[J3 L U N T]

Anyone here taken their bimmer on a road trip from coast to coast? What are your experiences? I am planning a trip from Philly to Cali and want to know what I need to prep for before heading out. My car is an 08 so I assume the brakes, oil, etc are are fine, but wanted to make sure.

I also wanted to know about protecting the hood of my car. Is it necessary? I am not worried about dirt and bugs... just chipping from rocks being shot up at me.

Any advice is appreciated. Even smart ass comments are welcome. I thoroughly enjoy them.

[satakal]

3 second following distance or greater is the best way to protect your car.

[drift90]

Stay away from trucks... I did a drive from ontario to the tip of Florida.. truck tire popped right beside us, scared the shit out of me, uhh.. to protect the front of your car.. just get a face mask for it. Fluid checks etc.. everything should be crisp!

[BMWFanatic2008]

I would just get a rental for such a long trip. Too many things can go wrong.

[Kevin@AKMotorwerk]

put as many spare hpfp's in the trunk as possible for roadside replacement lol

[J3 L U N T]

Originally Posted by BMWFanatic2008

I would just get a rental for such a long trip. Too many things can go wrong.

no way! i want to drive out with my own girl. put some character in her i mean thats why i bought this car... to drive.

[noire07]

I just made a trip from philly to sw oklahoma few days ago and had no issues. I just made sure to have the oil changed and check all fluids before I left.

If you like to rest your arm on the arm rest on the door, get some extra padding for it. It seems to get harder the longer you drive. lol.

[J3 L U N T]

Originally Posted by noire07

I just made a trip from philly to sw oklahoma few days ago and had no issues. I just made sure to have the oil changed and check all fluids before I left.

If you like to rest your arm on the arm rest on the door, get some extra padding for it. It seems to get harder the longer you drive. lol.

well i just had my oil changed 2k miles ago so i figure im good... right? and ill get some pillows

[Craig@SupremePower]

sounds like fun...

[TurboFan]

Bring a quart of oil. Good luck finding bimmer oil in the middle of BFE.

I needed a quart in Evanston, WY. Guy was like "weeeelllllll, leth sheeee (he whistled when he talked because he had no front teeth).....sheths I gots shummm back thur......

He comes back with a bottle of Mobile1 Synthetic 0w20 that probably had 1/4 inch of dust on it.

"What kinder carrr ya use thith fer anyway?"

I paid in cash, didn't want to startle him with a credit card, thanked him, and got the F outta dodge.

I have lots of stories from my cross country adventure, its a blast!

If you take 80 across to Salt Lake City you can go down 15 to vegas and over to LA, or head straight over to SF. Let us know if you do. http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105576

[smellfish]

I just did Texas to Philly and the only thing Heidi needed was a quart of oil. I on the other hand needed dip, jerky, and gatorade so stock up.

[anthony @ eas]

Originally Posted by J3 L U N T

no way! i want to drive out with my own girl. put some character in her i mean thats why i bought this car... to drive.

It's about time someone on this forum said that...

[Budfox27]

Sounds awesome. I am going to on about a 700 mile trip to see the Dallas Cowboys training camp at the end July in San Antonio. Can't wait. Have a safe and great time. Maybe check out roadfood.com or diners, dives and drive ins?

[Legato2057]

I did a San Diego to Philly and back to San Diego road trip over six days and had no problems on my 08 e90 335i (over 7000 miles!) I would definitely get some Verashield (or equivalent) put on and maybe even some protection on your windshield if possible.

Besides that, take it to a reputable mechanic-you might be able to persuade your dealer to do it for free-and tell them what you are planning so that they can give it a thorough inspection to make sure nothing is wrong that you don't know about.

[ShinyRedCar]

Originally Posted by J3 L U N T

Anyone here taken their bimmer on a road trip from coast to coast? What are your experiences? I am planning a trip from Philly to Cali...Any advice is appreciated...

Some time ago another enthusiast asked essentially the same question. I do in fact make this drive every 3 years (from CA to NJ and back to visit family over Christmas). FWIW, here was my reply

"I make the drive from NJ to CA in 3 days without sightseeing and with brief stops for gas & bathroom. I start at around 5:30am or 6:00am and drive until around 10:00pm. You will find that as you proceed west, you will cross time zones. Each time you do, you will set your clock back one hour. This gives me a nice psychological pick-me-up as I feel like I should drive an extra hour! Here are some tips I go by:

[1] I bring a loaf of bread, protein bars, and bottled water. Every 2 hours I eat 1 slice of bread and 1 protein bar. [2] Sip the water rather than down the bottle right away to minimize bathroom stops. [3] If you decide to make stops for breakfast and lunch, STAY AWAY FROM HIGH-CARB FOODS as they tend to make you sleepy pretty quick. Eat light and stick to high-protien foods instead. [4] As you proceed west, the sun will be setting in front of you so wear good sunglasses and be aware that reading road signs will be diffficult for a little while until the sun gets low enough...Let me know if I can help you further..."

Now you may be doing the trip differently insomuch as sightseeing is a "must". For me, after a week or more away from CA, I just want to get back to the nice weather so I try to keep to a minimum of stops.

God bless you on your trip and keep you safe!

This year will mark the second such trip with my E90.

[bulldog_yyc]

redbull for you and some nice gas for your lady
bring some oil
make sure your cell phone is charged if you dont have bmw assist
tools & flashlight, laptop and BT cable - to remove/clean up any ECU mods in case you have to make an unexpected trip to the dealer - yes I told my GF that before our road trip and got a lecture in return.....

[carrabassett786]

Originally Posted by ShinyRedCar

[1] I bring a loaf of bread, protein bars, and bottled water. Every 2 hours I eat 1 slice of bread and 1 protein bar. [2] Sip the water rather than down the bottle right away to minimize bathroom stops. [3] If you decide to make stops for breakfast and lunch, STAY AWAY FROM HIGH-CARB FOODS as they tend to make you sleepy pretty quick. Eat light and stick to high-protien foods instead. [4] As you proceed west, the sun will be setting in front of you so wear good sunglasses and be aware that reading road signs will be diffficult for a little while until the sun gets low enough...Let me know if I can help you further..."

Good Advice. I usually stop every two hours at least to walk around so my legs don't die (I do 750-1200 mile shots home or to family several times a year) I would have an iPod even if you have Sirius, long tracks are great for long drives. I like a lot of variety, but dance music is great for driving, try club life podcasts, they're about an hour long, but they get you going.
Also, adjust your seat back angle often to keep yourself from getting tired/bored. Don't fall asleep while driving. I did in VA and woke up 15 seconds later doing 110 and had pissed off a few people.
My biggest issue with the last trip was that I hit a fucking rake that was in the middle of I-81 in traffic. I pulled off, and my RFT was fine, but I was like 200 miles from a dealer in PA... You might want to think about hauling a spare or at least a mobility kit if you're going for that long of a trip. Have a great trip, these cars are AWESOME on them!

[Ndna Jnz]

I live in the SF Bay Area in CA. I opted to pickup my '07 335ic at the Performance Center in Greenville, SC. It was a blast. So I drove from SC to Vegas to SF. 3,941 miles. Anyway, my dad and I took a leisure 9 days, doing lots of sightseeing on the way. I had prepared a small box with necessities and shipped it to the hotel in Greenville before leaving home. In the box: Tiny 12V Air Compressor, BMW Car Jack, Emergency Tire Plug Kit, 1 qt BMW 5w30 Oil, rags, window cleaner wipes, handwipes, all misc electronic chargers for my techno crap. Since I did not have a spare, I thought the tire plug kit was the best bet. Even with one of those compact spares, I would've had to get a flat tire fixed "soon". Glad I never had to use any of that. You can see the blog I posted daily from the trip here: http://jeffsafire.blogspot.com/
If you are doing any sightseeing at all, I urge you to write a blog. Very easy and fun!

[Lobaeux]

Fantastic idea!!

I did a drive from Little Rock to Asheville, NC, while it's only 10 hours, it was still a fun trip. iPod music and lists are imperative. You can get audiobooks from Cracker Barrel.

A quart of oil is a good idea as well.

Sounds like a lot of fun, I'm a big fan of driving long distances!!

[jzchen]

Clear bra for the rock chips! Seems to be working pretty well on our car so far...

[fdsasdasdf]

Keep DSC on, keep at least a 2-second following distance, use cruise control, get plenty of rest and pull over if you have to, stay away from trucks (especially gravel trucks), avoid potholes, get some good jams, and take interesting roads! Don't stay on the highway the whole time otherwise you'll stop paying attention. Find some windy little areas and have some fun! Also, maybe change your oil before you go if you haven't since it's such a long trip. I dunno, that's just something I do if I'm going on a super long trip. I'm paranoid like that

[Lobaeux]

Haha! I forgot.

From "Best In Show", the best driving advise ever!

"If you get tired, pull over, if you get hungry, eat something."