New X7 Owner Road Trips from PCD Delivery to Alaska

LittleJoe · 03-04-2021, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weingarm

Wild Blue - you say pillows are standard with the captains chairs on the X7. They are also included with the bench seat X7 as well. See pic.

Correct, I have the bench seat (Full Merino Leather) and it included the pillows.

kristobias · 03-04-2021, 08:37 PM

Great update. I've ridden up to the top of Caesar's head many times on my road bike. Great driving and cycling roads.

Wild Blue · 03-04-2021, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weingarm

Wild Blue - you say pillows are standard with the captains chairs on the X7. They are also included with the bench seat X7 as well. See pic.

Cool. I couldn't remember whether the bench got them or not, but I knew the captain's did.

Wild Blue · 03-04-2021, 11:29 PM

Day 3 of Road Trip
Biloxi, MS - Houston, TX
Miles: 1,183

A few pics on the Gulf coast before turning Westbound. It's a far cry from the Alaska snow I left.

Lunch at the top Zagat rated Mother's restaurant in New Orleans, LA. Such a nice waitress. Ordered the seafood gumbo, and she brought out a cup of the traditional File' gumbo as well.

So good, i had to try a cup of the Jambalaya as well. Gumbo was better.

Geez... lots of construction on I-10, and sooooooo many concrete barriers. Was not a day to be going east on I-10. Multiple traffic backups stretching for miles and miles. My direction westbound was bad enough with a few stretches, but thank God I wasn't headed east.

Thoughts on the B&W audio. So, at the beginning of the trip, first listening to satellite radio and even my audio files through CarPlay (which I presume is bluetooth), I wasn't impressed. Digging and finding the audio settings (not quite placed intuitively), usual boost of treble, and bass, and it got much better. But still not great.

satellite and bluetooth are both compressed, though. (and forget about broadcast radio). As a pseudo-audiophile, I really wanted better. So I loaded up my USB drive with audio files from my 40,000 song library. Used this one here. Comes formatted in ExFat, perfect for this use.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

First, a show of the center console. I added this console tray, which perfectly fits the X5, X6, and X7.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Non-OEM, but good product, and makes better use of the console. Good place for the USB drive.

But... car says no audio files found. Figured out problem was I copied straight from the computer hard drive, with music files organized in artist and album folders. Re-copied files straight onto the drive without the folders, and car read them right away. And... bam! Audio system just burst to life.

That was the answer. B&W needs quality audio files to really shine. Garbage media, garbage sound. Started with my top demo track, Money for Nothing - Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms 20th Anniversary album. Just awesome. Light intro sound, Sting's voice, tight drums, synth rising to an ear-piercing pitch, and then, bang... just can't resist air guitar along with Mark Knopfler. Tight bass and kick drum, not boomy. Crisp snare and high hat. So great.

Whenever I get into a new audio system that performs well, I get into a groove of re-exploring my demo quality music and songs that really get me going. Metallica-Enter Sandman, Megadeth - Trust (which spawns a Megadeth spree). Phil Driscoll - Hosanna trumpet solo. Tower of Power- You Can't Fall Up, You Just Fall Down trumpet solo. Really drew me into the music, rapidly passing the driving time, and at times bringing me to tears at the sheer beauty of some of the music.

I really explored the audio limits at high volumes, and audio tracks with full frequency ranges. Bass Mechanik. Really pushing it hard, the bass did juuuust approach getting boomy, but not quite. All other frequency ranges didn't get anywhere close to running out of strong power.

So, the answer to B&W is really to feed it high quality audio tracks, lossless if possible. But disappointed that you don't get advanced control, like playlists. Have to individually select tracks/artists/albums. And as others have noticed, after a drive, the next time you use the car, it often doesn't remember which song you were on, and will start up on its own choice. BMW as room for improvement here, in entertainment system control/management for USB audio files.

I haven't fully figured out all details. The manual says it can read 40,000 songs, and 16,000 tracks per drive. I did notice that a lot of the songs on my drive were not showing up in the car list, so that 16,000 limit may be real. I might have to get another drive or two, just for that 16k song per drive limit. Will get it dialed in. Need to see how others have used their equalizer, beyond just the bass-mid-treble settings.

Beautiful view out the room window of the Hyatt Regency in Houston tonight.

MashinBenzin · 03-05-2021, 01:18 AM

Had some great food at Mothers back in the day, and some enjoyable cruises along I-10. Only memories of Houston, unfortunately, are long layovers at the airport - being vaguely surprised (as a brit) that the cowboy hat really was so prevalent. Love the south and wish I had been more.

MashinBenzin · 03-05-2021, 01:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wild Blue

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeoz

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wild Blue

Reserved

Great Write up. You have a lot of people in UK reading this now.

Oh yes. That one was my favorite post too.

USAF?

isleaiw1 · 03-05-2021, 06:18 AM

Great thread - loving the car, and the story behind it and the trip, As another brit brought here on MashinBenzin 's recommendation, I'll be following with interest (and I work for a UK hotel company so keep up the stories about the hotels too!)

Wild Blue · 03-05-2021, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MashinBenzin

USAF?

Yessir! Pilot type. Cool someone picked up on that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by isleaiw1

Great thread - loving the car, and the story behind it and the trip, As another brit brought here on MashinBenzin 's recommendation, I'll be following with interest (and I work for a UK hotel company so keep up the stories about the hotels too!)

Oh, I have some cool hotel stuff coming up tonight and a little later on in the trip. I have a gazillion Hyatt points and am a Globalist member, so all the hotels I'm using for the trip are Hyatt hotels

Love my Brit brothers. I've spent quite a bit of time there in my travels, particularly with the military and living in Europe. Can't wait to go back, if able.

MashinBenzin · 03-05-2021, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wild Blue

Yessir! Pilot type. Cool someone picked up on that.

Oh, I have some cool hotel stuff coming up tonight and a little later on in the trip. I have a gazillion Hyatt points and am a Globalist member, so all the hotels I'm using for the trip are Hyatt hotels

Love my Brit brothers. I've spent quite a bit of time there in my travels, particularly with the military and living in Europe. Can't wait to go back, if able.

If you come back, there will be a beer waiting for you, for laying on this excellent thread!

What were you flying? Very fond memories of watching the Aardvarks and Ravens out of Upper Heyford as a boy, as that was closest to home. Fairford was nearby too for the tankers and U2s, plus interesting visitors. Once or twice visited Lakenheath, Alconbury too.

isleaiw1 · 03-05-2021, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wild Blue

Yessir! Pilot type. Cool someone picked up on that.

Oh, I have some cool hotel stuff coming up tonight and a little later on in the trip. I have a gazillion Hyatt points and am a Globalist member, so all the hotels I'm using for the trip are Hyatt hotels

Love my Brit brothers. I've spent quite a bit of time there in my travels, particularly with the military and living in Europe. Can't wait to go back, if able.

I did Hyatt in Waikiki last time I was there with work, seemed ok.

If you are coming to London, let me know and I'll make sure you are looked after!

weingarm · 03-05-2021, 01:45 PM

Wild Blue-

I have the Bowers and Wilkins system in my M5 and I felt somewhat like you did after just pumping up the treble and bass. It sounded better but not really that impressive. Then I selected a different Bowers and Wilkins "theme" for the soundscape or whatever they call it. I selected "On stage" and that really helped the sound feel more "surround" and not as hollow. Really helped out. You should try it if you haven't.

Not sure if the M5 (2019) would be different from your 2021 X7.

I agree that the source of the music matters more than anything else. Music through Apple CarPlay or Sirius never sounds as good as it does off a good old CD (the 2019 M5 still has one!) I imagine high quality data files off a USB drive would be as good as a CD. Unfortunately, no CD player in the X7. Not that many own CDs anymore.

Rublezz · 03-05-2021, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weingarm

I agree that the source the music matters more than anything else. Music through Apple CarPlay or Sirius never sounds as good as it does off a good old CD (the 2019 M5 still has one!) I imagine high quality data files off a USB drive would be as good as a CD. Unfortunately, no CD player in the X7. Not that many own CDs anymore.

During order you can choose CD option, so IDrive will be prepared for CD drive installation in glovebox. Anyway, good thing is that you can play FLAC lossles audio format, approx 40-50 MB per song.

bradythedog12 · 03-05-2021, 04:46 PM

Hi WB - we’re sure enjoying your trip.... glad you are too. I harken back to a post that MystroX5 did a few months back about how to set up the B&W system for optimal enjoyment. Maybe it will help.

https://g07.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1763537

gsobol · 03-05-2021, 07:28 PM

You can leave your music organized in the folders (I have copied mine directly from itunes library folder). It takes the car longer to find all your music, I guess it builds some sort of an index of your audio files.

It's also possible to add playlists. They have to be in the .m3u format - probably have to reside on the root of your drive and you may have to modify the path for each song inside the .m3u file in order to reflect new path relative to the file location on your USB device. As an example, all my audio files reside inside 'Music' folder, so the path will look sort of like this: ".\Music\Panic! at the Disco\Pray for the Wicked\11 Dying in LA.mp3"

Wild Blue · 03-05-2021, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsobol

You can leave your music organized in the folders (I have copied mine directly from itunes library folder). It takes the car longer to find all your music, I guess it builds some sort of an index of your audio files.

It's also possible to add playlists. They have to be in the .m3u format - probably have to reside on the root of your drive and you may have to modify the path for each song inside the .m3u file in order to reflect new path relative to the file location on your USB device. As an example, all my audio files reside inside 'Music' folder, so the path will look sort of like this: ".\Music\Panic! at the Disco\Pray for the Wicked\11 Dying in LA.mp3"

Oh? Interesting. Hmmm... I wouldn't know how to create a .m3u file.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bradythedog12

Hi WB - we’re sure enjoying your trip.... glad you are too. I harken back to a post that MystroX5 did a few months back about how to set up the B&W system for optimal enjoyment. Maybe it will help.

https://g07.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1763537

Yeah, I'm revisiting 3 years worth of forum info in my brain, in just a few days so far of driving the car. Going back to that one too. I did the smile using the bass and treble sliders, so I'll try resetting those to zero and manually make the smile with the eq. Not sure if that will make any difference.

Quote:

Originally Posted by weingarm

Wild Blue-

I have the Bowers and Wilkins system in my M5 and I felt somewhat like you did after just pumping up the treble and bass. It sounded better but not really that impressive. Then I selected a different Bowers and Wilkins "theme" for the soundscape or whatever they call it. I selected "On stage" and that really helped the sound feel more "surround" and not as hollow. Really helped out. You should try it if you haven't.

Ah yes, I did find that too, last, after everything else. Found the "Profiles". One of the 3D processing profiles was selected by default. I selected the "Studio" profile, which is supposed to be the pure unprocessed audio. Immediately it just got even clearer, and less muddy. Definitely the way to go for me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MashinBenzin

If you come back, there will be a beer waiting for you, for laying on this excellent thread!

What were you flying? Very fond memories of watching the Aardvarks and Ravens out of Upper Heyford as a boy, as that was closest to home. Fairford was nearby too for the tankers and U2s, plus interesting visitors. Once or twice visited Lakenheath, Alconbury too.

I've flown big transports through, and Learjets when I was stationed in Germany. Lakenheath, Mildenhall, Brize Norton, RAF Northolt, perhaps some others. I actually departed RAF Fairford just an hour or so before the attacks started on 9/11. interesting memories of that day.

Have had the best of times in the UK and Ireland

Wild Blue · 03-05-2021, 10:48 PM

Day 4 of Road Trip
Houston, TX - Austin, TX
Total Miles: 1,378

Shorter drive day today to take advantage of some special things during the day.

One of the nice things of driving a nice car, the valet at nice hotels will usually park your car right out front to show it off. Quicker morning in Houston.

My baby experienced the first rain sprinkles of the trip. Thank God--since she just got PPF and ceramic coating, Extreme Colors says I shouldn't wash the car for 3 weeks. She's going to get get rather dusty. I welcome the rain!

Exactly, Texas, exactly.

Why can't the rest of the country post reminder signs like this, for those drivers of lower intelligence? I mean come on. Since I'm driving slow during the break-in period, I've only used the left lane a handful of times so far this trip.

So... I'm in Texas--you know, the 2nd largest state in the union. Matter of fact, if you cut Alaska in half, Texas would become the 3rd largest state in the union.

(no joke) To properly do the Texas experience, that means one thing.

BARBECUE.

There are only 3 religions in Texas--Baptists, Barbecue, and Football. I arranged the travel to go through Austin, TX for a few reasons, including barbecue. Franklin BBQ has repeatedly been ranked top barbecue in Texas, which to many, literally means the best BBQ in the world. Many awards, even books written.

Seriously. I mean, this stuff is the week-long M school of barbecue. The M8 Competition. And down here, it's serious stuff. I LOOOOOOOVE good barbecue, and had to get this experience.

In normal times, there would be a line literally hours long, of bbq pilgrims like me waiting to experience the goodness of Franklin BBQ. And you better get there early, before it sells out. But with COVID, things actually became a little more convenient for me. Now they're doing curbside delivery, ordering ahead on the internet.

So I ordered months ahead of time during road trip planning, and scheduled pickup. Just meant getting to Austin early enough to pick up my yummy bbq. Franklins has you open your trunk and give the very nice employees spacing, as they put it in. Money!

I took the hot BBQ and went straight to BMW of Austin. Hmmm... look for the massive American flag. I must be near a Texan car dealership. (I do love it here in TX)

As I said, this is a special car for me, and I'm setting her up for an extended ownership, taking very good care of her. To me, this means a proper break-in period. As I knew I'd be passing 1,200 miles just before Austin, I had scheduled an extra service stop in Austin.

I asked the guys to do an extra oil and filter change, and rear differential fluid, just like is done on M cars at 1,200 miles. Mine is NOT an M car, but I'm going the extra mile in maintenance. Since it's extra, outside regular maintenance, I did have to pay for it. I did specify no car wash, since it can't be washed for several more weeks. All turned out great.

Nice dealership, good service. They even have a small movie theater inside for customers who decide to wait! Me, I had some yummy yummy bbq to eat.

Absolutely unbelievable. That's brisket, ribs, and a sausage link. My British Isle brothers will appreciate that I love a good cider. And a bourbon banana tart to top it off. More than i could eat in one sitting, and still had a meat coma. Ohhhh, so good. Meats moist, rich in flavor, as Texas does so well. I can see why Franklin's is top rated. Well deserved.

As I mentioned, I have a gazillion Hyatt points, and am their top-tier Globalist member. So I'm doing this trip with "free" lodging across the whole country, staying at some cool Hyatt properties. This is the first of the very special properties, the classic and historic Driskill Hotel in Austin. So pretty. Well done. Unfortunately, Hyatt is taking advantage of the COVID period to renovate the suites, so the hotel gave me their otherwise nicest room. Still great.

Early morning tomorrow. More special things happening!

goodbyalfa · 03-06-2021, 02:08 AM

Great thread. Loving the details.
Shame Bmw UK won't allow the factory pick up from Germany as I'd love to sample what you have in this thread, but driving back through Europe.

simon. · 03-06-2021, 02:33 AM

Another of the small 'army' of Brits tuning into this thread. Excellent read thus far, thank you for taking the time out to post.

We like BBQ's as well as cider. The one just up from this post looks epic.

MashinBenzin · 03-06-2021, 03:07 AM

Great write up on Austin and the BBQ. One of the most popular purchases in the UK 'lockdown purchases' thread was, indeed, a BBQ. Loads of us bought new ones. And I became a fan of a BBQ shop in Denver that does great reviews!

Good idea getting that extra running in service done, for the long term.

Wild Blue · 03-06-2021, 06:08 AM

Yeah, I bought a Traeger grill 9 months ago, and have been getting into BBQ myself. Absolutely love me some good brisket.

mikeoz · 03-06-2021, 08:42 AM

Loving the cinema and BBQ...

Reading this reminds us just how big and diverse the US is.

MashinBenzin · 03-06-2021, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeoz

Loving the cinema and BBQ...

Reading this reminds us just how big and diverse the US is.

Yes, this is why I've always wanted to do a major US road trip - to sample many of the different states. The diversity is easy to forget when fed the news and TV shows.

03-04-2021, 08:37 PM	#68
kristobias First Lieutenant 293 Rep 312 Posts Drives: M2CS Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Toronto iTrader: (4)	Great update. I've ridden up to the top of Caesar's head many times on my road bike. Great driving and cycling roads. __________________ 17 X5D 70 2002
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03-04-2021, 11:29 PM	#70
Wild Blue Brigadier General 3683 Rep 3,479 Posts Drives: 2021 X7 M50i, 2004 330i w/ZHP Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Alaska iTrader: (0)	Day 3 of Road Trip Biloxi, MS - Houston, TX Miles: 1,183 A few pics on the Gulf coast before turning Westbound. It's a far cry from the Alaska snow I left. Lunch at the top Zagat rated Mother's restaurant in New Orleans, LA. Such a nice waitress. Ordered the seafood gumbo, and she brought out a cup of the traditional File' gumbo as well. So good, i had to try a cup of the Jambalaya as well. Gumbo was better. Geez... lots of construction on I-10, and sooooooo many concrete barriers. Was not a day to be going east on I-10. Multiple traffic backups stretching for miles and miles. My direction westbound was bad enough with a few stretches, but thank God I wasn't headed east. Thoughts on the B&W audio. So, at the beginning of the trip, first listening to satellite radio and even my audio files through CarPlay (which I presume is bluetooth), I wasn't impressed. Digging and finding the audio settings (not quite placed intuitively), usual boost of treble, and bass, and it got much better. But still not great. satellite and bluetooth are both compressed, though. (and forget about broadcast radio). As a pseudo-audiophile, I really wanted better. So I loaded up my USB drive with audio files from my 40,000 song library. Used this one here. Comes formatted in ExFat, perfect for this use. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 First, a show of the center console. I added this console tray, which perfectly fits the X5, X6, and X7. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Non-OEM, but good product, and makes better use of the console. Good place for the USB drive. But... car says no audio files found. Figured out problem was I copied straight from the computer hard drive, with music files organized in artist and album folders. Re-copied files straight onto the drive without the folders, and car read them right away. And... bam! Audio system just burst to life. That was the answer. B&W needs quality audio files to really shine. Garbage media, garbage sound. Started with my top demo track, Money for Nothing - Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms 20th Anniversary album. Just awesome. Light intro sound, Sting's voice, tight drums, synth rising to an ear-piercing pitch, and then, bang... just can't resist air guitar along with Mark Knopfler. Tight bass and kick drum, not boomy. Crisp snare and high hat. So great. Whenever I get into a new audio system that performs well, I get into a groove of re-exploring my demo quality music and songs that really get me going. Metallica-Enter Sandman, Megadeth - Trust (which spawns a Megadeth spree). Phil Driscoll - Hosanna trumpet solo. Tower of Power- You Can't Fall Up, You Just Fall Down trumpet solo. Really drew me into the music, rapidly passing the driving time, and at times bringing me to tears at the sheer beauty of some of the music. I really explored the audio limits at high volumes, and audio tracks with full frequency ranges. Bass Mechanik. Really pushing it hard, the bass did juuuust approach getting boomy, but not quite. All other frequency ranges didn't get anywhere close to running out of strong power. So, the answer to B&W is really to feed it high quality audio tracks, lossless if possible. But disappointed that you don't get advanced control, like playlists. Have to individually select tracks/artists/albums. And as others have noticed, after a drive, the next time you use the car, it often doesn't remember which song you were on, and will start up on its own choice. BMW as room for improvement here, in entertainment system control/management for USB audio files. I haven't fully figured out all details. The manual says it can read 40,000 songs, and 16,000 tracks per drive. I did notice that a lot of the songs on my drive were not showing up in the car list, so that 16,000 limit may be real. I might have to get another drive or two, just for that 16k song per drive limit. Will get it dialed in. Need to see how others have used their equalizer, beyond just the bass-mid-treble settings. Beautiful view out the room window of the Hyatt Regency in Houston tonight. Last edited by Wild Blue; 04-25-2021 at 05:05 PM..
	Appreciate 12 MashinBenzin8450.00 KRS_SN13430.00 LittleJoe1064.00 bradythedog12127.00 chicagofan0019062.00 Auricom4360.00 djbonsu113.00 jphcbpa310.00 CaturdayMorning4.50 thereef5101164.00 mjn771072.50 Vivek.1366.00 Quote

03-05-2021, 01:18 AM	#71
MashinBenzin Major General 8450 Rep 8,775 Posts Drives: Eiger D5 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: UK iTrader: (0)	Had some great food at Mothers back in the day, and some enjoyable cruises along I-10. Only memories of Houston, unfortunately, are long layovers at the airport - being vaguely surprised (as a brit) that the cowboy hat really was so prevalent. Love the south and wish I had been more. __________________ Drives - 2020 LR Discovery HSE-L Previous - 2019 LR Discovery HSE-L // 2016 F36 440i // 2009 E90 320D SE
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03-05-2021, 06:18 AM	#73
isleaiw1 Lieutenant General 8750 Rep 12,231 Posts Drives: iPace / Mini Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: UK iTrader: (0)	Great thread - loving the car, and the story behind it and the trip, As another brit brought here on MashinBenzin 's recommendation, I'll be following with interest (and I work for a UK hotel company so keep up the stories about the hotels too!)
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03-05-2021, 01:45 PM	#77
weingarm Captain 857 Rep 701 Posts Drives: M3 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: NY iTrader: (0)	Wild Blue- I have the Bowers and Wilkins system in my M5 and I felt somewhat like you did after just pumping up the treble and bass. It sounded better but not really that impressive. Then I selected a different Bowers and Wilkins "theme" for the soundscape or whatever they call it. I selected "On stage" and that really helped the sound feel more "surround" and not as hollow. Really helped out. You should try it if you haven't. Not sure if the M5 (2019) would be different from your 2021 X7. I agree that the source of the music matters more than anything else. Music through Apple CarPlay or Sirius never sounds as good as it does off a good old CD (the 2019 M5 still has one!) I imagine high quality data files off a USB drive would be as good as a CD. Unfortunately, no CD player in the X7. Not that many own CDs anymore. __________________ 2023 M3: Isle of Man Green 2021 X7 40i: Phytonic Blue
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03-05-2021, 04:46 PM	#79
bradythedog12 Second Lieutenant 127 Rep 271 Posts Drives: 2020 X7 M50i, 2014 X6 50i Join Date: Nov 2019 Location: Elmhurst, IL iTrader: (0)	Hi WB - we’re sure enjoying your trip.... glad you are too. I harken back to a post that MystroX5 did a few months back about how to set up the B&W system for optimal enjoyment. Maybe it will help. https://g07.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1763537
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03-05-2021, 07:28 PM	#80
gsobol First Lieutenant 260 Rep 395 Posts Drives: 2021 X7 M50i Join Date: Aug 2020 Location: NYC iTrader: (0)	You can leave your music organized in the folders (I have copied mine directly from itunes library folder). It takes the car longer to find all your music, I guess it builds some sort of an index of your audio files. It's also possible to add playlists. They have to be in the .m3u format - probably have to reside on the root of your drive and you may have to modify the path for each song inside the .m3u file in order to reflect new path relative to the file location on your USB device. As an example, all my audio files reside inside 'Music' folder, so the path will look sort of like this: ".\Music\Panic! at the Disco\Pray for the Wicked\11 Dying in LA.mp3"
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03-05-2021, 10:48 PM	#82
Wild Blue Brigadier General 3683 Rep 3,479 Posts Drives: 2021 X7 M50i, 2004 330i w/ZHP Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Alaska iTrader: (0)	Day 4 of Road Trip Houston, TX - Austin, TX Total Miles: 1,378 Shorter drive day today to take advantage of some special things during the day. One of the nice things of driving a nice car, the valet at nice hotels will usually park your car right out front to show it off. Quicker morning in Houston. My baby experienced the first rain sprinkles of the trip. Thank God--since she just got PPF and ceramic coating, Extreme Colors says I shouldn't wash the car for 3 weeks. She's going to get get rather dusty. I welcome the rain! Exactly, Texas, exactly. Why can't the rest of the country post reminder signs like this, for those drivers of lower intelligence? I mean come on. Since I'm driving slow during the break-in period, I've only used the left lane a handful of times so far this trip. So... I'm in Texas--you know, the 2nd largest state in the union. Matter of fact, if you cut Alaska in half, Texas would become the 3rd largest state in the union. (no joke) To properly do the Texas experience, that means one thing. BARBECUE. There are only 3 religions in Texas--Baptists, Barbecue, and Football. I arranged the travel to go through Austin, TX for a few reasons, including barbecue. Franklin BBQ has repeatedly been ranked top barbecue in Texas, which to many, literally means the best BBQ in the world. Many awards, even books written. Seriously. I mean, this stuff is the week-long M school of barbecue. The M8 Competition. And down here, it's serious stuff. I LOOOOOOOVE good barbecue, and had to get this experience. In normal times, there would be a line literally hours long, of bbq pilgrims like me waiting to experience the goodness of Franklin BBQ. And you better get there early, before it sells out. But with COVID, things actually became a little more convenient for me. Now they're doing curbside delivery, ordering ahead on the internet. So I ordered months ahead of time during road trip planning, and scheduled pickup. Just meant getting to Austin early enough to pick up my yummy bbq. Franklins has you open your trunk and give the very nice employees spacing, as they put it in. Money! I took the hot BBQ and went straight to BMW of Austin. Hmmm... look for the massive American flag. I must be near a Texan car dealership. (I do love it here in TX) As I said, this is a special car for me, and I'm setting her up for an extended ownership, taking very good care of her. To me, this means a proper break-in period. As I knew I'd be passing 1,200 miles just before Austin, I had scheduled an extra service stop in Austin. I asked the guys to do an extra oil and filter change, and rear differential fluid, just like is done on M cars at 1,200 miles. Mine is NOT an M car, but I'm going the extra mile in maintenance. Since it's extra, outside regular maintenance, I did have to pay for it. I did specify no car wash, since it can't be washed for several more weeks. All turned out great. Nice dealership, good service. They even have a small movie theater inside for customers who decide to wait! Me, I had some yummy yummy bbq to eat. Absolutely unbelievable. That's brisket, ribs, and a sausage link. My British Isle brothers will appreciate that I love a good cider. And a bourbon banana tart to top it off. More than i could eat in one sitting, and still had a meat coma. Ohhhh, so good. Meats moist, rich in flavor, as Texas does so well. I can see why Franklin's is top rated. Well deserved. As I mentioned, I have a gazillion Hyatt points, and am their top-tier Globalist member. So I'm doing this trip with "free" lodging across the whole country, staying at some cool Hyatt properties. This is the first of the very special properties, the classic and historic Driskill Hotel in Austin. So pretty. Well done. Unfortunately, Hyatt is taking advantage of the COVID period to renovate the suites, so the hotel gave me their otherwise nicest room. Still great. Early morning tomorrow. More special things happening! Last edited by Wild Blue; 04-25-2021 at 05:09 PM..
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03-06-2021, 02:08 AM	#83
goodbyalfa King of the North (living in the east...) 1055 Rep 2,153 Posts Drives: M340i mineral white Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Suffolk iTrader: (0)	Great thread. Loving the details. Shame Bmw UK won't allow the factory pick up from Germany as I'd love to sample what you have in this thread, but driving back through Europe. __________________ 2021 M340i in mineral white, options galore Previously 2018 440i GC in MG 2015 330D F30 MSport EBII 2012 Alfa Guilietta 2.0d Veloce 2009 Fiat bravo sport 2000 ST Mondeo
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03-06-2021, 02:33 AM	#84
simon. Colonel 922 Rep 2,559 Posts Drives: F48 25D mSport Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Milton Keynes iTrader: (0)	Another of the small 'army' of Brits tuning into this thread. Excellent read thus far, thank you for taking the time out to post. We like BBQ's as well as cider. The one just up from this post looks epic.
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03-06-2021, 03:07 AM	#85
MashinBenzin Major General 8450 Rep 8,775 Posts Drives: Eiger D5 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: UK iTrader: (0)	Great write up on Austin and the BBQ. One of the most popular purchases in the UK 'lockdown purchases' thread was, indeed, a BBQ. Loads of us bought new ones. And I became a fan of a BBQ shop in Denver that does great reviews! Good idea getting that extra running in service done, for the long term. __________________ Drives - 2020 LR Discovery HSE-L Previous - 2019 LR Discovery HSE-L // 2016 F36 440i // 2009 E90 320D SE
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03-06-2021, 06:08 AM	#86
Wild Blue Brigadier General 3683 Rep 3,479 Posts Drives: 2021 X7 M50i, 2004 330i w/ZHP Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Alaska iTrader: (0)	Yeah, I bought a Traeger grill 9 months ago, and have been getting into BBQ myself. Absolutely love me some good brisket.
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03-06-2021, 08:42 AM	#87
mikeoz Major General 2856 Rep 5,607 Posts Drives: BMW X3 M40d LCI Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: cambs iTrader: (1)	Loving the cinema and BBQ... Reading this reminds us just how big and diverse the US is.
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