[lambmw]

Placed order for a 2021 X3 M40i on May 19 2021 which was put into production and awaiting carrier assignment as of June 2nd. Figured I would start a thread for my own log of events but figured some folks may be interested in seeing what it takes to get an X3 from the factory all the way out to Hawaii!

My brother and I will periodically update thread along the way with pictures, general review of the car performance, reactions from PCD experience and overall highlights of the trip. First leg from SC to WI will be a bit dull as we break the car in. Comments, suggestions, questions, and feedback all welcome along the way.

Equipment and Roadmap:
-2021 X3 M40i: Build spec detailed on picture (Black sapphire metallic, cognac interior)
-Roadmap outlining general route; will detour as necessary for attractions along the way as my brother and I see fit. Will take the PCH (HWY 1) as opposed to HWY 5 on the final leg from SFO to LAX.

General Schedule:
Assumed Logistics: 54 hours, 3,500+ miles on land, 2,482 miles on water, est. $476 on gas (not adjusted for premium gasoline prices or spirited driving MPG)
-July 12: PCD experience
-July 12/13: PPF for front end of vehicle
-July 13-July 18: General road trip timeline
-July 19: drop car off at port in Los Angeles
-August 2: Estimated arrival to Hawaii (2 weeks on water, $1,200 shipping)

[lambmw]

Build spec and Roadmap

[jwitch82]

Nice...

[JJ 911SC]

Subscribed...

[Vitacura]

So looking forward to your updates!

[Anmolbains23]

This should be interesting! Subscribed to the thread as well

[Razel]

Looks like you're taking Interstate 80 from Nevada through Calif. I'd recommend taking 395 out of Reno south and either 1). 89 (Monitor Pass) to 4 (Ebbits Pass) or north to 88 (Carson Pass). Head for the California coast. 2). A bit further south on 395 to 108 (Sonora Pass). Once pass the town of Sonora, head for the coast.

120 (even a bit further south on 395) is kind of majestic but goes through Yosemite (45 MPH max, National Park rangers have radar). Great viewing, though. Once through the park, head for the coast.

If you're pressed for time, however, I-80 is the best route. I-5 is the fastest route south to Los Angeles whereas Cal. 1 is the coast route that'll take at least another day but a lot twistier and a whole lot more to see on the way.

[Anmolbains23]

If you have time we can try to set up a little x3 meet in San Francisco, I've got a thread going for the Bay Area guys so if you're interested let me know.
Just for some pics haha

[lambmw]

Originally Posted by Razel

Looks like you're taking Interstate 80 from Nevada through Calif. I'd recommend taking 395 out of Reno south and either 1). 89 (Monitor Pass) to 4 (Ebbits Pass) or north to 88 (Carson Pass). Head for the California coast. 2). A bit further south on 395 to 108 (Sonora Pass). Once pass the town of Sonora, head for the coast.

120 (even a bit further south on 395) is kind of majestic but goes through Yosemite (45 MPH max, National Park rangers have radar). Great viewing, though. Once through the park, head for the coast.

If you're pressed for time, however, I-80 is the best route. I-5 is the fastest route south to Los Angeles whereas Cal. 1 is the coast route that'll take at least another day but a lot twistier and a whole lot more to see on the way.

Thanks for the recommendations. Once we spend a night in Denver I think we will dial in exactly which routing we want to take as we continue the journey West. PCH is up in the air, as we have done it before and it is a day long adventure. Will update the route map once we know.

[lambmw]

Originally Posted by Anmolbains23

If you have time we can try to set up a little x3 meet in San Francisco, I've got a thread going for the Bay Area guys so if you're interested let me know.
Just for some pics haha

Always interest in a photo-op! The plan is to hit SFO by July 17/18. If you guys are planning something around then let me know!

[keithguido]

IN!

[Tubes23]

If its a roadtrip that you've always wanted to do then fair enough, but putting 3500 miles on vehicle driving onside of the US to another, for me would be a complete waste of time, money & deprecition.

[keithguido]

Its not always about time or depreciation/ We live in a huge country that deserves to be seen from the ground and not from 38,000 feet. Coming from Hawaii this is the OP's chance to really enjoy his X3

[jacko15]

Originally Posted by keithguido

Its not always about time or depreciation/ We live in a huge country that deserves to be seen from the ground and not from 38,000 feet. Coming from Hawaii this is the OP's chance to really enjoy his X3

I absolutely agree! Went cross country in 1969 in a '61 Impala. Took a month, and made memories that will live with me forever.

[Bob in IL]

Originally Posted by keithguido

Its not always about time or depreciation/ We live in a huge country that deserves to be seen from the ground and not from 38,000 feet. Coming from Hawaii this is the OP's chance to really enjoy his X3

+2. New X3, summertime across nearly all of the US, coming out of a lot of Covid restrictions, OP has the time and inclination. Sounds like an ideal plan for a memorable road trip.

[prototyp]

Originally Posted by Razel

Looks like you're taking Interstate 80 from Nevada through Calif. I'd recommend taking 395 out of Reno south and either 1). 89 (Monitor Pass) to 4 (Ebbits Pass) or north to 88 (Carson Pass). Head for the California coast. 2). A bit further south on 395 to 108 (Sonora Pass). Once pass the town of Sonora, head for the coast.

120 (even a bit further south on 395) is kind of majestic but goes through Yosemite (45 MPH max, National Park rangers have radar). Great viewing, though. Once through the park, head for the coast.

If you're pressed for time, however, I-80 is the best route. I-5 is the fastest route south to Los Angeles whereas Cal. 1 is the coast route that'll take at least another day but a lot twistier and a whole lot more to see on the way.

Seconded on those alternate routes over the Sierras... I-80's fine (and pretty nice up in the mountains actually, North Lake Tahoe a good spot to stop) but having grown up in the area, I'm partial to 4 Ebbits Pass or 108 Sonora Pass. 108 gets you Dardenelle which is especially majestic and the road itself is flowy and fantastic. Stop in at Pinecrest and hike around the lake, downtown Sonora still a pretty fine spot, and the split-double-lane rolling out through Knights Ferry area is a great way to drop into the valley. Going over 4 gets you Alpine Lake, Big Trees for some epic hiking amongst old-growth sequoias, the quaint little wine-town Murphys, and the tighter zig-zagging roads I used to hammer in my 510 delivering pizza

Yosemite is a California icon and a must-see... but it's Summer now and prime-time for crowds that grind the park into gridlock. It's worth looking into, though you may likely not be able to even get into the park proper at this point.

[383vett]

Originally Posted by keithguido

Its not always about time or depreciation/ We live in a huge country that deserves to be seen from the ground and not from 38,000 feet. Coming from Hawaii this is the OP's chance to really enjoy his X3

Originally Posted by jacko15

I absolutely agree! Went cross country in 1969 in a '61 Impala. Took a month, and made memories that will live with me forever.

I agree with you 100%. In 1964 my family took a road trip in a brand new Chrysler 300. We started in the Bay Area and drove to the New York Worlds Fair. After spending some time with family including watching a Yankees game, we drove back to the Bay Area. The trip took 6 weeks. I only wish I could have done the same with my kids. Like you said, the memories of driving through and staying in different cities and visiting landmarks will always be with me. The experience was priceless. The few dollars lost from the use of the car was negligible.

[lambmw]

Maybe road trips are a US thing?? Not sure I have met any car/driving enthusiasts that would consider a road trip wasteful. COVID induced island fever aside, there is probably a total of 250 miles of drivable road on this island (a majority of them single lane in either direction) and so these 3,500 miles are the only time I will be able to properly feel the full power of this beast. And to others points, the memories with my brother and visiting landmarks along the way are priceless. Currently I only put 7,500 miles on my car annually (well below national avg) so not too worried about depreciation...Its a depreciating asset, I didn't buy it so I could worry about the value of the car then entire time.

[GGEVOX]

Nice, Wisconsin! My area. If you get time Google "House on the Rock". You will be right over in that area. Super cool. I drive by the Cave often.

[lambmw]

And we are off! I will give brief overview of the PCD experience and then jump into meeting the beast and leg 1 of the road trip.

Started our morning off with a brief classroom session with our driving instructors for the day which was then broken off into two groups. In this case, they separated the X owners and the lucky folks picking up one of the last manual M2's and an M3.

Skid Pad: We hit the track and our group went out to the skid pad first to experience how the car handles with Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) off versus on. For those of you who know what this does for the car, you can imagine how much fun we had here. We pushed the hell out of an M340i around a doughnut to force tire slippage and simulate loss of vehicle control to experience the ABS braking system in full effect.

https://vimeo.com/575430568

Braking Exercise: Just how it sounds. Instructor tells you to bring the car down the track at various speeds, 35, 45 and 55 and instructs you to slam on the brakes to activate the ABS system once again and get a feel for the stopping power on these beasts. The M performance brakes on the M40i do not disappoint.

Handling Course/Hot laps: After that we were set up in the same model car as we had purchased to take on a handling course to get a feel for the full capabilities of our vehicles. The track included a few hair pin turns and a slalom. At this point we were told two things: Remember, this is not your car and because of that fact you should drive it like you stole it. We heeded that advice...(short clip below-instructor wanted me to brake more heading into the turn rather than use the car itself ). Following that you sit passenger in an M5 with 650+ horses while the pros show you how its done. Not sure what I would do with 650 HP on an island.. but now I want it.

https://vimeo.com/575431226

Museum tour: We hit lunch and got a tour of the museum, but sadly was not able to bring our phone inside for some reason, but many other have posted the vintage BMW's inside. Frankly, for me this just prolonged the process to meet the beast, but overall it was cool to see.

Off Road: Last experience prior to being introduced to the beast. We took an X5 on an off road course to show off the xDrive system and prove BMW's shine on and off the track. Remarkable through water, uneven road surfaces and retaining traction with one tire in the air (pictures for proof). Once again heeding the advice from above, as we prepared to engage hill decent and crawl down a rocky hill at 15%-20% grade, we caught a flat, 2 PSI within seconds. X5 still crawled down as if nothing was wrong. It wasn't the first flat on the course, but I am sure the shop wasn't too pleased haha

[lambmw]

Finally!! One on one with a BMW "genius" for an introduction and overview of my new M40i. He preprogrammed many car settings similar to how any other logical BMW owner would program them and helped me set up my driver profile and more. With the road trip allowing ample time to review the manual and play in the menus I told him we didn't need to do the deep dive, just show me any cool tips or tricks not overtly highlighted in the manual. He also reminded us of the break in miles required and set an appropriate speed limit alert.

From that point, my brother hijacked my orientation and bonded with the BMW rep over their shared love for their E84 X1's. I was happy for them to bond in the moment, but didn't share their same enthusiasm Seriously though the orientation was great head start into understanding the layout and functions of the car and the rep was very knowledgeable and answered any and every question I had. Not that I didn't watch every YouTube review known to man prior to delivery.

Pics from inside the showroom and naturally we had to take the obligatory "X" photos fronting the museum. Video of first startup below

https://vimeo.com/575451197

[lambmw]

Started off on the first leg of the trip, but not before stopping at a QT for a rooster booster and lotto tickets. No lottery in Hawaii!!

Trip details in pic below. 26 MPG with some Eco pro along the way is not bad and as advertised by BMW. There was as much spirited driving as is permissible without going over 4500 RPMS. As all other owners know, particularly the M40i/M owners, this is a terribly painstaking period of time where the car just teases its power and you can feel it flow through your foot on the pedal... but reluctantly you show restraint.

We took 45 to Knoxville TN, 75 up to Lexington KY, 64 through Louisville KY, 65 up to Gary IN, 90 through Chicago IL and we decided to go 94 up to Milwaukee all the way through to our first stop in Madison for some family affairs. In total the trip took 13.5 hours, 2.5 tanks of gas and we are officially 930 miles into the break in period! Happy to get these gingerly miles in during the more mundane parts of the trip. In for a treat as we head West tomorrow. We did the best we could to vary our speed and get the engine acclimated to more gears but its tough on the highway.