[pmgreenwood]

Great pictures and I am so enjoying the reports of your trip, I have gone 6 long car hire drives in the States. 3 out of Denver the first in 1988 when I drove from Denver to my firm's global conference in Dallas, a long way round including Rocky Mountain NP Mesa Verda Canyonlands Southern Rim Grand Canyon, Santa Fe and Albuquerque. On my second trip out of Denver, I visited Northern Rim GC, Bryce, Zion and Yellowstone so particularly enjoyed today's photos of Bryce and Zion.

It is interesting to see how much places like Page Arizona have grown since 1988.

Hope you manage to solve the "roof issue" and continue

[pawlie]

Wild Blue, thank you for taking us along on your adventure across the country. I've been following with interest throughout and I've been looking forward to your pictures every day.

Best regards and safe travels!

[BklynNYBMW]

Hey Wild Blue. The pictures and the scenery is beautiful. Glad to see that you are still on the trek. Any outreach to BMWNA and did anyone respond? Just wondering. Drive safe bud
__________________________________________________ ______________________
2017 X6 5.0 MSport, Carbon Black Metallic w/ black leather. All options except vented seats and B/O sound system. AKA the Tumbler
2018 340i MSport Xdrive sedan. Glacier Silver w/Oyster. All options except active cruise control and window shades. AKA Airstream
*On order and now at the dealer: 2021 M340i xdrive. Tanzanite Blue with W/Oyster with Red Calipers. All options except Adaptive M suspension, Driver Assistance Professional Package, Cooling and High Performance Tire package. No Nickname as of yet

[Wanderer73]

Epic views! Thanks for sharing. Tempted to throw the family in the X7 and follow your path. You just couldn't live with the dirt could you? She's looking good after all those miles.

[Wild Blue]

Originally Posted by Atl Fahrer

With regard to assist plus...even if it is “engaged”, the driver must actively select the assist plus condition by pushing the mode button on the steering wheel when it’s available. This only happens when the car is in cruise control on a limited access road, i.e. interstate highway, and you encounter traffic below 40mph for a period exceeding ~20 sec. You will know it’s available when an assist plus warning message appears on your iDrive screen. Hope that helps.

Yeah, so I played with this more today, and did engage "Assist Plus". I'll post about it in tonight's update. Interesting stuff.

Originally Posted by BklynNYBMW

Hey Wild Blue. The pictures and the scenery is beautiful. Glad to see that you are still on the trek. Any outreach to BMWNA and did anyone respond? Just wondering. Drive safe bud

Yes, thank you! So, things are in-work, and I'm going to let BMW sort this out, before I do post too much more details in the interim. I will most certainly have updates soon!!!

Originally Posted by Wanderer73

Epic views! Thanks for sharing. Tempted to throw the family in the X7 and follow your path. You just couldn't live with the dirt could you? She's looking good after all those miles.

Thank you, thank you! Even without being able to wash her, the Mineral White is indeed looking good. I can readily see the dirt when I walk around the car, but less evident from a distance.

[Wild Blue]

Day 15 of Road Trip
St. George, UT - Valley of Fire State Park, NV - Red Rock National Conservatory, NV - Las Vegas, NV
Total Miles: 3,912

Short driving day, only a couple hours. But another picture-heavy day, with two natural parks. This will be the last day in the southwest, before hitting California and the West coast, where scenery will be quite different.





From that Hyatt Place in St. George, it was an immediate entrance to I-15, another common highway for road trips going to the West Coast. I've driven it several times before.

Just as the highway exits Utah and clips the northwest corner of Arizona, before entering Nevada, it goes down through a gorge. Beautiful rock formations.











The we took a little detour north of Vegas, to the Valley of Fire State Park, in Nevada. I thought I'd just have a little look since it was a shorter driving day. But it ended up being yet another park full of gorgeous rock formations.

And another beautiful weather afternoon!


























Then it was a drive into Vegas. Approaching Vegas, the highway became another long, straight stretch, signaling that the topography would be changing from here to the West Coast.





Then, entering the city of Vegas, I hit traffic. Quite common in Vegas. I played around with Traffic Jam Assistant, and got full Assist Plus to engage.

I'm going to have to play with this some more. I had cars cut in front of me multiple times, requiring me to intervene, disengaging Assist Plus. So I ended up engaging it 3 times. And I'm not exactly sure how to MAKE it engage. It's more like, if I turn on the cruise control button, and then press MODE a few times, switching back and forth between distance following and lane keeping, the system will OFFER the Assist Plus mode, if all conditions are met. THEN pushing the MODE button engages it.





So, I was using traffic jam assist before, when in traffic, on highways, below 40 mph, the car fully controlled the gas and brake for stop and go, maintaining distance on the car in front of me, all the way down to complete stops. Had the lane keeping on too.

But apparently it was NOT the full Assist Plus. In addition to the green "Assist Plus" words on the dash, the key differences are the steady constant green light illuminations on the dash, and that it's the one assisted driving mode that does NOT require the driver to touch the steering wheel every 8 seconds or so. You can truly sit back and the car drives.

So, I'm going to have to explore the two mode differences. What I was using before in traffic jam assist was great as it was. This just removes the requirement for the hand touch-up.

Anyway.. the day was getting late. I went out to the Red Rock National Conservatory, just west of Vegas, for some more beautiful scenery.




















Then it was time for sunset over the mountains.

Truly beautiful.

(did I mention I love mountains?)











Then it was into the heart of the city.

Viva Las Vegas, baby!

One in the day, one at night. The same biker group was there both times, blocking parking spots. But they were actually decent fellas, and did move when I asked if I could park.








Across middle America, the X7 subtly stood out from the crowd as a very nice, upscale, classy vehicle. Now that I'm in Vegas, and headed down to Los Angeles, it's definitely not going to stand out as much. Case in point, i8 on the street corner:





Had to do a trip up the strip (a couple times, if I'm being honest), on my way to my hotel.








And check in at Bally's Hotel and Casino!





An old coworker of mine is a hotel manager at Bally's, so he upgraded to to a junior suite.

It's slightly dated, but a nice room, and a great view of the strip area.











Late night. That's enough pics for today. Going to wrap it up there, will shout tomorrow!

[LittleJoe]

Have you tried resting your arm on your leg and then lightly resting your fingers on the back of the steering wheel while using assisted driving mode at highway speeds This will allow the self-driving system to remain engaged and steer the X7 as though you have your hands on the wheel and are steering yourself. My dealer told me the steering wheel knows when we have our hands on the wheel using the heat of our fingers and it appears he knows what he's talking about because this works like a charm for me. For safety, I only use this technique when on a highway with limited curves.

[JF01]

Not just a story, but almost a book already!
Thanks for sharing, as usual.


P.S. Everyone loves!)

Originally Posted by Wild Blue

(did I mention I love mountains?)

take a look at my recent photo from the Caucasus.

[Wild Blue]

Beautiful, JF01 !

Definitely my kind of place.

Originally Posted by LittleJoe

Have you tried resting your arm on your leg and then lightly resting your fingers on the back of the steering wheel while using assisted driving mode at highway speeds This will allow the self-driving system to remain engaged and steer the X7 as though you have your hands on the wheel and are steering yourself. My dealer told me the steering wheel knows when we have our hands on the wheel using the heat of our fingers and it appears he knows what he's talking about because this works like a charm for me. For safety, I only use this technique when on a highway with limited curves.

yeah, the wheel senses your touch. My PCD delivery specialist said the top sensors are around 10 and 2 o'clock, which is actually at odds with their BMW driving school instruction of using 9 and 3 o'clock.

Sensors also seem to be centered somewhere in the lower halves of the wheel as well, because yes, when using the assist features, you can "touch base" and reset the timer by touching the lower half. The wheel like some places better than others. Haven't figured it out exactly yet, but it may be somewhere around 4:30 and 7:30 position.

I mention the touch positions mostly just for how the system works. I definitely do NOT advocate for taking hands off the wheel. As a minimum, I tend to constantly and firmly rest a few fingers of one hand on the wheel when the full driving assistant is engaged. But as mentioned, I'm finding it useful to keep steering myself when the full assistant is engaged, and the system just helps me steer, reducing fatigue.

[mitch57]

Originally Posted by Wild Blue

2. Over-reliance on automation will 100%, without fail, eventually result in an accident. This may seem obvious, or it may seem excessively alarmist. But I'm telling you, I have seen over, and over, and over again, in every kind of industry. Over-reliance upon automation has degraded alertness, degraded operators' skills, and resulted in complacency.

Even professional airplane pilots, who are infinitely more trained and regulated than any vehicle driver, have taken perfectly good airplanes, not a thing wrong with them, in perfectly good weather, and flown them straight into the ground because of various issues with handling automation. That may sound ridiculous, but it happens, and automation is a very slippery slope technology.

Tech geeks will loudly proclaim, "ah, don't worry, there's a tech solution for everything. There's no way this thing can crash. It can't fail". But I'm telling you, those are dangerous, dangerous words. No matter how well something is built, Murphy's Law is always at work, and the human USE of the automation is beyond critical. (we'll reserve discussion of completely humanless operation for the future). I can point to thousands of dead people, in every kind of industry, that prove this point.

Which will bring me to my final related point. In aviation, the #1 overriding principle, in every situation, no matter how dire, is to control the airplane. For driving:

3. Just drive your damn car, man.

I agree with this 100%! I'm a retired Navy Engineer/Instructor/Inspector as well as a retired Technology Technician.

I have a "Love/Hate" relationship with technology. The bottom line is technology will definitely fail you and most likely when you're least expecting it and least prepared for the results of the failure.

I use the technology in these cars but NEVER, NEVER, NEVER and I mean NEVER trust it!!! As you so well pointed out; those that trust this technology with their lives will often lose their lives because of that trust.

If anything, when I engage any type of automation in these vehicles I also enable my "Be prepared for an unforeseen glitch/disaster" radar. In other words instead of relaxing and paying less attention I become more alert and pay greater attention to what's happening around me and what the car is doing.

[LittleJoe]

Originally Posted by Wild Blue

Beautiful, JF01 !

Definitely my kind of place.

yeah, the wheel senses your touch. My PCD delivery specialist said the top sensors are around 10 and 2 o'clock, which is actually at odds with their BMW driving school instruction of using 9 and 3 o'clock.

Sensors also seem to be centered somewhere in the lower halves of the wheel as well, because yes, when using the assist features, you can "touch base" and reset the timer by touching the lower half. The wheel like some places better than others. Haven't figured it out exactly yet, but it may be somewhere around 4:30 and 7:30 position.

I mention the touch positions mostly just for how the system works. I definitely do NOT advocate for taking hands off the wheel. As a minimum, I tend to constantly and firmly rest a few fingers of one hand on the wheel when the full driving assistant is engaged. But as mentioned, I'm finding it useful to keep steering myself when the full assistant is engaged, and the system just helps me steer, reducing fatigue.

I rest my right hand fingers at 5 o'clock. I have a 50i with the luxury steering wheel so the sensors may be in slightly different locations.

[Rublezz]

Originally Posted by mitch57

I agree with this 100%! I'm a retired Navy Engineer/Instructor/Inspector as well as a retired Technology Technician.

I have a "Love/Hate" relationship with technology. The bottom line is technology will definitely fail you and most likely when you're least expecting it and least prepared for the results of the failure.

I use the technology in these cars but NEVER, NEVER, NEVER and I mean NEVER trust it!!! As you so well pointed out; those that trust this technology with their lives will often lose their lives because of that trust.

If anything, when I engage any type of automation in these vehicles I also enable my "Be prepared for an unforeseen glitch/disaster" radar. In other words instead of relaxing and paying less attention I become more alert and pay greater attention to what's happening around me and what the car is doing.

Fully agree! That's why didn't bought any driving assistance options, except parking.

[Wild Blue]

Originally Posted by mitch57

I agree with this 100%! I'm a retired Navy Engineer/Instructor/Inspector as well as a retired Technology Technician.

I have a "Love/Hate" relationship with technology. The bottom line is technology will definitely fail you and most likely when you're least expecting it and least prepared for the results of the failure.

I use the technology in these cars but NEVER, NEVER, NEVER and I mean NEVER trust it!!! As you so well pointed out; those that trust this technology with their lives will often lose their lives because of that trust.

If anything, when I engage any type of automation in these vehicles I also enable my "Be prepared for an unforeseen glitch/disaster" radar. In other words instead of relaxing and paying less attention I become more alert and pay greater attention to what's happening around me and what the car is doing.

I'm with you there, buddy. A lifetime of experience as an advanced vehicle operator (aircraft pilot) and accident investigator, I have cultivated a "spidey sense" for when things are headed in the wrong direction, with a potential impending accident.

That's why my "spidey sense" starts tingling, when I have the full semi-automation engaged, and I go driving by another car, feet or inches away. All it would take is one glitch of my car, false reading of the lane, over-correction of lane keeping, big gust of wind, etc, for me to veer right into the other guy. I'm at the ready.

[Wild Blue]

Day 16 of Road Trip
Las Vegas, NV - Dana Point, CA (Los Angeles area)
Total Miles: 4,172

Made it to the Pacific Ocean! That's now a full travel from the east coast, to the west coast of the USA, and we're not done yet!





Leaving Las Vegas (hey, that'd be a decent title for a movie) there's a lot of views just like this, enroute to Los Angeles.

Not the most interesting of drives, but one that is pretty well traveled, particularly with Californians going to Vegas for a fun weekend or Vegas Vacation.

"Right this way, Mr. Papagiorgio..." (let's see who gets that reference)




From our discussion, this is a typical way I'll rest my hand on the wheel, while automation is engaged. I'm relaxed, but ready at a moment's notice to grab the wheel if something goes wrong.

And then, I entered California. Great state, but also very different and unique state. So much is different here--culture, politics, government regulations, industries, taxes, climate, cost of living, architecture, cuisine, wine, etc.

For starters, remember this picture I took in Oklahoma City, just last week:





And compare that to the prices on the gas pump I filled up at in California today:





yeah... had I been thinking ahead, I should have at least filled up in Nevada, before crossing the border and leaving the state.





What's funny, with the much higher cost, I hit $100 in gas, before the tank was completely full. Apparently, the machine doesn't want to dispense any more than $100 in any one transaction, so it cut me off. Couldn't even get a full tank of gas in one go. Lol.








Lots of traffic like this in Californian cities, especially the greater Los Angeles area. Thankfully, with us driving towards the inner city in the afternoon, most of the heavier traffic was going the other direction.





Also thought this was interesting. Got a unique alert, where the BMW chimed and said "Objects lying in the road, in 2 miles". Text also placed on dash and in HUD.

Hadn't heard that before. Guessing it was part of the Real-Time Traffic Information. I was cautious, and counted down the distance with the BMW, but when it got to zero there wasn't anything in the road. I'm guessing it's something that was there earlier, but had been cleared from the roadway.

BIG NEWS TODAY...

After things didn't go anywhere with two LA-area BMW dealerships, regarding my cracked sunroof, I got connected with Crevier BMW, who apparently is the 2nd largest dealer in the USA. I also corresponded with BMW North America, by calling their 1-800 customer service.

Well, I got assigned a case manager by BMWNA, who called me back today during my drive. He said the replacement part had just been shipped in and arrived at the dealer, in one piece and ready to go. But he also said that BMW would be taking care of this under warranty, in this case.

W00t!

Very relieving, taking some stress away. I don't take that for granted, so I'm very appreciative.

Side note, something strange happened when he called. The call rang to my cell phone, then flickered onto the car CarPlay screen, then disappeared from the screen and went back to my iPhone. During that call with BMWNA, I had to hold my phone up to my ear, and periodically it would spontaneously jump to the car speakerphone, then back to the iPhone handset. There was several times in the call that I had to repeat myself, as it caused the audio to break up. Like CarPlay was trying to connect, with only periodic success that lasted a couple seconds at a time.

Very strange, and ironic that it happened while on the phone with the manufacturer. But... there are worse things in life.





Oh, and last night in Vegas, I also got enough courage to slide back the sunroof interior black cloth cover, to look up and inspect the sunroof from inside.

Yikes... totally shattered, across the whole piece. But it made it intact, over 6 days, 5 states, and about 1,200 miles of big road trip travel, about 7,000 feet of elevation change, and temperature variations between about 20F and 65F. All of that after shattering last week, but staying in one piece. All of the large variability travel happened well after it cracked. Fairly impressive that it remained in one piece for all of that.

So arriving in LA, I drove straight to Crevier BMW.





Nice place! Driving in, I actually realized I had been there before, one time when I was in the LA area, back during my X7 research, to look at some models they had there in stock. Had nice associates back then, too.

So I dropped off my baby, did various discussions and paperwork with my service advisor, and switched over most of my luggage to a loaner car that they also were nice to provide for me. Left the summer wheels in the X7 trunk. Hoping to have the car fixed maybe even by tomorrow afternoon!

I didn't take time today, but I did see that they had at least one black Alpina XB7 on the lot. I'll be checking that out when I go back tomorrow!





The loaner desk (you know you're at a large dealership when they have a dedicated loaner desk with multiple representatives) said the largest loaners they have are either a 5-series, or an X5. They didn't have any X5's on hand, though, so I got a nice X4.








The X4 is a nice zippy car. I realized that the X7 is spoiling me some, with size, as we had a little challenge fitting all the luggage in even WITHOUT the extra tires. And after driving that monster M50i engine, the X4 30i engine wasn't quite the same. it's just a different vehicle, is all. Still nice, and I'm very appreciative of the loaner!

Staying the night for a few days with some family friends in the LA area.

So, sunroof issue not done quite yet, but definitely good news, and things are looking up for team WB!

Everybody, I really appreciate the well wishes, positive thoughts, and the various helps and suggestions from fellow forum members. You guys are great.

[xcountry]

Good to hear that BMW NA is taking care of your sunroof. Crevier is one of the closest dealerships to me and I wanted to get my X7 from them but they weren't very eager to give any significant discounts.

[Wanderer73]

So glad to hear BMWNA is stepping up and taking care of the situation, and I'm so happy you didn't have to fly home.

[simon.]

Great news on the sunroof, sounds like you'll be sorted in a day or two. Only been to LA once, 12 years ago. Brunch along Ocean Front Walk watching the world go by wasted a couple hours

[sahajesh]

Great news on the sunroof, I really did think it wouldn't get sorted but I'm happy I was proved wrong.

Looks like a nice dealership, pity you had to downsize for your loaner!

Hope the rest of your journey is smooth

[SkyJawa]

Fantastic news on the sunroof WB, I hoped BMW would come good, but shame to those other dealers.

So pleased the journey continues for you without a gap!

[FreeDarko]

Wow happy to hear of the outcome. Kudos to BMW for stepping up to the plate.

I mentioned earlier the shattered sunroof happened twice on 2 of our Mercs and I'm pretty sure it was caused due to quick changes in the temperature on road trips.

Both times we tried to get Mercedes Benz to take some responsibility to no avail. However the 2nd time my wife continued to use it for 6 mths thru all kinds of weather as I was adamant that MB should absorb the cost and to our surprise the damaged glass stayed intact.

I guess they are similar to the iPhone screens that shatter but won't chip away fm use. Seen quite a few guys who don't bother to get it fixed over the years.

[pmgreenwood]

Glad all has come together to get the roof fixed.

When I had my 320D touring in the UK, the live traffic info used to warn ahead re items in road or accidents as appeared on your X7

[djbonsu]

Loving the journey updates and that’s great news re: the pano roof WB! I’m riding along with you in spirit!