"KIRBY, ... I've got the Euro Bug"

[paddyLV]

I'm doing my homework on the E/D (Euro. Del.)

You having, 'been there, done that,'... what is the best direction of travel to take out of Munich?

I was thinking of headin' s/w toward northern Italy, in the Lake Como/Bellagio area.

The only thing is, if I drop-off the 330ci at one of the designated cities, according to the bmwusa [E/D] web-page, it has to be driven back to Munich for truck transport & ship-
ment back to the good old US of A.

Hell, I don't want anyone driving my ride back to Munich...

Guess I'll have to it back myself...

 

[Wadula]

be carefull with italians and swiss guys when driving. don´t speed as you have german plates and they like to cash german visitors. at least some of them...lago di como and lago di garda...awesome!

 

[mikev]

italy recently raised the speed limit to 150kmph so its pretty smooth sailing along the autoroutes. don't worry about fines too much i recently went through italy switzerland and germany and at no point were we below 100Mph just keep an eye out and you will be fine.

 

[Kirby]

The drive from Munich thru Austria to Italy is very easy, both to follow the routes and ease of driving. The view of the Alps is AWESOME. I went to Venice and Florence via Innsbruck, Austria. But you are headed towards northwestern Italy, so I think you want to take a different route if you want the most direct drive. Take a look at the map below. Map Quest has a link for Europe - http://www.mapquest.com/directions/europe.adp . I ran all my driving directions on MapQuest, printed them out and everything was perfect. Pick up a Michelin map for the Switzerland/Austria Alps area at Borders, Barnes and Knoble, etc. It covers this entire area in great detail, and includes southern Germany and Northern Italy. Some roads will be toll roads - 2 to 10 Euros. As I recall all of them took credit cards for payment. Austria is different - you must buy a sticker at one of the local gas stations and attach it to your windshield.

I returned my car back to Munich. Roundtrip airfare is usually cheaper than 2 one way tickets, which is usually what you'll have to buy if you drop off in another city. And then you may have some kid taking your brand new bimmer for a 200 kmh joy ride on the return trip!

A nice loop would be to go West/Southwest to Como on the outbound trip, and then return via Innsbruck, Austria. Stay overnight in Innsbruck, and then go to 2 or 3 castles in Bavaria. You can do that in one long day. Munich is only about an hour or so from the castles. Stay in Munich and return the car the next morning.

This trip gives you the freedom to drive and explore, which in my opinion is the whole reason to do it. You can take a side trip, stop at a local restaurant on a whim, etc. Definitely beats tour packages if you are adventurous!

 

[Kirby]

Here is a picture of my 330cic (with the hardtop on) at Mad King Ludwig's castle Neuschwanstein:

 

[paddyLV]

"Planning for a E/D..."

Hello Kirby,

I'll be in Hono. in 2 weeks then on to Vegas to meet with my 'sales associate' at BMW...

As it stands now I'm going to do the E/D thing, thanks to you.

My trip will encompass heading toward n/w Italy to the Lake Como/Bellagio area. Reason being, I was on the opening team when the Bellagio Resort Casino (Las Vegas) opened-up back in Sept. of 1998. I remember talking to guests that had visited the area saying it was the most beautiful places on the planet. As far as I know, Steve Wynn modeled the Bellagio Casino based on that reigon of northern Italy...

I looking hard at the '04 330i Performance Package Bimmer...

Another officer I work with spent 8 years in the Army in Germany and said on the
trip...

Oh!, by the way... thanks for the cic/castle photo.