damasconian]

Originally Posted by MFNATIK

You are a lucky man! I am the family photog and I suppose I can set it up for her but its always easier said than done haha

Yeah it was worth it, but her camera bag alone is the main culprit to my sore body today. 2 cameras and 4 lenses are not light.

Pictures I post after we get back should be great, we're heading to Fussen tomorrow, Switzerland Saturday, then up through France Monday. My only concern is the drop off, just hate CDG in Paris, no one ever helps even if they can.

[DocWeatherington]

Originally Posted by MFNATIK

Cool! Would you still think this is doable with 2 small kids 7 and 5? This is very similar to the route and amount of time I have planned for my ED next September. My route isn't exactly like yours but the seat time is about 40hrs as well.

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, don't do it... I took a friend and well, I wouldn't do that again.. especially if you want to "drive""

[MFNATIK]

I'm on my phone right now and on vacation as well but would it be too much to ask your wife for the exif data for the shot?

[MFNATIK]

Originally Posted by DocWeatherington

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, don't do it... I took a friend and well, I wouldn't do that again.. especially if you want to "drive""

Do you mean they'd get car sick? They're used to long road trip so hopefully this will be just another one of those trips. And they're used to high G forces as well, often egging me on gun it in my M5. So I'm hoping I have them trained lol

[SuckaGDog]

Definitely buy the vignette especially if you go through Austria. We didn't last summer because we had no clue what they were and they had a check point marked off on the exit right after entering the country we were slapped with a 120+ euro fine.

This summer we printed out the list of all the countries that require them. When we went through Hungary they use an electronic version and it reads your license plates, no stickers. The cameras that read the plates are EVERYWHERE.

Point is just play it safe and get the damn things lol.

[Damasconian]

Originally Posted by MFNATIK

I'm on my phone right now and on vacation as well but would it be too much to ask your wife for the exif data for the shot?

She took it on a Cannon5D Mark iii w/16-35mm2.8 lens, no flash

1/30 s
F/5
ISO 2500
Focal length 17mm

Enjoy your vacation

[MFNATIK]

Originally Posted by Damasconian

She took it on a Cannon5D Mark ii!/16-35mm2.8 lens, no flash

1/30 s
F/5
ISO 2500
Focal length 17mm

Enjoy your vacation

Thank you! You as well!

[m3heaven]

Originally Posted by MFNATIK

Cool! Would you still think this is doable with 2 small kids 7 and 5? This is very similar to the route and amount of time I have planned for my ED next September. My route isn't exactly like yours but the seat time is about 40hrs as well.

Mmmm not quite sure since I don't have any kids yet but I guess it would just depend on how good they can be sitting in a car. I know at times I got a little crazy driving for hours but I enjoyed the flat open roads in Europe.

Originally Posted by Damasconian

I just did my euro delivery at BMW welt today. Truly the experience of a lifetime.

My wife and I will make our way to Paris over the next week, and I'll be dropping it off at CDG as you probably did. How were the people at TT car transit? Was it a smooth drop off? Anything you can share about Paris drop off will be helpful.

Thanks!

It was a really simple process. I just walked to the desk and said I was dropping off a BMW for European Delivery. I'm sure they deal with it all the time. There is a self-service car wash about 1-2 minutes before the TT car office that I would use as well.

[DocWeatherington]

Originally Posted by MFNATIK

Do you mean they'd get car sick? They're used to long road trip so hopefully this will be just another one of those trips. And they're used to high G forces as well, often egging me on gun it in my M5. So I'm hoping I have them trained lol

Hmm.. you didn't mention that... IDK, I think some of the best road trips I have ever had, have been solo drivers... Enjoy everything at your own pace, stops, roads, food. I don't have kids, but I would think you would want to do the 1st one solo. Then afterwards bring the family on the next EU delivery... I don't know if I would be doing 155mph with my kids in the back seat, or pushing apexes in the Alps with them.

I think Dad deserves a Dad alone trip lol

Take that from the single guy lol

[DocWeatherington]

Originally Posted by Damasconian

I just did my euro delivery at BMW welt today. Truly the experience of a lifetime.

My wife and I will make our way to Paris over the next week, and I'll be dropping it off at CDG as you probably did. How were the people at TT car transit? Was it a smooth drop off? Anything you can share about Paris drop off will be helpful.

Thanks!

You suffering from M withdrawals yet? 1st stage is checking the shipping website.

[mpbruin108]

Originally Posted by m3heaven

Hey Guys,

I'm nearing the end of my 2 week ED trip and just dropped off my car at Paris CDG. I drove a total of 3,000+ km (1,860+ miles) with 40 hours of seat time and traveled through Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, and Luxembourg.

I thought it would be helpful if I wrote a list of tips for future ED trips. If you live in a major metropolitan city I don't think anyone should be scared to drive around Europe. I personally think the highways in Europe are 10x better than the ones in the United States.

Overall, the M3/M4 in my opinion is the best all around sports car. Whether I was driving 5 mph or 160mph on the autobahn, the car always made me smile.

If anyone has any questions, I'll try my best to answer them!

• Most countries you will be driving in will have a standard 130km/h speed limit. (However, most of the time I just cruised around 140+/- and followed what other drivers were doing.)
  
  
• The left lane is almost always only used to pass cars. Never use the right lane to pass anyone. You'll notice, no one ever really stays in the left lane so it'll be a good habit to always remember to always get back in the right lane after passing a car.
  
  
• If you're ever driving through Luxembourg buy gas. It's way cheaper than any other country I drove through.
  
  
• There are two types of gasoline you can fill your car with usually. Super (95) and Super Plus (98/100). Either works for the car and just depends on your budget. You'll also see a green handle or the words san piombo (Italy) which means unleaded fuel.
  
  
• Buy vignettes in whichever country you're traveling through that requires them (I only needed to buy Austria's). It's worth the 7-10 euros to not have to worry about it. I've also heard they use cameras on the highways to check to see if you have one.
  
  
• Always carry at least 100 euros in change and different size bills as your card might not always work on the toll roads.
  
  
• Expect to pay anywhere from 2 to 30 euros on some toll roads. (I probably spent over 70 euros in tolls from my drive from Nice, France to Dijon, France.)
  
  
• Don't always wait last minute for the navigation to give you directions. There were a handful of times when the navigation gave me last second instructions and I took the wrong road. Use your intuition.
  
  
• There isn't a freeway exit every couple miles like the United States. If you miss an exit, expect to have to take a 10-30 minute detour.
  
  
• Watch out for the speed cameras and traps. Unlike the United States where we have highway patrol on the roads, Europe likes to just use cameras instead. I only saw one police officer on the side of the highway using a radar gun.
  
  
• If you have the time, take local detours off of the highways. There were many little towns and cities I drove through that I enjoyed passing through to get a more in depth look of the area. This is one of the many joys of driving from city to city vs. flying.
  
  
• If you have any remote interest in race cars or going on a track, go to the Nurburgring!!! I drove from Nice, France -> Dijon, France -> Nurburgring in one night just to check it out (11 hour drive). It was totally worth it!!! Definitely drive on it at least once and also get a ring taxi to take you around.

great list. did you go to monte carlo since you were so close?

[mpbruin108]

Originally Posted by DocWeatherington

You suffering from M withdrawals yet? 1st stage is checking the shipping website.

where is this shipping website? i dropped the car off yesterday in munich

[mpbruin108]

Originally Posted by Damasconian

I just did my euro delivery at BMW welt today. Truly the experience of a lifetime.

My wife and I will make our way to Paris over the next week, and I'll be dropping it off at CDG as you probably did. How were the people at TT car transit? Was it a smooth drop off? Anything you can share about Paris drop off will be helpful.

Thanks!

i think i saw you driving. i was at the upper lounge and saw a so m4 doing laps.

[DocWeatherington]

Originally Posted by mpbruin108

where is this shipping website? i dropped the car off yesterday in munich

Go to this website, punch in your vin in cargo ID. It may take a few days before anything shows up, it will show you the boat and ETA times, also when it clears customs and is released back to BMW in the US.

https://offices.2wglobal.com/offices...uickSearchPage

[m3heaven]

Originally Posted by mpbruin108

great list. did you go to monte carlo since you were so close?

I didn't. I did however drive through Monoco when I went to Nice.