My Z4 35is European Delivery and Automotive Vacation (tons of pics!)

Rac10000 · Tue, Aug-02-2011, 11:42:20 AM

I returned last week from an amazing trip to Europe to pick up my new weekend toy … I figured since you all love pictures so much I would post ~80 of them to walk you through some notable parts of my vacation (most of them are from my friend’s DSLR but a few are from my Blackberry).

So my friend and I flew Lufthansa from JFK to Frankfurt … very nice airline!

We were greeted by a Z4 and an M3 in the airport …

We picked up our Audi A3 1.6 Diesel and began our 2 hour drive to The Nurburgring …

After walking around a little bit we crashed early because we had to wake up early for our 8 AM Ring “race-car” rental … it was a 130hp FWD Suzuki Swift Sport prepped for The Ring (roll-cage, tires, brakes, etc.) … what an amazing experience! … I almost went deaf when a GT2RS blew by me at WOT … it didn’t help that it was raining on some parts of the track but we decided to hire an instructor for the first couple laps to help speed up the learning curve … overall it was a ton of fun!

Some more awesome Ring pics …

After each doing 4 laps on The Ring we drove ~6 hours in the Audi to Munich and checked in at the Sofitel (beautiful hotel!) …

We spent the whole next day exploring Munich …

The next morning we hopped in a pervious-generation S-Class Taxi to head the <15 minutes to BMW Welt for my European Delivery …

This was the start of the most exciting part of the trip!

The whole delivery process was top-notch … they treat you like a king the entire time … when you arrive you first do some paperwork and then they let you hang out in the lounge with tons of free food and drinks …

Once it was my time (8:50 AM), a European Delivery specialist greeted me and took me to a technology room for an info session about the car I was about to take delivery of … they walk you through the design, performance, safety, etc … BTW, the E89 Z4 was designed by 2 women …

After all of that was over it was time for the actual delivery … I began walking down the “stairway to Heaven” and peered over the side and spotted my new Z4 (it wasn’t hard to pick out) … the European Delivery Specialist then pulls out a handheld device that made the floor underneath the car start spinning allowing me to see her from every angle …

When I made it to the bottom, the European Delivery Specialist showed me all the features of the car …

Then I had a chance to do a couple victory laps inside BMW Welt while visitor above watch before proceeding to exit in my new car …

Edit: Apparently, without my knowing, AlpineEcstasy was there the same day and managed to snap a few pics of me during my delivery. (See post #35).

After giving my car to the valet at BMW welt with less than 1 mile on it, we hit the gift shop and then took a walk over to the BMW Museum … some of the museum was closed due to water damage from a recent storm, but we were able to see a decent amount of it ..

View of the BMW Headquarters from BMW Welt …

Rac10000 · Tue, Aug-02-2011, 11:42:58 AM

Then my friend and I hopped in the Z4, put the top down, and began our 2 hour journey to Stuttgart …

Part of the drive to Stuttgart was unrestricted … I was trying to break the car in but I had to give her a little juice … it is completely legal after all …

Once arriving in Stuttgart we first went to the Porsche Museum (a lot of you OT Porsche diehards would have been in your glory) …

Then we took the 5 minute drive over to the Mercedes-Benz Museum …

My friend snapped a few quick pictures of the Z4 in the parking garage at the MB museum … she looks pretty good with the top up!

After spending the night in Stuttgart, we drove to 5+ hours in the Z4 to Brussels, Belgium … we did not have any automotive activities planned, but we got to spend the day in the city …

The next morning it was off to Paris, France for our last destination for the trip … we dropped off my car so it could begin its journey back to the US (6-8 weeks

) before entering the city … so sad … and such a tease …

Anyway, when we get to Paris we quickly dropped our luggage off at the hotel and began to walk around … we only had a day and a half so we wanted to make the most out of it … this was one of the first few things we saw … I was like “WTF!?!?!” My first thought was Top Gear, but I do not think it was Clarkson and the gang …

The rest of Paris was beautiful … we saw the exhibit of some of Ralph Lauren’s car collection but weren’t allowed to take pictures … his McLaren F1 LM was there

Overall, it was an amazing experience that I am very thankful I was able to have at this point in my life. If any of you ever get the chance to do something like this I highly recommend it!

As far as the Z4 goes, I put 675 miles on it and really had a blast. It is very, very quick! Significantly faster than my E46 M3 was … the driving position and the top-down aspect really make it a lot of fun even if you’re not racing around. The DCT was great too! I’ll post a better review of the car after it is back in my hands in the beginning of September and I can put some more miles on it.

Mr. Wolfe · Tue, Aug-02-2011, 11:50:36 AM

Wow, pretty sweet. Thanks for sharing! I hope to do this one day.

Mr. Wolfe

Cyrus · Tue, Aug-02-2011, 12:13:51 PM

Wow. Very happy for you. I would love to do this one day.

Thanks for such a great thread. I love these threads (Wayward has a very cool ED thread too.)

Congrats on the car. Looking forward to a driving review once you get her home.

M3Dom · Tue, Aug-02-2011, 12:23:53 PM

Great pics and story. Wow very nice thanks.

00 XE7EN · Tue, Aug-02-2011, 12:34:17 PM

atacama yellow...mmmmm

congrats man...i plan on doing this some day also

**Porshapwr** · Tue, Aug-02-2011, 12:52:06 PM

Fantastic pics, write up, and car. Congrats

Man, seeing the pics of Europe just serves to remind me just how much culture is there compared to the US. I need to go back.

**EKaru** · Tue, Aug-02-2011, 01:04:58 PM

Congratulations man!!

<-- German Beer
Thanks for sharing the pics!

mihink · Tue, Aug-02-2011, 01:11:25 PM

Great pics. Thx for sharing....hope to this someday!

Bochet · Tue, Aug-02-2011, 01:11:58 PM

excellent

Tue, Aug-02-2011, 11:42:20 AM	#1
Rac10000 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 3,461 Reputation: 0 Location: Westchester, NY	My Z4 35is European Delivery and Automotive Vacation (tons of pics!) I returned last week from an amazing trip to Europe to pick up my new weekend toy … I figured since you all love pictures so much I would post ~80 of them to walk you through some notable parts of my vacation (most of them are from my friend’s DSLR but a few are from my Blackberry). So my friend and I flew Lufthansa from JFK to Frankfurt … very nice airline! We were greeted by a Z4 and an M3 in the airport … We picked up our Audi A3 1.6 Diesel and began our 2 hour drive to The Nurburgring … After walking around a little bit we crashed early because we had to wake up early for our 8 AM Ring “race-car” rental … it was a 130hp FWD Suzuki Swift Sport prepped for The Ring (roll-cage, tires, brakes, etc.) … what an amazing experience! … I almost went deaf when a GT2RS blew by me at WOT … it didn’t help that it was raining on some parts of the track but we decided to hire an instructor for the first couple laps to help speed up the learning curve … overall it was a ton of fun! Some more awesome Ring pics … After each doing 4 laps on The Ring we drove ~6 hours in the Audi to Munich and checked in at the Sofitel (beautiful hotel!) … We spent the whole next day exploring Munich … The next morning we hopped in a pervious-generation S-Class Taxi to head the <15 minutes to BMW Welt for my European Delivery … This was the start of the most exciting part of the trip! The whole delivery process was top-notch … they treat you like a king the entire time … when you arrive you first do some paperwork and then they let you hang out in the lounge with tons of free food and drinks … Once it was my time (8:50 AM), a European Delivery specialist greeted me and took me to a technology room for an info session about the car I was about to take delivery of … they walk you through the design, performance, safety, etc … BTW, the E89 Z4 was designed by 2 women … After all of that was over it was time for the actual delivery … I began walking down the “stairway to Heaven” and peered over the side and spotted my new Z4 (it wasn’t hard to pick out) … the European Delivery Specialist then pulls out a handheld device that made the floor underneath the car start spinning allowing me to see her from every angle … When I made it to the bottom, the European Delivery Specialist showed me all the features of the car … Then I had a chance to do a couple victory laps inside BMW Welt while visitor above watch before proceeding to exit in my new car … Edit: Apparently, without my knowing, AlpineEcstasy was there the same day and managed to snap a few pics of me during my delivery. (See post #35). After giving my car to the valet at BMW welt with less than 1 mile on it, we hit the gift shop and then took a walk over to the BMW Museum … some of the museum was closed due to water damage from a recent storm, but we were able to see a decent amount of it .. View of the BMW Headquarters from BMW Welt … __________________ 2011 BMW Z4 sDrive35is - Atacama Yellow over Black Alcantara/Leather - Euro Delivery on 7/19/2011! - Write-Up/Pictures 2011 BMW X6 xDrive35i - Sold on 4/19/12 - Alpine White over Saddle Brown Nevada Leather -PCD on 8/5/2010! - Pictures 2005 BMW Competition M3 - Sold on 12/11/10 - Silver Gray Metallic over Black Nappa Leather - Pictures 2005 Subaru Impreza WRX STi - Sold on 06/23/07 - Crystal Gray Metallic Last edited by Rac10000; Thu, Mar-01-2012 at 06:46:38 PM.

Tue, Aug-02-2011, 11:42:58 AM	#2
Rac10000 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 3,461 Reputation: 0 Location: Westchester, NY	Re: My Z4 35is European Delivery and Automotive Vacation (tons of pics!) Then my friend and I hopped in the Z4, put the top down, and began our 2 hour journey to Stuttgart … Part of the drive to Stuttgart was unrestricted … I was trying to break the car in but I had to give her a little juice … it is completely legal after all … Once arriving in Stuttgart we first went to the Porsche Museum (a lot of you OT Porsche diehards would have been in your glory) … Then we took the 5 minute drive over to the Mercedes-Benz Museum … My friend snapped a few quick pictures of the Z4 in the parking garage at the MB museum … she looks pretty good with the top up! After spending the night in Stuttgart, we drove to 5+ hours in the Z4 to Brussels, Belgium … we did not have any automotive activities planned, but we got to spend the day in the city … The next morning it was off to Paris, France for our last destination for the trip … we dropped off my car so it could begin its journey back to the US (6-8 weeks ) before entering the city … so sad … and such a tease … Anyway, when we get to Paris we quickly dropped our luggage off at the hotel and began to walk around … we only had a day and a half so we wanted to make the most out of it … this was one of the first few things we saw … I was like “WTF!?!?!” My first thought was Top Gear, but I do not think it was Clarkson and the gang … The rest of Paris was beautiful … we saw the exhibit of some of Ralph Lauren’s car collection but weren’t allowed to take pictures … his McLaren F1 LM was there Overall, it was an amazing experience that I am very thankful I was able to have at this point in my life. If any of you ever get the chance to do something like this I highly recommend it! As far as the Z4 goes, I put 675 miles on it and really had a blast. It is very, very quick! Significantly faster than my E46 M3 was … the driving position and the top-down aspect really make it a lot of fun even if you’re not racing around. The DCT was great too! I’ll post a better review of the car after it is back in my hands in the beginning of September and I can put some more miles on it. __________________ 2011 BMW Z4 sDrive35is - Atacama Yellow over Black Alcantara/Leather - Euro Delivery on 7/19/2011! - Write-Up/Pictures 2011 BMW X6 xDrive35i - Sold on 4/19/12 - Alpine White over Saddle Brown Nevada Leather -PCD on 8/5/2010! - Pictures 2005 BMW Competition M3 - Sold on 12/11/10 - Silver Gray Metallic over Black Nappa Leather - Pictures 2005 Subaru Impreza WRX STi - Sold on 06/23/07 - Crystal Gray Metallic Last edited by Rac10000; Tue, Aug-02-2011 at 07:31:12 PM.

Tue, Aug-02-2011, 12:13:51 PM	#4
Cyrus Registered User Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 11,124 Reputation: 0	Re: My Z4 35is European Delivery and Automotive Vacation (tons of pics!) Wow. Very happy for you. I would love to do this one day. Thanks for such a great thread. I love these threads (Wayward has a very cool ED thread too.) Congrats on the car. Looking forward to a driving review once you get her home. __________________ 2009 BMW 328i xdrive 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata (for sale)

Tue, Aug-02-2011, 12:23:53 PM	#5
M3Dom Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Age: 95 Posts: 17,069 Reputation: 0 Location: new york	Re: My Z4 35is European Delivery and Automotive Vacation (tons of pics!) Great pics and story. Wow very nice thanks. __________________ [COLOR="Black"]Porshapwr:I thought every day was steak and BJ day? Ghost : "She'll prolly suck your balls so hard they'll hatch" MOds: lightweight paint, nos. current rides -02 M3 vert -75 911 vert -87 E30 vert 91 850i vert -13 cc vert -94 TA twin turdbos coupe vert -69 chrysler 440 300 vert 07 escalade vert 13 tundra crewmax

Tue, Aug-02-2011, 12:34:17 PM	#6
00 XE7EN Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 1,139 Reputation: 0 Location: Long Island	Re: My Z4 35is European Delivery and Automotive Vacation (tons of pics!) atacama yellow...mmmmm congrats man...i plan on doing this some day also __________________ 2002 E46 M3 BMW Individual: SterlingGrau Met./Black 6 speed AA Gen IV exhaust/SS unresonated section 2/CPI Section I/AP V2 headers/Evolve Tune/UUC SSK/JIC Cross Coilovers/Work Equip Anhelo I play with Propofol for a living...you mad?

Tue, Aug-02-2011, 11:50:36 AM	#3
Mr. Wolfe Anti-Bling Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 9,419 In the garage: '03 BMW M3 Reputation: 0 Location: Above Pittsburgh	Re: My Z4 35is European Delivery and Automotive Vacation (tons of pics!) Wow, pretty sweet. Thanks for sharing! I hope to do this one day. Mr. Wolfe __________________ 2003 Alpine/Cinnamon ///M3 Coupe 6MT ZCP Wheels l 4.10 Diff. l KWv2 l JVT l ESS l H&R Sway l AR-20's l 10mm/15mm Spacers l ZHP Shift Knob l FK 452's l RE l PF

Tue, Aug-02-2011, 12:52:06 PM	#7
Porshapwr Hello. Is it me your looking for? Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 47,831 Blog Entries: 1 In the garage: '99 BMW M3 Reputation: 107 Location: Your mind	Re: My Z4 35is European Delivery and Automotive Vacation (tons of pics!) Fantastic pics, write up, and car. Congrats Man, seeing the pics of Europe just serves to remind me just how much culture is there compared to the US. I need to go back.

Tue, Aug-02-2011, 01:04:58 PM	#8
EKaru Moderator Join Date: Nov 2004 Age: 38 Posts: 32,310 Reputation: 766 Location: PA & MD	Re: My Z4 35is European Delivery and Automotive Vacation (tons of pics!) Congratulations man!! <-- German Beer Thanks for sharing the pics!

Tue, Aug-02-2011, 01:11:25 PM	#9
mihink ///M Power Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 936 Reputation: 0 Location: DC Metro/Maryland	Re: My Z4 35is European Delivery and Automotive Vacation (tons of pics!) Great pics. Thx for sharing....hope to this someday! __________________ '06 Porsche Carrera S. Arctic sliver/Black;6MT/Navi/Sport chrono plus/Bose/6CD changer/Power heated memory seats/Xenon headlights/Autodim mirrors/Supple leather/Carrera Classic wheels Mods: Dectane LED tails/50% tint/XM/Ipod/Alcantara console/GT3 alcantara shift knob '10 BMW 535i. Monaco Blue/Saddle/Loaded/daily beast '08 Lexus RX350. Bamboo pearl/Parchment/Family beast

Tue, Aug-02-2011, 01:11:58 PM	#10
Bochet ( . Y . ) Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 6,366 Reputation: 0 Location: Charleston	Re: My Z4 35is European Delivery and Automotive Vacation (tons of pics!) excellent __________________ The world is full of people whose notion of a satisfactory future is, in fact, a return to the idealized past. - Robertson Davies

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