| Motoring Discussion > BMW 3-Series E90 - F30 320d - 2118 miles in 11 days | |
| Thread Author: DP | Replies: 11 |
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New Mon 3 Sep 12 14:29
BMW 3-Series E90 - F30 320d - 2118 miles in 11 days - DP
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Back from our schlep down to Lake Garda and back, which took the BM over 10,000 miles and, thanks to the wonderful Autobahn, allowed me to properly stretch its legs for the first time. The first leg of the trip down involved an early (7:20) tunnel crossing, and then a blast across into Belgium, and down through Germany to our overnight hotel in the charming Bavarian town of Ottobeuren. Thanks to horrendous traffic around Liege, and most of the north of Germany's Autobahn network being dug up, we finally got to the hotel at just before 9 pm, some three hours later than our sat nav suggested. Roadworks aside, the German Autobahns really are superb, and travelling as we did on a Sunday, were free of HGVs to boot. The lane discipline is an object lesson in how things should be. No lane hogging, no dawdling, decisive manoeuvres, and generally excellent observation. This results in much better utilisation of the road space, as all lanes tend to be occupied, and a flow of traffic that I haven't seen on a similarly busy UK motorway in my entire driving career. None of the panic braking, caterpillar effect, myopic lane changes causing others to brake or swerve that are daily occurences on the M3 for me. Just a number of cars travelling with decent space around them (slow overtakers aside, who tend to get tailgated), and in the correct lane. Plus of course, there is the speed limit situation, which is a great novelty for non-residents. Although much of the Autobahn now carries 120 km/h speed restrictions, there are still plenty of stretches which don't, and which give you the option to cruise at a steady 100-110 mph without standing out in any way (various AMG Mercedes, Porsches and Audis will come past you like you are doing 50 on a UK motorway), or to answer the fifteen-year old in all of us by finding out "what she'll do". The answer in the case of my 320d, with two adults, two kids, and a very full boot, is an indicated 146 mph, which the sat nav logged as 139 mph. The car passes 100 mph so effortlessly and strongly, that it feels built for this kind of driving. After a pleasant evening in Ottobeuren, a meal and a few delicious Weissbiers and a wander around the town including its spectacular Abbey the next morning, we hit the road again for the relatively short hop into Austria, onto the Fernpass to cross the Alps, and onto the Brenner Pass heading for Italy. It's hard to drive across the Alps, not because the roads are challenging or difficult, but because the scenery is so breathtaking that it's hard to keep focus on the road at times. A coming together between a BMW 5 series and a campervan on one of the hairpins closed the road for an hour, so we got out of the car and had a look around, finding ourselves in sweltering 37°C heat, on the side of a mountain, with something like a sheer 200ft drop over the waist high barrier to our right, and a sheer cliff face to our left, the road seemingly clinging on for dear life to the side of the mountain. Even though the effect was spoiled slightly by the miles of hot, shimmering metal and frustrated drivers in the queue, to see both the sheer beauty, and the craziness of this landscape, and the almost impossible angles up close was quite an experience. The rest of the journey down was uneventful, and three and a bit hours later, we were unloading the car and starting to relax. The long schlep completed, we spent the next 9 days exploring locally, taking in some spectacular Italian mountain roads, a bit of Autostrada (Italians are the masters of tailgating). We visited lake Tenno, Lake Garda, Verona, Rovereto, and several other places, all within an hour's drive of our base. The return leg involved an early (5 am) start, then a basic reverse of the route down, but instead of peeling off into Belgium, we continued North and headed for Aachen, our scheduled overnight stop. It was uneventful, apart from our four year old Sat Nav not being aware of a major road closure near Nesselwang in Bavaria, which initially looked like we were going to have to backtrack about 25 miles to get around. However, we improvised using "sense of direction" and some alarmingly narrow country lanes, popping out just a few hundred metres from an Autobahn junction that would take us in the right direction. Much high fiving and backslapping after this little adventure. :-) After a leisurely breakfast, we set off for the Tunnel and home. The route from Aachen took us well to the North of the perrmanent traffic jam that is the Liege area for a brief soujourn into the southern tip of Holland, and then into Belgium near Genk. We reckon this would have saved us hours on the trip down, as the roads were incredibly quiet. By 2:30 pm we were parked up at the tunnel terminal, cursing our inability to get an earlier shuttle than the 5:20 we had booked, and wondering how much more wine we could squeeze into the boot in the interim. After a delayed crossing, we finally arrived home at around 7:15 in the evening. The car comes with a fuel card, which unfortunately only works in the UK. Therefore, the fuel abroad was coming out of my own pocket. I'd joked that I wanted to get on the Tunnel coming home on fumes, and amusingly that's exactly how it worked out. We had a gallon in a can in the boot, so playing fuel roulette wasn't too much of a risk. I'd brimmed the tank in Austria, right on the border with Italy. When we got to the tunnel, the car was showing 15 miles remaining of the same tank. 694 miles, five countries, an Alpine pass, three figure speeds on the Autobahn, and a more sedate schlep from Aachen to the tunnel, all fully laden, and it had made it on one a single tankful, just. When I got off the tunnel, I pulled straight into the filling station and got 55 litres into the 57 litre tank. This was the only semi-accurate record of consumption that I got on the whole trip, which worked out at about 57 mpg. I'd turned off the auto reset on the journey computer when we first left, and this is what it was reporting for the whole trip: Duration: 41:29hr Distance: 2118mls Cons: 56.4mpg Speed: 52.4mph Whether it was the autobahn thrashing blasting out the cobwebs, or the additional 2,000 miles, the car is running beautifully now. It feels stronger and smoother than ever, and incredibly is still 10k off its first service. More importantly, it didn't skip a beat on the journey, and is still showing a "MAX" reading on the oil level. I expected the car to be good on the Autobahn (even at 140 it is stable, quiet-ish and settled), but what impressed us was its comfort. The seats seem rather plain and ordinary, but they clearly do the job as nobody complained of stiffness or aches even after a 10hr day sitting in them. The long legged gearing and incredibly gutsy engine make light work of distance, and noise levels even at a ton allow comfortable conversation without raising voices. Also, at no point was the humble eco 2.0 diesel ever wanting for power, unless speeds were the far side of 125 mph where the acceleration tailed off dramatically. It's not been painless, this first six months with the car, but all of our respect grew for it over these past few weeks. It covers distances effortlessly, and its engine seems to just shrug off loads and hills in a way you simply wouldn't expect for its output. A great trip, helped in no small part by what, even I have to admit despite being less than complementary about it in the past, is an impressive car. Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 5 Sep 12 at 01:35
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New Mon 3 Sep 12 14:45
BMW 3-Series E90 - F30 320d - 2118 miles in 11 days - Armel Coussine
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I confess to a certain envy of your car DP, its athleticism and even more its fuel consumption. But I don't remember German motorway traffic driving, admittedly from 10 years ago or more, as being exemplary. Far from it indeed. You do get used to foreign (as opposed to British) crap driving, but the effort keeps you on your toes. It's subtly or even grossly different in each country. But mimser techniques for slowing you down unnecessarily and giving you nasty surprises abound in both Spain and France, as well as here. |
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New Mon 3 Sep 12 15:01
BMW 3-Series E90 - F30 320d - 2118 miles in 11 days - DP
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| Belgian motorway driving is dreadful. Far worse than the UK. Found Germany excellent. Italy not bad although the tailgating made me angry. Couldnt help but wonder what, if I'm in a line of traffic overtaking a lorry, sitting inches off my bumper achieves exactly? |
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New Mon 3 Sep 12 15:09
BMW 3-Series E90 - F30 320d - 2118 miles in 11 days - Londoner
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A thoroughly enjoyable read, DP!. Thanks for posting. Sounds like a great trip, though maybe a little too much time behind the wheel for my tastes. Kudos for being honest enough to include the less pleasant sides of motoring, such as the jams and delays, as well as the good bits of the trip. You really have an impressive car there, I must say! All it needs is a hatch instead of a boot to be nigh-on perfect. Though for some, of course, it is perfect already in its saloon form.:-) |
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New Mon 3 Sep 12 19:00
BMW 3-Series E90 - F30 320d - 2118 miles in 11 days - a900ss
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139 MPH 56 MPG Not at the same time of course but great read. Both of the above numbers for a fully loaded 4 pot diesel are incredible. Enjoy it. PS - my 520d has now done 8,000 miles and hasn't missed a beat. |
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New Mon 3 Sep 12 20:25
BMW 3-Series E90 - F30 320d - 2118 miles in 11 days - Dutchie
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| Nice post good read.Belgian motorways are always a challenge.>)That is why they called autobahns on some streches you can put your foot down. |
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New Mon 3 Sep 12 23:15
BMW 3-Series E90 - F30 320d - 2118 miles in 11 days - Bill Payer
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>> with two adults, two kids, and a very >> full boot, is an indicated 146 mph, which the sat nav logged as 139 mph. I hope you blew the tyres up before doing that! >> The car passes 100 mph so effortlessly and strongly, that it feels built for this >> kind of driving. >> My Merc is the same - faster you go the more settled it feels. It seems to sort of hunker down. In the UK the only times it feels similar in in heavy rain - I can only guess the extra drag weights it up. >> The car comes with a fuel card, which unfortunately only works in the UK. Therefore, >> the fuel abroad was coming out of my own pocket. We used to have massive rows about that at work - people argued that they could tour the UK and the firm would pay. We also had to pay a small contribution towards private use but still had to pay that when out of the country. |
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New Tue 4 Sep 12 08:48
BMW 3-Series E90 - F30 320d - 2118 miles in 11 days - zuave
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A good read was that. Thanks DP. As to DE travelling - I've been splitting my time between DE (Köln-Bonn-Aachen area) and Home (Scottish Highlands) for numerous years and I can say that there are some incredible examples of bad driving over here, especially on Autobahns. Slicing over lanes to exit at the last second seems to be a favourite. You sort of get used to it and go with the flow. however, mostly, it is better than UK. I was travelling the M42 and M1 this weekend ("flying" visit to see mother and Sister) and the lane-hogs, espcially on the M1 where it is 4 lanes, was incredible! I ended up staying in the left lane, with the next lane empty and, at 75mph, undertaking cars tootling along in the third lane. M A D. really annoying too. After many trips from left lane to 4th lane and back again to overtake, I got fed-up. Belgian roads are shoiters. Wife always knows when we get into Belgium as even the Jag starts to feel a little bouncy----"We in Belgium now" says she? "Aye" says I "lighting on all the motorways they have...and they need it so you can swerve over the rubbish road surfaces at night"! If any passes, or is passed by, a UK reg Jag XJ (whilst travelling through DE) give me a wave ,-)) Rgds Zuave. |
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New Tue 4 Sep 12 09:35
BMW 3-Series E90 - F30 320d - 2118 miles in 11 days - DP
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>> I hope you blew the tyres up before doing that! That's the amusing thing. According to the sticker on the base of the B pillar, the tyre pressures are identical for light load, heavy load, and high speed. And I've never topped them up in the six months I've had it. I checked them last the night before departure, and they were still bang on where they should be according to my trusty Halfords digital pressure gauge. |
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New Tue 4 Sep 12 18:25
BMW 3-Series E90 - F30 320d - 2118 miles in 11 days - Mike H
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>> The lane discipline is an object lesson in >> how things should be. No lane hogging, no dawdling, decisive manoeuvres, and generally excellent observation. >> This results in much better utilisation of the road space, as all lanes tend to >> be occupied, and a flow of traffic that I haven't seen on a similarly busy >> UK motorway in my entire driving career. None of the panic braking, caterpillar effect, myopic >> lane changes causing others to brake or swerve that are daily occurences on the M3 >> for me. Just a number of cars travelling with decent space around them (slow overtakers >> aside, who tend to get tailgated), and in the correct lane. Most of the time, but the more you use the autobahns, the more you realise that there are just different sorts of frustrations - like the idiots who approach from behind at high speed and tailgate about 3 feet behind you when a) you are overtaking a truck and there's no chance of moving out of their way, and b) everyone else is travelling at the same speed as you, so even if you could move out of their way, it's pointless. They will then edge to the left as though trying to squeeze between you and the central barrier. I agree that lane discipline is better, but there is still very much a "I have to be in front" attitude even with tiny little diesels that might, on a good day, keep up with a milk float. >> The rest of the journey down was uneventful, and three and a bit hours later, >> we were unloading the car and starting to relax. The long schlep completed, we spent >> the next 9 days exploring locally, taking in some spectacular Italian mountain roads, a bit >> of Autostrada (Italians are the masters of tailgating). I also have just come back from a run down the Brenner to and from Bolzano/Bozen with a quick trip to Verona to drop son and daughter-in-law at the airport. I found that the Italians were not particularly aggressive, nor did they tailgate, but as always it was the Germans who were the masters of those particular arts . and there were plenty of them. Belgium is just full of people travelling at the more or less the same low motorway speed limit as the UK, but they tend to travel at that limit and you get whole streams of traffic where one lane is overtaking another with a very minute speed differential, but it seems to be the norm. Everyone, that is, except of the Germans, who think they are in their own country and plug on regardless of speed limits.... |
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New Wed 5 Sep 12 11:37
BMW 3-Series E90 - F30 320d - 2118 miles in 11 days - DP
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I lost count of the number of times I was tailgated in Italy. As in so close behind that you can't see the leading edge of the offenders bonnet in the rear view mirror. On more than one occasion the car was piloted by a yoof slouched almost horizontally in his seat, with his right arm draped across the back of the passenger seat. This seems to be as popular in Italy as the weird slouch exhibited by many youth here, where their upper body leans at a dramatic angle towards the centre of the car, and they steer with the inside of their right wrist on the top of the wheel. Genuinely found Germany very orderly. Fast, but well planned and safe. The odd bit of tailgating, but less than you get in the UK, and a lot less than in Italy. Similar in Austria, albeit at significantly lower speeds. Very unimpressed by both Belgian roads and driving standards. Stood out by some margin as the most frustrating and least pleasant country to drive through of the 7 that we experienced over the past fortnight. Last edited by: DP on Wed 5 Sep 12 at 11:39
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New Wed 5 Sep 12 11:56
BMW 3-Series E90 - F30 320d - 2118 miles in 11 days - rtj70
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I was tailgated in Italy by an HGV once. The HGV went into the back of the car when I had to brake (cannot really remember any of what happened). Big pile up etc. The HGV was being tailgated by a tanker of some sort and so that ran into the HGV. When we eventually got away from hospital and got taken to the remains of the car to collect the remains of the luggage, we then got a taxi to the hotel (quite a distance hence the hire car!). The taxi was a Mercedes E Class and the driver pulled of the road into a services and then back on because of the tailgating HGV behind us! |
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